239.英文正文（239）

“ihavepressedthefirstlever，”saido’brien。***“youunderstandtheconstructionofthiscage。themaskwillfitoveryourhead，leavingnoexit。whenipressthisotherlever，thedoorofthecagewillslideup。thesestarvingbruteswillshootoutofitlikebullets。haveyoueverseenaratleapthroughtheair？theywillleapontoyourfaceandborestraightintoit。sometimestheyattacktheeyesfirst。sometimestheyburrowthroughthecheeksanddevourthetongue。”

thecagewasnearer；itwasclosingin。winstonheardasuccessionofshrillcrieswhichappearedtobeoccurringintheairabovehishead。buthefoughtfuriouslyagainsthispanic。tothink，tothink，evenwithasplitsecondleft—tothinkwastheonlyhope。suddenlythefoulmustyodourofthebrutesstruckhisnostrils。therewasaviolentconvulsionofnauseainsidehim，andhealmostlostconsciousness。everythinghadgoneblack。foraninstanthewasinsane，ascreaminganimal。yethecameoutoftheblacknessclutchinganidea。therewasoneandonlyonewaytosavehimself。hemustinterposeanotherhumanbeing，thebodyofanotherhumanbeing，betweenhimselfandtherats。

thecircleofthemaskwaslargeenoughnowtoshutoutthevisionofanythingelse。thewiredoorwasacoupleofhand-spansfromhisface。theratsknewwhatwascomingnow。oneofthemwasleapingupanddown，theother，anoldscalygrandfatherofthesewers，stoodup，withhispinkhandsagainstthebars，andfiercelysniffedtheair。winstoncouldseethewhiskersandtheyellowteeth。againtheblackpanictookholdofhim。hewasblind，helpless，mindless。