1984-bilingue

George Orwell 1 9 8 4
could get hold of it easily enough. The game of darts
was in full swing again, and the knot of men at the
bar had begun talking about lottery tickets.
Winston's presence was forgotten for a moment.
There was a deal table under the window where he
and the old man could talk without fear of being
overheard. It was horribly dangerous, but at any rate
there was no telescreen in the room, a point he had
made sure of as soon as he came in.
''E could 'a drawed me off a pint,' grumbled the old
man as he settled down behind a glass. 'A 'alf litre
ain't enough. It don't satisfy. And a 'ole litre's too
much. It starts my bladder running. Let alone the
price.'
'You must have seen great changes since you were a
young man,' said Winston tentatively.
The old man's pale blue eyes moved from the darts
board to the bar, and from the bar to the door of the
Gents, as though it were in the bar-room that he
expected the changes to have occurred.
'The beer was better,' he said finally. 'And cheaper!
When I was a young man, mild beer-wallop we used
to call it —was fourpence a pint. That was before the
war, of course.'
112
con mucha facilidad. El tiro al blanco con dardos
estaba otra vez en plena actividad y los hombres
que bebían en el mostrador discutían sobre billetes
de lotería. Todos olvidaron durante unos momentos
la presencia de Winston. Había una mesa debajo de
una ventana donde el viejo y él podrían hablar sin
miedo a ser oídos. Era terriblemente peligroso, pero
no había telepantalla en la habitación. De esto se
había asegurado Winston en cuanto entró.
— Debe usted de haber visto grandes cambios
desde que era usted un muchacho empezó a
explorar Winston.
La pálida mirada azul del viejo recorrió el local
como si fuera allí donde los cambios habían
ocurrido.
— La cerveza era mejor —dijo por último—; y
más barata. Cuando yo era un jovencito, la cerveza
costaba cuatro peniques los tres cuartos. Eso era
antes de la guerra, naturalmente.
'Which war was that?' said Winston. — ¿Qué guerra era ésa? —preguntó Winston.
'It's all wars,' said the old man vaguely. He took up
his glass, and his shoulders straightened again. ''Ere's
wishing you the very best of 'ealth!'
In his lean throat the sharp-pointed Adam's apple
made a surprisingly rapid up-and-down movement,
and the beer vanished. Winston went to the bar and
came back with two more half-litres. The old man
appeared to have forgotten his prejudice against
drinking a full litre.
— Siempre hay alguna guerra —dijo el anciano
con vaguedad. Levantó el vaso y brindó. ¡A su
salud, caballero!
En su delgada garganta la nuez puntiaguda hizo un
movimiento de sorprendente rapidez arriba y abajo
y la cerveza desapareció. Winston se acercó al
mostrador y volvió con otros dos medios litros.