Читать книгу 1984. A2 - Джордж Оруэлл, George Orwell - Страница 2

It was a cold, bright day in April. Winston Smith hurried through the glass doors of Victory Mansions to avoid the cold wind. The wind blew dust and small pieces of paper through the streets.

The corridors smelled of boiled cabbage and old carpets. There was a huge coloured poster on the wall. It showed a man's strong face with dark eyes and a thick black moustache. The face stared down at everyone, like it was watching them. Below the man's face, there was a phrase: BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.

Winston took the stairs to get to his flat on the seventh floor. The lift, as usual, wasn't working because the Party often turned off the power during the day to save energy for Hate Week. When Winston finally reached his flat, he opened the door and entered. A loud voice came from a large screen on the wall. The telescreen showed programmes, but also controlled everything that happened in the room. The rule was to never turn it off.

Winston looked out of the window. Below him, the streets were empty, except for the posters of Big Brother that hung everywhere. Helicopters flew low over the rooftops, looking into people's windows to check what they were doing. In the distance, there were enormous buildings: the Ministry of Truth, responsible for news, education, and art; The Ministry of Peace, responsible for war; The Ministry of Love, responsible for law and order; and the Ministry of Plenty, responsible for economic affairs.

Winston wrote down the date in his diary. His handwriting was messy, and he made many mistakes. He wrote about his memories, and another one came to mind.

In the Records Department, where Winston worked, people were getting ready for Hate. He spotted two people. One of them was a girl with freckles on her face. Winston immediately disliked her: he believed she was more dangerous than others. The other person was a man named O'Brien. He worked for the Party, and the room got quiet when he walked in.

The face of Emmanuel Goldstein appeared on the screen. In the past, Goldstein was one of the Party leaders – along with Big Brother – but later betrayed him, escaped, and disappeared. The room got loud: everyone was angry. The whispers in the audience soon became shouts, and someone threw a Newspeak dictionary at the screen. For a moment, Winston's hatred towards Goldstein shifted into hatred towards Big Brother.

Winston looked at his writing again. The handwriting was no longer awkward, and he felt he was writing words down automatically: DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER. He felt fear: the Thought Police would start looking for him. They usually arrested people at night.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door. Were they here? Already! The knocking continued. Winston's heart was beating loudly as he got up from his chair and moved towards the door.

Glossary

affair [ə'feə] – n дело

awkward ['ɔ:kwəd] – adj неуклюжий

betray [bɪ'treɪ] – v предавать

dust [dʌst] – n пыль

escape [ɪ'skeɪp] – v сбежать

freckle ['frekl] – n веснушка

handwriting ['hændˌraɪtɪŋ] – n почерк

hang (hung, hung) [hæŋ] – v вешать, висеть

hatred ['heɪtrɪd] – n ненависть

helicopter ['helɪkɒptə] – n вертолет

hurry ['hʌri] – v спешить

peace [pi:s] – n мир, покой

plenty ['plenti] – n изобилие

responsible [rɪ'spɒnsəbl] – adj ответственный

rooftop ['ru:ftɒp] – n крыша

shift [ʃɪft] – v изменяться

spot [spɒt] – v замечать

stare [steə] – v пристально смотреть

whisper ['wɪspə] – n, v шепот, шептать