186.英文正文（186）

winstonrousedhirnselfalittlefromhislethargy。hemustspeaktoampleforth，andrisktheyellfromthetelescreen。itwasevenconceivablethatampleforthwasthebeareroftherazorblade。

「ampleforth，」hesaid。

therewasnoyellfromthetelescreen。ampleforthpaused，mildlystartled。hiseyesfocusedthemselvesslowlyonwinston。

「ah，smith！」hesaid。「youtoo！」

「whatareyouinfor？」

「totellyouthetruth—」hesatdownawkwardlyonthebenchoppositewinston。「thereisonlyoneoffence，istherenot？」hesaid。

「andhaveyoucommittedit？」

「apparentlyihave。」

heputahandtohisforeheadandpressedhistemplesforamoment，asthoughtryingtoremembersomething。

「thesethingshappen，」hebeganvaguely。「ihavebeenabletorecalloneinstance—apossibleinstance。itwasanindiscretion，undoubtedly。wewereproducingadefinitiveeditionofthepoemsofkipling。iallowedtheword『god』toremainattheendofaline。icouldnothelpit！」headdedalmostindignantly，raisinghisfacetolookatwinston。「itwasimpossibletochangetheline。therhymewas『rod』。doyourealizethatthereareonlytwelverhymesto『rod』intheentirelanguage？fordaysihadrackedmybrains。therewasnootherrhyme。」

theexpressiononhisfacechanged。theannoyancepassedoutofitandforamomenthelookedalmostpleased。asortofintellectualwarmth，thejoyofthepedantwhohasfoundoutsomeuselessfact，shonethroughthedirtandscrubbyhair。

「hasiteveroccurredtoyou，」hesaid，「thatthewholehistoryofenglishpoetryhasbeendeterminedbythefactthattheenglishlanguagelacksrhymes？」