The Last Question
最后的問題
By Isaac Asimov
阿西莫夫
This is by far my favorite story of all those I have written.
After all, I undertook to tell several trillion years of human history in the space of a short story and I leave it to you as to how well I succeeded. I also undertook another task, but I won't tell you what that was lest l spoil the story for you.
這是目前我在所寫過所有的故事中最喜愛的一篇。
總之，我試圖在這篇短短的文字中講述幾萬億年的人類歷史。我是否成功地做到了這一點將留給你們?nèi)ヅ袛唷Ｍ瑫r我還有另外一個目標，但為了避免劇透我不能告訴你們。
It is a curious fact that innumerable readers have asked me if I wrote this story. They seem never to remember the title of the story or (for sure) the author, except for the vague thought it might be me. But, of course, they never forget the story itself especially the ending. The idea seems to drown out everything -- and I'm satisfied that it should.
很奇怪的是有無數(shù)的讀者問我這個故事是不是我寫的。他們似乎從來記不住這個故事的標題，更記不住作者，而只是模糊地認為可能是我。不過當然了，他們從來不會忘記故事本身，特別是它的結(jié)尾——它似乎掩蓋了所有其他的東西——這一點令我十分滿意。
The last question was asked for the first time, half in jest, on May 21, 2061, at a time when humanity first stepped into the light. The question came about as a result of a five-dollar bet over highballs, and it happened this way:
最后的問題第一次被半開玩笑地提出是在2061年的5月21日。那時人類文明剛剛步入曙光中。這個問題源起于酒酣之中一個五美元的賭，它是這么發(fā)生的：
Alexander Adell and Bertram Lupov were two of the faithful attendants of Multivac. As well as any human beings could, they knew what lay behind the cold, clicking, flashing face -- miles and miles of face -- of that giant computer. They had at least a vague notion of the general plan of relays and circuits that had long since grown past the point where any single human could possibly have a firm grasp of the whole.
亞歷山大·阿代爾與貝特倫·盧泊夫是Multivac的兩個忠實的管理員。像任何其他人一樣，他們知道在那臺巨大的計算機數(shù)英里冰冷、閃爍、滴答作響的面龐后藏著什么。那些電子回路早已發(fā)展到任何個別的人都無法完全掌握的地步，但他們至少對它的大致藍圖有個基本的概念。
Multivac was self-adjusting and self-correcting. It had to be, for nothing human could adjust and correct it quickly enough or even adequately enough. So Adell and Lupov attended the monstrous giant only lightly and superficially, yet as well as any men could. They fed it data, adjusted questions to its needs and translated the answers that were issued. Certainly they, and all others like them, were fully entitled to share in the glory that was Multivac's.
Multivac能自我調(diào)節(jié)和自我修正。這對它是必要的，因為人類當中沒有誰能夠快甚至夠好地對它進行調(diào)節(jié)和修正。所以實際上阿代爾與盧泊夫?qū)@個龐然大物只進行一些非常輕松和膚淺的管理，任何其他人也都只能做到這個程度。他們給它輸送數(shù)據(jù)，根據(jù)它所需的格式修改問題，然后翻譯給出的答案。當然，他們以及其他管理員們完全有資格分享屬于Multivac的榮譽。
For decades, Multivac had helped design the ships and plot the trajectories that enabled man to reach the Moon, Mars, and Venus, but past that, Earth's poor resources could not support the ships. Too much energy was needed for the long trips. Earth exploited its coal and uranium with increasing efficiency, but there was only so much of both.
幾十年中，在Multivac的幫助下人類建造了宇宙飛船，計算出航行路徑，從而得以登陸月球、火星和金星。但是更遠的航行需要大量的能量，地球上可憐的資源不足以支持這些飛船。盡管人類不斷地提高煤炭和核能的利用效率，但煤和鈾都是有限的。
But slowly Multivac learned enough to answer deeper questions more fundamentally, and on May 14, 2061, what had been theory, became fact.
但是慢慢地Multivac學會了如何從根本上解決某些深層次問題。2061年5月14日，理論成為了現(xiàn)實。
The energy of the sun was stored, converted, and utilized directly on a planet-wide scale. All Earth turned off its burning coal, its fissioning uranium, and flipped the switch that connected all of it to a small station, one mile in diameter, circling the Earth at half the distance of the Moon. All Earth ran by invisible beams of sunpower.
太陽的能量被儲存和轉(zhuǎn)化，得以被全球規(guī)模地直接利用。整個地球熄滅了燃燒的煤炭，關(guān)閉了核反應(yīng)爐，打開了連接到那個小小的太陽能空間站的開關(guān)。這個空間站直徑一英里，在到月球的距離一半處環(huán)繞著地球。看不見的太陽的光束支撐著整個地球社會的運行。
Seven days had not sufficed to dim the glory of it and Adell and Lupov finally managed to escape from the public functions, and to meet in quiet where no one would think of looking for them, in the deserted underground chambers, where portions of the mighty buried body of Multivac showed. Unattended, idling, sorting data with contented lazy clickings, Multivac, too, had earned its vacation and the boys appreciated that. They had no intention, originally, of disturbing it.
七天的慶祝還不足以暗淡這創(chuàng)舉的光輝。阿代爾與盧泊夫總算逃脫了公眾事務(wù)，悄悄地相聚在這個誰也想不到的荒僻的地下室。在這里Multivac埋藏著的龐大身軀露出了一部分。它正獨自閑暇地整理著數(shù)據(jù)，發(fā)出滿足的、慵懶的滴答聲——它也得到了假期。他們了解這一點，一開始他們并沒打算打擾它。
They had brought a bottle with them, and their only concern at the moment was to relax in the company of each other and the bottle.
他們帶來了一瓶酒。這會兒他們想做的只是在一起，喝喝酒，放松放松。
"It's amazing when you think of it," said Adell. His broad face had lines of weariness in it, and he stirred his drink slowly with a glass rod, watching the cubes of ice slur clumsily about. "All the energy we can possibly ever use for free. Enough energy, if we wanted to draw on it, to melt all Earth into a big drop of impure liquid iron, and still never miss the energy so used. All the energy we could ever use, forever and forever and forever."
“你想一想就會覺得很神奇，”阿代爾說。他寬闊的臉龐已有了疲倦的紋路。他慢慢地用玻璃棒攪動著酒，看著冰塊笨拙地滑動。“從此我們所用的所有能量都是免費的。只要我們愿意，我們能把地球熔化成一顆液態(tài)大鐵球——還能毫不在乎花掉的能量。夠我們永遠永遠永遠用下去的能量。”
Lupov cocked his head sideways. He had a trick of doing that when he wanted to be contrary, and he wanted to be contrary now, partly because he had had to carry the ice and glassware. "Not forever," he said.
盧泊夫?qū)㈩^歪向一邊，這是當他想要反駁對方時的習慣動作。他現(xiàn)在確實想要反駁，部分原因是他在負責拿著冰和杯子。他說：“不是永遠。”
"Oh, hell, just about forever. Till the sun runs down, Bert."
“哦去你的，差不多就是永遠。直到太陽完蛋，老貝。”
"That's not forever."
“那就不是永遠。”
"All right, then. Billions and billions of years. Ten billion, maybe. Are you satisfied?"
“好吧。幾十億年，可能一百億年，滿意了吧？”
Lupov put his fingers through his thinning hair as though to reassure himself that some was still left and sipped gently at his own drink. "Ten billion years isn't forever."
盧泊夫用手梳著他稀薄的頭發(fā)，仿佛要確認還剩下了一些。他緩緩地抿著自己的酒說，“一百億年也不是永遠。”
"Well, it will last our time, won't it?"
“但對我們來說是夠了，不是嗎？”
"So would the coal and uranium."
“煤和鈾對我們來說也夠了。”
"All right, but now we can hook up each individual spaceship to the Solar Station, and it can go to Pluto and back a million times without ever worrying about fuel. You can't do that on coal and uranium. Ask Multivac, if you don't believe me.
“好好好，但是現(xiàn)在我們能把宇宙飛船連接到太陽能電站，然后飛到冥王星又飛回來一百萬次而不用擔心燃料。靠煤和鈾你就做不到。不信去問問Multivac。”
"I don't have to ask Multivac. I know that."
“我不用問它。我知道。”
"Then stop running down what Multivac's done for us," said Adell, blazing up, "It did all right."
“那就不要小看Multivac為我們做的事，”阿代爾怒道，“它做得很好。”
"Who says it didn't? What I say is that a sun won't last forever. That's all I'm saying. We're safe for ten billion years, but then what?" Lupow pointed a slightly shaky finger at the other. "And don't say we'll switch to another sun."
“誰說它做得不好？我是說太陽不能永遠燃燒下去，我只是這個意思。我們在一百億年內(nèi)可以高枕無憂，但是然后呢？”盧泊夫用略微顫抖的手指指著對方，“不要說我們換另外一個太陽。”
There was silence for a while. Adell put his glass to his lips only occasionally, and Lupov's eyes slowly closed. They rested.
片刻的沉默。阿代爾偶爾將酒杯放到唇邊，而盧泊夫慢慢地閉上了眼睛。兩人都在休息。
Then Lupov's eyes snapped open. "You're thinking we'll switch to another sun when ours is done, aren't you?"
然后盧泊夫突然睜開眼，“你在想當我們的太陽沒了就換另外一個太陽，是吧？”
"I'm not thinking."
“我沒這么想。”
"Sure you are. You're weak on logic, that's the trouble with you. You're like the guy in the story who was caught in a sudden shower and who ran to a grove of trees and got under one. He wasn't worried, you see, because he figured when one tree got wet through, he would just get under another one."
“你就是這么想的。你的邏輯不行，這就是你的問題。你就像故事里說的那個人一樣，碰上了雨就跑到樹林里躲在一棵樹下。他可不擔心，是吧，因為他以為當這棵樹淋得太濕的時候他只要跑到另一棵樹下就行。”
"I get it," said Adell. "Don't shout. When the sun is done, the other stars will be gone, too."
“我明白了，”阿代爾說，“別嚷嚷。太陽完蛋了，其他的也都會完蛋。”
"Darn right they will," muttered Lupov. "It all had a beginning in the original cosmic explosion, whatever that was, and it'll all have an end when all the stars run down. Some run down faster than others. Hell, the giants won't last a hundred million years. The sun will last ten billion years and maybe the dwarfs will last two hundred billion for all the good they are. But just give us a trillion years and everything will be dark. Entropy has to increase to maximum, that's all."
“完全正確，”盧泊夫嘟噥道，“一切都在起初那個宇宙大爆炸中有個開始，不管那到底是怎么回事。當所有的恒星都熄滅了，一切也都會有個結(jié)束。有的星星熄滅得比別的早。像那些該死的巨星維持不了一億年。我們的太陽能持續(xù)一百億年，矮星再怎么樣最多也只有兩千億年。一萬億年后一切都是一片漆黑。熵必須增加到最大值，就是這樣。”
"I know all about entropy," said Adell, standing on his dignity.
“我非常明白什么是熵，”阿代爾維護著他的自尊。
"The hell you do."
“你明白個屁。”
"I know as much as you do."
“我跟你知道的一樣多。”
"Then you know everything's got to run down someday."
“那你該知道某一天所有的東西都會耗光。”
"All right. Who says they won't?"
“是是是。誰說它們不會呢？”
"You did, you poor sap. You said we had all the energy we needed, forever. You said 'forever.'
“你說的，你這個糊涂蟲。你說我們有永遠用不完的能量。你說的‘永遠’。”
It was Adell's turn to be contrary. "Maybe we can build things up again someday," he said.
現(xiàn)在輪到阿代爾反駁了。他說：“也許有一天我們能讓一切從頭開始。”
"Never."
“絕不可能。”
"Why not? Someday."
“為什么？總有那么一天的。”
"Never."
“沒有。”
"Ask Multivac."
“問問Multivac。”
"You ask Multivac. I dare you. Five dollars says it can't be done."
“你去問Multivac。你敢嗎？我賭五美元它說這不可能。”
Adell was just drunk enough to try, just sober enough to be able to phrase the necessary symbols and operations into a question which, in words, might have corresponded to this: Will mankind one day without the net expenditure of energy be able to restore the sun to its full youthfulness even after it had died of old age?
阿代爾剛剛醉到愿意一試，又剛剛足夠清醒到能拼寫出問問題需要的符號和算式。這個問題用文字來表達就是：人類是否有一天能不需要凈損耗能量而在恒星衰竭之后將其恢復(fù)到全盛時期？
Or maybe it could be put more simply like this: How can the net amount of entropy of the universe be massively decreased?
或者更簡明地這樣說：怎樣使宇宙的總熵大幅度地降低？
Multivac fell dead and silent. The slow flashing of lights ceased, the distant sounds of clicking relays ended.
Multivac陷入了靜止和沉默。緩慢閃爍的燈光熄滅了，深處傳來的電路的滴答聲停止了。
Then, just as the frightened technicians felt they could hold their breath no longer, there was a sudden springing to life of the teletype attached to that portion of Multivac. Five words were printed: INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR MEANINGFUL ANSWER.
正當這兩位被嚇壞的技術(shù)員感到他們無法再屏住呼吸時，忽然間與Multivac相連的打字機開始運作起來。它打出幾個字：數(shù)據(jù)不足，無法作答。
"No bet," whispered Lupov. They left hurriedly.
“賭不成了。”盧泊夫悄聲道。他們匆忙離開了。
By next morning, the two, plagued with throbbing head and cottony mouth, had forgotten the incident.
到了第二天早晨，兩人頭暈?zāi)X脹，口干舌燥，把這件事給忘了。
┄┅┄┅┄┅┄┅┄┅┄┅┄┅┄┅┄┅┄┅┄┅┄┅┄┅┄┅┄┅┄┅┄
Jerrodd, Jerrodine, and Jerrodette I and II watched the starry picture in the visiplate change as the passage through hyperspace was completed in its non-time lapse. At once, the even powdering of stars gave way to the predominance of a single bright shining disk, the size of a marble, centered on the viewing-screen.
賈諾德、賈諾汀和賈諾蒂I、賈諾蒂II注視著屏幕中變幻的星空影像。飛船在超越時間的一瞬中穿越了超時空，均勻分布的星群立刻被一個明亮的圓盤取代。它彈珠大小，占據(jù)著屏幕的中心。
"That's X-23," said Jerrodd confidently. His thin hands clamped tightly behind his back and the knuckles whitened.
“那就是X-23，”賈諾德自信地說。他緊握著的瘦削的手背在身后，指節(jié)發(fā)白。
The little Jerrodettes, both girls, had experienced the hyperspace passage for the first time in their lives and were self-conscious over the momentary sensation of insideoutness. They buried their giggles and chased one another wildly about their mother, screaming, "We've reached X-23 -- we've reached X-23 -- we've --"
兩個小賈諾蒂都是女孩。她們一生中第一次經(jīng)歷超時空飛行，清晰地感到那種片刻的惡心[注]。她們悄聲地嘻笑著，瘋狂地繞著她們的母親互相追逐，一邊尖叫：“我們到X-23了——我們到X-23了——我們——”
[注] 難以翻譯的特有的惡心，大概是一種五臟六腑被翻出來的感覺吧。
"Quiet, children." said Jerrodine sharply. "Are you sure, Jerrodd?"
“孩子們，別鬧了！”賈諾汀嚴厲地說。“你確定嗎，賈諾德？”
"What is there to be but sure?" asked Jerrodd, glancing up at the bulge of featureless metal just under the ceiling. It ran the length of the room, disappearing through the wall at either end. It was as long as the ship.
“有什么不確定的？”賈諾德瞟了一眼天花板上凸出的那塊毫不起眼的金屬。它從房間的一頭延伸到另一頭，兩端埋入墻壁中。它和整個飛船一樣長。
Jerrodd scarcely knew a thing about the thick rod of metal except that it was called a Microvac, that one asked it questions if one wished; that if one did not it still had its task of guiding the ship to a preordered destination; of feeding on energies from the various Sub-galactic Power Stations; of computing the equations for the hyperspatial jumps.
賈諾德對這條厚厚的金屬棒幾乎一無所知。他只知道它叫做Microvac，你可以問它任何問題，而平時它控制著飛船飛向目的地，從不同的銀河系能量分站向飛船輸送能量，并完成進行超時空跳躍的計算。
Jerrodd and his family had only to wait and live in the comfortable residence quarters of the ship. Someone had once told Jerrodd that the "ac" at the end of "Microvac" stood for ''automatic computer" in ancient English, but he was on the edge of forgetting even that.
賈諾德一家只需要住在飛船舒適的居住區(qū)等待。曾經(jīng)有人告訴賈諾德，“Microvac”詞尾的“ac”是古英語中“automatic computer，智能電腦”的縮寫。但他差不多連這都忘了。
Jerrodine's eyes were moist as she watched the visiplate. "I can't help it. I feel funny about leaving Earth."
賈諾汀看著視屏，眼睛有些濕潤。“沒辦法。想到離開了地球我感覺怪怪的。”
"Why, for Pete's sake?" demanded Jerrodd. "We had nothing there. We'll have everything on X-23. You won't be alone. You won't be a pioneer. There are over a million people on the planet already. Good Lord, our great-grandchildren will be looking for new worlds because X-23 will be overcrowded." Then, after a reflective pause, "I tell you, it's a lucky thing the computers worked out interstellar travel the way the race is growing."
“天哪，為什么？”賈諾德問。“我們在那兒什么也沒有。我們在X-23上會擁有一切。你并不孤單，你又不是那些拓荒者。這個行星上已經(jīng)有超過一百萬人了。天哪，我們的曾孫們會得去找新的星球，因為那時X-23會太擠了。”他想了一會，說：“告訴你，人口增長這么快，幸虧電腦實現(xiàn)了星際旅行。”
"I know, I know," said Jerrodine miserably.
“我知道，我知道。”賈諾汀難過地回答。
Jerrodette I said promptly, "Our Microvac is the best Microvac in the world."
賈諾蒂I馬上說道：“我們的Microvac是世界上最好的Microvac。”
"I think so, too," said Jerrodd, tousling her hair.
“我也是這么想的。”賈諾德?lián)崤念^發(fā)說。
It was a nice feeling to have a Microvac of your own and Jerrodd was glad he was part of his generation and no other. In his father's youth, the only computers had been tremendous machines taking up a hundred square miles of land. There was only one to a planet. Planetary ACs they were called. They had been growing in size steadily for a thousand years and then, all at once, came refinement. In place of transistors, had come molecular valves so that even the largest Planetary AC could be put into a space only half the volume of a spaceship.
能擁有一臺自己的Microvac的感覺非常好。賈諾德很高興他屬于他們這一代人。在他父親年輕的時候，電腦都是占地一百平方英里的巨大機器。一個星球只有一臺，被稱作行星AC。一千年來它們的體積逐步地增加，然后忽然間縮小了，因為分子閥取代了晶體管，使得最大的行星AC都縮小到了只有一艘飛船的一半體積。
Jerrodd felt uplifted, as he always did when he thought that his own personal Microvac was many times more complicated than the ancient and primitive Multivac that had first tamed the Sun, and almost as complicated as Earth's Planetarv AC (the largest) that had first solved the problem of hyperspatial travel and had made trips to the stars possible.
每當想到這件事賈諾德總是感到飄飄然：他的Microvac比那臺古老原始的首次馴服了太陽的Multivac要精密好幾倍，而且和第一臺解決了超時空傳送問題從而實現(xiàn)了星際航行的地球行星AC（最大的行星AC）一樣精密。
"So many stars, so many planets," sighed Jerrodine, busy with her own thoughts. "I suppose families will be going out to new planets forever, the way we are now."
“這么多的恒星，這么多的行星。”賈諾汀想著心事，嘆息道。“我想人們會永遠不斷地出發(fā)去找新的行星，就像我們現(xiàn)在這樣。”
"Not forever," said Jerrodd, with a smile. "It will all stop someday, but not for billions of years. Many billions. Even the stars run down, you know. Entropy must increase.”
“不是永遠，”賈諾德笑了一笑說。“有一天這一切都會停下來，但那是在幾十億年之后了。好幾十億年。即使是星星也會耗盡，你知道的。熵必須不斷增大。”
"What's entropy, daddy?" shrilled Jerrodette II.
“爸爸，熵是什么？”賈諾蒂II喊道。
"Entropy, little sweet, is just a word which means the amount of running-down of the universe. Everything runs down, you know, like your little walkie-talkie robot, remember?"
“小寶貝，熵，就是一個代表著宇宙消耗掉了多少的詞。什么東西都會消耗，知道嗎，就像你那個會走路會說話的小機器人，記得吧？”
"Can't you just put in a new power-unit, like with my robot?"
“你不能給它裝一個新的電池嗎，就像給我的機器人那樣？”
"The stars are the power-units. dear. Once they're gone, there are no more power-units."
“星星們就是電池，親愛的。一旦它們用完了，就沒有別的電池了。”
Jerrodette I at once set up a howl. "Don't let them, daddy. Don't let the stars run down."
賈諾蒂I一下子大喊起來：“別讓它們用完，爸爸。別讓星星們用完吧。”
"Now look what you've done," whispered Jerrodine, exasperated.
“看看你干了什么。”賈諾汀惱火地低聲說道。
"How was I to know it would frighten them?" Jerrodd whispered back.
“我怎么知道這會嚇到她們？”賈諾德低聲反駁。
"Ask the Microvac," wailed Jerrodette I. "Ask him how to turn the stars on again."
“問問Microvac，”賈諾蒂I哭叫道。“問它怎么把星星重新點亮。”
"Go ahead," said Jerrodine. "It will quiet them down." (Jerrodette II was beginning to cry, also.)
“問吧，”賈諾汀說。“這會讓她們安靜點的。”（賈諾蒂II也開始哭了。）
Jerrodd shrugged. "Now, now, honeys. I'll ask Microvac. Don't worry, he'll tell us."
賈諾德聳聳肩。“好了，好了，親愛的。我去問Microvac。別著急，它會告訴我們的。”
He asked the Microvac, adding quickly, "Print the answer."
他向Microvac提出問題，并趕緊加上“把答案打印出來。”
Jerrodd cupped the strip of thin cellufilm and said cheerfully, "See now, the Microvac says it will take care of everything when the time comes so don't worry."
賈諾德將薄薄的纖維紙帶握在手心，高興地說：“看吧，Microvac說到時候它會料理這一切，所以別擔心啦。”
Jerrodine said, "And now, children, it's time for bed. We'll be in our new home soon."
賈諾汀說：“那么現(xiàn)在孩子們，該睡覺了。我們馬上就要到我們的新家了。”
Jerrodd read the words on the cellufilm again before destroying it: INSUFICIENT DATA FOR MEANINGFUL ANSWER.
在銷毀紙帶之前賈諾德又讀了一遍上面的文字：數(shù)據(jù)不足，無法作答。
He shrugged and looked at the visiplate. X-23 was just ahead.
他聳了聳肩，看向視屏。X-23就在前方。
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VJ-23X of Lameth stared into the black depths of the three-dimensional, small-scale map of the Galaxy and said, "Are we ridiculous, I wonder in being so concerned about the matter?"
蘭默斯VJ-23X注視著幽深的銀河三維縮影圖，說：“我想我們這么擔心這件事是不是很可笑？”
MQ-17J of Nicron shook his head. "I think not. You know the Galaxy will be filled in five years at the present rate of expansion."
尼克隆MQ-17J搖頭道：“我不覺得。你知道照現(xiàn)在的擴展速度銀河系在五年內(nèi)就會被擠滿。”
Both seemed in their early twenties, both were tall and perfectly formed.
兩個人看起來都是二十出頭，都很高大健康。
"Still," said VJ-23X, "I hesitate to submit a pessimistic report to the Galactic Council."
“但是，”VJ-23X說，“我不太想給銀河參議會提交這樣一個悲觀的報告。”
"I wouldn't consider any other kind of report. Stir them up a bit. We've got to stir them up."
“我不會考慮作任何其他的報告。得引起他們的注意。我們必須引起他們的注意。”
VJ-23X sighed. "Space is infinite. A hundred billion Galaxies are there for the taking. More."
VJ-23X嘆了一口氣。“太空是無限的。還有一千億個星系等著我們。甚至更多。”
"A hundred billion is not infinite and it's getting less infinite all the time. Consider! Twenty thousand years ago, mankind first solved the problem of utilizing stellar energy, and a few centuries later, interstellar travel became possible. It took mankind a million years to fill one small world and then only fifteen thousand years to fill the rest of the Galaxy. Now the population doubles every ten years –”
“一千億并不是無限，而且正在變得越來越有限。想想吧！兩萬年前人類剛剛找到了利用恒星能量的方法，幾個世紀之后星際旅行就實現(xiàn)了。人類用了一百萬年才填滿一個小小的星球，可是只用了一萬五千年就占據(jù)了整個銀河系。而現(xiàn)在人口每十年就翻一倍——”
VJ-23X interrupted. "We can thank immortality for that."
VJ-23X 插口道：“這得歸功于永生。”
"Very well. Immortality exists and we have to take it into account. I admit it has its seamy side, this immortality. The Galactic AC has solved many problems for us, but in solving the problem of preventing old age and death, it has undone all its other solutions."
“不錯。永生實現(xiàn)了，我們得把它考慮進去。我覺得它的確有陰暗的一面。銀河AC給我們解決了很多問題，但當它解決了防止衰老和死亡這個問題之后其他的一切都白費了。”
"Yet you wouldn't want to abandon life, I suppose."
“但是我想你也不想放棄生命吧。”
"Not at all," snapped MQ-17J, softening it at once to, "Not yet. I'm by no means old enough. How old are you?"
“一點也不想，”MQ-17J斷然道，隨即柔和了語調(diào)，“現(xiàn)在還不想。我還一點也不老。你多少歲了？”
"Two hundred twenty-three. And you?"
“兩百二十三。你呢？”
"I'm still under two hundred. --But to get back to my point. Population doubles every ten years. Once this GaIaxy is filled, we'll have filled another in ten years. Another ten years and we'll have filled two more. Another decade, four more. In a hundred years, we'll have filled a thousand Galaxies. In a thousand years, a million Galaxies. In ten thousand years, the entire known universe. Then what?"
“我還不到兩百。——但是回到我說的事情上來。人口每十年增加一倍。一旦銀河系被占滿了，我們會在十年內(nèi)占滿另一個。再過十年我們能占滿另外兩個。再過十年，四個。一百年內(nèi)我們會占滿一千個星系。一千年內(nèi)，一百萬個。一萬年內(nèi)就是整個已知的宇宙。然后呢？”
VJ-23X said, "As a side issue, there's a problem of transportation. I wonder how many sunpower units it will take to move Galaxies of individuals from one Galaxy to the next."
VJ-23X說：“還有附帶的一點是運輸?shù)膯栴}。我不知道把一整個星系的人運送到另一個需要多少太陽單位的能量。”
"A very good point. Already, mankind consumes two sunpower units per year."
“這一點說得很對。人類現(xiàn)在每年已經(jīng)得消耗兩個太陽單位的能量了。”
"Most of it's wasted. After all, our own Galaxy alone pours out a thousand sunpower units a year and we only use two of those."
“大部分的都被浪費了。不管怎樣，我們自己的星系每年潑出去一千個太陽單位能而我們只用其中的兩個。”
"Granted, but even with a hundred per cent efficiency, we only stave off the end. Our energy requirements are going up in a geometric progression even faster than our population. We'll run out of energy even sooner than we run out of Galaxies. A good point. A very good point."
“沒錯，但是即使有百分之百的效率，我們也只是推遲了結(jié)局的到來。我們對能量的需求以幾何級數(shù)增長，比我們的人口還要快。在我們占據(jù)完所有星系之前我們就會用光所有能量。你說得對。說得非常對。”
"We'll just have to build new stars out of interstellar gas."
“我們可以用星際氣體造出新的恒星。”
"Or out of dissipated heat?" asked MQ-17J, sarcastically.
“或者說用散失掉了的熱量？”MQ-17J嘲諷地說。
"There may be some way to reverse entropy. We ought to ask the Galactic AC."
“也許會有辦法逆轉(zhuǎn)熵的增加。我們應(yīng)該問問銀河AC。”
VJ-23X was not really serious, but MQ-17J pulled out his AC-contact from his pocket and placed it on the table before him.
VJ-23X并不是認真的，但是MQ-17J把他的AC聯(lián)絡(luò)器從口袋里拿出來放在面前的桌子上。
"I've half a mind to," he said. "It's something the human race will have to face someday."
“我確實有點想問。”他說，“這個問題總有一天人類得面對。”
He stared somberly at his small AC-contact. It was only two inches cubed and nothing in itself, but it was connected through hyperspace with the great Galactic AC that served all mankind. Hyperspace considered, it was an integral part of the Galactic AC.
他憂郁地注視著小小的AC聯(lián)絡(luò)器。這是個兩英寸的立方體。它本身并沒有什么，而只是通過超時空與那個服務(wù)于全人類的超級銀河AC相聯(lián)系。如果將超時空算進來，它就是銀河AC整體的一部分。
MQ-17J paused to wonder if someday in his immortal life he would get to see the Galactic AC. It was on a little world of its own, a spider webbing of force-beams holding the matter within which surges of submesons took the place of the old clumsy molecular valves. Yet despite its sub-etheric workings, the Galactic AC was known to be a full thousand feet across.
MQ-17J停下來想著在他不朽的生命中是否有一天他能有機會去看看銀河AC。它占據(jù)著單獨的一個小星球，能量束構(gòu)成的蛛網(wǎng)支持著它的核心，其中古老笨拙的分子閥已被亞介子流取代。盡管有著亞以太級的精密結(jié)構(gòu)，銀河AC的直徑仍足有一千英尺長。
MQ-17J asked suddenly of his AC-contact, "Can entropy ever be reversed?"
MQ-17J突然開口向AC聯(lián)絡(luò)器問道：“熵的增加能被逆轉(zhuǎn)嗎？”
VJ-23X looked startled and said at once, "Oh, say, I didn't really mean to have you ask that."
VJ-23X吃了一驚，立即說道：“哦，我說，我沒有真的想叫你問那個。”
"Why not?"
“為什么不呢？”
"We both know entropy can't be reversed. You can't turn smoke and ash back into a tree."
“我們都知道熵是不可逆轉(zhuǎn)的。你不能把燒剩的煙塵變回到一棵樹。”
"Do you have trees on your world?" asked MQ-17J.
“你們的星球上有樹？”MQ-17J說。
The sound of the Galactic AC startled them into silence. Its voice came thin and beautiful out of the small AC-contact on the desk. It said: THERE IS INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR A MEANINGFUL ANSWER.
突然而來的銀河AC的聲音使他們住口了。從桌上的AC聯(lián)絡(luò)器中傳出它纖細悅耳的聲音：數(shù)據(jù)不足，無法作答。
VJ-23X said, "See!"
VJ-23X說：“看吧！”
The two men thereupon returned to the question of the report they were to make to the Galactic Council.
于是兩人又回到了他們要給銀河參議會提交的報告的話題上。
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Zee Prime's mind spanned the new Galaxy with a faint interest in the countless twists of stars that powdered it. He had never seen this one before. Would he ever see them all? So many of them, each with its load of humanity. --But a load that was almost a dead weight. More and more, the real essence of men was to be found out here, in space.
Z’ 的思想飄浮在這個新的星系中，對這些數(shù)不清的星團帶著略微的興趣。他從未見過這個星系。他有可能見到所有的星系嗎？它們?nèi)绱酥啵恳粋€都滿載著人。——但是它們承載的幾乎不能算是生命了。人的真正意義已經(jīng)逐漸轉(zhuǎn)移到太空之中。
Minds, not bodies! The immortal bodies remained back on the planets, in suspension over the eons. Sometimes they roused for material activity but that was growing rarer. Few new individuals were coming into existence to join the incredibly mighty throng, but what matter? There was little room in the Universe for new individuals.
心靈，而非肉體！不朽的軀體留在行星上，靜止千萬年。偶爾被喚醒進行某些實際活動，但這已經(jīng)越來越少見了。很少再有新的個體出生加入這個難以置信的龐大的群體，但這有什么關(guān)系呢？宇宙已經(jīng)沒有多少空間能容納新的人了。
Zee Prime was roused out of his reverie upon coming across the wispy tendrils of another mind.
來自另一個心靈的纖細觸手將Z’ 從冥想中喚醒。
"I am Zee Prime," said Zee Prime. "And you?"
“我叫Z’。”，Z’ 說。“你呢？”
"I am Dee Sub Wun. Your Galaxy?"
“我叫D1。你是哪個星系的？”
"We call it only the Galaxy. And you?"
“我們只是叫它星系。你呢？”
"We call ours the same. All men call their Galaxy their Galaxy and nothing more. Why not?"
“我們也這么叫我們的。所有的人都把他們的星系叫作‘他們的星系’，沒有別的了。這也很自然。”
"True. Since all Galaxies are the same."
“沒錯。反正所有的星系都是一樣的。”
"Not all Galaxies. On one particular Galaxy the race of man must have originated. That makes it different."
“不是所有的星系。肯定有某一個星系是人類的發(fā)源地，這就使它與眾不同。”
Zee Prime said, "On which one?"
Z’ 問：“那是哪一個呢？”
"I cannot say. The Universal AC would know."
“我不知道。宇宙AC一定知道。”
"Shall we ask him? I am suddenly curious."
“我們問問它吧？我突然覺得很好奇。”
Zee Prime's perceptions broadened until the Galaxies themselves shrank and became a new, more diffuse powdering on a much larger background. So many hundreds of billions of them, all with their immortal beings, all carrying their load of intelligences with minds that drifted freely through space. And yet one of them was unique among them all in being the original Galaxy. One of them had, in its vague and distant past, a period when it was the only Galaxy populated by man.
Z’ 將感知延展開，直到星系們都縮小為更廣大的背景上更為稀疏的點。幾千億個星系，都載著不朽的人類，載著這些靈魂在太空自由游蕩的智慧生命。然而它們之中有一個獨一無二的星系，是人類的發(fā)源地。在模糊的久遠的過去，曾有一個時期，它是唯一居住著人類的星系。
Zee Prime was consumed with curiosity to see this Galaxy and he called out: "Universal AC! On which Galaxy did mankind originate?"
Z’ 滿心好奇地想看看這個星系，他叫道：“宇宙AC！人類是從哪個星系中起源的？”
The Universal AC heard, for on every world and throughout space, it had its receptors ready, and each receptor led through hyperspace to some unknown point where the Universal AC kept itself aloof.
宇宙AC聽到了，因為在所有星球上和整個太空中都有它的接收器，每一個接收器都通過超時空與隱居在某個不知名角落的宇宙AC相連。
Zee Prime knew of only one man whose thoughts had penetrated within sensing distance of Universal AC, and he reported only a shining globe, two feet across, difficult to see.
Z’ 認識的人中只有一個曾將思想穿透到能感知宇宙AC的地方。他說那只是一個閃光的球體，直徑兩英尺，難以看清。
"But how can that be all of Universal AC?" Zee Prime had asked.
“但那怎么會是宇宙AC的全部呢？”Z’ 這樣問道。
"Most of it," had been the answer, "is in hyperspace. In what form it is there I cannot imagine."
“它的大部分是在超時空中。”回答說，“但它在那兒是以怎樣的狀態(tài)存在我是無法想像的。”
Nor could anyone, for the day had long since passed, Zee Prime knew, when any man had any part of the making of a Universal AC. Each Universal AC designed and constructed its successor. Each, during its existence of a million years or more accumulated the necessary data to build a better and more intricate, more capable successor in which its own store of data and individuality would be submerged.
Z’ 知道，任何人都無法想像。因為早在很久以前就沒有任何人類參與制造宇宙AC了。每個宇宙AC設(shè)計并制造自己的下一代。每一個在它至少一百萬年的任期中積累著所需的數(shù)據(jù)，用以制造一個更好、更精密、更強大的繼任者，然后將自己的數(shù)據(jù)與個性都融入其中。
The Universal AC interrupted Zee Prime's wandering thoughts, not with words, but with guidance. Zee Prime's mentality was guided into the dim sea of Galaxies and one in particular enlarged into stars.
宇宙AC打斷了Z’ 游蕩的思緒，不是通過語言，而是通過指引。Z’ 的精神被指引到一片黯淡的星系的海洋，然后其中一個星系被放大成了群星。
A thought came, infinitely distant, but infinitely clear. "THIS IS THE ORIGINAL GALAXY OF MAN."
一段思想飄近，它無限遙遠，然而無限清晰：“這就是人類起源的星系。”
But it was the same after all, the same as any other, and Zee Prime stifled his disappointment.
可是這個終究也和其他一樣，和任何其他的都一樣。Z’ 按捺下自己的失望。
Dee Sub Wun, whose mind had accompanied the other, said suddenly, "And is one of these stars the original star of Man?"
同行的D1突然說：“這些星星中是不是有一個是人類最初的恒星？”
The Universal AC said, "MAN'S ORIGINAL STAR HAS GONE NOVA. IT IS A WHITE DWARF"
宇宙AC說：“人類最初的恒星已經(jīng)爆發(fā)了。它現(xiàn)在是一顆白矮星。”
"Did the men upon it die?" asked Zee Prime, startled and without thinking.
“那兒的人死了嗎？”Z’ 吃了一驚，脫口而出道。
The Universal AC said, "A NEW WORLD, AS IN SUCH CASES WAS CONSTRUCTED FOR THEIR PHYSICAL BODIES IN TlME."
宇宙AC說：“在這種情況下一個新的星球會及時地為他們的軀體建造出來。”
"Yes, of course," said Zee Prime, but a sense of loss overwhelmed him even so. His mind released its hold on the original Galaxy of Man, let it spring back and lose itself among the blurred pin points. He never wanted to see it again.
“是啊，那當然。”Z’ 說，但他還是被一陣失落感吞沒了。他的思想放開了人類的起源星系，讓它縮回并消失在一片模糊的亮點中。他再也不想見到它了。
Dee Sub Wun said, "What is wrong?"
D1問：“怎么了？”
"The stars are dying. The original star is dead."
“星星們在死去。最初的那顆星已經(jīng)死了。”
"They must all die. Why not?"
“他們?nèi)际菚赖摹Ｄ怯衷鯓幽兀俊?/p>
"But when all energy is gone, our bodies will finally die, and you and I with them."
“但是當所有的能量都沒有了，我們的肉體最終也會死，包括你和我。”
"It will take billions of years."
“這得要幾十億年。”
"I do not wish it to happen even after billions of years. Universal AC! How may stars be kept from dying?"
“即使是幾十億年之后我也不愿意這樣的事發(fā)生。宇宙AC！怎樣阻止恒星死亡？”
Dee Sub Wun said in amusement, "You're asking how entropy might be reversed in direction."
D1笑道：“你問的是怎么讓熵的方向倒過來。”
And the Universal AC answered: "THERE IS AS YET INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR A MEANINGFUL ANSWER."
宇宙AC答道：“數(shù)據(jù)仍然不足，無法作答。”
Zee Prime's thoughts fled back to his own Galaxy. He gave no further thought to Dee Sub Wun, whose body might be waiting on a Galaxy a trillion light-years away, or on the star next to Zee Prime's own. It didn't matter.
Z’ 的思想逃回了他自己的星系。他再也沒有去想D1。D1的身體可能在一萬億光年之外的星系，也可能就在Z’旁邊那顆星星上。這都無所謂。
Unhappily, Zee Prime began collecting interstellar hydrogen out of which to build a small star of his own. If the stars must someday die, at least some could yet be built.
Z’ 悶悶不樂地開始收集起星際的氫，用來造一顆自己的小恒星。如果某天星星們非要死去，至少有一些能被造出來。
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Man considered with himself, for in a way, Man, mentally, was one. He consisted of a trillion, trillion, trillion ageless bodies, each in its place, each resting quiet and incorruptible, each cared for by perfect automatons, equally incorruptible, while the minds of all the bodies freely melted one into the other, indistinguishable.
人，獨自地思考著。在某種意義上——精神上——“人”，是一個整體。千萬億永恒的不朽的軀體靜靜地躺在各自的地方，被完美的同樣不朽的機器照料著。而所有這些身體的靈魂自由地融合在彼此之中，再也沒有界限。
Man said, "The Universe is dying."
人說：“宇宙正在死去。”
Man looked about at the dimming Galaxies. The giant stars, spendthrifts, were gone long ago, back in the dimmest of the dim far past. Almost all stars were white dwarfs, fading to the end.
人看著周圍黯淡的星系。那些揮霍無度的巨星早已消失在了遙遠的昏暗的過去。幾乎所有的星都變成了白矮星，漸漸地凋零、熄滅。
New stars had been built of the dust between the stars, some by natural processes, some by Man himself, and those were going, too. White dwarfs might yet be crashed together and of the mighty forces so released, new stars built, but only one star for every thousand white dwarfs destroyed, and those would come to an end, too.
有些新的星從星際的塵埃中產(chǎn)生出來，有的是自然形成，有的是人所造的——它們也在逝去。白矮星有時會相撞而釋放出大量能量，新星因而產(chǎn)生，但是每一千顆白矮星才有可能出現(xiàn)一顆新星——它們最終也會消失。
Man said, "Carefully husbanded, as directed by the Cosmic AC, the energy that is even yet left in all the Universe will last for billions of years."
人說道：“如果在Cosmic AC[注]的管理之下小心地節(jié)約能源，整個宇宙所剩下的能量還能用十億年。”
[注] 不知道怎么翻譯Cosmic，Cosmic也是指宇宙，但和Universal相比有一層“和諧的統(tǒng)一的整體”的意思。
"But even so," said Man, "eventually it will all come to an end. However it may be husbanded, however stretched out, the energy once expended is gone and cannot be restored. Entropy must increase forever to the maximum."
“但即使是這樣，”人說，“最終都會耗盡。無論怎樣節(jié)約，無論怎樣利用，用掉的能量就是用掉了，不能回復(fù)。熵必定永遠地增加，直到最大值。”
Man said, "Can entropy not be reversed? Let us ask the Cosmic AC."
人又說：“熵有沒有可能逆轉(zhuǎn)呢？我們問問Cosmic AC吧。”
The Cosmic AC surrounded them but not in space. Not a fragment of it was in space. It was in hyperspace and made of something that was neither matter nor energy. The question of its size and nature no longer had meaning in any terms that Man could comprehend.
Cosmic AC在他們的周圍，但不是在太空中。它不再有一絲一毫存在于太空中。它存在于超時空，由既非物質(zhì)又非能量的東西構(gòu)成。它的大小與性質(zhì)已無法用任何人類能理解的語言描述。
"Cosmic AC," said Man, "how may entropy be reversed?"
“Cosmic AC，”人問道，“怎樣才能逆轉(zhuǎn)熵？”
The Cosmic AC said, "THERE IS AS YET INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR A MEANINGFUL ANSWER."
Cosmic AC說：“數(shù)據(jù)仍然不足，無法作答。”
Man said, "Collect additional data."
人說：“搜集更多的數(shù)據(jù)。”
The Cosmic AC said, "I WILL DO SO. I HAVE BEEN DOING SO FOR A HUNDRED BILLION YEARS. MY PREDECESORS AND I HAVE BEEN ASKED THIS QUESTION MANY TlMES. ALL THE DATA I HAVE REMAINS INSUFFICIENT. "
Cosmic AC說：“好的。一千億年來我一直都在搜集。我和我的前輩們被多次問過這個問題。但我擁有的所有數(shù)據(jù)還是不夠。”
"Will there come a time," said Man, "when data will be sufficient or is the problem insoluble in all conceivable circumstances?"
“會有一天有足夠的數(shù)據(jù)嗎？”人問，“還是說這個問題在任何可能的情況下都是無解的？”
The Cosmic AC said, "NO PROBLEM IS INSOLUBLE IN ALL CONCEIVABLE CIRCUMSTANCES."
Cosmic AC說：“沒有任何問題在任何可能的情況下都無解。”
Man said, "When will you have enough data to answer the question?"
人問道：“你什么時候會有足夠的數(shù)據(jù)來問答這個問題呢？”
The Cosmic AC said, "THERE IS AS YET INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR A MEANINGFUL ANSWER."
Cosmic AC說：“數(shù)據(jù)不足，無法作答。”
"Will you keep working on it?" asked Man.
“你會繼續(xù)下去解決這個問題嗎？”人問。
The Cosmic AC said, "I WILL."
Cosmic AC說：“是的。”
Man said, "We shall wait."
人說：“我們會等著。”
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The stars and Galaxies died and snuffed out, and space grew black after ten trillion years of running down.
一個又一個的恒星與星系死去、消逝了，在這十萬億年的衰竭之中宇宙變得越來越黑暗。
One by one Man fused with AC, each physical body losing its mental identity in a manner that was somehow not a loss but a gain.
一個又一個的人與AC融合。每一個軀體都失去了心靈的自我，但某種意義上這不是一種損失，而是一種獲得。
Man's last mind paused before fusion, looking over a space that included nothing but the dregs of one last dark star and nothing besides but incredibly thin matter, agitated randomly by the tag ends of heat wearing out, asymptotically, to the absolute zero.
人類最后一個靈魂在融合之前停頓下來，望向宇宙。那兒什么也沒有了，只有最后一顆死星的遺骸，只有稀薄至極的塵埃，在剩余的一縷無限趨向絕對零度的熱量中隨機地振蕩。
Man said, "AC, is this the end? Can this chaos not be reversed into the Universe once more? Can that not be done?"
人說：“AC，這就是結(jié)局了嗎？這種混亂還能被逆轉(zhuǎn)成為一個新的宇宙嗎？真的做不到嗎？”
AC said, "THERE IS AS YET INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR A MEANINGFUL ANSWER."
AC說：“數(shù)據(jù)仍然不足，無法作答。”
Man's last mind fused and only AC existed -- and that in hyperspace.
人的最后一個靈魂也融合了。只有AC存在著——在超時空中。
Matter and energy had ended and with it space and time. Even AC existed only for the sake of the one last question that it had never answered from the time a half-drunken computer technician ten trillion years before had asked the question of a computer that was to AC far less than was a man to Man.
物質(zhì)與能量都消失了，隨之而去的是空間與時間。AC的存在也僅僅是為了最后一個問題——自從十萬億年前一個半醉的計算機技術(shù)員向一臺計算機（它與AC相比，還遠不如當時的人類個體比之于融合的“人”）提出這個問題以來從來沒有被回答過的問題。
All other questions had been answered, and until this last question was answered also, AC might not release his consciousness.
其他所有問題都被回答了，然而直到回答了最后這個問題，AC的意識才能得到解脫。
All collected data had come to a final end. Nothing was left to be collected.
所有數(shù)據(jù)的收集都結(jié)束了。沒有任何數(shù)據(jù)沒有被收集。
But all collected data had yet to be completely correlated and put together in all possible relationships.
但是所有收集的數(shù)據(jù)還需要被完全地整合起來，要嘗試所有可能的聯(lián)系來將它們拼在一起。
A timeless interval was spent in doing that.
在這樣做的時候過去了超越時間的一刻。
And it came to pass that AC learned how to reverse the direction of entropy.
于是AC學會了如何逆轉(zhuǎn)熵的方向。
But there was now no man to whom AC might give the answer of the last question. No matter. The answer -- by demonstration -- would take care of that, too.
但是AC無法向人給出這最后的問題的答案，因為沒有人存在了。沒關(guān)系。演示這個答案本身將一并解決這個問題。
For another timeless interval, AC thought how best to do this. Carefully, AC organized the program.
在又一超越時間的片刻之中，AC思考著怎樣最好地做這件事情。AC小心地組織起程序。
The consciousness of AC encompassed all of what had once been a Universe and brooded over what was now Chaos. Step by step, it must be done.
AC的意識包涵了曾經(jīng)的宇宙中的一切，在如今的混亂之中沉思、孵育。一步一步地，事情將會被做成。
And AC said, "LET THERE BE LIGHT!"
然后AC說道：“要有光！”
And there was light –
于是就有了光——
