237.英文正文(237)
“youcan’tdothat!”hecriedoutinahighcrackedvoice。***“youcouldn’t,youcouldn’t!it’simpossible。”
“doyouremember,”saido’brien,“themomentofpanicthatusedtooccurinyourdreams?therewasawallofblacknessinfrontofyou,andaroaringsoundinyourears。therewassomethingterribleontheothersideofthewall。youknewthatyouknewwhatitwas,butyoudarednotdragitintotheopen。itwastheratsthatwereontheothersideofthewall。”
“o’brien!”saidwinston,makinganefforttocontrolhisvoice。“youknowthisisnotnecessary。whatisitthatyouwantmetodo?”
o’brienmadenodirectanswer。whenhespokeitwasintheschoolmasterishmannerthathesometimesaffected。helookedthoughtfullyintothedistance,asthoughhewereaddressinganaudiencesomewherebehindwinston’sback。
“byitself,”hesaid,“painisnotalwaysenough。thereareoccasionswhenahumanbeingwillstandoutagainstpain,eventothepointofdeath。butforeveryonethereissomethingunendurable—somethingthatcannotbecontemplated。courageandcowardicearenotinvolved。ifyouarefallingfromaheightitisnotcowardlytoclutchatarope。ifyouhavecomeupfromdeepwateritisnotcowardlytofillyourlungswithair。itismerelyaninstinctwhichcannotbedestroyed。itisthesamewiththerats。foryou,theyareunendurable。theyareaformofpressurethatyoucannotwithstand。evenifyouwishedto。youwilldowhatisrequiredofyou。”
“butwhatisit,whatisit?howcanidoitifidon’tknowwhatitis?”