第四章（第3/9页）

"Why not? What's wrong with rabbits? Are they any worse than a neurotic, revolutionary humanity, full of nervous hate?” "But we're not rabbits, even so," said Hammond.

“有什么不妥么？兔子招谁惹谁了？比起神经兮兮、叫嚣着革命、满脑袋仇恨的人类，它们难道还要恶劣几分么？”“但我们终归不是兔子。”哈蒙德说。

"Precisely! I have my mind: I have certain calculations to make in certain astronomical matters that concern me almost more than life or death. Sometimes indigestion interferes with me. Hunger would interfere with me disastrously. In the same way starved sex interferes with me. What then?” "I should have thought sexual indigestion from surfeit would have interfered with you more seriously," said Hammond satirically.

“确实如此！我们拥有思想意识，对我而言，计算一些天文学问题甚至比生死来得更重要。有时消化不良会妨碍我的工作。饥饿带来的影响会更加严重。性饥渴也会起到同样的效果。该怎么来应对这些问题呢？”“如果我猜得没错，纵欲过度引起的性消化不良，恐怕对你的影响尤甚。”哈蒙德挖苦道。

"Not it! I don't over-eat myself and I don't over-fuck myself. One has a choice about eating too much. But you would absolutely starve me.” "Not at all! You can marry." "How do you know I can? It may not suit the process of my mind. Marriage might...and would...stultify my mental processes. I'm not properly pivoted that way...and so must I be chained in a kennel like a monk? All rot and funk, my boy. I must live and do my calculations. I need women sometimes. I refuse to make a mountain of it, and I refuse anybody's moral condemnation or prohibition. I'd be ashamed to see a woman walking around with my name-label on her, address and railway station, like a wardrobe trunk.” These two men had not forgiven each other about the Julia flirtation.

“一派胡言！我从不暴饮暴食，也绝不会纵欲过度。人完全可以控制自己的食量。但如果没得吃，就不得不接受成为饿殍的命运。”“才不会呢！你可以娶妻呀。”“你怎么知道我愿意结婚？婚姻或许不太符合我的思想观念。婚姻也许……会让我变得反应迟钝。我还没打定主意要结婚……难道我就该像僧侣一样，把自己锁在狗笼里么？这实在是陈腐不堪的愚蠢念头，我的朋友。我必须存活下去，为的是继续自己的天文学事业。偶尔我也会需要女人。这没什么值得小题大做的，任何人都无权以道德为由，来指责或者阻止我。如果看到哪个女人贴着写有我名字的标牌四处招摇，就像写明地址和火车班次的行李箱，我准会羞愧难当。”这两个男人显然还在为茱莉亚调情的事情耿耿于怀。

"It's an amusing idea, Charlie," said Dukes, "that sex is just another form of talk, where you act the words instead of saying them. I suppose it's quite true. I suppose we might exchange as many sensations and emotions with women as we do ideas about the weather, and so on. Sex might be a sort of normal physical conversation between a man and a woman. You don't talk to a woman unless you have ideas in common: that is you don't talk with any interest. And in the same way, unless you had some emotion or sympathy in common with a woman you wouldn't sleep with her. But if you had...” "If you have the proper sort of emotion or sympathy with a woman, you ought to sleep with her," said May. "It's the only decent thing, to go to bed with her. Just as, when you are interested talking to someone, the only decent thing is to have the talk out. You don't prudishly put your tongue between your teeth and bite it. You just say out your say. And the same the other way.” "No," said Hammond. "It's wrong. You, for example, May, you squander half your force with women. You'll never really do what you should do, with a fine mind such as yours. Too much of it goes the other way.” "Maybe it does...and too little of you goes that way, Hammond, my boy, married or not. You can keep the purity and integrity of your mind, but it's going damned dry. Your pure mind is going as dry as fiddlesticks, from what I see of it. You're simply talking it down.” Tommy Dukes burst into a laugh.

“你的想法可真有趣，查理，”杜克斯说，“性爱只是另一种交流方式，用实际行动把言语表达出来，而不是用嘴巴说出来。依我看，这种观点再正确不过。我们或许可以像交换对天气以及其他问题的看法一样，同异性分享彼此的感觉和情绪。性爱是男女之间习以为常的身体对话方式。如果你与某位异性看法相悖，就不会同她交谈，也就是说沟通要以兴趣为根本的出发点。同样的道理，如果在情感维度缺少共鸣，你也不会产生与异性双宿双栖的欲望。但如果你确实……”“如果确实与某位异性情感相通，一拍即合，就应该跟她共度春宵，”梅说，“和她颠鸾倒凤是唯一该做的事情。就像你跟某人聊得热火朝天，唯一该做的事就是畅所欲言。而不会故作扭捏，闭口不言。只会痛痛快快地将心里的话说出来。两者有异曲同工之处。”“错，”哈蒙德矢口否认，“大错特错。就拿你来说吧，梅，你把半数的精力挥霍在女人身上。虽然才华横溢，但却从未得到淋漓尽致的发挥。在左道旁门上花的心思太多。”“此话或许有理……但哈蒙德，我的朋友，不管婚配与否，你却在男女之事上不够用心。你能够保持心灵的纯洁和正直没错，但它却会逐渐干涸。在我看来，你那颗纯净的心就会枯干得像根小提琴弓。你的高谈阔论恰恰是对自我心灵的贬低。”汤米·杜克斯勃然大笑。