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。