224.英文正文(224)
「getupfromthatbed,」hesaid。***
thebondshadloosenedthemselves。winstonloweredhimselftothefloorandstoodupunsteadily。
「youarethelastman,」saido』brien。「youaretheguardianofthehumanspirit。youshallseeyourselfasyouare。takeoffyourclothes。」
winstonundidthebitofstringthatheldhisoverallstogether。thezipfastenerhadlongsincebeenwrenchedoutofthem。hecouldnotrememberwhetheratanytimesincehisarresthehadtakenoffallhisclothesatonetime。beneaththeoverallshisbodywasloopedwithfilthyyellowishrags,justrecognizableastheremnantsofunderclothes。asheslidthemtothegroundhesawthattherewasathree-sidedmirroratthefarendoftheroom。heapproachedit,thenstoppedshort。aninvoluntarycryhadbrokenoutofhim。
「goon,」saido』brien。「standbetweenthewingsofthemirror。youshallseethesideviewaswell。」
hehadstoppedbecausehewasfrightened。abowed,grey-coloured,skeleton-likethingwascomingtowardshim。itsactualappearancewasfrightening,andnotmerelythefactthatheknewittobehimself。hemovedclosertotheglass。thecreature'sfaceseemedtobeprotruded,becauseofitsbentcarriage。aforlorn,jailbird'sfacewithanobbyforeheadrunningbackintoabaldscalp,acrookednose,andbattered-lookingcheekbonesabovewhichhiseyeswerefierceandwatchful。thecheekswereseamed,themouthhadadrawn-inlook。certainlyitwashisownface,butitseemedtohimthatithadchangedmorethanhehadchangedinside。theemotionsitregisteredwouldbedifferentfromtheoneshefelt。hehadgonepartiallybald。forthefirstmomenthehadthoughtthathehadgonegreyaswell,butitwasonlythescalpthatwasgrey。exceptforhishandsandacircleofhisface,hisbodywasgreyalloverwithancient,ingraineddirt。hereandthereunderthedirtthereweretheredscarsofwounds,andneartheanklethevaricoseulcerwasaninflamedmasswithflakesofskinpeelingoffit。butthetrulyfrighteningthingwastheemaciationofhisbody。thebarreloftheribswasasnarrowasthatofaskeleton:thelegshadshrunksothatthekneeswerethickerthanthethighs。hesawnowwhato』brienhadmeantaboutseeingthesideview。thecurvatureofthespinewasastonishing。thethinshoulderswerehunchedforwardsoastomakeacavityofthechest,thescraggyneckseemedtobebendingdoubleundertheweightoftheskull。ataguesshewouldhavesaidthatitwasthebodyofamanofsixty,sufferingfromsomemalignantdisease。