239.英文正文(239)
“ihavepressedthefirstlever,”saido’brien。***“youunderstandtheconstructionofthiscage。themaskwillfitoveryourhead,leavingnoexit。whenipressthisotherlever,thedoorofthecagewillslideup。thesestarvingbruteswillshootoutofitlikebullets。haveyoueverseenaratleapthroughtheair?theywillleapontoyourfaceandborestraightintoit。sometimestheyattacktheeyesfirst。sometimestheyburrowthroughthecheeksanddevourthetongue。”
thecagewasnearer;itwasclosingin。winstonheardasuccessionofshrillcrieswhichappearedtobeoccurringintheairabovehishead。buthefoughtfuriouslyagainsthispanic。tothink,tothink,evenwithasplitsecondleft—tothinkwastheonlyhope。suddenlythefoulmustyodourofthebrutesstruckhisnostrils。therewasaviolentconvulsionofnauseainsidehim,andhealmostlostconsciousness。everythinghadgoneblack。foraninstanthewasinsane,ascreaminganimal。yethecameoutoftheblacknessclutchinganidea。therewasoneandonlyonewaytosavehimself。hemustinterposeanotherhumanbeing,thebodyofanotherhumanbeing,betweenhimselfandtherats。
thecircleofthemaskwaslargeenoughnowtoshutoutthevisionofanythingelse。thewiredoorwasacoupleofhand-spansfromhisface。theratsknewwhatwascomingnow。oneofthemwasleapingupanddown,theother,anoldscalygrandfatherofthesewers,stoodup,withhispinkhandsagainstthebars,andfiercelysniffedtheair。winstoncouldseethewhiskersandtheyellowteeth。againtheblackpanictookholdofhim。hewasblind,helpless,mindless。