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The Greatest Invention
最伟大的发明
Lord Dunsany
邓萨尼爵士
"What do you think is going to happen, Jorkens?" one of us asked one day at the club.
“你认为会发生什么呢，乔更斯？”一天在酒吧里我们当中的一个人问道。
"Happen?" Jorkens said. "That is hard to say. In the old days one had a rough idea of what other countries wanted to do and their ability to do it. But it is all different now."
乔更斯说，“发生什么事？这很难说。以前，人们大概还能知道其他国家想干什么以及能力如何，但现在完全不同了。”
"How is it different?" asked the man.
这个人问，“有什么不同呢？”
"There are so many inventions," Jorkens said, "of which we know nothing. Now that a man can carry in a bag a bomb that is more powerful than several battleships, it is hard to find out what any country can do or will do next. I will give you an example."
乔更斯答道，“因为现在有许多发明，对此我们一无所知。既然一个人可以在包里放上一个威力比数艘战舰还大的炸弹，那么就很难去弄清一个国家能做什么或是以后会干什么。我可以给你们举一个例子。”
I was on a ship in the tropics (Jorkens told us), and we put into a port. I was tired of looking at the tropical sea, so I went ashore and walked into a tavern to see if they had any decent wines in that country. As it turned out, they hadn't. But there was a man there with a black mustache and a certain look in his eyes that made me wonder if he might not have something interesting to tell. So I asked him if I might offer him a glass of wine. Well, he was good enough to accept, and I called for a bottle of the queer local wine. When the bottle had been uncorked and the wine poured out, like liquid tropical sunlight, I watched it go down under that black mustache. And when a certain amount had gone down, he began to talk.
（乔更斯告诉我们）我当时乘坐的船正行驶在热带海洋上，而后我们停靠在一个港口。我已经厌倦了热带海洋上的生活，于是上了岸，走进一家小酒馆，看看那里卖不卖这个国家的好酒。结果却没有。但酒吧有一个人，留着黑色的小胡子，眼神里有一种特别的东西让我觉得他可能有有趣的事情要讲。所以，我问可不可以请他喝一杯酒。他欣然接受了，于是我叫了一瓶当地 奇特的酒。打开瓶塞后倒出的酒就像液化的热带阳光一样，很烈。我看着酒从他的黑胡子下汩汩而进。几杯酒下肚后，他开始侃侃而谈。
