The Egg
蛋/宇宙之卵
By: Andy Weir
作者：安迪·威爾
You were on your way home when you died.
你死了，在回家的路上。
It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, butfatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painlessdeath. They tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was soutterly shattered you werebetter off, trust me.
是場車禍。沒什么特別的，卻足以致命。留下了妻子和兩個(gè)孩子。死時(shí)并無痛苦。他們曾用盡全力來救你，但是于事無補(bǔ)。你的身體支離破碎，要我說，還不如死了。
And that’s when you met me.
就在這是你遇到了我。
“What…whathappened?”You asked.“Where amI?”
“發(fā)生了什么？”你問道?！拔以谀膬?？”
“You died,”I said,matter-of-factly. No point in mincing words.
“你死了，”我說，實(shí)事求是，沒有任何含糊之詞。
“There was a…a truck and it was skidding…”
“是場車禍，一輛貨車滑行。”
“Yup,”Isaid.
“是的，”我說。
“I…I died?”
“我，我死了？”
“Yup. But don’tfeel bad about it. Everyone dies,”I said.
“是的。但是不必難過。人人都會(huì)死，”我這樣說道。
You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me.“What is this place?”You asked.
你四下看了看。什么都沒有，只有你和我兩個(gè)人?！斑@是什么地方？”你問道。
“Is this the afterlife?”
“這是來世嗎？”
“More or less,”I said.
“或許是，”我答道。
“Are you god?” Youasked.
“你是上帝？”你問道。
“Yup,”Ireplied.“I’m God.”
“是的，”我回答。“我是上帝?！?/p>
“My kids…mywife,”you said.
“我的兩個(gè)孩子呢，”你問道。
“What about them?”
“他們怎么樣了？”
“Will they be all right?”
“他們會(huì)沒事的吧？”
“That’s whatI like to see,”I said.“Youjust died and your main concern is for your family. That’sgood stuff right there.”
“我也希望如此，”我說?！澳銊?cè)ナ?，卻在擔(dān)心你的家人。這很好?！?/p>
You looked at me with fascination. To you, I didn’t look like God. I just looked like some man. Or possibly awoman. Some vague authority figure, maybe. More of a grammar school teacherthan the almighty.
你饒有興致地看著我?；蛟S你認(rèn)為我看起來從來不像上帝。只是某個(gè)男人，或者女人。某個(gè)權(quán)威人物。不像上帝，更像個(gè)語法學(xué)校的老師。
“Don’tworry,”I said.“They’ll be fine. Your kids will remember you as perfect in everyway. They didn’t have time to growcontemptfor you. Your wife will cry on the outside, but will be secretly relieved.To be fair, your marriage was falling apart. If it’s any consolation, she’ll feel veryguilty for feeling relieved.”
“不用擔(dān)心，“我說。”他們會(huì)沒事的。無論如何你在兩個(gè)孩子的記憶力會(huì)完美無瑕。他們還沒有成長到叛逆的年齡。你太太在外人面前會(huì)哭泣，私下卻會(huì)如釋重負(fù)。實(shí)際上，你們的婚姻早已分崩離析。她會(huì)為她的“如釋重負(fù)”有負(fù)罪感，這或許對你是個(gè)安慰。
“Oh,”yousaid.“So what happens now? Do I go to heaven or hellor something?”
“哦，”你說。“那現(xiàn)在發(fā)生了什么？我是去了天堂，地獄，還是別的什么地方？“
“Neither,”Isaid.“You’ll be reincarnated.”
“都沒有，”我說道?！澳銜?huì)獲得重生?！?/p>
“Ah,”yousaid.“So the Hindus were right,”
“哦，”你說?！八杂《冉掏绞菍Φ模?/p>
“All religions are right in theirown way,”I said.“Walk withme.”
“某種程度上所有宗教都是正確的，”我說道。“跟我來。”
You followed along as we strode through the void.“Where are we going?”
你跟在我后面，走過一片虛空?！拔覀?nèi)ツ睦铮俊?/p>
“Nowhere in particular,”I said.“It’sjust nice to walk while we talk.”
“沒什么特定目的地，”我說道。“邊走邊聊，這感覺可真不錯(cuò)?！?/p>
“So what’sthe point, then?”You asked.“WhenI get reborn, I’ll just be a blank slate, right? Ababy. So all my experiences and everything I did in this life won’t matter.”
“所以，你的點(diǎn)是什么？”你問道?！拔耀@得了重生，就像一張白板一樣，對吧？一個(gè)嬰兒。我所有的經(jīng)歷和上一世做的所有事情都無關(guān)緊要了對吧。”
“Not so!”Isaid.“You have within you all the knowledge andexperiences of all your past lives. You just don’tremember them right now.”
“并不是！“我說?！澳銛y帶著你過去生命中所有知識(shí)和經(jīng)驗(yàn)。只是不能立刻記起來罷了！”
I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders.“Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic thanyou can possibly imagine. A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of whatyou are. It’s like sticking your finger in a glass ofwater to see if it’s hot or cold. You put a tiny partof yourself into the vessel, and when you bring it back out, you’ve gained all the experiences it had.
我停下腳步，挽起你的手臂?！澳愕撵`魂比你想象的更加壯觀、美麗、宏偉。人類的大腦只能承載一小部分。這就像是把手指伸入水中是試水的冷熱。把你的一小部分放入容器中，當(dāng)你伸出來的時(shí)候，你已經(jīng)獲得了它所有的經(jīng)歷?！?/p>
“You’ve beenin a human for the last 48 years, so you haven’tstretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness. If we hungout here for long enough, you’d start rememberingeverything. But there’s no point to doing that betweeneach life.”
“在過去的48年里，你都在一個(gè)人的身體里，因此你還沒有伸展并感覺你廣大的意識(shí)。如果你停留的夠久，你可能就什么都想起來了。但是在兩世之間這樣做并沒有任何意義?！?/p>
“How many times have I beenreincarnated, then?”
“那么，我已經(jīng)重生了多少次了？”
“Oh lots. Lots and lots. An in tolots of different lives.”I said.“Thistime around, you’ll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540AD.”
“很多。非常之多。許多不同的人生?！蔽艺f道。這次人生，你會(huì)投胎為公元540年一個(gè)中國農(nóng)家女孩。
“Wait, what?”You stammered.“You’re sendingme back in time?”
“等等，什么？”你結(jié)結(jié)巴巴的說。“你準(zhǔn)時(shí)把我送回來了？”
“Well, I guess technically. Time, asyou know it, only exists in your universe. Things are different where I comefrom.”
“那么，我猜想一下。時(shí)間，正如你所知，只存在你的宇宙里。這跟我來的地方不一樣?！?/p>
“Where you come from?”You said.
“你來自哪里？”你說。
“Oh sure,”Iexplained“I come from somewhere. Somewhere else. Andthere are others like me. I know you’ll want to knowwhat it’s like there, but honestly you wouldn’t understand.”
“噢，當(dāng)然，”我解釋道。“我來自某個(gè)地方。某個(gè)其他地方。那個(gè)地方有很多像我一樣的人。我知道你會(huì)想知道那里怎樣。老實(shí)說，你不會(huì)理解的?！?/p>
“Oh,”yousaid, a little let down.“But wait. If I getreincarnated to other places in time, I could have interacted with myself atsome point.”
“噢，”你說道，有點(diǎn)失望?！暗堑鹊瓤?。如果我投胎到其他地方，我可能會(huì)跟我自己的人生在某個(gè)點(diǎn)交叉?！?/p>
“Sure. Happens all the time. Andwith both lives only aware of their own lifespan you don’teven know it’s happening.”
“當(dāng)然，常有的事。在這兩世里你只意識(shí)到各自的一生，但是你并不知道他們在發(fā)生著。”
“So what’sthe point of it all?”
“那么這一切的點(diǎn)是什么？”
“Seriously?”I asked.“Seriously? You’reasking me for the meaning of life? Isn’t that a littlestereotypical?”
“認(rèn)真的嗎？我問道?！罢J(rèn)真來講，你在問我生命的意義是什么嗎？這個(gè)問題是不是有點(diǎn)老套了？”
“Well it’s areasonable question,”you persisted.
“好吧，這個(gè)質(zhì)疑很合理，”你堅(jiān)持道。
I looked you in the eye.“The meaningof life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.”
我看著你的眼睛?！吧囊饬x，我制造整個(gè)宇宙的原因所在，就是讓你成熟?！?/p>
“You mean mankind? You want us tomature?”
“你的意思是人類？”你想讓我們變得成熟？“
“No, just you. I made this wholeuniverse for you. With each new life you grow and mature and become a largerand greater intellect.”
“不，只是你。我為你造了整個(gè)宇宙。每一次新生，你成長、成熟，變得更加智慧?！?/p>
“Just me? What about everyone else?”
“只有我？“其他人呢？”
“There is no one else,”I said.“In this universe, there’s just you and me.”
“沒有其他人，”我說。“在這個(gè)宇宙里，只有你和我?！?/p>
You stared blankly at me.“But allthe people on earth…”
你看著我，眼神空洞?！暗堑厍蛏系乃腥恕?/p>
“All you. Different incarnations ofyou.”
“都是你。你的不同世。”
“Wait. I’meveryone!?”
“等等。我是每個(gè)人?。俊?/p>
“Now you’regetting it,”I said, with a congratulatory slap on theback.
“現(xiàn)在你有點(diǎn)懂了，”我說，有點(diǎn)慶祝意味地拍了下我的背。
“I’m everyhuman being who ever lived?”
“我是所有存在過的人類？”
“Or who will ever live, yes.”
“或者說誰會(huì)生活，是的?！?/p>
“I’m AbrahamLincoln?”
“我是亞伯拉罕·林肯？”
“And you’reJohn Wilkes Booth, too,”I added.
“你也是約翰·維克斯·布斯，”我補(bǔ)充道。
“I’m Hitler?”You said, appalled.
“我是希特勒？”你說，
“And you’rethe millions he killed.”
“你也是遭他屠殺的成百上千萬人?！?/p>
“I’m Jesus?”
“我是基督？”
“And you’reeveryone who followed him.”
“同時(shí)也是他的每個(gè)追隨者?！?/p>
You fell silent.
你沉默了。
“Every time you victimized someone,”I said,“you were victimizingyourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment everexperienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you.”
“你每次犧牲某個(gè)人，”我說道，“你都在犧牲自己。你做的每次善行，也都是回向自己。人類經(jīng)歷的每個(gè)高興或者難過的時(shí)刻，你都會(huì)經(jīng)歷?！?/p>
You thought for a long time.
你想了很久。
“Why?”Youasked me.“Why do all this?”
“為什么？”你問我?！盀槭裁催@樣做？”
“Because someday, you will becomelike me. Because that’s what you are. You’re one of my kind. You’re my child.”
“因?yàn)槟程?，你?huì)像我一樣。因?yàn)檫@就是你。你是我的同類。你是我的孩子?！?/p>
“Whoa,”yousaid, incredulous.“You mean I’ma god?”
“哇，”你說道，難以置信?！澳愕囊馑际俏沂巧系?？”
“No. Not yet. You’rea fetus. You’re still growing. Once you’ve lived every human life throughout all time, you will havegrown enough to be born.”
“不。還不是。你是個(gè)胎兒，仍在成長。一旦你從頭到尾活過每個(gè)人生，你就會(huì)獲得重生?！?/p>
“So the whole universe,”you said,“it’sjust…”
“所以這整個(gè)宇宙，”你說，“就像是…”
“An egg.”Ianswered.“Now it’s time foryou to move on to your next life.”
“一只蛋?！蔽一卮鸬??！艾F(xiàn)在你該去向下一世人生了?！?/p>
And I sent you on your way.
我在送你去的路上。
