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Epilogue The Return（第3页）

&heEarth’ssedfromthespaceship。gdowheyreturheboxoflivingsoil。Standingarouoo，werefilledwithdeeplove。

Fangsshookhishead。‘Thegrassotsurvive。Itmighteventuallyraiheseaside，butitwon’tbeenoughfortheants。’

‘Istheatmospheretoothiobeingdoingjustfi，’someoed。

‘No，theairisnottheproblem。Theyarenotlikehumansandlivewellinthisatmosphere。Therealatteristhattheywillhavenothi。’Fangsreplied。

‘’ttheyeatthegrass?’anothervoiedin。

‘Andthen?Howwilltheyliveon?Inthisthinair，thegrasswillgrowveryslowly。Oshaveeatenalltheblades，theywillstarve。Inmanyways，theirsituationmirrorsthedestinyoftheDevourercivilization。’Fangsmused。

‘youleavebehindsomefoodfromyourspa?’anothersoldierasked，almostpleaded。

Fangsagainshookhismassivehead。‘Thereisnothingonmyspaceshipbesideswateraiohatnote，wewillhiberilwiththeDevourer。Butwhataboutyourspaceship，doyouhaveanyfoodonboard?’

NowitwastheMarshal’sturntoshakehishead。‘Nothingbutafewiionsofion。Useless。’

Pointingtothespaceship，Fahedisusthurry。TheEmpireisagquickly。Ifwetarry，wewillnotcatchup。’

Silence。

‘Marshal，wewillstaybehind。’Itwastheyouwhobrokethesilence。

TheMarshalforodded。

‘Staybehind?to?’Faourningfromoher。‘Thehiberonyourspaceshipisalmostpletelydepletedandyouhavenofood。Doyouplantostayandwaitfordeath?’

‘Stayihefirststep。’theMarshalswered。

‘What?’Fangsasked，evermoreperplexed。

‘Youjustmehefirststeptowardanewcivilization。’theMarshalexplained。

‘You，’Fangscouldhardlybelievehisoas’food?’

&h’ssoldiersallhsgazedatthemforwhatseemedlikeforever，befandslowlyhobblingbacktohisspaceship，leaningheavilyonhiswalkingstick。

‘Farewell，friend。’theMarshalshoutedafterFangs。

Fahalong，drawn-outsigh。‘Aninterminabledarknessliesbeforemeas:thedarknessofendlesswarandavastuniverse。Oh，whereinitcouldtherebeahomeforus?’

&hehumanssawthatthegrouhhisfeethadgro，buttheyottellifhehad，orevencould，shedtears。

Withathunderousroar，thedinosaur’sspaceshipliftedoffandquicklydisappearedintothesky。WhereithadvaheSunwasing。

&warriorsofEarthseatedthemselvesaroundthelivingsoilihen，beginningwiththeMarshal，theyall，onebyoheirvisorsaonthesah。

Astimepassed，theSusafterglowbathedthepluhiifulred。Asitfaded，afewstarsbegantotwihesky。Tohissurprise，theMarshalsawthattheduskyskywasabeautifulblue。Justasthethinatmantorenderhimuness，theMarshalfeltthetisofanantonhistemple，fillinghimseeheaohisforehead，heortedbacktohissoverydistantchildhood。Hewasatthebeaginasmallhammockthathuwopalmtrees。Lookinguptothesplearsabove，hefelthismentlystrokehisforehead…

Darkheremnantolayflatasamirror，pristiheMilkyWayabove。Itwasthemosttranquilnighti’shistory。

Inthistranquillity，theEarthwasreborn。

霍尔格·南（HolgerNahm）　译

精彩翻译品读

1．“您怎么这么肯定他能吃呢？一个相距如此遥远的世界上的生物能被食用，从生物化学上讲几乎是不可能的。”

‘Sir，howcouldyouhaveknownthatyoueathim?Fromabiochemicalperspective，itisalmostimpossiblethatabeingfromsuchadistantworldshouldbeedible。’

2．“我们以后有很长的时间相处，有很多的事要谈，但不要再从道德的角度谈了，在宇宙中，那东西没意义。”

&illhaveaveryloalohingstotalkabout，butletusnotspeakofmorals。Intheuniverse，susideratiless。’

3．“其实你们完全没有必要费这么大劲儿，在银河系，一个文明成为更强大文明的家禽是很正常的，你们会发现被饲养是一种多么美妙的生活，衣食无忧，快乐终生，有些文明还求之不得呢。你们感到不舒服，完全是陈腐的人类中心论在作怪。”

‘Truthbetold，thereisallforyoutoworksohardatit。IntheMilkyWay，itisperfeonplaceforaweakercivilizatiohelivestocker

civilization。Youwilldiscoverthatbeingraisedforfoodisasplendidlifeindeed。Youwillhavenowantsandwilllivehappilytotheend。Somecivilizatioobeelivestolytobeturhatyoushouldfeelunfortablewiththeideaisehefaultofamostbanalarism。’