Graham found Ostrog waiting to give a formal account of his day's stewardship1. On previous occasions he had passed over this ceremony as speedily as possible, in order to resume his aerial experiences, but now he began to ask quick short questions. He was very anxious to take up his empire forthwith. Ostrog brought flattering reports of the development of affairs abroad. In Paris and Berlin, Graham perceived that he was saying, there had been trouble, not organised resistance indeed, but insubordinate proceedings2. "After all these years," said Ostrog, when Graham pressed enquiries; "the Commune has lifted its head again. That is the real nature of the struggle, to be explicit3." But order had been restored in these cities. Graham, the more deliberately4 judicial5 for the stirring emotions he felt, asked if there had been any fighting. "A little," said Ostrog. "In one quarter only. But the Senegalese division of our African agricultural police--the Consolidated6 African Companies have a very well drilled police--was ready, and so were the aeroplanes. We expected a little trouble in the continental7 cities, and in America. But things are very quiet in America. They are satisfied with the overthrow8 of the Council. For the time."
"Why should you expect trouble?" asked Graham abruptly9.
"There is a lot of discontent--social discontent."
"The Labour Department?"
"You are learning," said Ostrog with a touch of surprise. "Yes. It is chiefly the discontent with the Labour Department. It was that discontent supplied the motive10 force of this overthrow--that and your awakening11."
"Yes?"
Ostrog smiled. He became explicit. "We had to stir up their discontent, we had to revive the old ideals of universal happiness--all men equal--all men happy--no luxury that everyone may not share--ideas that have slumbered12 for two hundred years. You know that? We had to revive these ideals, impossible as they are--in order to overthrow the Council. And now--"
"Well?"
"Our revolution is accomplished13, and the Council is overthrown14, and people whom we have stirred up--remain surging. There was scarcely enough fighting.... We made promises, of course. It is extraordinary how violently and rapidly this vague out-of-date humanitarianism15 has revived and spread. We who sowed the seed even, have been astonished. In Paris, as I say--we have had to call in a little external help."
"And here?"
"There is trouble. Multitudes will not go back to work. There is a general strike. Half the factories are empty and the people are swarming16 in the ways. They are talking of a Commune. Men in silk and satin have been insulted in the streets. The blue canvas is expecting all sorts of things from you.... Of course there is no need for you to trouble. We are setting the Babble17 Machines to work with counter suggestions in the cause of law and order. We must keep the grip tight; that is all."
Graham thought. He perceived a way of asserting himself. But he spoke18 with restraint.
"Even to the pitch of bringing a negro police," he said.
"They are useful," said Ostrog. "They are fine loyal brutes19, with no wash of ideas in their heads--such as our rabble20 has. The Council should have had them as police of the ways, and things might have been different. Of course, there is nothing to fear except rioting and wreckage21. You can manage your own wings now, and you can soar away to Capri if there is any smoke or fuss. We have the pull of all the great things; the aeronauts are privileged and rich, the closest trades union in the world, and so are the engineers of the wind-vanes. We have the air, and the mastery of the air is the mastery of the earth. No one of any ability is organising against us. They have no leaders--only the sectional leaders of the secret society we organised before your very opportune22 awakening. Mere23 busybodies and sentimentalists they are and bitterly jealous of each other. None of them is man enough for a central figure. The only trouble will be a disorganised upheaval24. To be frank--that may happen. But it won't interrupt your aeronautics25. The days when the People could make revolutions are past."
"I suppose they are," said Graham. "I suppose they are." He mused26. "This world of yours has been full of surprises to me. In the old days we dreamt of a wonderful democratic life, of a time when all men would be equal and happy."
Ostrog looked at him steadfastly27. "The day of democracy is past," he said. "Past for ever. That day began with the bowmen of Crecy, it ended when marching infantry28, when common men in masses ceased to win the battles of the world, when costly29 cannon30, great ironclads, and strategic railways became the means of power. To-day is the day of wealth. Wealth now is power as it never was power before--it commands earth and sea and sky. All power is for those who can handle wealth. On your behalf.... You must accept facts, and these are facts. The world for the Crowd! The Crowd as Ruler! Even in your days that creed31 had been tried and condemned32. To-day it has only one believer--a multiplex, silly one--the man in the Crowd."
Graham did not answer immediately. He stood lost in sombre preoccupations.
"No," said Ostrog. "The day of the common man is past. On the open countryside one man is as good as another, or nearly as good. The earlier aristocracy had a precarious33 tenure34 of strength and audacity35. They were tempered--tempered. There were insurrections, duels36, riots. The first real aristocracy, the first permanent aristocracy, came in with castles and armour37, and vanished before the musket38 and bow. But this is the second aristocracy. The real one. Those days of gunpowder39 and democracy were only an eddy40 in the stream. The common man now is a helpless unit. In these days we have this great machine of the city, and an organisation41 complex beyond his understanding."
"Yet," said Graham, "there is something resists, something you are holding down--something that stirs and presses."
"You will see," said Ostrog, with a forced smile that would brush these difficult questions aside. "I have not roused the force to destroy myself--trust me."
"I wonder," said Graham.
Ostrog stared.
"_Must_ the world go this way?" said Graham with his emotions at the speaking point. "Must it indeed go in this way? Have all our hopes been vain?"
"What do you mean?" said Ostrog. "Hopes?"
"I come from a democratic age. And I find an aristocratic tyranny!"
"Well,--but you are the chief tyrant43."
Graham shook his head.
"Well," said Ostrog, "take the general question. It is the way that change has always travelled. Aristocracy, the prevalence of the best--the suffering and extinction44 of the unfit, and so to better things."
"But aristocracy! those people I met--"
"Oh! not _those_!" said Ostrog. "But for the most part they go to their death. Vice45 and pleasure! They have no children. That sort of stuff will die out. If the world keeps to one road, that is, if there is no turning back. An easy road to excess, convenient Euthanasia for the pleasure seekers singed46 in the flame, that is the way to improve the race!"
"Pleasant extinction," said Graham. "Yet--." He thought for an instant. "There is that other thing--the Crowd, the great mass of poor men. Will that die out? That will not die out. And it suffers, its suffering is a force that even you--"
Ostrog moved impatiently, and when he spoke, he spoke rather less evenly than before.
"Don't trouble about these things," he said. "Everything will be settled in a few days now. The Crowd is a huge foolish beast. What if it does not die out? Even if it does not die, it can still be tamed and driven. I have no sympathy with servile men. You heard those people shouting and singing two nights ago. They were _taught_ that song. If you had taken any man there in cold blood and asked why he shouted, he could not have told you. They think they are shouting for you, that they are loyal and devoted47 to you. Just then they were ready to slaughter48 the Council. To-day--they are already murmuring against those who have overthrown the Council."
"No, no," said Graham. "They shouted because their lives were dreary49, without joy or pride, and because in me--in me--they hoped."
"And what was their hope? What is their hope? What right have they to hope? They work ill and they want the reward of those who work well. The hope of mankind--what is it? That some day the Over-man may come, that some day the inferior, the weak and the bestial50 may be subdued51 or eliminated. Subdued if not eliminated. The world is no place for the bad, the stupid, the enervated52. Their duty--it's a fine duty too!--is to die. The death of the failure! That is the path by which the beast rose to manhood, by which man goes on to higher things."
Ostrog took a pace, seemed to think, and turned on Graham. "I can imagine how this great world state of ours seems to a Victorian Englishman. You regret all the old forms of representative government--their spectres still haunt the world, the voting councils, and parliaments and all that eighteenth century tomfoolery. You feel moved against our Pleasure Cities. I might have thought of that,--had I not been busy. But you will learn better. The people are mad with envy--they would be in sympathy with you. Even in the streets now, they clamour to destroy the Pleasure Cities. But the Pleasure Cities are the excretory organs of the State, attractive places that year after year draw together all that is weak and vicious, all that is lascivious53 and lazy, all the easy roguery of the world, to a graceful54 destruction. They go there, they have their time, they die childless, all the pretty silly lascivious women die childless, and mankind is the better. If the people were sane55 they would not envy the rich their way of death. And you would emancipate56 the silly brainless workers that we have enslaved, and try to make their lives easy and pleasant again. Just as they have sunk to what they are fit for." He smiled a smile that irritated Graham oddly. "You will learn better. I know those ideas; in my boyhood I read your Shelley and dreamt of Liberty. There is no liberty, save wisdom and self-control. Liberty is within--not without. It is each man's own affair. Suppose--which is impossible--that these swarming yelping57 fools in blue get the upper hand of us, what then? They will only fall to other masters. So long as there are sheep Nature will insist on beasts of prey58. It would mean but a few hundred years' delay. The coming of the aristocrat42 is fatal and assured. The end will be the Over-man--for all the mad protests of humanity. Let them revolt, let them win and kill me and my like. Others will arise--other masters. The end will be the same."
"I wonder," said Graham doggedly59.
For a moment he stood downcast.
"But I must see these things for myself," he said, suddenly assuming a tone of confident mastery. "Only by seeing can I understand. I must learn. That is what I want to tell you, Ostrog. I do not want to be King in a Pleasure City; that is not my pleasure. I have spent enough time with aeronautics--and those other things. I must learn how people live now, how the common life has developed. Then I shall understand these things better. I must learn how common people live--the labour people more especially--how they work, marry, bear children, die--"
"You get that from our realistic novelists," suggested Ostrog, suddenly preoccupied60.
"I want reality," said Graham.
"There are difficulties," said Ostrog, and thought. "On the whole--"
"I did not expect--"
"I had thought--. And yet perhaps--. You say you want to go through the ways of the city and see the common people."
Suddenly he came to some conclusion. "You would need to go disguised," he said. "The city is intensely excited, and the discovery of your presence among them might create a fearful tumult61. Still this wish of yours to go into this city--this idea of yours--. Yes, now I think the thing over, it seems to me not altogether--. It can be contrived62. If you would really find an interest in that! You are, of course, Master. You can go soon if you like. A disguise Asano will be able to manage. He would go with you. After all it is not a bad idea of yours."
"You will not want to consult me in any matter?" asked Graham suddenly, struck by an odd suspicion.
"Oh, dear no! No! I think you may trust affairs to me for a time, at any rate," said Ostrog, smiling. "Even if we differ--"
Graham glanced at him sharply.
"There is no fighting likely to happen soon?" he asked abruptly.
"Certainly not."
"I have been thinking about these negroes. I don't believe the people intend any hostility63 to me, and, after all, I am the Master. I do not want any negroes brought to London. It is an archaic64 prejudice perhaps, but I have peculiar65 feelings about Europeans and the subject races. Even about Paris--"
Ostrog stood watching him from under his drooping66 brows. "I am not bringing negroes to London," he said slowly. "But if--"
"You are not to bring armed negroes to London, whatever happens," said Graham. "In that matter I am quite decided67."
Ostrog resolved not to speak, and bowed deferentially68.
收听单词发音 |
1
stewardship
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| n. n. 管理工作；管事人的职位及职责 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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explicit
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| adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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judicial
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| adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的 | |
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consolidated
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| a.联合的 | |
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continental
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| adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的 | |
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overthrow
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| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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slumbered
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| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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overthrown
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| adj. 打翻的，推倒的，倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词 | |
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humanitarianism
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| n.博爱主义；人道主义；基督凡人论 | |
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swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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babble
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| v.含糊不清地说，胡言乱语地说，儿语 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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brutes
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| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
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rabble
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| n.乌合之众，暴民；下等人 | |
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wreckage
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| n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏 | |
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opportune
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| adj.合适的，适当的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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upheaval
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| n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱 | |
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aeronautics
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| n.航空术，航空学 | |
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mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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steadfastly
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| adv.踏实地，不变地；岿然；坚定不渝 | |
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infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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precarious
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| adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的 | |
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tenure
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| n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期 | |
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audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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duels
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| n.两男子的决斗( duel的名词复数 )；竞争，斗争 | |
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armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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musket
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| n.滑膛枪 | |
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gunpowder
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| n.火药 | |
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eddy
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| n.漩涡，涡流 | |
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organisation
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| n.组织，安排，团体，有机休 | |
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aristocrat
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| n.贵族，有贵族气派的人，上层人物 | |
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tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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extinction
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| n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种 | |
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vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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46
singed
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| v.浅表烧焦( singe的过去式和过去分词 )；（毛发）燎，烧焦尖端[边儿] | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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49
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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bestial
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| adj.残忍的；野蛮的 | |
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subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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enervated
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| adj.衰弱的，无力的v.使衰弱，使失去活力( enervate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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lascivious
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| adj.淫荡的，好色的 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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sane
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| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
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56
emancipate
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| v.解放，解除 | |
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57
yelping
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| v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的现在分词 ) | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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doggedly
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| adv.顽强地，固执地 | |
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preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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archaic
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| adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的，已不通用的 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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deferentially
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| adv.表示敬意地，谦恭地 | |
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