他的一些亲近同事昨晚拒绝公开他的病况。

Close colleagues declined to speak openly about his condition last night.

1947年十月下旬，烦于“糟透的病况”，奥威尔承认他的小说依然陷于“最艰难的困境以及还有三分之二的内容需要完全重新打过”。

In late October 1947, oppressed with "wretched health", Orwell recognised that his novel was still "a most dreadful mess and about two-thirds of it will have to be retyped entirely".