第九章（第7/12页）

"Oh!" said Mrs. Bolton, "you hear a few loud-mouthed ones. But they're mostly women who've got into debt. The men take no notice. I don't believe you'll ever turn our Tevershall men into reds. They're too decent for that. But the young ones blether sometimes. Not that they care for it really. They only want a bit of money in their pocket, to spend at the Welfare, or go gadding to Sheffield. That's all they care. When they've got no money, they'll listen to the reds spouting. But nobody believes in it, really.” "So you think there's no danger?” "Oh no! Not if trade was good, there wouldn't be. But if things were bad for a long spell, the young ones might go funny. I tell you, they're a selfish, spoilt lot. But I don't see how they'd ever do anything. They aren't ever serious about anything, except showing off on motor-bikes and dancing at the Palais-de-danse in Sheffield. You can't make them serious. The serious ones dress up in evening clothes and go off to the Pally to show off before a lot of girls and dance these new Charlestons and what not. I'm sure sometimes the bus'll be full of young fellows in evening suits, collier lads, off to the Pally: let alone those that have gone with their girls in motors or on motor-bikes. They don't give a serious thought to a thing—save Doncaster races, and the Derby: for they all of them bet on every race. And football! But even football's not what it was, not by a long chalk. It's too much like hard work, they say. No, they'd rather be off on motor-bikes to Sheffield or Nottingham, Saturday afternoons.” "But what do they do when they get there?" "Oh, hang around—and have tea in some fine tea-place like the Mikado—and go to the Pally or the pictures or the Empire, with some girl. The girls are as free as the lads. They do just what they like.” "And what do they do when they haven't the money for these things?” "They seem to get it, somehow. And they begin talking nasty then. But I don't see how you're going to get bolshevism, when all the lads want is just money to enjoy themselves, and the girls the same, with fine clothes: and they don't care about another thing. They haven't the brains to be socialists. They haven't enough seriousness to take anything really serious, and they never will have.” Connie thought, how extremely like all the rest of the classes the lower classes sounded. Just the same thing over again, Tevershall or Mayfair or Kensington. There was only one class nowadays: moneyboys. The moneyboy and the moneygirl, the only difference was how much you'd got, and how much you wanted.

“啊！”博尔顿夫人说，“倒是听到有小撮人叫嚣过。但多是负债的婆娘们。男人们不关心这些。我不相信特弗沙尔会遍地红色。他们都太本分，闹不起革命。但年轻人有时也会信口开河。但他们并非真想造反。他们只希望兜里有俩钱，能去矿工之家喝杯小酒，或者去谢菲尔德找点乐子。他们在乎的只是这些。没钱的时候，他们才会去听革命党高谈阔论。不过，没人真正相信那些。”“那么说，依你看，不会有暴乱发生？”“噢，不会！只要能够维持生计，就不会有人闹事。但如果矿场的情况总不见好转，年轻人们或许会骚动。我跟您说，他们都是些自私自利的家伙，从小就被惯坏了。但依我看，他们闹不出什么动静。他们做什么事都吊儿郎当，只知道骑着摩托车四处招摇，或者是去谢菲尔德的舞厅狂欢。谁也无法让他们正经起来。正经点的只晓得穿上晚礼服，跑去舞厅在姑娘面前瞎晃，大跳新式查尔斯顿舞什么的。我相信，总有一天，公交车上会挤满这些身着晚礼服的年轻人，矿工的儿子们，为的是赶去舞厅泡妞，更不用说那些开车或者骑摩托载女友去耍的小子们。他们从未认真考虑过任何事——除了唐卡斯特和德比的赛马会，他们从来不会错过下注的机会。当然还有足球！但就连足球也不如往日那般火爆，比以前差得太远。他们说踢球就像做苦工。不，每周六下午，他们更愿意骑着摩托，去谢菲尔德或者诺丁汉厮混。”“他们去那儿做什么呢？”“哦，消磨时光——去帝王茶社这样的高档地方喝茶——带着马子，去舞厅、电影院或者帝国剧院。女孩们跟男孩一样无所顾忌。她们想干啥就干啥。”“可没钱做这些的时候，他们怎么办呢？”“他们也能得过且过。不过会骂骂脏话。男孩们只想有钱享乐，女孩们则追求漂亮衣装，他们对其他事情都漠不关心，所以不会跟布尔什维克有啥关联。他们没那个头脑，成不了社会主义者。他们不会认真地对待任何事，也永远无法正经起来。”听到这里，康妮想，底层阶级跟其他阶层真是如出一辙。无论是特弗沙尔、梅费尔或者肯辛顿，都没啥两样。如今只存在一个阶级，那就是拜金主义者。拜金男和拜金女，唯一的差别是你拥有多少钱，想得到多少钱。