The Egg
蛋/宇宙之卵
By: Andy Weir
作者：安迪·威尔
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.
是场车祸。没什么特别的，却足以致命。留下了妻子和两个孩子。死时并无痛苦。他们曾用尽全力来救你，但是于事无补。你的身体支离破碎，要我说，还不如死了。
And that’s when you met me.
就在这是你遇到了我。
“What…whathappened?”You asked.“Where amI?”
“发生了什么？”你问道。“我在哪儿？”
“You died,”I said,matter-of-factly. No point in mincing words.
“你死了，”我说，实事求是，没有任何含糊之词。
“There was a…a truck and it was skidding…”
“是场车祸，一辆货车滑行。”
“Yup,”Isaid.
“是的，”我说。
“I…I died?”
“我，我死了？”
“Yup. But don’tfeel bad about it. Everyone dies,”I said.
“是的。但是不必难过。人人都会死，”我这样说道。
You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me.“What is this place?”You asked.
你四下看了看。什么都没有，只有你和我两个人。“这是什么地方？”你问道。
“Is this the afterlife?”
“这是来世吗？”
“More or less,”I said.
“或许是，”我答道。
“Are you god?” Youasked.
“你是上帝？”你问道。
“Yup,”Ireplied.“I’m God.”
“是的，”我回答。“我是上帝。”
“My kids…mywife,”you said.
“我的两个孩子呢，”你问道。
“What about them?”
“他们怎么样了？”
“Will they be all right?”
“他们会没事的吧？”
“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，”我说。“你刚去世，却在担心你的家人。这很好。”
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.
你饶有兴致地看着我。或许你认为我看起来从来不像上帝。只是某个男人，或者女人。某个权威人物。不像上帝，更像个语法学校的老师。
“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.”
“不用担心，“我说。”他们会没事的。无论如何你在两个孩子的记忆力会完美无瑕。他们还没有成长到叛逆的年龄。你太太在外人面前会哭泣，私下却会如释重负。实际上，你们的婚姻早已分崩离析。她会为她的“如释重负”有负罪感，这或许对你是个安慰。
“Oh,”yousaid.“So what happens now? Do I go to heaven or hellor something?”
“哦，”你说。“那现在发生了什么？我是去了天堂，地狱，还是别的什么地方？“
“Neither,”Isaid.“You’ll be reincarnated.”
“都没有，”我说道。“你会获得重生。”
“Ah,”yousaid.“So the Hindus were right,”
“哦，”你说。“所以印度教徒是对的，”
“All religions are right in theirown way,”I said.“Walk withme.”
“某种程度上所有宗教都是正确的，”我说道。“跟我来。”
You followed along as we strode through the void.“Where are we going?”
你跟在我后面，走过一片虚空。“我们去哪里？”
“Nowhere in particular,”I said.“It’sjust nice to walk while we talk.”
“没什么特定目的地，”我说道。“边走边聊，这感觉可真不错。”
“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，你的点是什么？”你问道。“我获得了重生，就像一张白板一样，对吧？一个婴儿。我所有的经历和上一世做的所有事情都无关紧要了对吧。”
“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！“我说。“你携带着你过去生命中所有知识和经验。只是不能立刻记起来罢了！”
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.
我停下脚步，挽起你的手臂。“你的灵魂比你想象的更加壮观、美丽、宏伟。人类的大脑只能承载一小部分。这就像是把手指伸入水中是试水的冷热。把你的一小部分放入容器中，当你伸出来的时候，你已经获得了它所有的经历。”
“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.”
“在过去的48年里，你都在一个人的身体里，因此你还没有伸展并感觉你广大的意识。如果你停留的够久，你可能就什么都想起来了。但是在两世之间这样做并没有任何意义。”
“How many times have I beenreincarnated, then?”
“那么，我已经重生了多少次了？”
“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。许多不同的人生。”我说道。这次人生，你会投胎为公元540年一个中国农家女孩。
“Wait, what?”You stammered.“You’re sendingme back in time?”
“等等，什么？”你结结巴巴的说。“你准时把我送回来了？”
“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。时间，正如你所知，只存在你的宇宙里。这跟我来的地方不一样。”
“Where you come from?”You said.
“你来自哪里？”你说。
“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，当然，”我解释道。“我来自某个地方。某个其他地方。那个地方有很多像我一样的人。我知道你会想知道那里怎样。老实说，你不会理解的。”
“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，”你说道，有点失望。“但是等等看。如果我投胎到其他地方，我可能会跟我自己的人生在某个点交叉。”
“Sure. Happens all the time. Andwith both lives only aware of their own lifespan you don’teven know it’s happening.”
“当然，常有的事。在这两世里你只意识到各自的一生，但是你并不知道他们在发生着。”
“So what’sthe point of it all?”
“那么这一切的点是什么？”
“Seriously?”I asked.“Seriously? You’reasking me for the meaning of life? Isn’t that a littlestereotypical?”
“认真的吗？我问道。“认真来讲，你在问我生命的意义是什么吗？这个问题是不是有点老套了？”
“Well it’s areasonable question,”you persisted.
“好吧，这个质疑很合理，”你坚持道。
I looked you in the eye.“The meaningof life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.”
我看着你的眼睛。“生命的意义，我制造整个宇宙的原因所在，就是让你成熟。”
“You mean mankind? You want us tomature?”
“你的意思是人类？”你想让我们变得成熟？“
“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。我为你造了整个宇宙。每一次新生，你成长、成熟，变得更加智慧。“
“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.”
“没有其他人，”我说。“在这个宇宙里，只有你和我。”
You stared blankly at me.“But allthe people on earth…”
你看着我，眼神空洞。“但是地球上的所有人”
“All you. Different incarnations ofyou.”
“都是你。你的不同世。”
“Wait. I’meveryone!?”
“等等。我是每个人！？”
“Now you’regetting it,”I said, with a congratulatory slap on theback.
“现在你有点懂了，”我说，有点庆祝意味地拍了下我的背。
“I’m everyhuman being who ever lived?”
“我是所有存在过的人类？”
“Or who will ever live, yes.”
“或者说谁会生活，是的。”
“I’m AbrahamLincoln?”
“我是亚伯拉罕·林肯？”
“And you’reJohn Wilkes Booth, too,”I added.
“你也是约翰·维克斯·布斯，”我补充道。
“I’m Hitler?”You said, appalled.
“我是希特勒？”你说，
“And you’rethe millions he killed.”
“你也是遭他屠杀的成百上千万人。”
“I’m Jesus?”
“我是基督？”
“And you’reeveryone who followed him.”
“同时也是他的每个追随者。”
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.”
“你每次牺牲某个人，”我说道，“你都在牺牲自己。你做的每次善行，也都是回向自己。人类经历的每个高兴或者难过的时刻，你都会经历。”
You thought for a long time.
你想了很久。
“Why?”Youasked me.“Why do all this?”
“为什么？”你问我。“为什么这样做？”
“Because someday, you will becomelike me. Because that’s what you are. You’re one of my kind. You’re my child.”
“因为某天，你会像我一样。因为这就是你。你是我的同类。你是我的孩子。”
“Whoa,”yousaid, incredulous.“You mean I’ma god?”
“哇，”你说道，难以置信。“你的意思是我是上帝？”
“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。还不是。你是个胎儿，仍在成长。一旦你从头到尾活过每个人生，你就会获得重生。”
“So the whole universe,”you said,“it’sjust…”
“所以这整个宇宙，”你说，“就像是…”
“An egg.”Ianswered.“Now it’s time foryou to move on to your next life.”
“一只蛋。”我回答道。“现在你该去向下一世人生了。”
And I sent you on your way.
我在送你去的路上。
