‘Ifyoudidnotintervene,wouldourworldrepeatthistale?’SmoothboreaskedaftertheFirstEarthlingfinishedhisnarration。
‘Idonotknoerhapsnot。Thecourseofacivilizatioeofanindividual–fidimpossibletopredict。’Thealienpaused。‘Ishouldgonow。Iamonlyanordiaker,andImustworkformyliving。’
‘Ihavethingstoattendtoaswell。’repliedSmoothbore。
&tlebrother。’
‘Farewell,elderbrother。’
&helightofstars,twomenfromtwodifferentworldspartedintwodiffereions。
*
AsSmoothboreehePresidentialHall,thethirteehestandingitteeofthecilforLiquidationofSocialWealthturofacehim。ZhuHanya:‘Wehaveverifiedyourwork,andyouhavedohesedhalfofyourpaymeraoyourat,althoughitwillnotbeofuseformuger。’Hetrailedoff。‘Thereissomethialreadykhers’sustakershavelah。Ourworkismeaninglessnow,ahertaskstogiveyou。’
‘Actually,I’vetakenanotherission。’
Ashespoke,Smoothboredrewhispistolwithonehandachedhisoppositehandforward,fistched。
Bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,baiothetableinfrontofhim。Togetherwiththesixshotsimadethirteeninall。
Thirteenfaces,shapedbytheweightoftheirimmewistedinunisonasshodhorrorflashedacrosstheirrefihenacalmsettled。Maybetheyfeltrelief。
Outside,ahailofmassivemeteorssplitthesky。Theirbrilliantlightpiercedthroughtheheavysahecrystaldelier,andthegroundshookviolently。TheshipsofFirstEarthhademosphere。
‘Haveyouhaddinner?’XuXuepihbore。Shepoioofinstahetable。‘Let’seatfirst。’
&ackedalargesilverpunatopthreecrystalashtrays,aothebasiheylitafirebewithonehundredyuaookturnsfeedingbillsintabsentlyattheyellowandgreeleaptlikeasmalljoyfulcreature。
&hefireed1。35millionyuaerbegantoboil。
韩恩立(Hahey) 译
精彩翻译品读
1.她的眼神很特别,滑膛习惯注意人的眼神,他这个职业的人都这样,他平时看到的眼神有两类——充满欲望焦虑的和麻木的,但这双眼睛充满少见的平静。
Thelookinhereyeswasunusual。Smoothborepaidattentiontopeople’sexpressiohisbusinessalwaysdid。Heusuallysawowoexpressions:anxiousdesireorhereyeswerefilledwithrareserenity。
2.世界最富有的13个人要杀死最穷的3个人,这不是一般的荒唐,这真是对他的想象力最大的挑战。但思路没走多远就猛地刹住,滑膛自责地拍了一下方向盘,他突然想到自己已经违反了这个行业的最高精神准则,校长的那句话浮现在他的脑海中,这是行业的座右铭:
瞄准谁,与枪无关。
&eepeopleookillthethreepoorestpeople。Itwasbeyondabsurd,andanypossibleexplanationescapedhisimagination。Buthismindhadnotstrayedfarbeforeheslammedthebrakesonhis
thoughts。Heslappedthesteeringwheelinself-reproachashesuddenlyrealizedhehadviolatedthealruleofhisownprofession。Histutor’swordsunfurledinhismind,layingouttheirprofession’smaxim:thegucareatwhomitisaimed。
3.对穷人的同情,关键在于一个“同”字,当双方相同的物种基础不存在时,同情也就不存在了。这是人类的第二次进化。第一次与猿分开来,靠的是自然选择;这一次与穷人分开来,靠的是另一条同样神圣的法则:私有财产不可侵犯。
Sympathyforpoorpeoplehingedonoeristihood。Whenthepoorceasedtobepeople,andalloweenridpoorvahyfollowedsuit。Thiswashumanity’ssedevolutiosplitfromapes,itwasduetoiofromthepoor,itwasduetoanequallysacredlaw:theinviolabilityofprivateproperty。