最后与最初的人类（2020）

这片区域如此之大
So vast a radius
以至于我们几乎没时间推动我们的星球逃离
that it is quite impossible to propel our planet away fast enough to escape.
关于这次毁灭的发现在我们那陌生的情绪中迸发
The discovery of this doom kindled in us unfamiliar emotions.
表面上 所有人都表现得很平静
Outwardly, everyone behaved with perfect Serenity,
但在内心里 每个人都慌极了
but inwardly, every mind was in turmoil
当我们面对突如其来的世界毁灭
as we faced the sudden destruction of our world.
我们无能为力
There was nothing left for us to do
只能尽可能地珍惜余生
but to crowd as much as possible into our remaining life
以最高贵的礼仪迎接尽头的到来
and meet our end in the noblest manner.
在那时 我们再次
And there again came upon us
体验到了不同物种之间心灵统一的罕见经历。
the rare experience of a unified mind among the species.
一整年里 每个个体进入了一种昏迷的状态
For a whole year,every individual entered a trance
在这里我们破解了无数远古谜疑
in which we resolved many ancient mysteries.
这的结果是
And in consequence of this,
我们发现自己还有两个任务未曾思考
we found ourselves faced with two tasks that had not yet been contemplated.
首先 我们开始了这项无望的任务：
First, we have set about the forlorn task
在星辰间播下新人类的种子
of disseminating the seeds of a new humanity among the stars.
我们设计了微电磁波系统
We have devised minute electromagnetic wave-systems
各自能够向银河系中最有前景的区域航行
individually capable of sailing forward toward the most promising regions of the galaxy.
这些单位巧妙地相互关联，结合形成生命的孢子
These units are so cunningly interrelated that they combine to form spores of life.
我们将投射大量这种粒子
We shall project these particle sin immense quantities.
但它们各自能够成功地找到一个适宜的环境极其渺茫
But the chance that any of them will survive to find a suitable environment is small.
我们很清楚直到我们的社区开始崩坏时
It is clear to us that the work will not be completed
这次任务也可能无法完成
until the disintegration of our community has begun.
第二个任务则与过去相关
The second task that occupies us relates to the past.
我们需要你的帮助
We need your help.
我们已经有很长一段时间能够进入并参与过去的经历
We have long been able to enter and participate in the experiences of past minds
作为被动旁观者
as passive spectators.
但最近我们发现了一种可以影响过去的力量
But recently, we have discovered the power of influencing the past.
着可能听起来不太可能 过去的事终成定局
This may seem to be an impossibility. A past event is what it is.
但在特殊情况下 一些过去事物的特点
But, in certain cases,some feature of a past event
可能取决于遥远的未来事件
may depend on an event in the far future.
而极少数情况下
In certain rare cases,
时间上间隔遥远的思想事件直接相互决定
mental events far separated in time determine one another directly.
历史增长我们的智慧
The past can help us learn once again
这奠定了人类精神的至高成就
that supreme achievement of the human spirit:
生命之力的忠诚与死亡卷入对立矛盾
The loyalty to the forces of life embattled against death.
但我们苦苦追寻以贡献过去的究竟是什么？
But what is it that we seek to contribute to the past?
我们想帮助过去发挥变得更好
We want to help the past make the best of itself.
我们希望将过去个人的注意力引向
We seek to direct the attention of past individuals to truths,
我们可能忽视的真理
which would otherwise be overlooked.
我们这些仍然关心思想生活的人
Those of us who still care for the life of the mind
不禁怨恨人类没有在一切终结之前
are tempted to regret that humankind did not choose decent suicide
选择体面的自杀
before the degeneration began.
但这不可能
But this could not be.
我们承接的任务必须完成
The mission we undertook had to be completed.
这是人类的最后一个办公室
This is the last office of humanity.
我正呼唤着你
I am speaking to you now
来自你们未来两百万陆地年的时期
from a period about two thousand million terrestrial years in your future.
这是难以联♥系♥上你
It has become very difficult to reach you,
且难以与你交谈
And still more difficult to speak to you.
自从太阳开始显示出解体的第一症状以来
Some centuries have now passed
几个世纪现已流逝：
since the sun began to show the first symptoms of disintegration:
即颜色略微偏向蓝色
Namely a slight change of color toward the blue,
紧随着亮度与温度的明显增长
followed by a definite increase of brightness and heat.
太阳辐射的洪流对人类生物体产生了灾难性的影响
The deluge of solar radiation has had disastrous effect on the human organism.
我们是昔日自我的残骸
We are the wreckage of our former selves.
现在，心灵感应的正常能力变得如此不可靠
The normal power of telepathic communication is now so unreliable
以至于我们不得不回归到古老的声符法。
that we have been compelled to fall back upon the archaic practice of vocal symbolism.
远离太阳毁灭性的热量
Away from the sun's destructive heat,
我们正在将我们的星球从旧轨道向外推 形成越来越宽的螺旋
we are forcing our planet outward from its old orbit in an ever-widening spiral.
但我们无法避免气候的致命变化
But we have not been able to prevent the climate from becoming more and more deadly,
甚至在我们迁徙到的极地也是如此
even at the poles where we have migrated.
中间区域都已经被遗弃
The intervening region shave all been deserted.
海洋的蒸发使整个大气陷入了动荡
Evaporation of the oceans has thrown the whole atmosphere into tumult.
时不时 我们会聚在一起 只有少数人坚持不懈
Now and again, we meet together,the few that prevail,
互相鼓舞彼此的存在
to hearten ourselves with one another's presence.
我们只可沉默地坐着
We can only sit in silence,
摸索着寻求安慰和力量
groping for consolation and for strength.
有时候 我们之间闪过几句口头话语，
Sometimes, the spoken word flickers between us,
散发出短暂的光芒 但温暖不多
shedding a brief light but little warmth.
但耐心倾听
But listen patiently.
这不是我们的遗言
This is not our last word.
我们 最后的人 内心仍然留存这过去的某些东西
We, the last men, still have something in us left from the time that is past.
星辰皆有其始终
The stars have their beginning sand their ends.
在某个瞬间 在中间的一些地方
For a few moments,somewhere in between,
少数人 只有少数人 可能会支持思想
a few, very few,may support thought.
宇宙终结如期而至
The universal end comes in due course.
末日之后 未知事物仍在继续
After the end,events unknowable will continue
在比从开始到现在更长久的时间里
in a time much longer than that which will have passed since the beginning.
人类文明的整个阶段 其进化与许多延续下来的物种
The whole duration of humanity,its evolution and many successive species,
不过是宇宙生命中的一道闪光
is but a flashing the lifetime of the cosmos.
仰望苍穹 眺望那将摧毁我们的紫色辉煌，
Looking at the heavens and at the Violet splendor that seeks to destroy us,
我们充满敬畏和怜悯：
we are filled with awe and pity:
敬畏这位光明主人不可思议的潜力
Awe for the inconceivable potential of this bright host
还有怜悯它取代宇宙精神的自我阻碍毅力
And pity for its self-thwarting effort to supplant the universal spirit.
尽管面临一切 我们发现自己满怀志向
We find ourselves filled,in spite of everything,
还有我们命运的胜利之爱
with a triumphant love of our fate.
星辰伟大
Great are the stars,
人类无法与其相提并论
And humankind is of no account to them.
但人类是一种恰当的精神
But humankind is a fair spirit,
由星辰孕育
Whom a star conceived
由星辰毁灭
and a star kills.