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that he said. From time to time Winston caught punto estoy de acuerdo contigo», en una voz juvenil
some such remark as 'I think you're so right, I do y algo tonta. Pero la otra voz no se detenía ni siquiera
so agree with you', uttered in a youthful and cuando la muchacha decía algo. Winston conocía de
rather silly feminine voice. But the other voice vista a aquel hombre aunque sólo sabía que ocupaba
never stopped for an instant, even when the girl un puesto importante en el Departamento de Novela.
was speaking. Winston knew the man by sight, Era un hombre de unos treinta años con un poderoso
though he knew no more about him than that he cuello y una boca grande y gesticulante. Estaba un
held some important post in the Fiction poco echado hacia atrás en su asiento y los cristales
Department. He was a man of about thirty, with a de sus gafas reflejaban la luz y le presentaban a
muscular throat and a large, mobile mouth. His Winston dos discos vacíos en vez de un par de ojos.
head was thrown back a little, and because of the Lo inquietante era que del torrente de ruido que salía
angle at which he was sitting, his spectacles de su boca resultaba casi imposible distinguir una
caught the light and presented to Winston two sola palabra. Sólo un cabo de frase comprendió
blank discs instead of eyes. What was slightly Winston «completa y definitiva eliminación del
horrible, was that from the stream of sound that goldsteinismo» —, pronunciado con tanta rapidez
poured out of his mouth it was almost impossible que parecía salir en un solo bloque como la línea,
to distinguish a single word. Just once Winston fundida en plomo, de una linotipia. Lo demás era
caught a phrase—'complete and final elimination sólo ruido, un cuac-cuac-cuac, y, sin embargo,
of Goldsteinism'—jerked out very rapidly and, as aunque no se podía oír lo que decía, era seguro que
it seemed, all in one piece, like a line of type cast se refería a Goldstein acusándolo y exigiendo
solid. For the rest it was just a noise, a quack- medidas más duras contra los criminales del
quack-quacking. And yet, though you could not pensamiento y los saboteadores. Sí, era indudable
actually hear what the man was saying, you could que lanzaba diatribas contra las atrocidades del
not be in any doubt about its general nature. He ejército eurasiático y que alababa al Gran Hermano o
might be denouncing Goldstein and demanding a los héroes del frente malabar. Fuera lo que fuese, se
sterner measures against thought-criminals and podía estar seguro de que todas sus palabras eran
saboteurs, he might be fulminating against the ortodoxia pura. Ingsoc cien por cien. Al contemplar
atrocities of the Eurasian army, he might be el rostro sin ojos con la mandíbula en rápido
praising Big Brother or the heroes on the Malabar movimiento, tuvo Winston la curiosa sensación de
front—it made no difference. Whatever it was, que no era un ser humano, sino una especie de
you could be certain that every word of it was muñeco. No hablaba el cerebro de aquel hombre,
pure orthodoxy, pure Ingsoc. As he watched the sino su laringe. Lo que salía de ella consistía en
eyeless face with the jaw moving rapidly up and palabras, pero no era un discurso en el verdadero
down, Winston had a curious feeling that this sentido, sino un ruido inconsciente como el cuac-
was not a real human being but some kind of cuac de un pato.
dummy. It was not the man's brain that was
speaking, it was his larynx. The stuff that was
coming out of him consisted of words, but it was
not speech in the true sense: it was a noise uttered
in unconsciousness, like the quacking of a duck.

Syme had fallen silent for a moment, and with Syme se había quedado silencioso unos momentos y
the handle of his spoon was tracing patterns in con el mango de la cucharilla trazaba dibujos entre
the puddle of stew. The voice from the other los restos del guisado. La voz de la otra mesa seguía
table quacked rapidly on, easily audible in spite con su rápido cuac-cuac, fácilmente perceptible a
of the surrounding din. 'There is a word in pesar de la algarabía de la cantina.
Newspeak,' said Syme, 'I don't know whether you — Hay una palabra en neolengua —dijo Syme que
know it: DUCKSPEAK, to quack like a duck. It no sé si la conoces: pathablar, o sea, hablar de modo
is one of those interesting words that have two que recuerde el cuac-cuac de un pato. Es una de esas
contradictory meanings. Applied to an opponent, palabras interesantes que tienen dos sentidos