美麗新世界 Brave New World 第1章(6)

The spidery steel-work of gallery above galleryfaded away in all directions into the dark.

一層層蜘蛛網(wǎng)樣的鋼架長廊從各個方面往黑暗里模糊了去。

Near them three red ghosts were busily unloadingdemijohns from a moving staircase.

他們身邊有三個紅色幽靈正忙著從傳送梯上取下小頸大肚瓶。

The escalator from the Social Predestination Room.

從社會命運預定室來的電梯。

Each bottle could be placed on one of fifteen racks,each rack, though you couldn't see it, was aconveyor traveling at the rate of thirty-three and athird centimetres an hour.

每一個瓶子都可以往十五個架子中的任何一個上面擱。雖然看不見，每個架子卻都是一條傳送帶，以每小時三十三點三厘米的速度運動著。

Two hundred and sixty-seven days at eight metres a day. Two thousand one hundred andthirty-six metres in all.

每天八公尺，二百六十七天。總共兩千一百三十六公尺。

One circuit of the cellar at ground level, one on the first gallery, half on the second, and onthe two hundred and sixty-seventh morning, daylight in the Decanting Room.

地下室的巡回線有一條在地面高度，有一條在一階長廊高度，還有半條在二階長廊高度。第二百六十七天早上日光照進換瓶室。

Independent existence–so called.

所謂的“獨立生命’便出現(xiàn)了。

"But in the interval," Mr. Foster concluded, "we've managed to do a lot to them.

“但是在這個階段，”福斯特先生總結道，“我們已經(jīng)在它們身上下了很多功夫。

Oh, a very great deal." His laugh was knowing and triumphant.

啊，非常多的功夫。”他帶著洞察一切的神態(tài)和勝利的情緒笑了。

"That's the spirit I like," said the Director once more. "Let's walk around. You tell themeverything, Mr. Foster."

“我喜歡的就是這種精神。”主任再次說道，“大家一起走一圈，你來把所有的東西都向他們介紹一下吧，福斯特先生。”

Mr. Foster duly told them.

福斯特先生照辦。

Told them of the growing embryo on its bed of peritoneum. Made them taste the rich bloodsurrogate on which it fed.

他向他們介紹了在腹膜苗床上生長的胚胎，讓他們嘗了嘗給胚胎吃的濃釅的代血劑，

Explained why it had to be stimulated with placentin and thyroxin.

解釋了必須使用胎盤制劑和甲狀腺制劑刺激它的理由;

Told them of the corpus luteum extract. Showed them the jets through which at every twelfthmetre from zero to 2040 it was automatically injected.

介紹了妊娠素精;讓他們看了從零至二千零四十公尺之間每隔十二公尺就自動噴射一次妊娠素精的噴射口;

Spoke of those gradually increasing doses of pituitary administered during the final ninety-sixmetres of their course.

介紹了在最后的九十六公尺過程里分量逐漸增加的黏液。

Described the artificial maternal circulation installed in every bottle at Metre 112; showedthem the resevoir of blood-surrogate,

描述了在一百一十二米處安裝進每個瓶里的母體循環(huán);讓他們看了代血劑池;

the centrifugal pump that kept the liquid moving over the placenta and drove it through thesynthetic lung and waste product filter.

看了驅(qū)使液體在胎盤制劑上流動并驅(qū)動其流過合成肺和廢物過濾器的離心泵。

Referred to the embryo's troublesome tendency to an.mia, to the massive doses of hog'sstomach extract and foetal foal's liver with which, in consequence, it had to be supplied.

向他們談了很麻煩的胚胎貧血傾向;談了大劑量的豬胃提取素和胚胎馬的肝——人的胚胎需要用馬胚胎肝營養(yǎng)。

Showed them the simple mechanism by means of which, during the last two metres out ofevery eight, all the embryos were simultaneously shaken into familiarity with movement.

他也讓他們看了一種簡單的機械，每一個胚胎每運行八公尺到最后兩公尺時，那機械便對它進行搖晃，使之習慣于運動。

Hinted at the gravity of the so-called "trauma of decanting," and enumerated the precautionstaken to minimize, by a suitable training of the bottled embryo, that dangerous shock.

他提示了所謂的“換瓶傷害”的嚴重性，闡述了種種預防措施，用以對瓶里的胚胎進行適當?shù)挠柧?，把那危險的震動減少到最低限度。

Told them of the test for sex carried out in the neighborhood of Metre 200.

向他們介紹了在二百公尺左右進行的性別測試。

Explained the system of labelling–a T for the males, a circle for the females and for those whowere destined to become freemartins a question mark, black on a white ground.

解釋了標簽體系。T表示男性，O表示女性，而命定了要做不孕女的則是白底上的一個黑色問號。

"For of course," said Mr. Foster, "in the vast majority of cases, fertility is merely a nuisance.

“當然，因為”福斯特先生說，“對絕大部分情況而言，多產(chǎn)只是一種多余。

One fertile ovary in twelve hundred–that would really be quite sufficient for our purposes.

一千二百個卵子里只須有一個多產(chǎn)就已能滿足我們的要求。

But we want to have a good choice. And of course one must always have an enormousmargin of safety.

不過我們想精挑細選。當然還得有很大的保險系數(shù)。

So we allow as many as thirty per cent of the female embryos to develop normally.

因此，我們?nèi)纹浒l(fā)育的女性胚胎多到總數(shù)的百分之三十，

The others get a dose of male sex-hormone every twenty-four metres for the rest of thecourse.

剩下的便在以后的過程里每隔二十四米給予一劑男性荷爾蒙。

Result: they're decanted as freemartins–structurally quite normal (except," he had to admit, "that they do have the slightest tendency to grow beards), but sterile.

其結果是：到換瓶時它們已經(jīng)成了不孕女——生理結構完全正常(‘只是’，他不得不承認，‘她們確實有一種很輕微的長胡子的傾向’)，但是不能生育。

Guaranteed sterile. Which brings us at last," continued Mr. Foster, "out of the realm of mereslavish imitation of nature into the much more interesting world of human invention."

保證不能生育。這就使我們終于，”福斯特先生繼續(xù)說，“走出對大自然的奴隸式模仿的王國，進入人類發(fā)明的世界，那就要有趣得多了。”