Part two, Chapter 6 Zweiter Teil, Kapitel 6

It had happened at last. The expected message had come. Había llegado el mensaje esperado. All his life, it seemed to him, he had been waiting for this to happen.

He was walking down the long corridor at the Ministry and he was almost at the spot where Julia had slipped the note into his hand when he became aware that someone larger than himself was walking just behind him. Caminaba por el largo pasillo del Ministerio y estaba casi en el lugar donde Julia había deslizado la nota en su mano cuando se dio cuenta de que alguien más grande que él caminaba justo detrás de él. The person, whoever it was, gave a small cough, evidently as a prelude to speaking. La persona, quienquiera que fuera, tosió levemente, evidentemente como antesala para hablar. Winston stopped abruptly and turned. It was O'Brien.

At last they were face to face, and it seemed that his only impulse was to run away. Por fin se encontraron cara a cara y parecía que su único impulso era huir. His heart bounded violently. Su corazón latía violentamente. He would have been incapable of speaking. O'Brien, however, had continued forward in the same movement, laying a friendly hand for a moment on Winston's arm, so that the two of them were walking side by side. O'Brien, sin embargo, había seguido adelante con el mismo movimiento, poniendo una mano amiga por un momento en el brazo de Winston, de modo que los dos caminaban uno al lado del otro. He began speaking with the peculiar grave courtesy that differentiated him from the majority of Inner Party members. Comenzó a hablar con la peculiar cortesía grave que lo diferenciaba de la mayoría de los miembros del Partido Interior. Він почав говорити з особливою серйозною ввічливістю, яка відрізняла його від більшості членів внутрішньої партії.

‘I had been hoping for an opportunity of talking to you,' he said. ‘I was reading one of your Newspeak articles in ‘The Times' the other day. You take a scholarly interest in Newspeak, I believe?' Winston had recovered part of his self-possession. Winston había recuperado parte de su dominio de sí mismo. Вінстон частково відновив самовладання. ‘Hardly scholarly,' he said. "Difícilmente erudito", dijo. «Навряд чи вчено», — сказав він. ‘I'm only an amateur. It's not my subject. I have never had anything to do with the actual construction of the Nunca he tenido nada que ver con la construcción real del Я ніколи не мав нічого спільного з фактичним будівництвом

language.'

‘But you write it very elegantly,' said O'Brien. ‘That is not only my own opinion. I was talking recently to a friend of yours who is certainly an expert. His name has slipped my memory for the moment.'

Again Winston's heart stirred painfully. Una vez más, el corazón de Winston se agitó dolorosamente. Серце Вінстона знову боляче здригнулося. It was inconceivable that this was anything other than a reference to Syme. Era inconcebible que esto fuera algo más que una referencia a Syme. But Syme was not only dead, he was abolished, an unperson. Pero Syme no solo estaba muerto, estaba abolido, no era una persona. Any identifiable reference to him would have been mortally dangerous. Cualquier referencia identificable a él habría sido mortalmente peligrosa. O'Brien's remark must obviously have been intended as a signal, a codeword. Obviamente, el comentario de O'Brien debió ser una señal, una palabra clave. By sharing a small act of thoughtcrime he had turned the two of them into accomplices. Al compartir un pequeño acto de crimen mental, los había convertido a los dos en cómplices. They had continued to stroll slowly down the corridor, but now O'Brien halted. Вони продовжували повільно йти коридором, але тепер О'Браєн зупинився. With the curious, disarming friendliness that he always managed to put in to the gesture he resettled his spectacles on his nose. Con la amabilidad curiosa y cautivadora que siempre lograba poner en el gesto, volvió a colocarse las gafas en la nariz. Then he went on:

‘What I had really intended to say was that in your article I noticed you had used two words which have become obsolete. 'Lo que realmente tenía la intención de decir es que en su artículo noté que había usado dos palabras que se han vuelto obsoletas. But they have only become so very recently. Pero se han vuelto muy recientemente. Have you seen the tenth edition of the Newspeak Dictionary?'

‘No,' said Winston. ‘I didn't think it had been issued yet. 'No pensé que se hubiera emitido todavía. We are still using the ninth in the Records Department.'

‘The tenth edition is not due to appear for some months, I believe. Creo que la décima edición no se publicará hasta dentro de algunos meses. But a few advance copies have been circulated. Але кілька попередніх примірників було розповсюджено. I have one myself. It might interest you to look at it, perhaps?' ¿Quizás le interese mirarlo?

‘Very much so,' said Winston, immediately seeing where this tended. —Mucho —dijo Winston, viendo inmediatamente a dónde tendía esto.

‘Some of the new developments are most ingenious. “Algunos de los nuevos desarrollos son muy ingeniosos. The reduction in the number of verbs — that is the point that will appeal to you, I think. Зменшення кількості дієслів — ось що вам сподобається, я думаю. Let me see, shall I send a messenger to you with the dictionary? Déjame ver, ¿te envío un mensajero con el diccionario? But I am afraid I invariably forget anything of that kind. Pero me temo que siempre olvido algo de ese tipo. Perhaps you could pick it up at my flat at some time that suited you? Wait. Let me give you my address.'

They were standing in front of a telescreen. Somewhat absent- mindedly O'Brien felt two of his pockets and then produced a small leather-covered notebook and a gold ink-pencil. O'Brien palpó dos de sus bolsillos con cierta distracción y luego sacó un pequeño cuaderno forrado de cuero y un lápiz de tinta dorado. Дещо розсіяно О'Браєн намацав дві свої кишені, а потім дістав маленький блокнот у шкіряній палітурці та золотий чорнильний олівець. Immediately beneath the telescreen, in such a position that anyone who was watching at the other end of the instrument could read what he was writing, he scribbled an address, tore out the page and handed it to Winston.

‘I am usually at home in the evenings,' he said. ‘If not, my servant will give you the dictionary.'

He was gone, leaving Winston holding the scrap of paper, which this time there was no need to conceal. Nevertheless he carefully memorized what was written on it, and some hours later dropped it into the memory hole along with a mass of other papers.

They had been talking to one another for a couple of minutes at the most. Habían estado hablando entre ellos durante un par de minutos como máximo. Вони розмовляли один з одним максимум пару хвилин. There was only one meaning that the episode could possibly have. Solo había un significado que posiblemente podría tener el episodio. It had been contrived as a way of letting Winston know O'Brien's address. Había sido ideado como una forma de hacerle saber a Winston la dirección de O'Brien. This was necessary, because except by direct enquiry it was never possible to discover where anyone lived. There were no directories of any kind. ‘If you ever want to see me, this is where I can be found,' was what O'Brien had been saying to him. «Si alguna vez quieres verme, aquí es donde me pueden encontrar», le había estado diciendo O'Brien. «Якщо ти колись захочеш мене побачити, ось де мене можна знайти», — казав йому О’Браєн. Perhaps there would even be a message concealed somewhere in the dictionary. But at any rate, one thing was certain. The conspiracy that he had dreamed of did exist, and he had reached the outer edges of it. La conspiración con la que había soñado existía, y había llegado a sus extremos. Змова, про яку він мріяв, існувала, і він дійшов до її меж.

He knew that sooner or later he would obey O'Brien's summons. Він знав, що рано чи пізно підкориться заклику О'Браєна. Perhaps tomorrow, perhaps after a long delay — he was not certain. What was happening was only the working-out of a process that had started years ago. Те, що відбувалося, було лише розробкою процесу, який почався багато років тому. The first step had been a secret, involuntary thought, the second had been the opening of the diary. He had moved from thoughts to words, and now from words to actions. The last step was something that would happen in the Ministry of Love. He had accepted it. Lo había aceptado. The end was contained in the beginning. El final estaba contenido en el principio. Кінець містився в початку. But it was frightening: or, more exactly, it was like a foretaste of death, like being a little less alive. Pero era aterrador: o, más exactamente, era como un anticipo de la muerte, como estar un poco menos vivo. Even while he was speaking to O'Brien, when the meaning of the words had sunk in, a chilly shuddering feeling had taken possession of his body. He had the sensation of stepping into the dampness of a grave, and it was not much better because he had always known that the grave was there and waiting for him. Tenía la sensación de pisar la humedad de una tumba, y no era mucho mejor porque siempre había sabido que la tumba estaba ahí y esperándolo.