Chapter 87

One of my favourite methods of escape was what amounts to gentle asphyxiation. I used a piece of cloth that I cut from the remnants of a blanket. I called it my dream rag. I wet it with sea water so that it was soaked but not dripping. I lay comfortably on the tarpaulin and I placed the dream rag on my face, fitting it to my features. I would fall into a daze, not difficult for someone in such an advanced state of lethargy to begin with. But the dream rag gave a special quality to my daze. It must have been the way it restricted my air intake. I would be visited by the most extraordinary dreams, trances, visions, thoughts, sensations, remembrances. And time would be gobbled up. When a twitch or a gasp disturbed me and the rag fell away, I'd come to full consciousness, delighted to find that time had slipped by. The dryness of the rag was part proof. But more than that was the feeling that things were different, that the present moment was different from the previous present moment. 

第八十七章

    我最喜欢的一种逃避方式就是轻度的窒息。我用的是从一块破毯子上剪下来的一块布。我把它叫做我的梦之帆。我用海水把布打湿，让布全部湿透，但不滴水。我舒服地躺在油布上，用梦之帆盖住脸，让布贴在脸上。我会陷入晕眩，这对于一个极其无精打采的人来说并不难。但是梦之帆使我的晕旋有了特别的性质。一定是它限制了我的呼吸。最不同寻常的梦幻、迷恍、幻象、思想、感觉、记忆一起出现了。时间会被吞噬。当一阵抽搐或一次喘息打扰了我，布掉下去时，我就会完全醒来，高兴地发现时间已经溜走丁。其中一个证明就是布已经干了。不仅如此，我还感到周围的事物不一样了，现在这个时刻和刚才那个时刻不一样了。