О дивный новый мир / Brave New World

“What’s the matter?” asked the Director.

The nurse shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing much,” she answered. “This little boy seems rather reluctant to join in the ordinary erotic play. I’d noticed it once or twice before. And now again today. He started yelling just now…”

“I didn’t mean to hurt him or anything. Honestly,” said the anxious-looking little girl.

“Of course you didn’t, dear,” said the nurse reassuringly. She turned back to the Director. “I’m taking him to see the Assistant Superintendent of Psychology.

Just to see if anything’s at all abnormal.”

“Quite right,” said the Director. “Take him. You stay here, little girl,” he added, as the nurse and the boy walked away. “What’s your name?”

“Polly Trotsky.”

“Run away now and see if you can find some other little boy to play with.”

The child scampered off into the bushes and was lost to sight[15 - was lost to sight – скрылась из виду].

The Director turned to his students.

“What I’m going to tell you now,” he said, “may sound incredible. But then, when you’re not accustomed to history, most facts about the past do.”

He let out the amazing truth. For a very long period before the time of Our Ford, and even for some generations afterwards, erotic play between children had been regarded as abnormal (there was a roar of laughter); and not only abnormal, actually immoral (no!); and had therefore been rigorously suppressed.

An astonished look appeared on the faces of his listeners. They could not believe it.

“Even adolescents,” the D.H.C. was saying, “even adolescents like yourselves…”

“Not possible! Nothing?”

“In most cases, till they were over twenty years old.”

“Twenty years old?” echoed the students in disbelief.

“I told you that you’d find it incredible.”

“But what happened?” they asked. “What were the results?”

“The results were terrible.” A deep resonant voice broke startlingly into the dialogue.

They looked around. On the side stood a stranger—a man of middle height, black-haired, with a hooked nose, full red lips, eyes very piercing and dark.

The D.H.C. darted forward, his hand outstretched, smiling with all his teeth.

“Controller! What an unexpected pleasure! Boys, what are you thinking of? This is the Controller; this is his fordship, Mustapha Mond.”

The clock struck four.