211.英文正文（211）

“idon’tremember。***”

“oceaniaisatwarwitheastasia。doyourememberthatnow？”

“yes。”

“oceaniahasalwaysbeenatwarwitheastasia。sincethebeginningofyourlife，sincethebeginningoftheparty，sincethebeginningofhistory，thewarhascontinuedwithoutabreak，alwaysthesamewar。doyourememberthat？”

“yes。”

“elevenyearsagoyoucreatedalegendaboutthreemenwhohadbeencondemnedtodeathfortreachery。youpretendedthatyouhadseenapieceofpaperwhichprovedtheminnocent。nosuchpieceofpapereverexisted。youinventedit，andlateryougrewtobelieveinit。youremembernowtheverymomentatwhichyoufirstinventedit。doyourememberthat？”

“yes。”

“justnowiheldupthefingersofmyhandtoyou。yousawfivefingers。doyourememberthat？”

“yes。”

o’brienheldupthefingersofhislefthand，withthethumbconcealed。

“therearefivefingersthere。doyouseefivefingers？”

“yes。”

andhedidseethem，forafleetinginstant，beforethesceneryofhismindchanged。hesawfivefingers，andtherewasnodeformity。theneverythingwasnormalagain，andtheoldfear，thehatred，andthebewildermentcamecrowdingbackagain。buttherehadbeenamoment—hedidnotknowhowlong，thirtyseconds，perhaps—ofluminouscertainty，wheneachnewsuggestionofo’brien’shadfilledupapatchofemptinessandbecomeabsolutetruth，andwhentwoandtwocouldhavebeenthreeaseasilyasfive，ifthatwerewhatwasneeded。ithadfadedbutbeforeo’brienhaddroppedhishand；butthoughhecouldnotrecaptureit，hecouldrememberit，asoneremembersavividexperienceatsomeperiodofone’slifewhenonewasineffectadifferentperson。