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But no one ever looks out of air-ships, and in any case they could not have picked me up.
不过一直没有人从飞艇里朝外望，而且在任何情况里，它们也不会把我带上去的。
There I was, stranded.
我在那里，孤立无援。
The sun shone a little way down the shaft, and revealed the topmost rung of the ladder,
太阳稍稍偏低了，照在那上下行的通道上，露出了梯子的最高层梯阶，
but it was hopeless trying to reach it.
可是想要到那里去是没有希望的。
I should either have been tossed up again by the escape, or else have fallen in, and died.
我应该采取逃之夭夭的办法再碰碰运气，不然就退让一死了事。
I could only lie on the grass, sipping and sipping, and from time to time glancing around me.
我只能躺在那草上，一口又一口吸着气，时时环顾着我的周围。
"I knew that I was in Wessex, for I had taken care to go to a lecture on the subject before starting.
“我当时知道我是在威赛克斯，因为在动身以前，我曾留意听过一次讲这个专题的演说。
Wessex lies above the room in which we are talking now.
威赛克斯就在我们现在谈话的这个房间上方。
It was once an important state.
有一个时期它是一个重要的国家。
Its kings held all the southern coast form the Andredswald to Cornwall,
它的那历届国王拥有从安德斯威沃尔德直到克尔恩沃尔那的全部南海岸，
while the Wansdyke protected them on the north, running over the high ground.
当时万斯戴克在它们的北部防守着，跑遍了那片高地。
The lecturer was only concerned with the rise of Wessex,
那位演讲人只谈到威赛克斯的兴起，
so I do not know how long it remained an international power, nor would the knowledge have assisted me.
所以我不知道它保持国际强国究竟有多长时间，而且这些知识对我也毫无帮助。
To tell the truth I could do nothing but laugh, during this part.
说老实话，在这段时间里，我除了大笑以外，什么事也干不了。
There was I, with a pneumatic stopper by my side and a respirator bobbing over my head, imprisoned,
我就在那里，有个空气制动器在身边，一个呼吸保护器在我的头上方上下颠动着，
all three of us, in a grass-grown hollow that was edged with fern."
我们三个被囚禁在荒草丛生、四周尽是蕨类植物的一块洼地里。”
Then he grew grave again. "Lucky for me that it was a hollow.
随后他又变得严肃起来。“对我来说，幸好那是一块洼地。
For the air began to fall back into it and to fill it as water fills a bowl.
因为空气开始落回到洼地里，就像水倒进碗里一样灌入。
I could crawl about. Presently I stood. I breathed a mixture,
我能够到处爬行，一下子我站住了。只要我企图爬上那洼地的斜坡，我就吸进一种混合气体，
in which the air that hurts predominated whenever I tried to climb the sides.
其中，伤害人的空气占主要部分。
This was not so bad. I had not lost my tabloids and remained ridiculously cheerful,
这倒也不那么糟。我并没遗失我的食品丸，而且我始终是莫名其妙地兴致勃勃。
and as for the Machine, I forgot about it altogether.
至于有关大机器的事，我已经忘记得一干二净了。
My one aim now was to get to the top, where the ferns were, and to view whatever objects lay beyond.
这时，我的唯一目的就是爬上洼地的顶上去，那里就是蕨类植物所在的地方，我要瞭望一下在远处都有些什么东西。
"I rushed the slope. The new air was still too bitter for me and I came rolling back, after a momentary vision of something grey.
“我冲上了斜坡。那新空气对我来说还是太难过了，看了一下灰茫茫的什么东西以后，我便滚着回来了。
The sun grew very feeble, and I remembered that he was in Scorpio – I had been to a lecture on that too.
太阳逐渐变得软弱无力，于是我想起了它是在斯克比奥——我也听到过一次有关这个地方的演说。
If the sun is in Scorpio, and you are in Wessex, it means that you must be as quick as you can, or it will get too dark.
如果太阳是在斯克比奥，而你是在威赛克斯，这就是说，你得尽可能赶快，不然天就要太黑了。
(This is the first bit of useful information I have ever got from a lecture, and I expect it will be the last.)
（这是我第一次从演讲中得到的一点有用的常识，但愿这也是最后一次。）
It made me try frantically to breathe the new air, and to advance as far as I dared out of my pond.
这就使得我如醉如狂地想要吸那新空气，而且我要前进得远到我敢于从那个洼地里出来。
The hollow filled so slowly. At times I thought that the fountain played with less vigour.
这片洼地充气很慢。有时我认为那空气喷泉的作用力比较小。
My respirator seemed to dance nearer the earth; the roar was decreasing."
我的呼吸保护器似乎在更接近地面的地方跳着，那轰轰声逐渐变得弱了起来。”
