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只为认真做自己

阿西莫夫短篇小说:绿斑

“Totipotent,” Dr. Weiss said sharply. “Universally potent. Any fragment of it is totipotent. Given time, a single bacterium from Saybrook’s Planet can convert all of Earth into a single organism! We’ve got the experimental proof of that.”

“是全能,”韦斯博士严肃地说。“宇宙性的全能。它的任何一部分都是全能的。只要有足够的时间,塞布鲁克星上的一个细菌都能把整个地球的生物融合成一个有机体!我们已经有实验证据了。”

Drake said unexpectedly, “You know, I think I’m a millionaire, Doc. Can you keep a secret?”

德雷克突然出乎意料地说:“你知道吗,博士,我觉得我要成百万富翁了。你能帮我保守一个秘密吗?”

Weiss nodded, puzzled.

韦斯困惑地点点头。

“I’ve got a souvenir from Saybrook’s Planet,” Drake told him, grinning. “It’s only a pebble, but after the publicity the planet will get, combined with the fact that it’s quarantined from here on in, the pebble will be all any human being will ever see of it. How much do you suppose I could sell the thing for?”

“我从塞布鲁克星上弄到了一个纪念品,”德雷克咧嘴一笑,“只是一块石头。等到这个星球举世闻名的时候,再加上它从此又被隔离了,这个石头就成了最后一个人类能看到的属于它的东西。你看我能卖多少钱?”

Weiss stared. “A pebble?” He snatched at the object shown him, a hard, gray ovoid. “You shouldn’t have done that, Drake. It was strictly against regulations.”

韦斯瞪大眼睛:“一块石头?”他把眼前那块坚硬的灰色椭圆形物体一把抓过,“你不该这么做,德雷克。这是被严格禁止的。”

“I know. That’s why I asked if you could keep a secret. If you could give me a signed note of authentication-What’s the matter, Doc?”

“我知道。所以我请你保守秘密。要是你能给我写个鉴定书——怎么啦,博士?”

Instead of answering, Weiss could only chatter and point. Drake ran over and stared down at the pebble. It was the same as before-

韦斯没有回答,而是牙关打颤地指着石头。德雷克过去一看,石头还是那个模样——

Except that the light was catching it at an angle, and it showed up two little green spots. Look very closely; they were patches of green hairs.

只不过,在这个角度的光线下,能看到两个绿色的小斑点。仔细地看,那是两块绿色的毛。

He was disturbed. There was a definite air of danger within the ship. There was the suspicion of his presence aboard. How could that be? He had done nothing yet. Had another fragment of home come aboard and been less cautious? That would be impossible without his knowledge, and though he probed the ship intensely, he found nothing.

他感到很不安。船上有一种危险的气氛。他们开始怀疑他的存在。怎么会呢?他什么都还没做呢。是不是有另外一个母体的碎片上了船,但却不够谨慎?那样的话他不可能不知道(佳人微信公众号:jiarenorg)。他奋力探测着飞船中的一切,但什么也没发现。

And then the suspicion diminished, but it was not quite dead. One of the keen-thinkers still wondered, and was treading close to the truth.

然后怀疑减弱了,但没有完全消失。有头脑生物中有一个还在怀疑,而且他的猜测非常接近事实了。

How long before the landing? Would an entire world of life fragments be deprived of completeness? He clung closer to the severed ends of the wire he had been specially bred to imitate, afraid of detection, fearful for his altruistic mission.

还有多久才能着陆呢?是不是他们整个星球的生命都是残缺不全的?他更紧地吸附在他所模拟的电线的两头,害怕被发现,惶恐于他背负的无私的使命。

Dr. Weiss had locked himself in his own room. They were already within the solar system, and in three hours they would be landing. He had to think. He had three hours in which to decide.

韦斯博士把自己锁在房间里。他们已经进入了太阳系,三个钟头之后就要着陆了。他得想一想。他还有三个小时做出决定。

Drake’s devilish “pebble” had been part of the organized life on Saybrook’s Planet, of course, but it was dead. It was dead when he had first seen it, and if it hadn’t been, it was certainly dead after they fed it into the hyper-atomic motor and converted it into a blast of pure heat. And the bacterial cultures still showed normal when Weiss anxiously checked.

显而易见,德雷克的那个可怕的“石头”也是塞布鲁克星有机体的一部分。但是它死了。他刚看到它的时候它就已经死了,就算没有,等到它被他们放进超原子能驱动器引爆,变成一团纯热能的时候,它必须是死了。当他焦急地检查培养的细菌的时候一切也都正常。

That was not what bothered Weiss now.

但是现在让他烦恼的不是这个。

Drake had picked up the “pebble” during the last hours of the stay on Saybrook’s Planet-after the barrier breakdown. What if the breakdown had been the result of a slow, relentless mental pressure on the part of the thing on the planet? What if parts of its being waited to invade as the barrier dropped? If the “pebble” had not been fast enough and had moved only after the barrier was reestablished, it would have been killed. It would have lain there for Drake to see and pick up.

德雷克在塞布鲁克星停留的最后一个钟头捡起了那块“石头”,而那是在能障出故障之后。如果那个故障就是塞布鲁克星上那个东西缓慢的、不懈的精神力量导致的呢(佳人微信公众号:jiarenorg)?如果它的一部分在能障中断的时候就等在外面准备入侵呢?如果那块“石头”进来得不够快,能障恢复的时候就可能会把它杀死。所以它就躺在那儿等着德雷克看见它,捡起它。

It was a “pebble,” not a natural life form. But did that mean it was not some kind of life form? It might have been a deliberate production of the planet’s single organism-a creature deliberately designed to look like a pebble, harmless-seeming, unsuspicious. Camouflage, in other words-a shrewd and frighteningly successful camouflage.

那是一块“石头”,不是一种自然的生命形式。但那就代表它确实不是了吗?它有可能是那个星球上的有机体特意产生出来的一种生物,特地设计成看上去像一块无害的、一点也不可疑的石头。换句话说,就是伪装,一种狡猾的而且成功得可怕的伪装。

Had any other camouflaged creature succeeded in crossing the barrier before it was re-established-with a suitable shape filched from the minds of the humans aboard ship by the mind-reading organism of the planet? Would it have the casual appearance of a paperweight? Of an ornamental brass-head nail in the captain’s old-fashioned chair? And how would they locate it? Could they search every part of the ship for the telltale green patches- even down to individual microbes?

有没有其他的披着伪装的生物在能障恢复之前成功地钻进来了呢?这种有读心术的生物可以从人类脑海中选取非常合适的形态。也许就是个普普通通的镇纸?也许是船长的老式座椅上装饰性的铜头钉?那他们怎么找得到它呢?他们难道能把整个飞船翻一遍,甚至每个微生物都检查一遍,来寻找它们掩饰不了的绿斑吗?

And why camouflage? Did it intend to remain undetected for a time? Why? So that it might wait for the landing on Earth?

还有,为什么要伪装呢?它是不是企图隐藏一段时间?为什么?为了等待飞船降落在地球上吗?

An infection after landing could not be cured by blowing up a ship. The bacteria of Earth, the molds, yeasts, and protozoa, would go first. Within a year the non-human young would be arriving by the uncountable billions.

若是在降落之后感染,就算是炸掉飞船也于事无补。首当其冲的是地球上的细菌、真菌、酵母菌和原生动物。一年之内,数以亿万计的非人的新生命就将降临人间。

Weiss closed his eyes and told himself it might not be such a bad thing. There would be no more disease, since no bacterium would multiply at the expense of its host, but instead would be satisfied with its fair share of what was available. There would be no more overpopulation; the hordes of mankind would decline to adjust themselves to the food supply. There would be no more wars, no crime, no greed.

韦斯闭上眼睛告诉自己,也许这并不是坏事。不再会有疾病,因为不会再有细菌以牺牲宿主来繁殖自己,而只会满足于能得到的资源中它应得的一小份。人口再也不会过度增长;人类群体将减少以适应食物的供给。再也不会有战争,不会有犯罪,不会有贪欲。

But there would be no more individuality, either.

然而,也再不会有个性。

Humanity would find security by becoming a cog in a biological machine. A man would be brother to a germ, or to a liver cell.

人类将满足于在这座生命机器中做一个齿轮。一个人将与一个细菌、一个肝细胞平等如兄弟。

He stood up. He would have a talk with Captain Loring. They would send their report and blow up the ship, just as Saybrook had done.

他站了起来,他得和洛林船长谈一谈。他们得发送报告,然后引爆飞船,正像塞布鲁克所做的那样。

He sat down again. Saybrook had had proof, while he had only the conjectures of a terrorized mind, rattled by the sight of two green spots on a pebble. Could he kill the two hundred men on board ship because of a feeble suspicion?

他又坐下了。塞布鲁克有证据,但是他只有一些胡乱的猜测,因为他被一块石头上的两个小绿斑吓坏了。他难道要因为这种无力的猜疑而把船上的两百多人都毁灭吗?

He had to think!

他得好好想想!

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