Page 110 - Orwell, George - Nineteen eighty-four -bilingüe [pdf]

George Orwell 1 9 8 4 109

arguing, with vivid, passionate faces. The Lottery, distancia. Todavía seguían discutiendo
with its weekly pay-out of enormous prizes, was the apasionadamente. La lotería, que pagaba cada
one public event to which the proles paid serious semana enormes premios, era el único
attention. It was probable that there were some acontecimiento público al que los proles concedían
millions of proles for whom the Lottery was the una seria atención. Probablemente, había millones
principal if not the only reason for remaining alive. de proles para quienes la lotería era la principal
It was their delight, their folly, their anodyne, their razón de su existencia. Era toda su delicia, su
intellectual stimulant. Where the Lottery was locura, su estimulante intelectual. En todo lo
concerned, even people who could barely read and referente a la lotería, hasta la gente que apenas
write seemed capable of intricate calculations and sabía leer y escribir parecía capaz de intrincados
staggering feats of memory. There was a whole tribe cálculos matemáticos y de asombrosas proezas
of men who made a living simply by selling systems, memorísticas. Toda una tribu de proles se ganaba la
forecasts, and lucky amulets. Winston had nothing to vida vendiendo predicciones, amuletos, sistemas
do with the running of the Lottery, which was para dominar el azar y otras cosas que servían a los
managed by the Ministry of Plenty, but he was maniáticos. Winston nada tenía que ver con la
aware (indeed everyone in the party was aware) that organización de la lotería, dependiente del
the prizes were largely imaginary. Only small sums Ministerio de la Abundancia. Pero sabía
were actually paid out, the winners of the big prizes perfectamente (como cualquier miembro del
being non-existent persons. In the absence of any Partido) que los premios eran en su mayoría
real intercommunication between one part of imaginarios. Sólo se pagaban pequeñas sumas y los
Oceania and another, this was not difficult to ganadores de los grandes premios eran personas
arrange. inexistentes. Como no había verdadera
comunicación entre una y otra parte de Oceanía,
esto resultaba muy fácil.

But if there was hope, it lay in the proles. You had to Si había esperanzas, estaba en los proles. Ésta era
cling on to that. When you put it in words it sounded la idea esencial. Decirlo, sonaba a cosa razonable,
reasonable: it was when you looked at the human pero al mirar aquellos pobres seres humanos, se
beings passing you on the pavement that it became convertía en un acto de fe. La calle por la que
an act of faith. The street into which he had turned descendía Winston, le despertó la sensación de que
ran downhill. He had a feeling that he had been in ya antes había estado por allí y que no hacía mucho
this neighbourhood before, and that there was a main tiempo fue una calle importante. Al final de ella
thoroughfare not far away. From somewhere ahead había una escalinata por donde se bajaba a otra
there came a din of shouting voices. The street took calle en la que estaba un mercadillo de legumbres.
a sharp turn and then ended in a flight of steps which Entonces recordó Winston dónde estaba: en la
led down into a sunken alley where a few stall- primera esquina, a unos cinco minutos de marcha,
keepers were selling tired-looking vegetables. At this estaba la tienda de compraventa donde él había
moment Winston remembered where he was. The adquirido el libro en blanco donde ahora llevaba su
alley led out into the main street, and down the next Diario. Y en otra tienda no muy distante, había
turning, not five minutes away, was the junk-shop comprado la pluma y el frasco de tinta.
where he had bought the blank book which was now
his diary. And in a small stationer's shop not far
away he had bought his penholder and his bottle of
ink.

He paused for a moment at the top of the steps. On Se detuvo un momento en lo alto de la escalinata.
the opposite side of the alley there was a dingy little Al otro lado de la calle había una sórdida taberna
pub whose windows appeared to be frosted over but cuyas ventanas parecían cubiertas de escarcha; pero
in reality were merely coated with dust. A very old sólo era polvo. Un hombre muy viejo con bigotes