211.英文正文(211)
“idon’tremember。***”
“oceaniaisatwarwitheastasia。doyourememberthatnow?”
“yes。”
“oceaniahasalwaysbeenatwarwitheastasia。sincethebeginningofyourlife,sincethebeginningoftheparty,sincethebeginningofhistory,thewarhascontinuedwithoutabreak,alwaysthesamewar。doyourememberthat?”
“yes。”
“elevenyearsagoyoucreatedalegendaboutthreemenwhohadbeencondemnedtodeathfortreachery。youpretendedthatyouhadseenapieceofpaperwhichprovedtheminnocent。nosuchpieceofpapereverexisted。youinventedit,andlateryougrewtobelieveinit。youremembernowtheverymomentatwhichyoufirstinventedit。doyourememberthat?”
“yes。”
“justnowiheldupthefingersofmyhandtoyou。yousawfivefingers。doyourememberthat?”
“yes。”
o’brienheldupthefingersofhislefthand,withthethumbconcealed。
“therearefivefingersthere。doyouseefivefingers?”
“yes。”
andhedidseethem,forafleetinginstant,beforethesceneryofhismindchanged。hesawfivefingers,andtherewasnodeformity。theneverythingwasnormalagain,andtheoldfear,thehatred,andthebewildermentcamecrowdingbackagain。buttherehadbeenamoment—hedidnotknowhowlong,thirtyseconds,perhaps—ofluminouscertainty,wheneachnewsuggestionofo’brien’shadfilledupapatchofemptinessandbecomeabsolutetruth,andwhentwoandtwocouldhavebeenthreeaseasilyasfive,ifthatwerewhatwasneeded。ithadfadedbutbeforeo’brienhaddroppedhishand;butthoughhecouldnotrecaptureit,hecouldrememberit,asoneremembersavividexperienceatsomeperiodofone’slifewhenonewasineffectadifferentperson。