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"Once the Minister of Warfare was gone," he went on, "we turned our minds to modern warfare, and we began to make great progress. Modern warfare gives grand opportunities to little countries. Once, if a nation had twelve battleships it was a Great Power, and we could only obey. But what if we know how to let loose a plague capable of destroying whole nations? Must we be silent then about our just aspirations? No. We shall speak."
“国防部长下台后，”他继续说，“我们将注意力转向现代战争，并开始取得巨大的进步。现代战争使小国家获得了天赐良机。以前，如果一个国家有十二艘战舰，就算是非常强大了，我们只能服从它。但是如果我们知道怎样释放一场足以摧毁所有国家的瘟疫，那又会发生什么事情呢？我们还要对我们正义的志向保持沉默吗？不。我们应该讲出来。”
"Certainly," I said.
“当然，”我说道。
"Other nations know something of germ warfare," the stranger said. "We looked for a new and deadlier germ. And we had the man who could not only give us that, but a more effective way to spread it—his name was Silvary Carasierra. We knew that we had marvelous powers within our grasp, if only Carasierra could be kept at his work."
“其他国家知道一点细菌战的技术，”这个陌生人说道，“而我们则寻找新的更致命的细菌。我们有这样一个人，他叫西尔韦雷?卡拉西尔拉。他不仅能够制造出这样的细菌，并且还懂得如何更有效地传播细菌。我们知道，只要卡拉西尔拉能坚持工作的话，我们就可以获得惊人的力量。”
"Idle, was he?" I said, for I thought it very likely in a hot country like that.
“他很懒，是吧？”我想热带国家的人很可能是这样的。
"No," said the stranger. "Never idle. Always spurred on by a fierce ambition. His very life was devoted to making inventions. Yes, he worked and he was working for us on something wonderful. Ah, well. We relied, and rightly, on that man's wisdom; but we forgot his folly."
“不是，”陌生人否定道，“他从不偷懒，总是为强烈的志向所激励着。他全身心投入创造发明。对，他努力工作，为我们创造非凡的东西。唉，我们信任这个人的智慧；但我们却忽略了他愚蠢的一面。”
