227.英文正文(227)
“tellme,”hesaid,“howsoonwilltheyshootme?”“itmightbealongtime,”saido’brien。“youareadifficultcase。butdon’tgiveuphope。everyoneiscuredsoonerorlater。intheendweshallshootyou。”
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hewasmuchbetter。hewasgrowingfatterandstrongereveryday,ifitwaspropertospeakofdays。
thewhitelightandthehummingsoundwerethesameasever,butthecellwasalittlemorecomfortablethantheothershehadbeenin。therewasapillowandamattressontheplankbed,andastooltositon。theyhadgivenhimabath,andtheyallowedhimtowashhimselffairlyfrequentlyinatinbasin。theyevengavehimwarmwatertowashwith。theyhadgivenhimnewunderclothesandacleansuitofoveralls。theyhaddressedhisvaricoseulcerwithsoothingointment。theyhadpulledouttheremnantsofhisteethandgivenhimanewsetofdentures。
weeksormonthsmusthavepassed。itwouldhavebeenpossiblenowtokeepcountofthepassageoftime,ifhehadfeltanyinterestindoingso,sincehewasbeingfedatwhatappearedtoberegularintervals。hewasgetting,hejudged,threemealsinthetwenty-fourhours;sometimeshewondereddimlywhetherhewasgettingthembynightorbyday。thefoodwassurprisinglygood,withmeatateverythirdmeal。oncetherewasevenapacketofcigarettes。hehadnomatches,butthenever-speakingguardwhobroughthisfoodwouldgivehimalight。thefirsttimehetriedtosmokeitmadehimsick,buthepersevered,andspunthepacketoutforalongtime,smokinghalfacigaretteaftereachmeal。