牛津书虫系列《化学秘密》Chapter6 附中英双语文本

6 The report
6 报 告
John 's report took longer than he had thought．It was nearly six weeks later when he went to discuss the re-suits with David Wilson．
约翰的报告花的时间比他想像的要长。将近六个星期以后他才去找大卫·威尔逊讨论实验的结果。
Mr Wilson wasn't a scientist．He was a businessman．He knew how to run a business， how to make money．
威尔逊先生不是一个科学家。他是一个商人。他懂得怎样管理生意，怎样赚钱。
'Thanks for coming，John．'david Wilson came out from behind his desk and shook hands with John．They sat in two big，comfortable armchairs by the window．
“谢谢你的到来，约翰。”大卫·威尔逊从他的桌子后面走出来与约翰握手。他们坐在靠窗户的两张非常舒适的大沙发里。
David Wilson's office was large，with a thick carpet and beautiful pictures on the walls． From the window，John could see the river，and the woods and fields on the other side． He felt comfortable，happy，safe．
大卫·威尔逊的办公室很大，铺着厚厚的地毯，墙上有许多漂亮的画。从窗户望去，约翰可以看见河以及河对面的树林和田野。他感到舒适、愉快、安全。
'I've read your report，'Wilson began．Then he stopped，and lit a cigarette．'Not very good，is it？'
“我已经读了你的报告，”威尔逊开口道。然后他止住，点燃一支雪茄。“不太好，是吧？”
'What？'John stared at him in surprise．
“什么？”约翰吃惊地盯着他。
Wilson smiled，and moved his hand through the clouds of smoke．'No，no， don't worry—I don't mean the report is bad，of course not．You've worked very hard，and done your job well． What I mean is，I don't like the ideas at the end of the report．'
威尔逊笑着，在烟雾中挥动着他的手。“不，不，别担心——我不是说报告不好，当然不是，我的意思是我不喜欢报告结尾的那些意见。”
'What's wrong with them？'
“它们有什么不妥？”
'They're too expensive．'the two men stared at each other for a moment，and John felt cold and sick in his stomach．Wilson smiled， but it wasn't the kind of smile that John liked．
“它们太花钱了。”两个人相互凝视了一会儿，约翰感到胃部又凉又难受。威尔逊笑了笑，但那不是约翰喜欢的那种笑。
'Look，John，'he said．'Your report says that we should build some new machines to clean up the waste products before they go into the river， right？And those machines will cost two million pounds！Where do you think we can find all that？Money doesn't grow on trees，you know！'
“你瞧，约翰，”他说，“你的报告说我们应该制造一些新机器，在将废料倒到河里以前将它们净化，对吧？而那些机器将花费两百万英镑！你想我们能从哪儿搞到所有这些钱？你知道钱不会从天上掉下来！”
'No，of course not．'John's mouth was dry．He took a drink of water，and felt his hand shaking．'But we're selling a lot of the new paint．We're making millions of pounds every month from that，aren't we？'
“对，当然不会。”约翰的嘴开始发干。他喝了一口水，他感觉他的手在颤抖。“但是我们正在卖大量的新油漆。我们每月都从中挣上几百万英镑，不是吗？”
'We're doing very well， yes，'said Wilson．'But if we spend two million pounds to build these new machines，the paint will have to cost more， and we won't sell so much．'
“是的，我们干得非常好，”威尔逊说。“但是如果我们花两百万英镑去造这些新机器，油漆价格就会贵些，我们就卖不了那么多。”
'But—we've got to do it，'said John．'These waste prod-ucts are much more dangerous than I'd thought．Didn't you read that in my report？When I put the chemicals in rats'drinking water，some of the baby rats were born without eyes and ears． One didn't have any legs， and one had six．'He shivered．'And some were born without legs when they drank only two parts per million．We can't put those chemicals in the river．'
“但是——我们必须这样做，”约翰说，“这些废料比我以前想像的还要危险。你难道没在我的报告里读到吗？我在老鼠的饮用水里放入化学品，生出来的一些幼鼠没有眼睛和耳朵。有一只没有腿，还有一只有6条腿。”他战栗着。“有些只喝了百万分之二，生出来就没有腿。我们不能将那些化学品放入河里。”
'Of course I read that，John．I read your report very care-fully indeed．And your report also says that on most days we put less than two parts per million into the river．No，wait，listen to me for a minute！We both know that no drinking wa-ter comes out of this part of the river，don't we？ And in two kilometres the river goes out into the sea．So why is it danger-ous？Nobody is ever going to drink it，John！We don't need to build these new machines！'