Nineteen Eighty-Four 一九八四 Part 2, Chapter 2

Winston picked his way up the lane through dappled light and shade, stepping out into pools of gold wherever the boughs ² parted. Under the trees to the left of him the ground was misty ³ with bluebells ⁵. The air seemed to kiss one's skin. It was the second of May. From somewhere deeper in the heart of the wood came the droning of ring doves., ,He was a bit early. There had been no difficulties about the journey, and the girl was so evidently experienced that he was less frightened than he would normally have been. Presumably she could be trusted to find a safe place. In general you could not assume that you were much safer in the country than in London. There were no telescreens, of course, but there was always the danger of concealed ⁷ microphones by which your voice might be picked up and recognized; besides, it was not easy to make a journey by yourself without attracting attention. For distances of less than 100 kilometres it was not necessary to get your passport endorsed ⁸, but sometimes there were patrols hanging about the railway stations, who examined the papers of any Party member they found there and asked awkward questions. However, no patrols had appeared, and on the walk from the station he had made sure by cautious backward glances that he was not being followed. The train was full of proles, in holiday mood because of the summery weather. The wooden-seated carriage in which he travelled was filled to overflowing ⁹ by a single enormous family, ranging from a toothless great-grandmother to a month-old baby, going out to spend an afternoon with 'in-laws' in the country, and, as they freely explained to Winston, to get hold of a little blackmarket butter., ,The lane widened, and in a minute he came to the footpath ¹⁰ she had told him of, a mere ¹¹ cattle-track which plunged ¹² between the bushes. He had no watch, but it could not be fifteen yet. The bluebells were so thick underfoot that it was impossible not to tread on them. He knelt down and began picking some partly to pass the time away, but also from a vague idea that he would like to have a bunch of flowers to offer to the girl when they met. He had got together a big bunch and was smelling their faint sickly scent ¹³ when a sound at his back froze him, the unmistakable crackle of a foot on twigs ¹⁴. He went on picking bluebells. It was the best thing to do. It might be the girl, or he might have been followed after all. To look round was to show guilt ¹⁵. He picked another and another. A hand fell lightly on his shoulder., , ,'Here we are,' she said., ,He was facing her at several paces' distance. As yet he did not dare move nearer to her., ,Every bough was swinging in the wind.每条树枝都在风里摇摆。,The green boughs glittered with all their pearls of dew. 绿枝上闪烁着露珠的光彩 。