牛津書蟲系列 化學秘密 6 The report

6 The report

6 報 告

John 's report took longer than he had thought.It was nearly six weeks later when he went to discuss the re-suits with David Wilson.

約翰的報告花的時間比他想像的要長。將近六個星期以后他才去找大衛(wèi)·威爾遜討論實驗的結果。

Mr Wilson wasn't a scientist.He was a businessman.He knew how to run a business， how to make money.

威爾遜先生不是一個科學家。他是一個商人。他懂得怎樣管理生意，怎樣賺錢。

'Thanks for coming，John.'david Wilson came out from behind his desk and shook hands with John.They sat in two big，comfortable armchairs by the window.

“謝謝你的到來，約翰。”大衛(wèi)·威爾遜從他的桌子后面走出來與約翰握手。他們坐在靠窗戶的兩張非常舒適的大沙發(fā)里。

David Wilson's office was large，with a thick carpet and beautiful pictures on the walls. From the window，John could see the river，and the woods and fields on the other side. He felt comfortable，happy，safe.

大衛(wèi)·威爾遜的辦公室很大，鋪著厚厚的地毯，墻上有許多漂亮的畫。從窗戶望去，約翰可以看見河以及河對面的樹林和田野。他感到舒適、愉快、安全。

'I've read your report，'Wilson began.Then he stopped，and lit a cigarette.'Not very good，is it?'

“我已經(jīng)讀了你的報告，”威爾遜開口道。然后他止住，點燃一支雪茄。“不太好，是吧?”

'What?'John stared at him in surprise.

“什么?”約翰吃驚地盯著他。

Wilson smiled，and moved his hand through the clouds of smoke.'No，no， don't worry—I don't mean the report is bad，of course not.You've worked very hard，and done your job well. What I mean is，I don't like the ideas at the end of the report.'

威爾遜笑著，在煙霧中揮動著他的手。“不，不，別擔心——我不是說報告不好，當然不是，我的意思是我不喜歡報告結尾的那些意見。”

'What's wrong with them?'

“它們有什么不妥?”

'They're too expensive.'the two men stared at each other for a moment，and John felt cold and sick in his stomach.Wilson smiled， but it wasn't the kind of smile that John liked.

“它們太花錢了。”兩個人相互凝視了一會兒，約翰感到胃部又涼又難受。威爾遜笑了笑，但那不是約翰喜歡的那種笑。

'Look，John，'he said.'Your report says that we should build some new machines to clean up the waste products before they go into the river， right?And those machines will cost two million pounds!Where do you think we can find all that?Money doesn't grow on trees，you know!'

“你瞧，約翰，”他說，“你的報告說我們應該制造一些新機器，在將廢料倒到河里以前將它們凈化，對吧?而那些機器將花費兩百萬英鎊!你想我們能從哪兒搞到所有這些錢?你知道錢不會從天上掉下來!”

'No，of course not.'John's mouth was dry.He took a drink of water，and felt his hand shaking.'But we're selling a lot of the new paint.We're making millions of pounds every month from that，aren't we?'

“對，當然不會。”約翰的嘴開始發(fā)干。他喝了一口水，他感覺他的手在顫抖。“但是我們正在賣大量的新油漆。我們每月都從中掙上幾百萬英鎊，不是嗎?”

'We're doing very well， yes，'said Wilson.'But if we spend two million pounds to build these new machines，the paint will have to cost more， and we won't sell so much.'

“是的，我們干得非常好，”威爾遜說。“但是如果我們花兩百萬英鎊去造這些新機器，油漆價格就會貴些，我們就賣不了那么多。”

'But—we've got to do it，'said John.'These waste prod-ucts are much more dangerous than I'd thought.Didn't you read that in my report?When I put the chemicals in rats'drinking water，some of the baby rats were born without eyes and ears. One didn't have any legs， and one had six.'He shivered.'And some were born without legs when they drank only two parts per million.We can't put those chemicals in the river.'

“但是——我們必須這樣做，”約翰說，“這些廢料比我以前想像的還要危險。你難道沒在我的報告里讀到嗎?我在老鼠的飲用水里放入化學品，生出來的一些幼鼠沒有眼睛和耳朵。有一只沒有腿，還有一只有6條腿。”他戰(zhàn)栗著。“有些只喝了百萬分之二，生出來就沒有腿。我們不能將那些化學品放入河里。”

'Of course I read that，John.I read your report very care-fully indeed.And your report also says that on most days we put less than two parts per million into the river.No，wait，listen to me for a minute!We both know that no drinking wa-ter comes out of this part of the river，don't we? And in two kilometres the river goes out into the sea.So why is it danger-ous?Nobody is ever going to drink it，John!We don't need to build these new machines!'

“我當然讀到，約翰。我的確很認真地讀了你的報告。你的報告也說到大部分日子里我們放入河里的是少于百萬分之二。不，請等一下，聽我說一會兒!我們倆都知道飲用水不是來自河的這一方，不是嗎?再流兩公里，河水就進入大海。所以怎么會有危險呢?從沒有人會去喝它，約翰!我們不需要制造新機器!”

John thought of his children， sailing on the river in their boat.He thought of the seals，and people fishing， and little children playing on the beach and swimming.'We've got to build them!'he said.

約翰想到他的孩子們，乘他們的船行駛在這條河上。他想到海豹，想到人們釣魚，想到小孩們在河灘上玩耍，在河里游泳。他說：“我們不得不造機器!”

David Wilson looked at him carefully. His voice，when he spoke，was very quiet and hard.'Listen to me，John.You're a very good scientist，and we're lucky to have you in this com-pany.But you're not a businessman， and I am.Look at this.'He picked up a sheet of paper， and held it across the table for John to see.It showed how much money the compa-ny had.'We borrowed ten million pounds last year， and we employed four hundred more people.Think how much that means to a small town like this!'

大衛(wèi)·威爾遜仔細地看著他。他說話時的聲音非常平靜而且堅定。“聽我說，約翰。你是一個很出色的科學家，我們有幸雇你在這個公司干活。但是你不是一個商人，而我是。你瞧。”他拿起一張紙，從桌子對面遞過來給約翰看。它顯示出公司有多少錢。“去年我們借了1000萬英鎊，并且又雇用了400人。想想對這樣一個小鎮(zhèn)來說這意味著多少?”

'I know，'said John.'But…'

“我知道，”約翰說。“但是……”

'Just a minute.Listen to me.If we build these cleaning machines of yours，people will lose their jobs—a lot of people!This company can't afford to borrow any more money，John.We just can't do it!'

“等等。聽我說。如果我們制造你建議的這些凈化機器，人們將會丟失他們的工作——很多人!這個公司擔負不起借更多的錢，約翰。我們真是不能那樣做。”

John stood up.'And what happens if people get ill because of this? Have you thought of that?What will the newspapers say then?'

約翰站了起來。“那么如果人們因此而得病怎么辦?你想過沒有?到那時報紙會怎么說?”

'No one will get ill，because no one drinks that water，John.The newspapers will never know about it.'

“沒人會得病，因為沒人喝那種水，約翰。報紙永遠不會知道此事。”

'They will if I tell them.'

“如果我告訴他們，他們就會知道。”

There was a long silence.Then David Wilson stood up. He walked past John Duncan，without looking at him， and sat down behind his desk.When he looked up，his eyes were cold and grey，like stones from the beach.

長時間的沉默后，大衛(wèi)·威爾遜站了起來，他從約翰·鄧肯身旁走過，沒看他，在他的桌子后面坐下。當他抬頭時，他的目光冷酷而暗淡，如同沙灘上的石頭。

'If you do that， John， I shall say you're a liar.You'll lose your job.You'll have to sell your house， and go back to living in a nasty little flat. You'll never get another job， and you'll never have a house or any money again. You'll just be an old man， walking the streets without friends or money. Is that what you want?'

“如果你那樣做，約翰，我會說你是一個騙子。你將失去你的工作。你將不得不賣掉你的房子，回去住那齷齪的小公寓。你將永遠找不到另一份工作，你再也不會有房子和任何錢了。你將只是一個走在街上沒有朋友沒有錢的老頭，這難道是你所想要的嗎?”

John didn't answer.He stood for a long time， and stared at David Wilson， and didn't say a word.After nearly two min-utes，Wilson smiled—a thin quiet smile.

約翰沒有回答。他站了許久，盯著大衛(wèi)·威爾遜，沒有說任何話。大約兩分鐘過后，威爾遜露出微笑——非常勉強的輕輕一笑。

'But if you stay with us，you will be paid twice as much next year.And no one will ever be hurt， because no one will ever drink that water.'

“但是如果你跟我們在一起，明年你的收入將增加一倍，并且沒人會受到傷害，因為沒人會去喝那水。”

He got up from his desk， came round to the front，and held out his hand. John stood still for a long moment. Then he shook hands.

他從桌子旁站起來，繞到前面，伸出他的手。約翰一動不動地站了很長時間，然后他與威爾遜握了手。

'Think about it，John，'said David Wilson.

“考慮考慮，約翰，”大衛(wèi)·威爾遜說。

John Duncan turned，and walked slowly towards the door.

約翰·鄧肯轉身慢慢地向門口走去。