“Asseyez-vous, chère Madame,” said Mr. Aristides.
He waved a small claw-like hand, and Hilary came forward in a dreamand sat down upon another low divan1 opposite him. He gave a gentle littlecackle of laughter.
“You are surprised,” he said. “It is not what you expected, eh?”
“No, indeed,” said Hilary. “I never thought—I never imagined—”
But already her surprise was subsiding2.
With her recognition of Mr. Aristides the dream world of unreality inwhich she had been living for the past weeks shattered and broke. Sheknew now that the Unit had seemed unreal to her—because it was unreal.
It had never been what it pretended to be. The Herr Director with hisspellbinder’s voice had been unreal too—a mere3 figurehead of fiction setup to obscure the truth. The truth was here in this secret oriental room. Alittle old man sitting there and laughing quietly. With Mr. Aristides in thecentre of the picture, everything made sense—hard, practical, everydaysense.
“I see now,” said Hilary. “This—is all yours, isn’t it?”
“Yes, Madame.”
“And the Director? The so-called Director?”
“He is very good,” said Mr. Aristides appreciatively. “I pay him a veryhigh salary. He used to run Revivalist Meetings.”
He smoked thoughtfully for a moment or two. Hilary did not speak.
“There is Turkish Delight beside you, Madame. And other sweetmeats ifyou prefer them.” Again there was a silence. Then he went on, “I am aphilanthropist, Madame. As you know, I am rich. One of the richest men—possibly the richest man—in the world today. With my wealth I feel underthe obligation to serve humanity. I have established here, in this remotespot, a colony of lepers and a vast assembly of research into the problemof the cure of leprosy. Certain types of leprosy are curable. Others, so far,have proved incurable5. But all the time we are working and obtaininggood results. Leprosy is not really such an easily communicated disease. Itis not half so infectious or so contagious6 as smallpox7 or typhus or plagueor any of these other things. And yet, if you say to people, ‘a leper colony’
they will shudder8 and give it a wide berth9. It is an old, old fear, that. A fearthat you can find in the Bible, and which has existed all down through theyears. The horror of the leper. It has been useful to me in establishing thisplace.”
“You established it for that reason?”
“Yes. We have here also a Cancer Research department, and importantwork is being done on tuberculosis10. There is virus research, also—for cur-ative reasons, bien entendu—biological warfare11 is not mentioned. All hu-mane, all acceptable, all redounding12 greatly to my honour. Well-knownphysicians, surgeons and research chemists come here to see our resultsfrom time to time as they have come today. The building has been cun-ningly constructed in such a way that a part of it is shut off and unappar-ent even from the air. The more secret laboratories have been tunnelledright into the rock. In any case, I am above suspicion.” He smiled and ad-ded simply: “I am so very rich, you see.”
“But why?” demanded Hilary. “Why this urge for destruction?”
“I have no urge for destruction, Madame. You wrong me.”
“But then—I simply don’t understand.”
“I am a businessman,” said Mr. Aristides simply. “I am also a collector.
When wealth becomes oppressive, that is the only thing to do. I have col-lected many things in my time. Pictures—I have the finest art collection inEurope. Certain kinds of ceramics13. Philately—my stamp collection is fam-ous. When a collection is fully4 representative, one goes on to the nextthing. I am an old man, Madame, and there was not very much more forme to collect. So I came at last to collecting brains.”
“Brains?” Hilary queried14.
He nodded gently.
“Yes, it is the most interesting thing to collect of all. Little by little, Ma-dame, I am assembling here all the brains of the world. The young men,those are the ones I am bringing here. Young men of promise, young menof achievement. One day the tired nations of the world will wake up andrealize that their scientists are old and stale, and that the young brains ofthe world, the doctors, the research chemists, the physicists15, the surgeons,are all here in my keeping. And if they want a scientist, or a plastic sur-geon, or a biologist, they will have to come and buy him from me!”
“You mean .?.?.” Hilary leaned forward, staring at him. “You mean thatthis is all a gigantic financial operation.”
Again Mr. Aristides nodded gently.
“Yes,” he said. “Naturally. Otherwise—it would not make sense, wouldit?”
Hilary gave a deep sigh.
“No,” she said. “That’s just what I’ve felt.”
“After all, you see,” said Mr. Aristides almost apologetically. “It is myprofession. I am a financier.”
“And you mean there is no political side to this at all? You don’t wantWorld Power—?”
He threw up his hand in rebuke16.
“I do not want to be God,” he said. “I am a religious man. That is the oc-cupational disease of Dictators: wanting to be God. So far I have not con-tracted that disease.” He reflected a moment and said: “It may come. Yes,it may come .?.?. But as yet, mercifully—no.”
“But how do you get all these people to come here?”
“I buy them, Madame. In the open market, like any other merchandise.
Sometimes I buy them with money. More often, I buy them with ideas.
Young men are dreamers. They have ideals. They have beliefs. SometimesI buy them with safety—those that have transgressed17 the law.”
“That explains it,” said Hilary. “Explains, I mean, what puzzled me so onthe journey here.”
“Ah! It puzzled you on the journey, did it?”
“Yes. The difference in aims. Andy Peters, the American, seemed com-pletely Left Wing. But Ericsson was a fanatical believer in the Superman.
And Helga Needheim was a Fascist18 of the most arrogant19 and pagan kind.
Dr. Barron—” She hesitated.
“Yes, he came for money,” said Aristides. “Dr. Barron is civilized20 andcynical. He has no illusions, but he has a genuine love of his work. Hewanted unlimited21 money, so as to pursue his researches further.” He ad-ded: “You are intelligent, Madame. I saw that at once in Fez.”
He gave a gentle little cackle of laughter.
“You did not know it, Madame, but I went to Fez simply to observe you—or rather I had you brought to Fez in order that I might observe you.”
“I see,” said Hilary.
She noted22 the oriental rephrasing of the sentence.
“I was pleased to think that you would be coming here. For, if you un-derstand me, I do not find many intelligent people in this place to talk to.”
He made a gesture. “These scientists, these biologists, these researchchemists, they are not interesting. They are geniuses perhaps at what theydo, but they are uninteresting people with whom to converse23.”
“Their wives,” he added thoughtfully, “are usually very dull, too. We donot encourage wives here. I permit wives to come for only one reason.”
“What reason?”
Mr. Aristides said drily:
“In the rare cases where a husband is unable to do his work properlybecause he is thinking too much of his wife. That seemed to be the casewith your husband, Thomas Betterton. Thomas Betterton is known to theworld as a young man of genius, but since he has been here he has doneonly mediocre24 and second- class work. Yes, Betterton has disappointedme.”
“But don’t you find that constantly happening? These people are, afterall, in prison here. Surely they rebel? At first, at any rate?”
“Yes,” Mr. Aristides agreed. “That is only natural and inevitable25. It is sowhen you first cage a bird. But if the bird is in a big enough aviary26; if ithas all that it needs; a mate, seed, water, twigs27, all the material of life, itforgets in the end that it was ever free.”
Hilary shivered a little.
“You frighten me,” she said. “You really frighten me.”
“You will grow to understand many things here, Madame. Let me assureyou that though all these men of different ideologies28 arrive here and aredisillusioned and rebellious29, they will all toe the line in the end.”
“You can’t be sure of that,” said Hilary.
“One can be absolutely sure of nothing in this world. I agree with youthere. But it is a ninety-five percent certainty all the same.”
Hilary looked at him with something like horror.
“It’s dreadful,” she said. “It’s like a typists’ pool! You’ve got a pool here ofbrains.”
“Exactly. You put it very justly, Madame.”
“And from this pool, you intend, one day, to supply scientists to whoeverpays you best for them?”
“That is, roughly, the general principle, Madame.”
“But you can’t send out a scientist just as you can send out a typist.”
“Why not?”
“Because once your scientist is in the free world again, he could refuseto work for his new employer. He would be free again.”
“True up to a point. There may have to be a certain—conditioning, shallwe say?”
“Conditioning—what do you mean by that?”
“You have heard of Leucotomy, Madame?” Hilary frowned.
“That’s a brain operation, isn’t it?”
“But yes. It was devised originally for the curing of melancholia. I put itto you not in medical terms, Madame, but in such terms as you and I un-derstand. After the operation the patient has no more desire to commitsuicide, no further feelings of guilt30. He is carefree, conscienceless and inmost cases obedient.”
“It hasn’t been a hundred percent success, has it?”
“In the past, no. But here we have made great strides in the investiga-tion of the subject. I have here three surgeons: one Russian, one French-man, and an Austrian. By various operations of grafting31 and delicate ma-nipulation of the brain, they are arriving gradually at a state where docil-ity can be assured and the will can be controlled without necessarily af-fecting mental brilliance32. It seems possible that we may in the end so con-dition a human being that while his powers of intellect remain unim-paired, he will exhibit perfect docility33. Any suggestion made to him he willaccept.”
“But that’s horrible,” cried Hilary. “Horrible!”
He corrected her serenely34.
“It is useful. It is even in some ways beneficent. For the patient will behappy, contented35, without fears or longings36 or unrest.”
“I don’t believe it will ever happen,” said Hilary defiantly37.
“Chère Madame, forgive me if I say you are hardly competent to speakon the subject.”
“What I mean is,” said Hilary, “that I do not believe a contented, suggest-ible animal will ever produce creative work of real brilliance.”
Aristides shrugged38 his shoulders.
“Perhaps. You are intelligent. You may have something there. Time willshow. Experiments are going on all the time.”
“Experiments! On human beings, do you mean?”
“But certainly. That is the only practical method.”
“But—what human beings?”
“There are always the misfits,” said Aristides. “The ones who do not ad-apt themselves to life here, who will not cooperate. They make good ex-perimental material.”
Hilary dug her fingers into the cushions of the divan. She felt a deephorror of this smiling, yellow-faced little man with his inhuman39 outlook.
Everything he said was so reasonable, so logical and so businesslike, that itmade the horror worse. Here was no raving40 madman, just a man to whomhis fellow creatures were so much raw material.
“Don’t you believe in God?” she said.
“Naturally I believe in God.” Mr. Aristides raised his eyebrows41. His tonewas almost shocked. “I have told you already. I am a religious man. Godhas blessed me with supreme42 power. With money and opportunity.”
“Do you read your Bible?” asked Hilary.
“Certainly, Madame.”
“Do you remember what Moses and Aaron said to Pharaoh? Let mypeople go.”
He smiled.
“So—I am Pharaoh? And you are Moses and Aaron in one? Is that whatyou are saying to me, Madame? To let these people go, all of them, or just—one special case?”
“I’d like to say—all of them,” said Hilary.
“But you are well aware, chère Madame,” he said, “that that would be awaste of time. So instead, is it not your husband for whom you plead?”
“He is no good to you,” said Hilary. “Surely by now you must realizethat.”
“Perhaps it is true what you say, Madame. Yes, I am very much disap-pointed in Thomas Betterton. I hoped that your presence here might re-store him to his brilliance, for undoubtedly43 he has brilliance. His reputa-tion in America leaves no doubt as to that. But your coming seems to havehad little or no effect. I speak not of my own knowledge, of course, butfrom the reports of those fitted to know. His brother scientists who havebeen working with him.” He shrugged his shoulders. “He does conscien-tious, mediocre work. No more.”
“There are birds that cannot sing in captivity,” said Hilary. “Perhapsthere are scientists who cannot attain44 creative thought under certain cir-cumstances. You must admit that that is a reasonable possibility.”
“It may be so. I do not deny it.”
“Then write off Thomas Betterton as one of your failures. Let him returnto the outer world.”
“That would hardly do, Madame. I am not yet prepared to have know-ledge of this place broadcast to the globe.”
“You could swear him to secrecy45. He would swear never to breathe aword.”
“He would swear—yes. But he would not keep that word.”
“He would! Oh, indeed, he would!”
“There speaks a wife! One cannot take the word of wives on this point.
Of course,” he leaned back in his chair, and brought the tips of his yellowfingers together, “of course, he might leave a hostage behind him, and thatmight tie his tongue.”
“You mean?”
“I meant you, Madame .?.?. If Thomas Betterton went, and you remainedas a hostage, how would that bargain strike you? Would you be willing?”
Hilary stared past him into the shadows. Mr. Aristides could not knowthe pictures that rose before her eyes. She was back in a hospital room, sit-ting by a dying woman. She was listening to Jessop and memorizing his in-structions. If there was a chance, now, that Thomas Betterton might gofree, whilst she remained, would not that be the best way to fulfil her mis-sion? For she knew (what Mr. Aristides did not), that there would be nohostage in the usual meaning of the word, left behind. She herself meantnothing to Thomas Betterton. The wife he had loved was already dead.
She raised her head and looked across at the little old man on the divan.
“I should be willing,” she said.
“You have courage, Madame, and loyalty46 and devotion. They are goodqualities. For the rest—” He smiled. “We will talk of it again some othertime.”
“Oh no, no!” Hilary suddenly buried her face in her hands. Hershoulders shook. “I can’t bear it! I can’t bear it! It’s all too inhuman.”
“You must not mind so much, Madame.” The old man’s voice wastender, almost soothing47. “It has pleased me tonight to tell you my aims andmy aspirations48. It has been interesting to me to see the effect upon a mindtotally unprepared. A mind like yours, well-balanced, sane49 and intelligent.
You are horrified50. You are repulsed51. Yet I think that to shock you in thisway is a wise plan. At first you repel52 the idea, then you think of it, you re-flect on it, and in the end it will seem to you natural; as though it has al-ways existed, a commonplace.”
“Never that!” cried Hilary. “Never that! Never! Never!”
“Ah,” said Mr. Aristides. “There speaks the passion and the rebellionthat go with red hair. My second wife,” he added reflectively, “had redhair. She was a beautiful woman, and she loved me. Strange, is it not? Ihave always admired red- haired women. Your hair is very beautiful.
There are other things I like about you. Your spirit, your courage; the factthat you have a mind of your own.” He sighed. “Alas! Women as womeninterest me very little nowadays. I have a couple of young girls here whoplease me sometimes, but it is the stimulus53 of mental companionship thatI now prefer. Believe me, Madame, your company has refreshed megreatly.”
“Supposing I repeat all that you have told me to—my husband?”
Mr. Aristides smiled indulgently.
“Ah yes, supposing you do? But will you?”
“I don’t know. I—oh, I don’t know.”
“Ah!” said Mr. Aristides. “You are wise. There is some knowledge wo-men should keep to themselves. But you are tired—and upset. From timeto time, when I pay my visits here, you shall be brought to me, and we willdiscuss many things.”
“Let me leave this place—” Hilary stretched her hands out to him. “Oh,let me go away. Let me leave with you when you go. Please! Please!”
He shook his head gently. His expression was indulgent, but there was afaint touch of contempt behind it.
“Now you are talking like a child,” he said reprovingly. “How could I letyou go? How could I let you spread the story round the world of what youhave seen here?”
“Wouldn’t you believe me if I swore I wouldn’t say a word to anyone?”
“No indeed I should not believe you,” said Mr. Aristides. “I should bevery foolish if I believed anything of the kind.”
“I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to stay here in this prison. I wantto get out.”
“But you have your husband. You came here to join him, deliberately54, ofyour own free will.”
“But I didn’t know what I was coming to. I’d no idea.”
“No,” said Mr. Aristides, “you had no idea. But I can assure you this par-ticular world you have come to is a much pleasanter world than the lifebeyond the Iron Curtain. Here you have everything you need! Luxury, abeautiful climate, distractions55. .?.?.”
He got up and patted her gently on the shoulder.
“You will settle down,” he said, confidently. “Ah yes, the red-haired birdin the cage will settle down. In a year, in two years certainly, you will bevery happy! Though possibly,” he added thoughtfully, “less interesting.”
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divan
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| n.长沙发；（波斯或其他东方诗人的）诗集 | |
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subsiding
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的现在分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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incurable
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| adj.不能医治的，不能矫正的，无救的；n.不治的病人，无救的人 | |
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contagious
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| adj.传染性的，有感染力的 | |
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smallpox
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| n.天花 | |
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shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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tuberculosis
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| n.结核病，肺结核 | |
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warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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redounding
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| v.有助益( redound的现在分词 )；及于；报偿；报应 | |
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ceramics
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| n.制陶业；陶器 | |
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queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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physicists
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| 物理学家( physicist的名词复数 ) | |
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rebuke
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| v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise | |
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transgressed
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| v.超越( transgress的过去式和过去分词 )；越过；违反；违背 | |
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fascist
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| adj.法西斯主义的；法西斯党的；n.法西斯主义者，法西斯分子 | |
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arrogant
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的 | |
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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mediocre
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| adj.平常的，普通的 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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aviary
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| n.大鸟笼，鸟舍 | |
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twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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ideologies
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| n.思想（体系）( ideology的名词复数 )；思想意识；意识形态；观念形态 | |
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rebellious
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| adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的 | |
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guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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grafting
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| 嫁接法，移植法 | |
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brilliance
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| n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智 | |
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docility
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| n.容易教，易驾驶，驯服 | |
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serenely
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| adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地 | |
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contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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longings
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| 渴望，盼望( longing的名词复数 ) | |
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defiantly
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| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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inhuman
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| adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的 | |
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raving
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| adj.说胡话的；疯狂的，怒吼的；非常漂亮的；令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话；疯话adv.胡言乱语地；疯狂地 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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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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50
horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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51
repulsed
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| v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 )；驳斥；拒绝 | |
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52
repel
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| v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥 | |
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53
stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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54
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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distractions
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| n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 )；娱乐，消遣；心烦意乱；精神错乱 | |
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