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'Look，John，'he said．'Your report says that we should build some new machines to clean up the waste products before they go into the river， right？And those machines will cost two million pounds！Where do you think we can find all that？Money doesn't grow on trees，you know！'
“你瞧，约翰，”他说，“你的报告说我们应该制造一些新机器，在将废料倒到河里以前将它们净化，对吧？而那些机器将花费两百万英镑！你想我们能从哪儿搞到所有这些钱？你知道钱不会从天上掉下来！”
'No，of course not．'John's mouth was dry．He took a drink of water，and felt his hand shaking．'But we're selling a lot of the new paint．We're making millions of pounds every month from that，aren't we?'
“对，当然不会。”约翰的嘴开始发干。他喝了一口水，他感觉他的手在颤抖。“但是我们正在卖大量的新油漆。我们每月都从中挣上几百万英镑，不是吗？”
'We're doing very well， yes，'said Wilson．'But if we spend two million pounds to build these new machines，the paint will have to cost more， and we won't sell so much．'
“是的，我们干得非常好，”威尔逊说。“但是如果我们花两百万英镑去造这些新机器，油漆价格就会贵些，我们就卖不了那么多。”
'But—we've got to do it，'said John．'These waste prod-ucts are much more dangerous than I'd thought．Didn't you read that in my report？When I put the chemicals in rats'drinking water，some of the baby rats were born without eyes and ears． One didn't have any legs， and one had six．'He shivered．'And some were born without legs when they drank only two parts per million．We can't put those chemicals in the river．'
“但是——我们必须这样做，”约翰说，“这些废料比我以前想像的还要危险。你难道没在我的报告里读到吗？我在老鼠的饮用水里放入化学品，生出来的一些幼鼠没有眼睛和耳朵。有一只没有腿，还有一只有6条腿。”他战栗着。“有些只喝了百万分之二，生出来就没有腿。我们不能将那些化学品放入河里。”
'Of course I read that，John．I read your report very care-fully indeed．And your report also says that on most days we put less than two parts per million into the river．No，wait，listen to me for a minute！We both know that no drinking wa-ter comes out of this part of the river，don't we？ And in two kilometres the river goes out into the sea．So why is it danger-ous？Nobody is ever going to drink it，John！We don't need to build these new machines！'
“我当然读到，约翰。我的确很认真地读了你的报告。你的报告也说到大部分日子里我们放入河里的是少于百万分之二。不，请等一下，听我说一会儿！我们俩都知道饮用水不是来自河的这一方，不是吗？再流两公里，河水就进入大海。所以怎么会有危险呢？从没有人会去喝它，约翰！我们不需要制造新机器！”
