2015年7月3日 星期五

[翻譯] [異星獵殺] 小木偶的故事 P.229-P.230

Doll Owner: D4D and photo taken by her.

"This business with gods is something I don't understand," said Jane. "Hasn't anyone caught on yet that the gods always say what people want to hear?"

「和神有關的事物我一直都不明白。」珍說。「難道無人明白,神總是說人們想聽的話呢?」

"Not so," said Ender. "The gods often ask us to do things we never desired, things that require us to sacrifice everything on their behalf. Don't underestimate the gods."

「不盡然。」安德說。「神時常要求我們做我們從來都不期望的事情,那些事情要求我們犧牲一切,好代表祂們。不要小看神。」

"Does your Catholic God speak to you?"
「你天主教的上帝會對你說話嗎?」

"Maybe he does. I never hear him, though. Or if I do, I never know that it's his voice I'm hearing."

「或許祂有對我說話,但我從來沒聽過祂的聲音。就算我聽到了,我無法得知我聽到的是否是祂的聲音。」

"And when you die, do the gods of every people really gather them up and take them off somewhere to live forever?"

「那當你死了,眾人之神是否真的會把人們聚集起來,帶他們飛到某個地方永生不死?」

"I don't know. They never write."

「我不知道,這從來沒有被寫下來。」

"When I die, will there be some god to carry me away?"

「當我死了,會有什麼神來把我帶走嗎?」

Ender was still for a moment, and then he began to address her in his storytelling manner. "There's an old tale of a dollmaker who never had a son. So he made a puppet that was so lifelike that it looked like a real boy, and he would hold the wooden boy on his lap and talk to it and pretend it was his son. He wasn't crazy - he still knew it was a doll - he called it Pinehead. But one day a god came and touched the puppet and it came to life, and when the dollmaker spoke to it, Pinehead answered. The dollmaker never told anyone about this. He kept his wooden son at home, but he brought the boy every tale he could gather and news of every wonder under heaven. Then one day the dollmaker was coming home from the wharf with tales of a far-off land that had just been discovered, when he saw that his house was on fire. Immediately he tried to run into the house, crying out, 'My son! My son!' But his neighbors stopped him, saying, 'Are you mad? You have no son!' He watched the house burn to the ground, and when it was over he plunged into the ruins and covered himself with hot ashes and wept bitterly. He refused to be comforted. He refused to rebuild his shop. When people asked him why, he said his son was dead. He stayed alive by doing odd jobs for other people, and they pitied him because they were sure the fire had made him a lunatic. Then one day, three years later, a small orphan boy came to him and tugged on his sleeve and said, 'Father, don't you have a tale for me?'"

安德靜默了一會,然後娓娓道起一個故事。「曾有一個古老故事,訴說著一位無法擁有兒子的人形師。人形師製造了一個木偶,它是那麼的栩栩如生,宛若一位真正的小男孩。他把這個木偶男孩放在他的膝蓋上,對它說話,假裝它是他的兒子。他沒有瘋--他依然知道它只是個人偶--他稱呼他為小松頭。有一天,一位神明到來,並觸碰了那人偶,人偶便獲得了生命,於是當人形師對它說話時,小松頭便會回答。人形師從未將這件事情告訴別人。他把他的木兒子安置家中,而且告訴兒子所有天底下他能收集到的奇聞軼事。有一天,這位人形師聽了一個關於發現遙遠大陸的故事,當他要從碼頭回家時,他卻發現他家著火了。緊接著他試著衝進家中,聲嘶力竭哭喊著:「兒子!我的兒子!」但他的鄰居們攔住他,並且對他說:「你瘋了嗎?你沒有兒子!」他望著他的房子被燒為平地,而當一切都結束之後,他的身軀深陷廢墟之中,以熱灰覆蓋自身,痛苦的哭了。他拒絕被安慰。他拒絕重建他的店鋪。人們問他為什麼,他總是回答他的兒子死了。他做些零星的工作維生,而人們可憐他,由於他們確信那場大火讓他瘋了。三年後的某一天,一名小孤兒來找他,男孩拉拉他的衣袖,然後說:「爸爸,你有故事要說給我聽嗎?」

Jane waited, but Ender said no more. "That's the whole story?"

珍等了等,但安德不再多說一句。「那就是完整的故事嗎?」

"Isn't it enough?"

「還不夠嗎?」

"Why did you tell me this? It's all dreams and wishes. What does it have to do with me?"

「為什麼你要告訴我這個?這不過是夢境與希望。這和我有什麼關係?」

"It was the story that came to mind."

「這只是個浮現到腦海的故事。」

"Why did it come to mind?"

「為什麼這個故事會浮現到腦海?」

"Maybe that's how God speaks to me," said Ender. "Or maybe I'm sleepy and I don't have what you want from me."

「或許這是神與我對話的方式吧。」安德說。「或者只是我睏了,而我沒有你想要從我身上得到的事物。」

"I don't even know what I want from you."

「我甚至不知道我想從你身上得到什麼。」


--
  • 註:珍是某種AI,但不是人類設計的,是從連接網際網絡中一款自我進化的遊戲中 (戰爭遊戲第一集安德玩得遊戲) 突然獲得自我意識的虛擬種族,更深入設定牽扯到粒子太複雜了略(欸)
  • 原文摘錄自: Orson Scott Card (1991). Xenocide (戰爭遊戲第三集), P.229-P.230

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