237.英文正文（237）

“youcan’tdothat！”hecriedoutinahighcrackedvoice。***“youcouldn’t，youcouldn’t！it’simpossible。”

“doyouremember，”saido’brien，“themomentofpanicthatusedtooccurinyourdreams？therewasawallofblacknessinfrontofyou，andaroaringsoundinyourears。therewassomethingterribleontheothersideofthewall。youknewthatyouknewwhatitwas，butyoudarednotdragitintotheopen。itwastheratsthatwereontheothersideofthewall。”

“o’brien！”saidwinston，makinganefforttocontrolhisvoice。“youknowthisisnotnecessary。whatisitthatyouwantmetodo？”

o’brienmadenodirectanswer。whenhespokeitwasintheschoolmasterishmannerthathesometimesaffected。helookedthoughtfullyintothedistance，asthoughhewereaddressinganaudiencesomewherebehindwinston’sback。

“byitself，”hesaid，“painisnotalwaysenough。thereareoccasionswhenahumanbeingwillstandoutagainstpain，eventothepointofdeath。butforeveryonethereissomethingunendurable—somethingthatcannotbecontemplated。courageandcowardicearenotinvolved。ifyouarefallingfromaheightitisnotcowardlytoclutchatarope。ifyouhavecomeupfromdeepwateritisnotcowardlytofillyourlungswithair。itismerelyaninstinctwhichcannotbedestroyed。itisthesamewiththerats。foryou，theyareunendurable。theyareaformofpressurethatyoucannotwithstand。evenifyouwishedto。youwilldowhatisrequiredofyou。”

“butwhatisit，whatisit？howcanidoitifidon’tknowwhatitis？”