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"Kuno!" "I will not talk to you." he answered, "until you come."
“基诺！”“我不想跟您谈话，”他回答说，“除非是您来。”
"Have you been on the surface of the earth since we spoke last?" His image faded.
“我们上次谈话以后，你去过地球的表面吗？”他的形象消失了。
Again she consulted the book.
她又一次查阅那本书。
She became very nervous and lay back in her chair palpitating. Think of her as without teeth or hair.
她变得有点精神紧张，坐在椅子上向后靠去，心突突地跳着，想到她好象没有了牙齿或没有了头发。
Presently she directed the chair to the wall, and pressed an unfamiliar button.
她立即把椅子朝墙壁转去，按一个不常用的电钮。
The wall swung apart slowly.
墙壁缓缓摆动着分开了。
Through the opening she saw a tunnel that curved slightly, so that its goal was not visible.
从开口处，她看见一条稍稍弯曲的隧道，这样，它的终点就看不到了。
Should she go to see her son, here was the beginning of the journey.
要是她想去看她的儿子，那么，这里就是旅程的起点。
Of course she knew all about the communication-system.
当然，她知道有关交通系统的一切。
There was nothing mysterious in it.
这里没有什么奥秘的事。
She would summon a car and it would fly with her down the tunnel until it reached the lift that communicated with the air-ship station:
她可以叫一部汽车，它会载着她疾驰而去，直抵与飞艇站相接的升降机：
the system had been in use for many, many years, long before the universal establishment of the Machine.
这个系统已经使用过许多许多年了，早在大机器在全世界修建之前。
And of course she had studied the civilization that had immediately preceded her own –
再有，当然她研究过她自己的时代以前的那段文化——
the civilization that had mistaken the functions of the system, and had used it for bringing people to things, instead of for bringing things to people.
那一段文化误解了这个体系的功能，而且使用它是为了把人带到物那里去，而不是把物带到人这里来。
Those funny old days, when men went for change of air instead of changing the air in their rooms!
那些荒唐可笑的往日，当时是人走去换换空气而不是在他们自己的房间里换气！
And yet-she was frightened of the tunnel: she had not seen it since her last child was born.
不过——她给这个隧道吓住了！自从她最后一个孩子出生以来，她就没有看见过这隧道。
It curved-but not quite as she remembered; it was brilliant-but not quite as brilliant as a lecturer had suggested.
它弯弯曲曲的，但不大像她所记得的那样；它是光辉耀眼的，可又不十分像一个演说家所说的那样光辉耀眼。
Vashti was seized with the terrors of direct experience. She shrank back into the room, and the wall closed up again.
瓦西蒂被直接经验的恐怖吓坏了。她缩回房里。墙壁又闭合起来了。
"Kuno," she said, "I cannot come to see you. I am not well."
“基诺，”她说，“我不能去看你。我身体不大好。”
Immediately an enormous apparatus fell on to her out of the ceiling, a thermometer was automatically laid upon her heart.
立刻有一件大型仪器从天花板上坠落到她身边，一支体温计自动地插进她的两唇中间，一个听诊器自动平置在她的心房上。
She lay powerless. Cool pads soothed her forehead.
她躺着，一点力气也没有。冷敷垫消解了前额的疼痛。
Kuno had telegraphed to her doctor.
是基诺打电报给她的医生。
So the human passions still blundered up and down in the Machine.
看来，人类的感情仍然在大机器里起伏激荡着。
Vashti drank the medicine that the doctor projected into her mouth, and the machinery retired into the ceiling.
瓦西蒂吃了医生投到她口里的药，这个仪器便退到天花板上去了。
The voice of Kuno was heard asking how she felt.
她听到了基诺问她感觉如何的语声。
"Better." Then with irritation: "But why do you not come to me instead?" "Because I cannot leave this place."
“好一些了。”随后怀着烦恼的心情，“可是你为什么不到我这里来，省得我去呢？”“因为我不能离开这个地方。”
"Why?" "Because, any moment, something tremendous many happen."
“为什么？”“因为随时可能有什么重大的事情发生。”
"Have you been on the surface of the earth yet?" "Not yet."
“你已经去过地球的表面吗？”“还没有。”
"Then what is it?" "I will not tell you through the Machine."
“那么到底是什么事呢？”“我决不通过大机器告诉您。”
