236.英文正文（236）

foramomenthewasalone，thenthedooropenedando’briencamein。***

“youaskedmeonce，”saido'brien，“whatwasinroom101。itoldyouthatyouknewtheansweralready。everyoneknowsit。thethingthatisinroom101istheworstthingintheworld。”thedooropenedagain。aguardcamein，carryingsomethingmadeofwire，aboxorbasketofsomekind。hesetitdownonthefurthertable。becauseofthepositioninwhicho’brienwasstanding。winstoncouldnotseewhatthethingwas。

“theworstthingintheworld，”saido’brien，“variesfromindividualtoindividual。itmaybeburialalive，ordeathbyfire，orbydrowning，orbyimpalement，orfiftyotherdeaths。therearecaseswhereitissomequitetrivialthing，notevenfatal。”

hehadmovedalittletooneside，sothatwinstonhadabetterviewofthethingonthetable。itwasanoblongwirecagewithahandleontopforcarryingitby。fixedtothefrontofitwassomethingthatlookedlikeafencingmask，withtheconcavesideoutwards。althoughitwasthreeorfourmetresawayfromhim，hecouldseethatthecagewasdividedlengthwaysintotwocompartments，andthattherewassomekindofcreatureineach。theywererats。

“inyourcase，”saido’brien，“theworstthingintheworldhappenstoberats。”

asortofpremonitorytremor，afearofhewasnotcertainwhat，hadpassedthroughwinstonassoonashecaughthisfirstglimpseofthecage。butatthismomentthemeaningofthemask-likeattachmentinfrontofitsuddenlysankintohim。hisbowelsseemedtoturntowater。