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怕相思，已思相，轮到相思没处辞，眉间露一丝
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Re:时间机器Time Machine
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英：
5. As I stood there musing over this too
`As I stood there musing over this too perfect triumph of man, the full moon, yellow and gibbous, came up out of an overflow of silver light in the north-east. The bright little figures ceased to move about below, a noiseless owl flitted by, and I shivered with the chill of the night. I determined to descend and find where I could sleep.
`I looked for the building I knew. Then my eye travelled along to the figure of the White Sphinx upon the pedestal of bronze, growing distinct as the light of the rising moon grew brighter. I could see the silver birch against it. There was the tangle of rhododendron bushes, black in the pale light, and there was the little lawn. I looked at the lawn again. A queer doubt chilled my complacency. "No," said I stoutly to myself, "that was not the lawn."
`But it WAS the lawn. For the white leprous face of the sphinx was towards it. Can you imagine what I felt as this conviction came home to me? But you cannot. The Time Machine was gone!
`At once, like a lash across the face, came the possibility of losing my own age, of being left helpless in this strange new world. The bare thought of it was an actual physical sensation. I could feel it grip me at the throat and stop my breathing. In another moment I was in a passion of fear and running with great leaping strides down the slope. Once I fell headlong and cut my face; I lost no time in stanching the blood, but jumped up and ran on, with a warm trickle down my cheek and chin. All the time I ran I was saying to myself: "They have moved it a little, pushed it under the bushes out of the way." Nevertheless, I ran with all my might. All the time, with the certainty that sometimes comes with excessive dread, I knew that such assurance was folly, knew instinctively that the machine was removed out of my reach. My breath came with pain. I suppose I covered the whole distance from the hill crest to the little lawn, two miles perhaps, in ten minutes. And I am not a young man. I cursed aloud, as I ran, at my confident folly in leaving the machine, wasting good breath thereby. I cried aloud, and none answered. Not a creature seemed to be stirring in that moonlit world.
`When I reached the lawn my worst fears were realized. Not a trace of the thing was to be seen. I felt faint and cold when I faced the empty space among the black tangle of bushes. I ran round it furiously, as if the thing might be hidden in a corner, and then stopped abruptly, with my hands clutching my hair. Above me towered the sphinx, upon the bronze pedestal, white, shining, leprous, in the light of the rising moon. It seemed to smile in mockery of my dismay.
`I might have consoled myself by imagining the little people had put the mechanism in some shelter for me, had I not felt assured of their physical and intellectual inadequacy. That is what dismayed me: the sense of some hitherto unsuspected power, through whose intervention my invention had vanished. Yet, for one thing I felt assured: unless some other age had produced its exact duplicate, the machine could not have moved in time. The attachment of the levers--I will show you the method later-- prevented any one from tampering with it in that way when they were removed. It had moved, and was hid, only in space. But then, where could it be?
`I think I must have had a kind of frenzy. I remember running violently in and out among the moonlit bushes all round the sphinx, and startling some white animal that, in the dim light, I took for a small deer. I remember, too, late that night, beating the bushes with my clenched fist until my knuckles were gashed and bleeding from the broken twigs. Then, sobbing and raving in my anguish of mind, I went down to the great building of stone. The big hall was dark, silent, and deserted. I slipped on the uneven floor, and fell over one of the malachite tables, almost breaking my shin. I lit a match and went on past the dusty curtains, of which I have told you.
`There I found a second great hall covered with cushions, upon which, perhaps, a score or so of the little people were sleeping. I have no doubt they found my second appearance strange enough, coming suddenly out of the quiet darkness with inarticulate noises and the splutter and flare of a match. For they had forgotten about matches. "Where is my Time Machine?" I began, bawling like an angry child, laying hands upon them and shaking them up together. It must have been very queer to them. Some laughed, most of them looked sorely frightened. When I saw them standing round me, it came into my head that I was doing as foolish a thing as it was possible for me to do under the circumstances, in trying to revive the sensation of fear. For, reasoning from their daylight behaviour, I thought that fear must be forgotten.
`Abruptly, I dashed down the match, and, knocking one of the people over in my course, went blundering across the big dining-hall again, out under the moonlight. I heard cries of terror and their little feet running and stumbling this way and that. I do not remember all I did as the moon crept up the sky. I suppose it was the unexpected nature of my loss that maddened me. I felt hopelessly cut off from my own kind--a strange animal in an unknown world. I must have raved to and fro, screaming and crying upon God and Fate. I have a memory of horrible fatigue, as the long night of despair wore away; of looking in this impossible place and that; of groping among moon-lit ruins and touching strange creatures in the black shadows; at last, of lying on the ground near the sphinx and weeping with absolute wretchedness. I had nothing left but misery. Then I slept, and when I woke again it was full day, and a couple of sparrows were hopping round me on the turf within reach of my arm.
`I sat up in the freshness of the morning, trying to remember how I had got there, and why I had such a profound sense of desertion and despair. Then things came clear in my mind. With the plain, reasonable daylight, I could look my circumstances fairly in the face. I saw the wild folly of my frenzy overnight, and I could reason with myself. "Suppose the worst?" I said. "Suppose the machine altogether lost--perhaps destroyed? It behooves me to be calm and patient, to learn the way of the people, to get a clear idea of the method of my loss, and the means of getting materials and tools; so that in the end, perhaps, I may make another." That would be my only hope, perhaps, but better than despair. And, after all, it was a beautiful and curious world.
`But probably, the machine had only been taken away. Still, I must be calm and patient, find its hiding-place, and recover it by force or cunning. And with that I scrambled to my feet and looked about me, wondering where I could bathe. I felt weary, stiff, and travel-soiled. The freshness of the morning made me desire an equal freshness. I had exhausted my emotion. Indeed, as I went about my business, I found myself wondering at my intense excitement overnight. I made a careful examination of the ground about the little lawn. I wasted some time in futile questionings, conveyed, as well as I was able, to such of the little people as came by. They all failed to understand my gestures; some were simply stolid, some thought it was a jest and laughed at me. I had the hardest task in the world to keep my hands off their pretty laughing faces. It was a foolish impulse, but the devil begotten of fear and blind anger was ill curbed and still eager to take advantage of my perplexity. The turf gave better counsel. I found a groove ripped in it, about midway between the pedestal of the sphinx and the marks of my feet where, on arrival, I had struggled with the overturned machine. There were other signs of removal about, with queer narrow footprints like those I could imagine made by a sloth. This directed my closer attention to the pedestal. It was, as I think I have said, of bronze. It was not a mere block, but highly decorated with deep framed panels on either side. I went and rapped at these. The pedestal was hollow. Examining the panels with care I found them discontinuous with the frames. There were no handles or keyholes, but possibly the panels, if they were doors, as I supposed, opened from within. One thing was clear enough to my mind. It took no very great mental effort to infer that my Time Machine was inside that pedestal. But how it got there was a different problem.
`I saw the heads of two orange-clad people coming through the bushes and under some blossom-covered apple-trees towards me. I turned smiling to them and beckoned them to me. They came, and then, pointing to the bronze pedestal, I tried to intimate my wish to open it. But at my first gesture towards this they behaved very oddly. I don't know how to convey their expression to you. Suppose you were to use a grossly improper gesture to a delicate-minded woman--it is how she would look. They went off as if they had received the last possible insult. I tried a sweet-looking little chap in white next, with exactly the same result. Somehow, his manner made me feel ashamed of myself. But, as you know, I wanted the Time Machine, and I tried him once more. As he turned off, like the others, my temper got the better of me. In three strides I was after him, had him by the loose part of his robe round the neck, and began dragging him towards the sphinx. Then I saw the horror and repugnance of his face, and all of a sudden I let him go.
`But I was not beaten yet. I banged with my fist at the bronze panels. I thought I heard something stir inside--to be explicit, I thought I heard a sound like a chuckle--but I must have been mistaken. Then I got a big pebble from the river, and came and hammered till I had flattened a coil in the decorations, and the verdigris came off in powdery flakes. The delicate little people must have heard me hammering in gusty outbreaks a mile away on either hand, but nothing came of it. I saw a crowd of them upon the slopes, looking furtively at me. At last, hot and tired, I sat down to watch the place. But I was too restless to watch long; I am too Occidental for a long vigil. I could work at a problem for years, but to wait inactive for twenty-four hours--that is another matter.
`I got up after a time, and began walking aimlessly through the bushes towards the hill again. "Patience," said I to myself. "If you want your machine again you must leave that sphinx alone. If they mean to take your machine away, it's little good your wrecking their bronze panels, and if they don't, you will get it back as soon as you can ask for it. To sit among all those unknown things before a puzzle like that is hopeless. That way lies monomania. Face this world. Learn its ways, watch it, be careful of too hasty guesses at its meaning. In the end you will find clues to it all." Then suddenly the humour of the situation came into my mind: the thought of the years I had spent in study and toil to get into the future age, and now my passion of anxiety to get out of it. I had made myself the most complicated and the most hopeless trap that ever a man devised. Although it was at my own expense, I could not help myself. I laughed aloud.
`Going through the big palace, it seemed to me that the little people avoided me. It may have been my fancy, or it may have had something to do with my hammering at the gates of bronze. Yet I felt tolerably sure of the avoidance. I was careful, however, to show no concern and to abstain from any pursuit of them, and in the course of a day or two things got back to the old footing. I made what progress I could in the language, and in addition I pushed my explorations here and there. Either I missed some subtle point or their language was excessively simple--almost exclusively composed of concrete substantives and verbs. There seemed to be few, if any, abstract terms, or little use of figurative language. Their sentences were usually simple and of two words, and I failed to convey or understand any but the simplest propositions. I determined to put the thought of my Time Machine and the mystery of the bronze doors under the sphinx as much as possible in a corner of memory, until my growing knowledge would lead me back to them in a natural way. Yet a certain feeling, you may understand, tethered me in a circle of a few miles round the point of my arrival.
`So far as I could see, all the world displayed the same exuberant richness as the Thames valley. From every hill I climbed I saw the same abundance of splendid buildings, endlessly varied in material and style, the same clustering thickets of evergreens, the same blossom-laden trees and tree-ferns. Here and there water shone like silver, and beyond, the land rose into blue undulating hills, and so faded into the serenity of the sky. A peculiar feature, which presently attracted my attention, was the presence of certain circular wells, several, as it seemed to me, of a very great depth. One lay by the path up the hill, which I had followed during my first walk. Like the others, it was rimmed with bronze, curiously wrought, and protected by a little cupola from the rain. Sitting by the side of these wells, and peering down into the shafted darkness, I could see no gleam of water, nor could I start any reflection with a lighted match. But in all of them I heard a certain sound: a thud-thud-thud, like the beating of some big engine; and I discovered, from the flaring of my matches, that a steady current of air set down the shafts. Further, I threw a scrap of paper into the throat of one, and, instead of fluttering slowly down, it was at once sucked swiftly out of sight.
`After a time, too, I came to connect these wells with tall towers standing here and there upon the slopes; for above them there was often just such a flicker in the air as one sees on a hot day above a sun-scorched beach. Putting things together, I reached a strong suggestion of an extensive system of subterranean ventilation, whose true import it was difficult to imagine. I was at first inclined to associate it with the sanitary apparatus of these people. It was an obvious conclusion, but it was absolutely wrong.
`And here I must admit that I learned very little of drains and bells and modes of conveyance, and the like conveniences, during my time in this real future. In some of these visions of Utopias and coming times which I have read, there is a vast amount of detail about building, and social arrangements, and so forth. But while such details are easy enough to obtain when the whole world is contained in one's imagination, they are altogether inaccessible to a real traveller amid such realities as I found here. Conceive the tale of London which a negro, fresh from Central Africa, would take back to his tribe! What would he know of railway companies, of social movements, of telephone and telegraph wires, of the Parcels Delivery Company, and postal orders and the like? Yet we, at least, should be willing enough to explain these things to him! And even of what he knew, how much could he make his untravelled friend either apprehend or believe? Then, think how narrow the gap between a negro and a white man of our own times, and how wide the interval between myself and these of the Golden Age! I was sensible of much which was unseen, and which contributed to my comfort; but save for a general impression of automatic organization, I fear I can convey very little of the difference to your mind.
`In the matter of sepulchre, for instance, I could see no signs of crematoria nor anything suggestive of tombs. But it occurred to me that, possibly, there might be cemeteries (or crematoria) somewhere beyond the range of my explorings. This, again, was a question I deliberately put to myself, and my curiosity was at first entirely defeated upon the point. The thing puzzled me, and I was led to make a further remark, which puzzled me still more: that aged and infirm among this people there were none.
`I must confess that my satisfaction with my first theories of an automatic civilization and a decadent humanity did not long endure. Yet I could think of no other. Let me put my difficulties. The several big palaces I had explored were mere living places, great dining-halls and sleeping apartments. I could find no machinery, no appliances of any kind. Yet these people were clothed in pleasant fabrics that must at times need renewal, and their sandals, though undecorated, were fairly complex specimens of metalwork. Somehow such things must be made. And the little people displayed no vestige of a creative tendency. There were no shops, no workshops, no sign of importations among them. They spent all their time in playing gently, in bathing in the river, in making love in a half-playful fashion, in eating fruit and sleeping. I could not see how things were kept going.
`Then, again, about the Time Machine: something, I knew not what, had taken it into the hollow pedestal of the White Sphinx. Why? For the life of me I could not imagine. Those waterless wells, too, those flickering pillars. I felt I lacked a clue. I felt--how shall I put it? Suppose you found an inscription, with sentences here and there in excellent plain English, and interpolated therewith, others made up of words, of letters even, absolutely unknown to you? Well, on the third day of my visit, that was how the world of Eight Hundred and Two Thousand Seven Hundred and One presented itself to me!
`That day, too, I made a friend--of a sort. It happened that, as I was watching some of the little people bathing in a shallow, one of them was seized with cramp and began drifting downstream. The main current ran rather swiftly, but not too strongly for even a moderate swimmer. It will give you an idea, therefore, of the strange deficiency in these creatures, when I tell you that none made the slightest attempt to rescue the weakly crying little thing which was drowning before their eyes. When I realized this, I hurriedly slipped off my clothes, and, wading in at a point lower down, I caught the poor mite and drew her safe to land. A little rubbing of the limbs soon brought her round, and I had the satisfaction of seeing she was all right before I left her. I had got to such a low estimate of her kind that I did not expect any gratitude from her. In that, however, I was wrong.
`This happened in the morning. In the afternoon I met my little woman, as I believe it was, as I was returning towards my centre from an exploration, and she received me with cries of delight and presented me with a big garland of flowers-- evidently made for me and me alone. The thing took my imagination. Very possibly I had been feeling desolate. At any rate I did my best to display my appreciation of the gift. We were soon seated together in a little stone arbour, engaged in conversation, chiefly of smiles. The creature's friendliness affected me exactly as a child's might have done. We passed each other flowers, and she kissed my hands. I did the same to hers. Then I tried talk, and found that her name was Weena, which, though I don't know what it meant, somehow seemed appropriate enough. That was the beginning of a queer friendship which lasted a week, and ended--as I will tell you!
`She was exactly like a child. She wanted to be with me always. She tried to follow me everywhere, and on my next journey out and about it went to my heart to tire her down, and leave her at last, exhausted and calling after me rather plaintively. But the problems of the world had to be mastered. I had not, I said to myself, come into the future to carry on a miniature flirtation. Yet her distress when I left her was very great, her expostulations at the parting were sometimes frantic, and I think, altogether, I had as much trouble as comfort from her devotion. Nevertheless she was, somehow, a very great comfort. I thought it was mere childish affection that made her cling to me. Until it was too late, I did not clearly know what I had inflicted upon her when I left her. Nor until it was too late did I clearly understand what she was to me. For, by merely seeming fond of me, and showing in her weak, futile way that she cared for me, the little doll of a creature presently gave my return to the neighbourhood of the White Sphinx almost the feeling of coming home; and I would watch for her tiny figure of white and gold so soon as I came over the hill.
`It was from her, too, that I learned that fear had not yet left the world. She was fearless enough in the daylight, and she had the oddest confidence in me; for once, in a foolish moment, I made threatening grimaces at her, and she simply laughed at them. But she dreaded the dark, dreaded shadows, dreaded black things. Darkness to her was the one thing dreadful. It was a singularly passionate emotion, and it set me thinking and observing. I discovered then, among other things, that these little people gathered into the great houses after dark, and slept in droves. To enter upon them without a light was to put them into a tumult of apprehension. I never found one out of doors, or one sleeping alone within doors, after dark. Yet I was still such a blockhead that I missed the lesson of that fear, and in spite of Weena's distress I insisted upon sleeping away from these slumbering multitudes.
`It troubled her greatly, but in the end her odd affection for me triumphed, and for five of the nights of our acquaintance, including the last night of all, she slept with her head pillowed on my arm. But my story slips away from me as I speak of her. It must have been the night before her rescue that I was awakened about dawn. I had been restless, dreaming most disagreeably that I was drowned, and that sea anemones were feeling over my face with their soft palps. I woke with a start, and with an odd fancy that some greyish animal had just rushed out of the chamber. I tried to get to sleep again, but I felt restless and uncomfortable. It was that dim grey hour when things are just creeping out of darkness, when everything is colourless and clear cut, and yet unreal. I got up, and went down into the great hall, and so out upon the flagstones in front of the palace. I thought I would make a virtue of necessity, and see the sunrise.
`The moon was setting, and the dying moonlight and the first pallor of dawn were mingled in a ghastly half-light. The bushes were inky black, the ground a sombre grey, the sky colourless and cheerless. And up the hill I thought I could see ghosts. There several times, as I scanned the slope, I saw white figures. Twice I fancied I saw a solitary white, ape-like creature running rather quickly up the hill, and once near the ruins I saw a leash of them carrying some dark body. They moved hastily. I did not see what became of them. It seemed that they vanished among the bushes. The dawn was still indistinct, you must understand. I was feeling that chill, uncertain, early-morning feeling you may have known. I doubted my eyes.
`As the eastern sky grew brighter, and the light of the day came on and its vivid colouring returned upon the world once more, I scanned the view keenly. But I saw no vestige of my white figures. They were mere creatures of the half light. "They must have been ghosts," I said; "I wonder whence they dated." For a queer notion of Grant Allen's came into my head, and amused me. If each generation die and leave ghosts, he argued, the world at last will get overcrowded with them. On that theory they would have grown innumerable some Eight Hundred Thousand Years hence, and it was no great wonder to see four at once. But the jest was unsatisfying, and I was thinking of these figures all the morning, until Weena's rescue drove them out of my head. I associated them in some indefinite way with the white animal I had startled in my first passionate search for the Time Machine. But Weena was a pleasant substitute. Yet all the same, they were soon destined to take far deadlier possession of my mind.
`I think I have said how much hotter than our own was the weather of this Golden Age. I cannot account for it. It may be that the sun was hotter, or the earth nearer the sun. It is usual to assume that the sun will go on cooling steadily in the future. But people, unfamiliar with such speculations as those of the younger Darwin, forget that the planets must ultimately fall back one by one into the parent body. As these catastrophes occur, the sun will blaze with renewed energy; and it may be that some inner planet had suffered this fate. Whatever the reason, the fact remains that the sun was very much hotter than we know it.
`Well, one very hot morning--my fourth, I think--as I was seeking shelter from the heat and glare in a colossal ruin near the great house where I slept and fed, there happened this strange thing: Clambering among these heaps of masonry, I found a narrow gallery, whose end and side windows were blocked by fallen masses of stone. By contrast with the brilliancy outside, it seemed at first impenetrably dark to me. I entered it groping, for the change from light to blackness made spots of colour swim before me. Suddenly I halted spellbound. A pair of eyes, luminous by reflection against the daylight without, was watching me out of the darkness.
`The old instinctive dread of wild beasts came upon me. I clenched my hands and steadfastly looked into the glaring eyeballs. I was afraid to turn. Then the thought of the absolute security in which humanity appeared to be living came to my mind. And then I remembered that strange terror of the dark. Overcoming my fear to some extent, I advanced a step and spoke. I will admit that my voice was harsh and ill-controlled. I put out my hand and touched something soft. At once the eyes darted sideways, and something white ran past me. I turned with my heart in my mouth, and saw a queer little ape-like figure, its head held down in a peculiar manner, running across the sunlit space behind me. It blundered against a block of granite, staggered aside, and in a moment was hidden in a black shadow beneath another pile of ruined masonry.
`My impression of it is, of course, imperfect; but I know it was a dull white, and had strange large greyish-red eyes; also that there was flaxen hair on its head and down its back. But, as I say, it went too fast for me to see distinctly. I cannot even say whether it ran on all-fours, or only with its forearms held very low. After an instant's pause I followed it into the second heap of ruins. I could not find it at first; but, after a time in the profound obscurity, I came upon one of those round well-like openings of which I have told you, half closed by a fallen pillar. A sudden thought came to me. Could this Thing have vanished down the shaft? I lit a match, and, looking down, I saw a small, white, moving creature, with large bright eyes which regarded me steadfastly as it retreated. It made me shudder. It was so like a human spider! It was clambering down the wall, and now I saw for the first time a number of metal foot and hand rests forming a kind of ladder down the shaft. Then the light burned my fingers and fell out of my hand, going out as it dropped, and when I had lit another the little monster had disappeared.
`I do not know how long I sat peering down that well. It was not for some time that I could succeed in persuading myself that the thing I had seen was human. But, gradually, the truth dawned on me: that Man had not remained one species, but had differentiated into two distinct animals: that my graceful children of the Upper-world were not the sole descendants of our generation, but that this bleached, obscene, nocturnal Thing, which had flashed before me, was also heir to all the ages.
`I thought of the flickering pillars and of my theory of an underground ventilation. I began to suspect their true import. And what, I wondered, was this Lemur doing in my scheme of a perfectly balanced organization? How was it related to the indolent serenity of the beautiful Upper-worlders? And what was hidden down there, at the foot of that shaft? I sat upon the edge of the well telling myself that, at any rate, there was nothing to fear, and that there I must descend for the solution of my difficulties. And withal I was absolutely afraid to go! As I hesitated, two of the beautiful Upper-world people came running in their amorous sport across the daylight in the shadow. The male pursued the female, flinging flowers at her as he ran.
`They seemed distressed to find me, my arm against the overturned pillar, peering down the well. Apparently it was considered bad form to remark these apertures; for when I pointed to this one, and tried to frame a question about it in their tongue, they were still more visibly distressed and turned away. But they were interested by my matches, and I struck some to amuse them. I tried them again about the well, and again I failed. So presently I left them, meaning to go back to Weena, and see what I could get from her. But my mind was already in revolution; my guesses and impressions were slipping and sliding to a new adjustment. I had now a clue to the import of these wells, to the ventilating towers, to the mystery of the ghosts; to say nothing of a hint at the meaning of the bronze gates and the fate of the Time Machine! And very vaguely there came a suggestion towards the solution of the economic problem that had puzzled me.
`Here was the new view. Plainly, this second species of Man was subterranean. There were three circumstances in particular which made me think that its rare emergence above ground was the outcome of a long-continued underground habit. In the first place, there was the bleached look common in most animals that live largely in the dark--the white fish of the Kentucky caves, for instance. Then, those large eyes, with that capacity for reflecting light, are common features of nocturnal things-- witness the owl and the cat. And last of all, that evident confusion in the sunshine, that hasty yet fumbling awkward flight towards dark shadow, and that peculiar carriage of the head while in the light--all reinforced the theory of an extreme sensitiveness of the retina.
`Beneath my feet, then, the earth must be tunnelled enormously, and these tunnellings were the habitat of the new race. The presence of ventilating shafts and wells along the hill slopes--everywhere, in fact except along the river valley --showed how universal were its ramifications. What so natural, then, as to assume that it was in this artificial Underworld that such work as was necessary to the comfort of the daylight race was done? The notion was so plausible that I at once accepted it, and went on to assume the how of this splitting of the human species. I dare say you will anticipate the shape of my theory; though, for myself, I very soon felt that it fell far short of the truth.
`At first, proceeding from the problems of our own age, it seemed clear as daylight to me that the gradual widening of the present merely temporary and social difference between the Capitalist and the Labourer, was the key to the whole position. No doubt it will seem grotesque enough to you--and wildly incredible!--and yet even now there are existing circumstances to point that way. There is a tendency to utilize underground space for the less ornamental purposes of civilization; there is the Metropolitan Railway in London, for instance, there are new electric railways, there are subways, there are underground workrooms and restaurants, and they increase and multiply. Evidently, I thought, this tendency had increased till Industry had gradually lost its birthright in the sky. I mean that it had gone deeper and deeper into larger and ever larger underground factories, spending a still-increasing amount of its time therein, till, in the end--! Even now, does not an East-end worker live in such artificial conditions as practically to be cut off from the natural surface of the earth?
`Again, the exclusive tendency of richer people--due, no doubt, to the increasing refinement of their education, and the widening gulf between them and the rude violence of the poor-- is already leading to the closing, in their interest, of considerable portions of the surface of the land. About London, for instance, perhaps half the prettier country is shut in against intrusion. And this same widening gulf--which is due to the length and expense of the higher educational process and the increased facilities for and temptations towards refined habits on the part of the rich--will make that exchange between class and class, that promotion by intermarriage which at present retards the splitting of our species along lines of social stratification, less and less frequent. So, in the end, above ground you must have the Haves, pursuing pleasure and comfort and beauty, and below ground the Have-nots, the Workers getting continually adapted to the conditions of their labour. Once they were there, they would no doubt have to pay rent, and not a little of it, for the ventilation of their caverns; and if they refused, they would starve or be suffocated for arrears. Such of them as were so constituted as to be miserable and rebellious would die; and, in the end, the balance being permanent, the survivors would become as well adapted to the conditions of underground life, and as happy in their way, as the Upper-world people were to theirs. As it seemed to me, the refined beauty and the etiolated pallor followed naturally enough.
`The great triumph of Humanity I had dreamed of took a different shape in my mind. It had been no such triumph of moral education and general co-operation as I had imagined. Instead, I saw a real aristocracy, armed with a perfected science and working to a logical conclusion the industrial system of to-day. Its triumph had not been simply a triumph over Nature, but a triumph over Nature and the fellow-man. This, I must warn you, was my theory at the time. I had no convenient cicerone in the pattern of the Utopian books. My explanation may be absolutely wrong. I still think it is the most plausible one. But even on this supposition the balanced civilization that was at last attained must have long since passed its zenith, and was now far fallen into decay. The too-perfect security of the Upper-worlders had led them to a slow movement of degeneration, to a general dwindling in size, strength, and intelligence. That I could see clearly enough already. What had happened to the Under-grounders I did not yet suspect; but from what I had seen of the Morlocks--that, by the by, was the name by which these creatures were called--I could imagine that the modification of the human type was even far more profound than among the "Eloi," the beautiful race that I already knew.
`Then came troublesome doubts. Why had the Morlocks taken my Time Machine? For I felt sure it was they who had taken it. Why, too, if the Eloi were masters, could they not restore the machine to me? And why were they so terribly afraid of the dark? I proceeded, as I have said, to question Weena about this Under-world, but here again I was disappointed. At first she would not understand my questions, and presently she refused to answer them. She shivered as though the topic was unendurable. And when I pressed her, perhaps a little harshly, she burst into tears. They were the only tears, except my own, I ever saw in that Golden Age. When I saw them I ceased abruptly to trouble about the Morlocks, and was only concerned in banishing these signs of the human inheritance from Weena's eyes. And very soon she was smiling and clapping her hands, while I solemnly burned a match.
中：
第五章. 我站在那里思索着人类这一过于完美的成功
“我站在那里思索着人类这一过于完美的成功。一轮满 月从东北方的银辉中升起，欢快的小人不再在山下面来回走 动，一只猫头鹰悄然地飞弛而过。我在夜晚的寒冷中瑟瑟发 抖，于是决定下山去找个睡觉的地方。
“我寻找我熟悉的那幢建筑。这时我的视线落到铜座基 上的白色斯芬克斯像上。塑像在渐渐明亮的月光下越来越清 晰可辨，我可以看清靠着它的那棵纸皮烨。杜鹃花缠绕在一 起，在银色的月光下变成黑乎乎的一团，还有那片小草坪。 我又瞅了瞅那片草坪，一种难言的疑惑油然而起，我的心都 凉了。‘不，’我勇敢地对自己说，‘不是这块草坪。’
“可就是这块草坪，因为斯芬克斯像生麻疯病似的白脸是 朝着它的。你们能想象我再次确信草坪没有搞错时的感受吗？ 你们肯定不能。时间机器不见了！
“像脸上猛挨了一鞭，我可能会就此失去自己的时代，被 孤立无援地抛弃在这个陌生的世界里。想到这里，我浑身发 抖，感到自己的咽喉给卡住了，透不过气来。我顿时惊慌失 措，大步朝山下冲去，下冲时摔了个倒栽葱，把脸都划破了。 我顾不上止血包扎，跃起身继续往下跑，热乎乎的鲜血顺着 脸颊和下巴朝下流。我～边跑一边对自己说，‘他们只是把时 间机器搬动了一下，把它放到路边的灌木丛中去了。’可我的 两只脚还是拚命奔跑。极度的恐惧往往使人头脑清醒，一路 上我也完全清楚，这样的自我安慰是愚蠢的，我的本能告诉 我时间机器已经到了我找不到的地方。我感到呼吸困难，想 从山顶跑到这块草坪，2英里的路我大慨只用了10分钟的时 间。我已不是年青人，可我一边跑一边还在浪费力气，大声 诅咒自己愚蠢，竟信心十足地留下了时间机器。我大声呼喊， 可听不到一声回音。月光下的天地里，似乎没有任何生命在 活动。
“来到草坪前，我最担心的事情成了现实。时间机器已无 影无踪。我面对黑乎乎的灌木丛中的这片空旷地，头晕目眩， 浑身冰凉。我绕着草坪死命跑，好像时间机器就藏在哪个角 落里，接着又突然停住脚步，两手紧揪头发。铜座基上的斯 芬克斯像俯视着我，那张麻疯病似的睑在月色下显得又白又 亮，它仿佛在嘲笑我的沮丧。
“如果不是我觉得这些小人缺乏体力和智力的话，我一定 会想象他们把我的时间机器放到了有遮挡的地方并以此来安 慰自己。可让我沮丧的是，我感到这里有某种未知的力量，我 的发明物就是在它的影响下消失的。然而，有一点我是确信 无疑的：除非别的某个时代有它的复制品，否则这台时间机 器是不会在时间里随便运动的。机器上的杠杆——我以启示 范给你们看——可以防止任何人移动机器时在上面做手脚。 如果说机器移动了位置并且被藏了起来，那它只会被藏在空 间里。可到底会在什么地方的空间里呢？
“我想我当时一定有点发疯了。我记得我绕着斯芬克斯像 在月光下的灌木丛里冲进冲出，把一只白色的动物吓了一跳， 我在昏暗的月光下以为是一只小鹿。我还记得，那天深夜我 用拳头挥打灌木丛，直到我的指关节在断树枝上划得鲜血直 流。之后，我痛苦万分，哭着骂着来到那幢巨大的石砌建筑 里。大厅里黑幽幽的，无声无息，我在高低不平的地面上一 滑，跌倒在一张石桌上，差点把我的小腿摔断。我划亮一根 火柴，走过积满灰尘的窗帘，这窗帘我已跟你们讲过。
“走过去时我又发现了一个大厅，里边铺满了垫子，大约 有二十几个小人睡在垫子上。我这次是从寂静的黑暗中突然 出现的，嘴里叽里咕哈，手中还“啪”地划亮了一根火柴。我 肯定他们一定觉得我这第二次出现十分奇怪，因为他们忘记 了我有火柴这玩意儿。‘我的时间机器在哪里？’我像个发火 的孩子大叫大喊，双手抓住他们把他们全都摇醒了。他们一 定觉得我这样做难以理解，其中有的人笑了，大多数人却显 得极为恐惧。见他们围到我身旁时，我意识到在这种情况下 我这样做简直是愚蠢逐项，只会恢复他们的恐惧感。因为从 他们白天的行为分析，我认为他们已不再怕我。
“突然，我向人群外冲去，撞倒了其中的一个，跟踉跄跄 地再次穿过大厅，来到月光下。我听见恐慌的叫喊声和他们 的小脚跌跌撞撞到处乱跑的声音。月亮爬上了天空，我已记 不清我当时的所作所为。我想，这样举止疯狂是因为我出乎 意料地丢失了时间机器。我失去了和我同类的联系，成了这 个未知世界里的一个怪物，我感到一筹莫展。我肯定是骂前 骂后，叫天喊他。我记得我在绝望中度过了漫漫长夜，在不 可能找到的地方乱寻一通，在月光下的废墟中摸索，还在黑 影里摸到了一些怪物，最后我筋疲力尽，躺倒在斯芬克斯像 边的地上，失声痛哭。我除了痛苦已一无所有。后来我睡着 了。当我再次醒来时，天已大亮，几只麻雀在我触手可及的 草皮上欢蹦乱跳。
“我在早晨的清新空气中坐起身，想弄明白我怎么会在那 里的，又怎么会这样深感孤独和绝望的。这时，发生的一切 在我的脑子里清晰地浮现出来。在这光天化日之下，我终于 能够看清楚我的处境了。我明白昨晚我发疯似的行为是愚蠢 的，我又恢复了理智。‘最坏会是怎样呢？’我说，‘假设时间 机器根本找不着了，或者已遭毁坏，这就需要我冷静和耐心 地去学习这些人的处事方法，弄清我丢失时间机器的前因后 果和获取材料与工具的途径，以便我最终再造一台时间机 器。’这是我唯一的希望，或许是可怜的希望，但总比绝望强。 而且不管怎么说，这是一个美丽和难以理解的世界。
“也许这台机器只是被搬到了别处。可即使这样，我仍然 需要冷静和耐心，找到它的藏身之处，或者用武力或者施诡 计去把它寻回来。这时，我爬起身朝四周望望，想找个可以 洗澡的地方。我感到浑身乏力，四肢僵硬，满身风尘。清醒 的早晨使我也渴求清醒的身心。我已耗尽我的感情，真的，我 在安排我自己的事情时，发现自己都搞不清楚昨夜的情绪怎 么会如此激烈。我仔细搜寻了小草坪的四周，还浪费时间做 无用功，向路过的那些小人打听机器的下落。我尽力把我的 意思表达清楚，他们却一个也不懂我的手势：有的无动于衷； 有的以为这是开玩笑，朝我大笑。我真想朝这些漂亮的笑脸 上狠摸过去。这当然是愚蠢的冲动，但恐惧和莫名的怒火实 在难以抑制，一有机会就急不可奈地冲上我的心头。眼前的 那块草坪倒让我心平气和下来。我发现草坪上有一道凹痕，就 在斯芬克斯像的座基和我留下的脚印之间。脚印是我到达时 拚命想把时间机器翻过来时留下的，可旁边还有其他的活动 痕迹，好像是树獭留下的狭窄脚印。我更加仔细地去注意那 个座基，记得我已说过，这是个铜座基，它不是一整块铜构 成的，而是两边饰有带框的嵌板。我走过去敲敲嵌板，底座 是空心的。经过细心察看，我发现嵌板与框架并不连在一起。 嵌板上没有把手也没有钥匙孔，可我想这些嵌板如果是门就 一定是从里边开的。有一件事我心里很清楚，我不动脑子都 可以推知我的时间机器就在这底座里。可它是如何进去的却 是一个难解的迷。
“我看见两个身着桔黄色服装的人穿过灌木丛，在开满鲜 花的苹果树下朝我走来。我转身朝他们笑笑，示意他们过来。 他们过来后，我指着铜座基，想表明我希望能把它打开。可 我刚举起手，他们便做出了非常古怪的举止。我不知道该如 何来向你们描述他们脸上的表情，这就像一个思想脆弱的女 人在你对她做了个极不正经的手势后露出的表情。这两个人 像受到了奇耻大辱似的走开了。我接下来对一个穿着白色服 装脸蛋漂亮的小家伙又试了一下，结果完全一样。不知什么 道理，他的举动使我感到内疚。可你们知道，我想找回我的 时间机器，于是我又对他试了一下。当他和其他两个一样走 开时，我的脾气上来了。我冲上几步，追到他身后，一把抓 住他宽松的领口，把他拖向斯芬克斯像。这时我看到他脸上 露出害怕和反感的表情，我突然间松开了他。
“可我还是不甘心。我用拳头敲击那些银制的嵌板。我想 我听到里面有动静——明白地说，我觉得我听到了咯咯的笑 声——但我一定是搞错了。接着我从河里捡了一块鹅卵石来 敲，最后把装饰花纹敲平了，铜绿一块块往下掉。这些脆弱 的小人肯定在我两侧1英里外的地方都听到我一阵阵的敲击 声，但没有发生什么意外的事。我看见他们一群人在山坡上 偷偷朝我观望。最后我又热又累，只得坐下来看守这个地方。 可我这个人坐立不定，是守不了很久的，我的习惯太西化了， 无法干长时间的熬夜活。遇上难题我能花几年的功夫去克服 它，可消极地守候24小时这是另一回事。
“过了一会儿，我站起身，漫无目的地穿过灌木丛，再次 朝小山走去。‘要耐心’我自言自语。‘你如果还想找回你的 时间机器，那就不要去动那斯芬克斯像。如果他们真想拿走 你的机器，你去砸他们的铜嵌板是无济于事的。如果他们不 存心要，你到时就可向他们讨回来。遇到这种棘手的事，你 坐到这些你不了解的人中去是毫无帮助的，那只会让你产生 偏见。要面对这个世界，去了解它的规律，去观察它，要小 心谨慎，不要匆忙下结论，最终你会发现线索的。’这时，我 突然想到整个事情的滑稽可笑：想到这几年我埋头书斋，历 尽艰辛要进入未来时代，现在又急着想离开这个时代。我为 自己设制了一个最复杂最无奈的陷阶。虽然我这是自讨苦吃， 可还是情不自禁地做了。想到这里我哈哈大笑起来。
“走过大宫殿时，我好像觉得那些小人在躲避我。这也许 是我胡思乱想，也许跟我敲打那些铜门有关。然而，我确实 感到他们在躲避我。不过我很谨慎，没有表现出在乎的样子， 同时克制自己不去追寻他们。一两天之后，一切又都恢复了 正常。我在语言关上取得了我可能取得的进步，另外，我续 续到各处探险。要么是我疏漏了细微之处，要么是他们的语 言过于简单——几乎只有表示具体意义的名词和动词，反正 他们语言中的抽象词寥寥无几，比喻性词汇几乎不用。他们 的句子通常很简单，只有两个词，不过我只能表达或理解一 些最简单的话。我决定尽量先不去想时间机器和斯芬克斯像 下面的铜门之迷，等我有了足够的了解后自然会来重新思考 这些问题。然而，有一种感觉，你也许理解，它牵＆情我，使 我不愿离开我着陆地方圆几英里的范围。
“就我目前所见，整个世界展现出了和泰晤士河谷同样的 富饶昌盛。从我爬过的每一座山上，我都看到了同样富丽堂 皇的建筑，风格和建筑材料却各不相同，应有尽有，我看到 了同样的常青灌木丛，同样鲜花满枝的树和颜类植物，处处 水明如镜。再往远处看，大地伸入起伏的青翠山脉，最终消 失在宁静的天际。这时，有一特别的景色吸引了我的注意力。 我看到了一些圆井，其中有几口似乎很深，有一口就在我第 一次上山走的那条路边。像其他的井一样，这口井也围着样 子古怪的铜栏杆，上方还盖有一个遮雨的小圆顶。我坐到这 些井旁朝黑乎乎的井下张望，没能看到井水的波光，划亮火 柴后也不见有什么反光。所有的井里都传出一种声音：砰—— 砰——砰，像一台大发动机的声响。在火柴光的照耀下，我 发现有一股稳定的气流向井下冲，于是我又把一张纸朝井下 扔去，纸不是缓缓飘落下去，而是一下子给吸了进去，消失 得无影无踪。
“又过了一会儿，我把这些井和山坡上四处耸立着的高塔 联系起来，因为高塔的上方常常出现那种在烈日炎炎的海滩 上可以看到的闪光。把这些现象凑到一起，我得到了强有力 的启示，那就是地下很可能有一个庞大的通风系统，但它的 真正意义就难以想象了。我起初总喜欢把这个通风系统和这 些人的卫生设施联系在一起。这是个显而易见的结论，可它 完全错了。
“我在此必须承认，我在这个真实的未来世界逗留期间， 对他们的下水道、铃、运输方式以及诸如此类的便利设施几 乎一无所知。在我读过的有关乌托邦和未来时代的一些幻想 著作中，有大量的关于建筑和社会设施等的详细描述。其实， 当整个世界被容纳在一个人的想象中时，这种细节是很容易 获取的。而对于一个发现并置身于这种现实中的真正游客，这 种细节根本就无处可觅了。想想伦敦流传的那个故事吧，说 是有个黑人刚从中非来，又马上要回他的部落去！他怎么可 能了解铁路公司、社会运动、电话线、电报线、包裹投递公 司、邮政汇票和诸如此类的东西呢？然而，我们至少是乐意 向他解释这些事情的！可即使他知道了这些事情，他又能让 他没出过远门的朋友理解或相信多少呢？那么，想想吧，一 个黑人和一个白人在我们自己时代里的阻隔是多么小，而我 和黄金时代的这些人的时间间隔又是多么大呀！我知道有许 多使我感到安慰的东西我还没有看见。可除了对他们的自动 化组织有一个笼统的印象外，恐怕我对你们也讲不出多少其 中的不同。
“比如丧事吧，我就没有看见有火葬场的迹象，也没有看 见任何使人想到是坟墓的东西。但是我想在我没有到过的地 方可能会有公墓（或火葬场）。这又是我故意给自己提出的一 个问题，可我对这个问题表现出的好奇心一开始就受到了彻 底的挫败。整个事情让我感到迷惑不解，这使我需要进一步 说明另一件更使我感到困惑的事：这个民族中没有一个年老 体弱者。
“我必须承认，我对自己起初提出的自动化文明和退化的 人类这一理论感到很满意，但这种满足感没有持续多久，而 我又想不出其他的解释。让我来讲讲这其中的困难吧。我到 过的那几个大宫殿只是生活区、大餐厅和睡觉的公寓。我没 有发现任何机器和装置之类的东西，可这些人身上穿着漂亮 的纺织品，这些纺织品肯定是需要不断更新的，他们的凉鞋 虽然未经修饰，却是相当复杂的机造产品，反正这些东西一 定是机器造出来的。而这些小个子并没能表现出丝毫的创造 力，他们没有商店，没有车间，也没有任何进口商品的迹象。 他们所有的时间都在斯文地玩耍中度过，在河里沐浴，在半 开玩笑地谈情说爱，在吃水果，在睡觉。我真不明白他们的 衣食住行又是如何解决的。
“现在我又要谈时间机器了。肯定有什么东西，这东西我 说不准，把它弄到斯芬克斯像的空底座里去了。为什么？我 实在想象不出来。还有那些枯井，那些闪光的柱子，我也感 到莫名其妙。我觉得，怎么说呢？假设你发现一篇碑文，碑 上明白易懂的英文句子里被加进了一些你根本不认识的词句 甚至字母？没错，在我到达的第三天，802701年的世界就是 这样出现在我面前的！
“也是在那一天，我结识了一个可以算作朋友的人。事情 经过是这样的，我当时正看着那些小人在浅水里沐浴，其中 一个突然抽筋，顺着溪流漂去。水流虽然相当急，但即使水 性一般的人也能应付。可那些小人眼睁睁看着这个拚命呼救 的弱小者沉下去，全都无动于衷，没有一个想去救她，因此， 说到这里，你们都会觉得这些家伙有怪僻的不足之处。我明 白过来后，赶紧脱掉衣服，在下游一点的地方膛水过去抓住 那小家伙，把她安全地拉上了岸。我在她的四肢上按摩了一 会儿，她就苏醒了。我离开时她已平安无事，我也觉得很满 足。我对她们这类人的评价很差，所以也就没有指望她的任 何答谢。可这下我又错了。
“救人的事发生在早上，下午我遇上了那个女人，我相信 不会搞错。当时我正从探险地回自己的大本营，她欢呼着迎 上来，给我献上一个大花环——这花环显然是专门为我做的。 她使我想入非非，这极有可能是因为我在此之前一直感到孤 独凄凉的缘故吧。我尽量摆出欣赏这一礼物的样子。我们很 快在一个小石亭里一同坐下来开始了交谈，主要是用微笑交 谈。这小女人的友善就像孩子的友善一样打动了我。我们互 递鲜花，她吻了我的手，我也吻了她的手。随后我又设法和 她交谈，并且得知她的名字叫威娜，不过这名字的含义是什 么我不清楚，反正觉得挺合适的。我俩奇特的友谊就这样开 始了，这场友谊持续了一个星期便结束了，以后我会给你们 讲怎么回事。
“她完全像个孩子，整天想同我呆在一起，我无论去哪里 她都想跟着。在后来一次出门选中，我想把她拖垮，使她糟 疲力竭，我一走了之，让她在后面呼天抢地喊我，可我于心 不忍。但是，世界上的问题总不能就这样任其自然呀。我告 诫自己，我到未来世界来可不是来调情的。可在我离开她出 门的时候，她悲痛欲绝，分手时她的叮嘱近于疯狂，我想她 的一往深情给我带来的麻烦和安慰一样多。然而不管怎样，她 是我巨大的安慰。我想是一种孩子般的亲情使得她整天和我 依依不舍。待我弄清楚我离开她时究竟给她造成了多大的痛 苦，为时已晚，待我明白她对我有多么重要，也为时已晚。因 为这个洋娃娃仅仅凭着她喜欢我，以劳而无功的方式关怀我， 就会使我走到白色斯芬克斯像附近时心里油然产生一种游子 归家的感觉，一翻过那座小山来，就寻找她穿着白黄两色衣 服的娇小身影。
“也是从她那里，我才得知恐惧并没有离开这个世界。白 天她无所畏惧，对我也无比信任，因为我有一次突发傻劲，朝 她做了个伯人的怪脸，她却只是付之一笑。不过她怕黑，怕 影子和黑色，黑暗是她唯一感到可怕的东西。这是一种非常 强烈的恐惧情绪，它促使我去思索和观察。后来我还发现了 另一桩事，这些小人天黑后就聚集到那几座大房子里，成群 地挤在一起睡觉。你不点灯走近他们就会引起他们的一阵恐 慌。我从未在天黑后发现他们在室外，也没有发现哪个小人 单独睡在屋里。然而，我是个脑袋木开窍的人，我没有从他 们的恐惧中吸取教训，并且不顾威娜的悲伤，坚持不和这帮 嗜睡的家伙睡在一起。
“这使她非常不安，可她对我的奇特的深情战胜了一切。 我们认识后有五个晚上，包括最后一晚，她都是枕着我的手 臂睡的。不过一说到她我的话题又要岔开了。我在黎明时分 醒过来肯定是在她获救前的那天晚上，那一夜我没有睡安稳， 乱梦颠倒，梦见自己淹死了，海葵的软须触到我的脸上。我 一下子惊醒过来，奇怪地觉得有一只灰色的动物刚刚冲到室 外。我试图再次入睡，可我感到不安和难受。这是黎明前的 灰暗时刻，是万物爬出黑暗，一切显得无色又轮廓分明的似 梦似幻的时刻。我起身走出大厅，来到宫殿前的石板上、我 想我干脆就看看日出吧。
“月亮正在下落，逐渐暗淡的月色和黎明的第一道曙光在 半明半暗的天色中交织在一起。灌木丛漆黑一团，大地灰暗， 天空苍凉无色。我好像看到山上有鬼怪，三次仔细观望山坡 时，都看到了白色的身影。我想其中两次我看到一只白色的 猿一样的动物快速向山上跑去，另一次我看到破瓦残砾处有 几只这样的动物抬着一具黑乎乎的尸体。它们走得很快，我 没有看清它们最终去了哪里，好像在灌木丛里消失了。你们 一定理解，这时天还没有大亮。我感到了早晨难以捉摸的凉 意，你们也许有过这种感受。我怀疑我自己的眼睛了。
“东方的天空越来越亮，太阳升起来了，大地恢复了它原 有的斑斓色彩。我睁大眼睛环视四周，但没有发现刚才见到 的白色身影。它们只在半明半暗的天色里出现。‘它们一定是 鬼，’我说，‘我不知道它们来自哪个年代。’我想起了格兰特· 艾伦的一条怪论，感到很好笑。他坚持说，如果每一代人死 后都变成鬼，世界到最后一定鬼满为患。照这种理论，到了 80万年左右，鬼的数量不就难以计数了。我刚才一眼看到四 五个也就不足为奇了。可玩笑毕竟是玩笑，它解决不了问题。 我整个早上都在想这些身影，直到救了威娜才把这事忘了。我 模模糊糊地把它们和我第一次急不可待地寻找时间机器时惊 动的那只白色动物联系了起来，可快乐的威娜使我忘了这事。 但即使这样，它们注定很快要回来死死占据我的心灵的。
“我记得我说过，黄金时代的天气要比我们自己的天气热 得多。我也说不出其中的原因，也许是太阳越来越热，或者 地球越来越靠近太阳的缘故。人们通常认为，太阳的温度在 未来会逐步下降。但是不熟悉诸如青年达尔文这类人的思想 的人，忘了行星最终将逐个回归母体。当这种灾难发生时，太 阳将会用新的能量来燃烧，说不定某个较靠近太阳的行星已 经遭此厄运。无论是什么理由，反正太阳要比我们知道的热 得多。
“就在一个炎热的早上，是第四天吧，我正在我睡觉吃饭 的大房子附近的大片废墟里转游，寻找一个阴凉避暑的地方。 这时发生了一件怪事。我在石屋的废墟堆里爬上爬下时，发 现了一条狭窄的过道。过道顶头和两侧的窗户被坍下来的石 堆堵着，和明亮的外面形成了强烈的反差。刚进来时里面显 得很暗。我摸索着走进去，由于从亮处一下子走到暗处，我 眼前幻影乱晃。突然，我停住脚步，不知所措。只见两只眼 睛在日光的反射下闪闪发光，在黑暗中注视着我。
“我过去对野兽本能的恐惧向我袭来。我捏紧拳头，目不 转睛地盯着这两颗发光的眼珠。我很害怕，头也木敢回。这 时我想到这里的人好像生活在绝对的安全之中，随后我又想 到他们特别害怕黑暗。我尽力克服自己的恐惧。朝前跨出一 步先开了口。我承认我的声音很刺耳并且有点失控。我伸出 手，摸到了软乎乎的东西。那双眼睛随即靠到边上，接着有 一个白色的东西从我身旁跑了过去。我提心吊胆地转过身，看 见一只古怪的像猿一样的小动物，样子很特别地耷拉着脑袋， 迅速穿过我身后的一片阳光。慌乱中它撞上了一块花岗岩，跌 到旁边，转眼间又躲到了另一堆残砾下的黑影里。
“我的印象当然是不全面的。但我知道那是灰色的，长着 奇怪的暗红色的大眼睛，我还知道它头上和背上长有浅黄色 的毛。不过，我刚才说过，它跑得太快了，我没能看清楚。我 甚至说木清它是靠四条腿跑的，还是只用低垂的前肢跑的。我 随即跟着它跑进另一堆废墟。开始我找木到它，可过了一会 儿，我在瞟脆的天色中来到了一个我对你们讲过的像井一样 的圆洞口，洞口被一根倒下的柱子半挡着。我陡然想到，这 东西会不会跑到井里去呢？我划亮一根火柴，借着光亮朝下 看，只见一只白色的小东西在动，后退时明亮的大眼睛紧紧 地盯着我，使我不寒而栗。它简直像个蜘蛛人！它正沿着井 壁在往下爬，我这才第一次看到有许多金属脚手架组成了一 道下井梯。这时火柴烧到了我的手，从我手上掉下去，火苗 没落地就熄灭了。当我点亮第二根火柴时，那小怪兽已不见 了。
“我不知道我坐在那里朝井下看了多长时间。好半天我都 没法让自己相信我看到的东西是人。但是，我渐渐地明白了 事情的真相：人没有停留在一个种类上，而是分裂成了两种 不同的动物。地面上的那些温文尔雅的孩子并不是我们这代 人的唯一后裔，而这白色的、可憎的、喜欢夜间活动的东西 也都是历代传下来的子孙后代。
“我想到了闪烁的柱子和我提出的地下有通风设备的理 论。我开始怀疑它们一定有什么真正的含义。我不知道这种 像狐猴一样的东西在这个我以为完全平衡的社会组织里干些 什么？它和美丽的地上居民表现出的懒惰和安详有何关系？井 底下藏着什么？我坐在井口上．告诫自己无论怎样都没有什 么可怕的，并且必须下井才能找到疑问的答案。可我又是多 么害怕下井啊！正当我犹豫不决时，两个美丽的地面居民调 看清穿过阳光跑进了阴影。男的在后面追赶女的，一边追一 边把鲜花朝她扔去。
“他们看见我胳臂撑着倒下来的柱子朝井下张望时，好像 很痛苦。显然，谈论这些井口被认为是不端的举动，因为当 我指着这一井口，想用他们的语言提问时，他们露出了更加 痛苦的表情，并且把头都扭了过去。可他们对我的火柴很感 兴趣，我划亮了几根去逼他们开心。之后我又向他们问起井 口的事，可还是一无所获。于是我立即离开他们，想回到威 娜身边去，看看从她那里能打听到什么。不过我的思想已开 始大变，我的猜测和看法慢慢地有了新的调整。现在，关于 这些并的意义，通风塔和鬼怪之迷，我都找到了线索，更不 用说在铜门的含义和时间机器的失落上得到的启示了！连曾 经使我困惑的那个经济问题好像也有了模糊的答案。
“下面是我的新观点。显而易见，这第二种人是地下人。 有三种特别的情况使我觉得他们很少在地面上出现是因为长 期生活在地下已成习惯。首先，他们的脸和大多数主要生活 在黑暗中的动物比如肯塔基山洞里的白鱼一样苍白。其次，能 够反光的大眼睛是喜欢夜间活动的动物的共同特征，猫头鹰 和猫就是这样。最后，他们在阳光下不知所措，手忙脚乱逃 向黑暗以及见到光就耷拉下脑袋的怪样子——都进一步证明 他们的视网膜极其敏感。
“那么，我的脚底下一定隧道纵横，这些隧道就是这一新 种族的栖息地。山坡上的通风塔和井口——其实除了河谷地 带到处都是——表明隧道分布极广。这样的话，认为把这些 隧道建在人造的地下世界是为了让日光里的种族生活得更舒 适也就再自然不过了。这个看法似乎很合理，我也立即接受 了，并且进一步设想人类是如何分化出去的。我敢说，你们 能预料到我的理论的大体内容，可我自己却很快感到它和真 相相去甚远。
“就从我们自己时代里的问题说起吧，我觉得不容置疑的 是，资本家和劳动者之间目前尚属暂时的社会差别正在逐步 扩大，它是整个事情的关键所在。毫无疑问，你们会觉得这 是可笑的——也是难以置信的！然而即使现在都有种种情况 可以来证明这个道理。现在有一种趋势，大量利用地下空间 来发展文明生活中无需美观的事业。比如，伦敦有大都会铁 路，有新型的电力铁路，有地铁，有地下作业室和地下餐馆。 它们的数量还在不断增加。显而易见，我认为，这一趋势已 发展到了工业逐渐失去了它在地面上的立足之地。我是说地 越挖越深，工厂越办越大，人们在地下度过的时间也越来越 长，直到最后——！即使现在，一个伦敦东区的工人不就是 生活在事实上已脱离地球自然表面的人造环境里吗？
“另外，无疑是由于富人的教育正在不断完善以及他们与 粗俗的穷人间的隔阂日益扩大，富人们全都从自己的利益出 发，纷纷把地面上的大量土地占为已有。比如伦敦吧，也许 有一半较漂亮的乡村被圈起来不准人们入内。还是这日益扩 大的隔阂——这里由于富人的高等教育时间长花钱多，他们 的家庭设施不断增加以追求高雅——将使得富人和穷人间的 交流，即通婚这一目前阻止社会各阶层人种分裂的促进行为 变得越来越少。因此，到头来地上必定就成为富人的天下，他 们追求快乐、舒适和美好的东西。地底下就是无产者，那些 让自己去不断适应劳动条件的工人们。他们一到地下，无疑 就得为他们洞里的通风设备付钱，而且不是付一点点。如果 拒付，他们便会挨饿或者窒息而死。他们中的贫困者和反叛 者将是死路一条，最终形成永久的平衡。幸存者将完全适应 地下的生活条件，和地面上的人一样自得其乐。所以，我觉 得出现这种精制的美和不见阳光的苍白也就顺理成章了。
“我脑子里梦想的人类的伟大胜利可不是这样的，这根本 不是我想象中的那种道德教育和普遍合作的胜利。相反，我 看到了真正的贵族阶级，他们用完美的科学武装着，正在把 今天的工业系统推向一个合乎逻辑的结局。人类的这个胜利 不只是战胜了自然，还战胜了自然及其同胞。我必须告诫你 们的是，这是我当时的理论。我在乌托邦的书里没有找到现 成模式的指导思想。我的解释也许是完全错误的，可我仍然 认为它是合理的解释。但即使照此解释，最终取得平衡的文 明也一定早已走过它的顶峰，现已日落西山。地上居民由于 过分安全的环境已开始慢慢退化，身材、力量和智力日见衰 退。这一点我已经看得很清楚。地下居民怎么样，我还没有 想过。但从我看到的莫洛克人——顺便提一句，这是地下居 民的名字——我可以想象，这一人种的变化比我已经了解的 埃洛伊这个美丽的种族大得多。
“可我还是百思不解，莫洛克人为什么要拿走我的时间机 器？我肯定是他们拿走的。埃洛伊人如果是主人，为什么也 没能把时间机器还给我？他们为什么这样害怕黑暗？就像我 说的那样，我继续向威娜询问地下世界的情况，可我又一次 失望了。起先她听不懂我的问题，之后又拒绝回答我的问题。 她浑身发抖，好像这是她无法容忍的话题。当我逼她讲时，这 也许粗暴了点，她竟然哭了。我除了自己，在黄金时代只看 到她流过泪。我看到这眼泪，立即不再提问，不愿为莫洛克 人的事再找麻烦，心里只想从威娜的眼睛里抹去人类的眼泪 这一遗传物。当我一本正经地点燃一根火柴时，她很快又露 出了笑脸，高兴得手舞足蹈。”
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[ 此帖被soneyky在2012-12-26 08:57重新编辑 ]
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