when the sleeper wakes-第25部分

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！



unimpressive　soaring　speck。



A　thing　Graham　had　already　learnt；　and　which　he

found　very　hard　to　imagine；　was　that　nearly　all　the

towns　in　the　country；　and　almost　all　the　villages；　had

disappeared。　Here　and　there　only；　he　understood；

some　gigantic　hotel…like　edifice　stood　amid　square

miles　of　some　single　cultivation　and　preserved　the

name　of　a　townas　Bournemouth；　Wareham；　or

Swanage。　Yet　the　officer　had　speedily　convinced　him

how　inevitable　such　a　change　had　been。　The　old

order　had　dotted　the　country　with　farmhouses；　and

every　two　or　three　miles　was　the　ruling　landlord's

estate；　and　the　place　of　the　inn　and　cobbler；　the　

grocer's　shop　and　churchthe　village。　Every　eight

miles　or　so　was　the　country　town；　where　lawyer；　corn

merchant；　wool…stapler；　saddler；　veterinary　surgeon；

doctor；　draper；　milliner　and　so　forth　lived。　Every

eight　milessimply　because　that　eight　mile　marketing　

journey；　four　there　and　back；　was　as　much　as　was

comfortable　for　the　farmer。　But　directly　the　railways

came　into　play；　and　after　them　the　light　railways；　and

all　the　swift　new　motor　cars　that　had　replaced　waggons

and　horses；　and　so　soon　as　the　high　roads　began　to

be　made　of　wood；　and　rubber；　and　Eadhamite；　and

all　sorts　of　elastic　durable　substancesthe　necessity

of　having　such　frequent　market　towns　disappeared。

And　the　big　towns　grew。　They　drew　the　worker　with

the　gravitational　force　of　seemingly　endless　work；　the

employer　with　their　suggestions　of　an　infinite　ocean　of

labour。



And　as　the　standard　of　comfort　rose；　as　the　complexity　

of　the　mechanism　of　living　increased　life　in

the　country　had　become　more　and　more　costly；　or

narrow　and　impossible。　The　disappearance　of　vicar

and　squire；　the　extinction　of　the　general　practitioner

by　the　city　specialist；　had　robbed　the　village　of　its　last

touch　of　culture。　After　telephone；　kinematograph

and　phonograph　had　replaced　newspaper；　book；

schoolmaster；　and　letter；　to　live　outside　the　range　of

the　electric　cables　was　to　live　an　isolated　savage。　In

the　country　were　neither　means　of　being　clothed　nor

fed　（according　to　the　refined　conceptions　of　the　time）；

no　efficient　doctors　for　an　emergency；　no　company

and　no　pursuits。



Moreover；　mechanical　appliances　in　agriculture

made　one　engineer　the　equivalent　of　thirty　labourers。

So；　inverting　the　condition　of　the　city　clerk　in　the

days　when　London　was　scarce　inhabitable　because　of

the　coaly　foulness　of　its　air；　the　labourers　now　came

hurrying　by　road　or　air　to　the　city　and　its　life　and

delights　at　night　to　leave　it　again　in　the　morning。

The　city　had　swallowed　up　humanity；　man　had　entered

upon　a　new　stage　in　his　development。　First　had　come

the　nomad；　the　hunter；　then　had　followed　the　agriculturist　

of　the　agricultural　state；　whose　towns　and　cities

and　ports　were　but　the　headquarters　and　markets　of

the　countryside。　And　now；　logical　consequence　of

an　epoch　of　invention；　was　this　huge　new　aggregation

of　men。　Save　London；　there　were　only　four　other

cities　in　Britain　　Edinburgh；　Portsmouth；　

Manchester　and　Shrewsbury。　Such　things　as　these；　simple

statements　of　fact　though　they　were　to　contemporary

men；　strained　Graham's　imagination　to　picture。　And

when　he　glanced　〃over　beyond　there〃　at　the　strange

things　that　existed　on　the　Continent；　it　failed　him

altogether。



He　had　a　vision　of　city　beyond　city；　cities　on　great

plains；　cities　beside　great　rivers；　vast　cities　along　the

sea　margin；　cities　girdled　by　snowy　mountains。　Over

a　great　part　of　the　earth　the　English　tongue　was

spoken；　taken　together　with　its　Spanish　American　and

Hindoo　and　Negro　and　〃Pidgin〃　dialects；　it　was　the

everyday　language　of　two…thirds　of　the　people　of　the

earth。　On　the　Continent；　save　as　remote　and　curious

survivals；　three　other　languages　alone　held　sway

German；　which　reached　to　Antioch　and　Genoa　and

jostled　Spanish…English　at　Gdiz；　a　Gallicised　Russian

which　met　the　Indian　English　in　Persia　and　Kurdistan

and　the　〃Pidgin〃　English　in　Pekin；　and　French　still

clear　and　brilliant；　the　language　of　lucidity；　which

shared　the　Mediterranean　with　the　Indian　English　and

German　and　reached　through　a　negro　dialect　to　the

Congo。



And　everywhere　now；　through　the　city…set　earth；

save　in　the　administered　〃black　belt〃　territories　of

the　tropics；　the　same　cosmopolitan　social　organisatior

prevailed；　and　everywhere　from　Pole　to　Equator　his

property　and　his　responsibilities　extended。　The　whole

world　was　civilised；　the　whole　world　dwelt　in　cities；

the　whole　world　was　property。　Over　the　British

Empire　and　throughout　America　his　ownership　was

scarcely　disguised；　Congress　and　Parliament　were

usually　regarded　as　antique；　curious　gatherings。　And

even　in　the　two　Empires　of　Russia　and　Germany；　the

influence　of　his　wealth　was　conceivably　of　enormous

weight。　There；　of　course；　came　problemspossibilities；　

but；　uplifted　as　he　was；　even　Russia　and　Germany

seemed　sufficiently　remote。　And　of　the　quality　of　the

black　belt　administration；　and　of　what　that　might　mean

for　him　he　thought；　after　the　fashion　of　his　former

days；　not　at　all。　That　it　should　hang　like　a　threat　over

the　spacious　vision　before　him　could　not　enter　his　

nineteenth　century　mind。　But　his　mind　turned　at　once

from　the　scenery　to　the　thought　of　a　vanished　dread。

〃What　of　the　yellow　peril？〃　he　asked　and　Asano　made

him　explain。　The　Chinese　spectre　had　vanished。

Chinaman　and　European　were　at　peace。　The　twentieth

century　had　discovered　with　reluctant　certainty　that

the　average　Chinaman　was　as　civilised；　more　moral；

and　far　more　intelligent　than　the　average　European

serf；　and　had　repeated　on　a　gigantic　scale　the　

fraternisation　of　Scot　and　Englishman　that　happened　in　the

seventeenth　century。　As　Asano　put　it；　〃They　thought

it　over。　They　found　we　were　white　men　after　all。〃

Graham　turned　again　to　the　view　and　his　thoughts

took　a　new　direction。



Out　of　the　dim　south…west；　glittering　and　strange；

voluptuous；　and　in　some　way　terrible；　shone　those

Pleasure　Cities；　of　which　the　kinematograph…phonograph　

and　the　old　man　in　the　street　had　spoken。

Strange　places　reminiscent　of　the　legendary　Sybaris；

cities　of　art　and　beauty；　mercenary　art　and　mercenary

beauty；　sterile　wonderful　cities　of　motion　and　music；

whither　repaired　all　who　profited　by　the　fierce；　

inglorious；　economic　struggle　that　went　on　in　the　glaring

labyrinth　below。



Fierce　he　knew　it　was。　How　fierce　he　could　judge

from　the　fact　that　these　latter…day　people　referred　back

to　the　England　of　the　nineteenth　century　as　the　figure

of　an　idyllic　easy…going　life。　He　turned　his　eyes　to

the　scene　immediately　before　him　again；　trying　to

conceive　the　big　factories　of　that　intricate　maze。



Northward　he　knew　were　the　potters；　makers　not

only　of　earthenware　and　china；　but　of　the　kindred

pastes　and　compounds　a　subtler　mineralogical　

chemistry　had　devised；　there　were　the　makers　of　statuettes

and　wall　ornaments　and　much　intricate　furniture；

there　too　were　the　factories　where　feverishly　

competitive　authors　devised　their　phonograph　discourses　and

advertisements　and　arranged　the　groupings　and

developments　for　their　perpetually　startling　and　novel

kinematographic　dramatic　works。　Thence；　too；　flashed

the　world…wide　messages；　the　world…wide　falsehoods　of

the　news…tellers；　the　chargers　of　the　telephonic

machines　that　had　replaced　the　newspapers　of　the　past。



To　the　westward　beyond　the　smashed　Council

House　were　the　voluminous　offices　of　municipal　control　

and　government；　and　to　the　eastward；　towards

the　port；　the　trading　quarters；　the　huge　public　markets；

the　theatres；　houses　of　resort；　betting　palaces；　miles　of

billiard　saloons；　baseball　and　football　circuses；　wild

beast　rings　and　the　innumerable　temples　of　the　

Christian　and　quasi…Christian　sects；　the　Mahomedans；

Buddhists；　Gnostics；　Spook　Worshippers；　the　Incubus

Worshippers；　the　Furniture　Worshippers；　and　so

forth；　and　to　the　south　again　a　vast　manufacture　of

textiles；　pickles；　wines　and　condiments。　And　from

point　to　point　tore　the　countless　multitudes　along　the

roaring　mechanical　ways。　A　gigantic　hive；　of　which

the　winds　were　tireless　servants；　and　the　ceaseless

wind…vanes　an　appropriate　crown　and　symbol。



He　thought　of　the　unprecedented　population　that

had　been　sucked　up　by　this　sponge　of　halls　and　

galleriesthe　thirty…three　million　lives　that　were　

playing　out　each　its　own　brief　ineffectual　drama　below

him；　and　the　complacency　that　the　brightness　of　the

day　and　the　space　and　splendour　of　the　view；　and　above

all　the　sense　of　his　own　importance　had　begotten；

dwindled　and　perished。　Looking　down　from　this

height　over　the　city　it　became　at　last　possible　to　

conceive　this　overwhelming　multitude　of　thirty…three　

millions；　the　reality　of　the　responsibility　he　would　take

upon　himself；　the　vastness　of　the　human　Maelstron

over　which　his　slender　kingship　hung。



He　tried　to　figure　the　individual　life。　It　astonished

him　to　realise　how　little　the　common　man　had　changed

in　spite　of　the　visible　change　in　his　conditions。　Life

and　property；　indeed；　were　secure　from　violence　almost

all　over　the　world；　zymotic　diseases；　bacterial　diseases

of　all　sorts　had　practically　vanished；　everyone　had　a

sufficiency　of　food　and　clothing；　was　warmed　in　the

city　ways　and　sheltered　from　the　weatherso　much

the　almost　mechanical　progress　of　science　and　the

physical　organisation　of　society　had　accomplished。

But　the　crowd；　he　was　already　beginning　to　discover；

was　a　crowd　still；　helpless　in　the　hands　of　demagogue

and　organiser；　individually　cowardly；　individually

swayed　by　appetite；　collectively　incalculable。　The

memory　of　countless　figures　in　pale　blue　canvas　came

before　his　mind。　Millions　of　such　men　and　women

below　him；　he　knew；　had　never　been　out　of　the　city；

had　never　seen　beyond　the　little　round　of　unintelligent

grudging　participation　in　the　world's　business；　a