Page 118 - Orwell, George - Nineteen eighty-four -bilingüe [pdf]

George Orwell 1 9 8 4 117

memory failed and written records were falsified— de su atención. Eran como las hormigas, que
when that happened, the claim of the Party to have pueden ver los objetos pequeños, pero no los
improved the conditions of human life had got to be grandes. Y cuando la memoria fallaba y los
accepted, because there did not exist, and never testimonios escritos eran falsificados, la:
again could exist, any standard against which it pretensiones del Partido de haber mejorado las
could be tested. condiciones de la vida humana tenían que ser
aceptadas necesariamente porque no existía ni
volvería nunca a existir un nivel de vida con el cual
pudieran ser comparadas.

At this moment his train of thought stopped abruptly. En aquel momento el fluir de sus pensamientos se
He halted and looked up. He was in a narrow street, interrumpió de repente. Se detuvo y levantó la
with a few dark little shops, interspersed among vista. Se halle ha en una calle estrecha con unas
dwelling-houses. Immediately above his head there cuantas tiendecitas oscura salpicadas entre casas de
hung three discoloured metal balls which looked as vecinos. Exactamente encima de su cabeza pendían
if they had once been gilded. He seemed to know the unas bolas de metal descoloridas que habían sido
place. Of course! He was standing outside the junk- doradas. Conocía este sitio. Era la tienda donde
shop where he had bought the diary. había comprado el Diario. Sintió miedo.

A twinge of fear went through him. It had been a Ya había sido bastante, arriesgado comprar el libro
sufficiently rash act to buy the book in the y se había jurado a sí mismo no aparecer nunca más
beginning, and he had sworn never to come near the por allí. Sin embargo, en cuanto permitió a sus
place again. And yet the instant that he allowed his pensamientos que corrieran en libertad, le habían
thoughts to wander, his feet had brought him back traído sus pies a aquel mismo sitio. Precisamente,
here of their own accord. It was precisely against había iniciado su Diario para librarse de impulsos
suicidal impulses of this kind that he had hoped to suicidas como aquél. Al mismo tiempo, notó que
guard himself by opening the diary. At the same aunque eran las veintiuna seguía abierta la tienda.
time he noticed that although it was nearly twenty- Creyendo que sería más prudente estar oculto
one hours the shop was still open. With the feeling dentro de la tienda que a la vista de todos en medio
that he would be less conspicuous inside than de la calle, entró. Si le preguntaban podía decir que
hanging about on the pavement, he stepped through andaba buscando hojas de afeitar.
the doorway. If questioned, he could plausibly say
that he was trying to buy razor blades.

The proprietor had just lighted a hanging oil lamp El dueño acababa de encender una lámpara de
which gave off an unclean but friendly smell. He aceite que echaba un olor molesto, pero
was a man of perhaps sixty, frail and bowed, with a tranquilizador. Era un hombre de unos sesenta
long, benevolent nose, and mild eyes distorted by años, de aspecto frágil, y un poco encorvado, con
thick spectacles. His hair was almost white, but his una nariz larga y simpática y ojos de suave mirar a
eyebrows were bushy and still black. His spectacles, pesar de las gafas de gruesos cristales. Su cabello
his gentle, fussy movements, and the fact that he was era casi blanco, pero las cejas, muy pobladas, se
wearing an aged jacket of black velvet, gave him a conservaban negras. Sus gafas, sus movimientos
vague air of intellectuality, as though he had been acompañados y el hecho de que llevaba una vieja
some kind of literary man, orperhaps a musician. His chaqueta de terciopelo negro le daban un cierto aire
voice was soft, as though faded, and his accent less intelectual como si hubiera sido un hombre de
debased than that of the majority of proles. letras o quizás un músico. De voz suave, algo
apagada, tenía un acento menos marcado que la
mayoría de los proles.