211.英文正文(211)
「idon』tremember。***」
「oceaniaisatwarwitheastasia。doyourememberthatnow?」
「yes。」
「oceaniahasalwaysbeenatwarwitheastasia。sincethebeginningofyourlife,sincethebeginningoftheparty,sincethebeginningofhistory,thewarhascontinuedwithoutabreak,alwaysthesamewar。doyourememberthat?」
「yes。」
「elevenyearsagoyoucreatedalegendaboutthreemenwhohadbeencondemnedtodeathfortreachery。youpretendedthatyouhadseenapieceofpaperwhichprovedtheminnocent。nosuchpieceofpapereverexisted。youinventedit,andlateryougrewtobelieveinit。youremembernowtheverymomentatwhichyoufirstinventedit。doyourememberthat?」
「yes。」
「justnowiheldupthefingersofmyhandtoyou。yousawfivefingers。doyourememberthat?」
「yes。」
o』brienheldupthefingersofhislefthand,withthethumbconcealed。
「therearefivefingersthere。doyouseefivefingers?」
「yes。」
andhedidseethem,forafleetinginstant,beforethesceneryofhismindchanged。hesawfivefingers,andtherewasnodeformity。theneverythingwasnormalagain,andtheoldfear,thehatred,andthebewildermentcamecrowdingbackagain。buttherehadbeenamoment—hedidnotknowhowlong,thirtyseconds,perhaps—ofluminouscertainty,wheneachnewsuggestionofo』brien』shadfilledupapatchofemptinessandbecomeabsolutetruth,andwhentwoandtwocouldhavebeenthreeaseasilyasfive,ifthatwerewhatwasneeded。ithadfadedbutbeforeo』brienhaddroppedhishand;butthoughhecouldnotrecaptureit,hecouldrememberit,asoneremembersavividexperienceatsomeperiodofone』slifewhenonewasineffectadifferentperson。