The Ants 螞蟻

　　by Exurb1a

　　It so happened that I was sat in the sun with a book，and just as I was about to nod off，a little voice called out:

　　那天我正拿著一本書坐在太陽(yáng)底下，正當(dāng)我快要打盹時(shí)，一個(gè)細(xì)微的聲音叫了出來(lái):

　　“Excuse me，what is this for?“

　　“不好意思，請(qǐng)問(wèn)這是做什么的？”

　　A small ant had crawled across the page of my book， and was now sat staring up at me.

　　一只小螞蟻爬過(guò)了我的書頁(yè)，正坐著盯著我看。

　　“What?“I said.

　　“什么？”我說(shuō)。

　　“Excuse me，“ the ant said，“what is this for?“

　　“不好意思，”小螞蟻問(wèn)道，“這是做什么的？”

　　“What is what for?“ I said.

　　“什么是做什么的？”我反問(wèn)道。

　　“This great black-and-white expanse I'm standing on right now，“ it tapped the book with a little black leg.

　　“我現(xiàn)在站在這個(gè)巨大的黑白相間的平原，”它用一條小黑腿輕拍著書。

　　“Look，“ I said，“you wouldn't understand even if I explained it to you.“

　　“聽(tīng)著，”我說(shuō)，“即使我解釋給你聽(tīng)，你也不會(huì)明白的?！?p>　　“That might be so，“ the ant said，“but though I am very small， I am also very curious，and I don't want to turn to dust having known nothing at all. So， if you would， please – what is this for?“

　　“也許是這樣，”螞蟻說(shuō)，“但是，我雖然很小，我同樣懷有好奇，我不想再一無(wú)所知的時(shí)候化作一粒微塵。所以，如若可以的話請(qǐng)你告訴我——這是干什么用的?”

　　He stood up on his two back legs， eagerly awaiting my answer， and his antennae stood to attention most respectfully.

　　他兩條后腿直立起來(lái)，急切地等待著我的回答，他的觸角恭恭敬敬地豎起來(lái)。

　　I said:*Sigh*“It's like this: you're standing on a page. Pages are made from trees. We put lots ofthem together and call it a book.“

　　我輕嘆一口氣，“是這樣的:你正站在一頁(yè)紙上。書頁(yè)是用樹(shù)做的。我們把很多書頁(yè)裝訂在一起，稱之為一本書?！?p>　　“What is a book for， then?“ the ant said.

　　“那書又是做什么用的呢？”螞蟻接著問(wèn)道。

　　“Well， it stores thoughts，“ I said.

　　“額，書本是用來(lái)儲(chǔ)存思想的?！蔽艺f(shuō)。

　　“That way， we can transmit them to other people very far away.“

　　“這樣，我們就可以把思想傳播給到很遠(yuǎn)很遠(yuǎn)的地方?！?p>　　“How?“ the ant said.

　　“這是怎么做到的？”螞蟻問(wèn)道。

　　“Now， look， this isn't the time or place，“ I said， a little too firmly.

　　“現(xiàn)在，聽(tīng)著，這不是個(gè)正確的時(shí)間，也不是個(gè)好地點(diǎn)。我沒(méi)有時(shí)間和你解釋這一切?！蔽艺f(shuō)，語(yǔ)氣有點(diǎn)沖。

　　The ant bowed his tiny head， and his antennae wilted.

　　螞蟻低下了他的小腦袋，他的觸角都蔫了。

　　I said softly:“Look， you see those little black squiggles – excuse me; to you， very big black squiggles about you on the page?“

　　我輕聲說(shuō):“好吧聽(tīng)著，你看見(jiàn)那些黑色的彎彎曲曲的圖案了么——對(duì)不起;對(duì)你來(lái)說(shuō)，書頁(yè)上你周圍的那些又大又黑的彎彎曲曲的圖案?”

　　The ant nodded.

　　螞蟻點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭。

　　“Those are words and numbers.“

　　“那些是詞匯和數(shù)字?！?p>　　“They don't look like words and numbers，“ the ant said.

　　“它們看起來(lái)不像詞匯和數(shù)字，”螞蟻說(shuō)。

　　“They represent them，“ I said.

　　“他們象征了詞匯和數(shù)字，”我說(shuō)。

　　“Hmm，“ the ant said， and thought about this a while.

　　“嗯......”螞蟻說(shuō)，思索了一會(huì)兒。

　　I said:“Do you understand?“

　　我問(wèn)道:“你明白了嗎？”

　　The ant said:“Not really. You were right. It's beyond me. But though I'll never be as clever as you animals， I'm at least a little cleverer than I was a moment ago. So thank you for that.“

　　螞蟻說(shuō):“并不能，你說(shuō)的對(duì)，這已經(jīng)超越了我可以理解的范疇。但是，雖然我永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)像你們?nèi)祟愐粯勇斆?，我至少比剛才的自己聰明了一點(diǎn)。所以謝謝你。”

　　“You're welcome“， I said.

　　“不客氣?！蔽艺f(shuō)。

　　“Well， good luck on being a thing in the world，“ the ant said.

　　“那么，生而為世界之物，祝你好運(yùn)?！蔽浵佌f(shuō)。

　　“Good luck to you， too，“ I said.

　　“也祝你好運(yùn)。”我說(shuō)。

　　The little ant made off on his way and disappeared into the grass.

　　小螞蟻爬走了，消失在草叢中。

　　I read to the end of my page， but could not forget the little ant.

　　我讀到這本書的最后一頁(yè)，但始終不能忘記那只小螞蟻。

　　Eventually， I looked up from the book – to the trees， to the mountain， to the sky. The moon was climbing up for evening， birds were migrating in the distance.

　　最后，我從書本上抬起頭來(lái)——看著樹(shù)木，看著山脈，看著天空。天幕正在緩緩降下，月亮正爬上夜空，遠(yuǎn)方的鳥(niǎo)兒正忙著遷徙。

　　I called out:“Excuse me， what is this for?“

　　我喊道:“不好意思，這是干什么用的?”

　　“What?“ came a booming voice above.

　　“什么?”上空傳來(lái)一個(gè)低沉的回應(yīng)。

　　“This great green-and-blue sphere I'm standing on right now，“ I patted the ground with my foot，“What is all this for?“

　　“我現(xiàn)在站在這個(gè)綠藍(lán)相間的大球體上，”我用腳輕拍著地面，“這一切是為了什么?”

　　“Look，“ the voice said，“you wouldn't understand even if I explained it to you.“

　　“聽(tīng)著，”那個(gè)聲音說(shuō)，“即使我解釋給你聽(tīng)，你也不能理解。”

　　“That might be so，“ I shouted，“but though I am very small， I am also very curious，and I don't want to turn to dust having known nothing at all. So， if you would， please – what is all this for?“

　　“也許吧，”我喊道，“但是，我雖然很小，我同樣懷有好奇，我不想再一無(wú)所知的時(shí)候化作一粒微塵。所以，如若可以的話請(qǐng)你告訴我——這是干什么用的?”

　　And the voice said:*Sigh*

　　那個(gè)聲音輕嘆了一口氣。

　　“It's like this...“

　　“好吧，是這樣的......”