乔治·奥威尔本名埃里克·亚瑟·布莱尔（Eric Arthur
Blair），生于印度，父亲为殖民地官员。他14岁考入伊顿公学，获取奖学金。1921年，奥维尔从伊顿公学毕业后考取公职，到缅甸做了一名帝国警察。在此期间，被奴役的殖民地人民的悲惨生活触动了奥威尔的良知。1927年，奥威尔辞去帝国警察的工作，后来写下与此段经历有关的纪实性作品：《绞刑》（A
Hanging，1931）、《缅甸岁月》（Burmese Days，1934）和《猎象记》（Shooting an
Elephant，1936）。1928年，回国后的奥威尔深入到社会底层，四处漂泊游荡，常混迹于流浪汉和乞丐之中。1929年，奥威尔用“乔治·奥威尔”这一笔名写下了关于这段经历的纪实性作品《巴黎伦敦落魄记》（Doum
and Out in Paris and
London，1933）。1936年7月，西班牙内战爆发，他的《向卡特洛尼亚致敬》（Homage to
Catalonia，1938）被看作是关于这场内战的一部权威性文献。
''Ark at''im！ Calls''is self a barman and don''t know what a pint
is！ Why，a pint''s the''a lf of a quart， and there''s four quarts to
the gallon.''Ave to teach you the A，B，C next.''
''Never heard of''em，''said the barman shortly.''Litre and half
litre-that''s all we serve.There''s the glasses on the shelf in front
of you.''
''I likes a pint，''persisted the old man.''You could''a drawed me off
a pint easy enough.We didn''t''have these bleeding litres when I was
a young man.''''When you were a young man we were all living in the
treetops，''said the bar man，with a glance at the other
customers.
There was a shout of laughter， and the uneasiness caused by
Winston''s entry seemed to disappear.The old man''s white-stubbled
face had flushed pink.He turned away， muttering to himself， and
bumped into Winston.Winston caught him gently by the arm.
''May I offer you a drink？''he said.
''You''re a gent，''said the other， straightening his shoulder
sagain.He appeared not to have noticed Winston''s blue
overalls.''Pintl''he added aggressively to the barman.''Pint of
wallop'' The barman swished two half-litres of dark-brown beer into
thick glasses which he had rinsed in a bucket under the
counter.Beer was the only drink you could get in prolepubs.The
proles were supposed not to drink gin，though in practice they could
get hold of it easily enough.The game of darts was in full swing
again，and the knotofmen at the bar had begun talking about lottery
tickets.Winston''spresence was forgotten for a moment.There was a
deal table under the window where he and the old man could talk
without fear of beingoverheard.It was hombly dangerous，but at any
rate there was not elescreen in the room，a point he had made sure
of as soon as he camem.
''E could''a drawed me off a pint，''grumbled the old man a she
settled down behind a glass. A''alf litre ain''t enough.It don''t
satisfy.And a''ole litre''s too much.It starts my bladder
running.Letalone the price.''You must have seen great changes since
you were a young man，''said Winston tentatively.
The old man''s pale blue eyes moved from the darts board to the
bar， and from the bar to the door of the Gents，as though it were in
the bar-room that he expected the changes to have occurred.
''The beer was better，''he said finally.''And cheaper！ When I was a
young man， mild beer-wallop we used to call it-was four pence a
pint.That was before the war，of course.''
''Which war was that？''said Winston.
''It''s all wars，''said the old man vaguely.He took up his glass，and
his shoulders straightened again.''Ere''s wishing you the very
bestof''ealth！''In his lean throat the sharp-pointed Adam''s apple
made a surprisingly rapid up-and-down movement， and the beer
vanished.Winston went to the bar and came back with two more
half-litres.The old man appeared to have forgotten his prejudice
against drinking a full litre .
''You are very much older than I am said Winston.You must have
been a grown man before I was born.You can remember what it was
like in the old days，before the Revolution.People of my age don''t
really know anything about those times.We can only read about them
in books，and what it says in the books may not be true.I should
like your opinion on that.The history books say that life before
the Revolution was completely different from what it is now.There
was the most terrible oppression，in justice，poverty worse than
anything we can imagine.Here in London，the great mass of the people
never had enough to eat from birth to death.Half of them hadn''t
even boots on their feet.They worked twelve hours a day，they left
school at nine，they slept ten in a room.And at the same time there
were a very few people，only a few thousands-the capitalists，they
were called- who were r：ich and powerful.They owned everything that
there was to own.They lived in great gorgeous houses with thirty
servants， they rode about in motor-cars and four-horse camages，
they drank champagne，they wore top hats-''
The old man brightened suddenly.
''Top ''atsl'' he said.''Funny you should mention ''em.The samething
come into my ''ead only yesterday，l dono why.I was jest thinking，l
ain''t seen a top ''at in years.Gorn right out，they ''ave.The last
time I wore one was at my sister-in-law''s funeral.And that
was-well，l couldn''t give you the date，but it must''a been fifty
years ago.Of course it was only ''ired for the occasion，you
understand.'' ''It isn''t very important about the top hats，'' said
Wins tonpatiently.''The point is，these capitalists-they and a few
lawyers and priests and so forth who lived on them-were the lords
of the earth.Everything existed for their benefit.You-the ordinary
people， thew or kers-were their slaves.They could do what they
liked with you.They could ship you off to Canada like cattle.They
could sleep with your daughters if they chose.They could order you
to be flogged with something called a cat-o''-nine tails.You had to
take your cap off when you passed them.Every capitalist went about
with a gang of lackeys who-''
The old man brightened again.
''Lackeys ！''he said.'' Now there''s a word I ain''t ''eard since
everso long.Lackeys ！That reg''lar takes me back，that does.I
recollect-oh，donkey''s years ago-I used to sometimes go to ''Yde Park
of a Sunday afternoon to ''ear the blokes making speeches.Salvation
Army，Roman Catholics，Jews，lndians-all sorts there was.And there was
one bloke-well，I couldn''t give you ''is name，but a real powerful
speaker ''e was.''E didn''t ''alf give it ''em ！ " Lackeys ！"''e
says，"lackeys of the bourgeoisie！ Flunkies of the ruling
class！"Parasites-that was another of them.And ''yenas-''e definitely
called''em ''yenas.Of course ''e was refemng to the Labour Party，you
understand.''Winston had the feeling that they were talking at
cross-pur-poses.
''What I really wanted to know was this，'' he said.''Do you feel
that you have more freedom now than you had in those days？ Are yout
reated more like a human being？ In the old days，the rich people，the
people at the top-''
……
購物車/收銀台(0) | 在線留言板
| 付款方式
| 運費計算
| 聯絡我們
| 幫助中心 |
加入書簽
HOME
新書上架
