《荒潮》中英雙語金句賞

陳楸帆原文×劉宇昆譯文

在斯科特有限卻也絕不貧乏的中國社交經驗中，大部分中國人會談論國際政治及世界局勢，一部分人會聊生意，少數人會提及宗教或業餘愛好，但卻從來沒有一個人主動提起自己的家庭，更不會發問。

In Scott’s limited—but not inconsiderable—experience of socializing with Chinese men, he had found that most would converse about international politics and global trends. Some would talk about business, and a few would bring up religion or hobbies. But never once had he encountered anyone who brought up his own family or asked about Scott’s.

我們靠垃圾養家糊口，發家致富，賺得越多，環境越糟糕，就像拽著一根套著自己脖子的麻繩，拽得越緊，越透不過氣來，但是你一鬆手，下麵就是陷阱。水太深了。

We rely on waste to feed our families, to grow rich. But the more money we make, the worse the environment becomes. It’s like we are holding on to a rope looped around our necks. The harder we pull, the less we can breathe. But if we let go, we’ll fall into the bottomless pit below and drown.

別靠得太近，你會看得更清楚。

Don’t get too close. You’ll see more clearly that way.

記住，由古至今，我們從來隻有一個社會，那就是叢林社會。

Remember, from the beginning of history till now, we have had only one society: a society based on the law of the jungle.

表麵上一成不變的傳統，曆經千百年，終究還是在科技麵前漸漸敗退。

Traditions that had supposedly been unchanged for hundreds, thousands of years were finally, gradually fading in the face of science and technology.

現實無法解決的問題，老人們會說，交給神明去判決。

When a problem can’t be resolved by the methods of this world, the elders used to say, it’s best to hand it over to gods and spirits.

人早晚要遭報應的。

Sooner or later, karma catches up with everyone.

活人是不用做功德的，隻有死人需要。

The living didn’t need charity, only the dead.

救贖便意味著犧牲，自古如此。

Salvation requires sacrifices—always has.

這世上，有許多種幹淨，有許多種公平，也有許多種幸福感。人隻能選擇，或被選擇其中一種。

In this world, there are many forms of cleanliness, many forms of fairness, and many forms of happiness. All we can do is to choose from among them, or to have our choices be made for us.

我曾經耐心等待，想看到鏡中章魚變化出一個穩定的圖案，結果，我得到了一條死章魚。於是我明白了，穩定即死亡。

Once, I waited patiently to see if an octopus in front of a mirror would eventually settle down to a stable pattern; I ended up with a dead octopus. And this was how I came to understand that stability was the same as death.

義體不再是殘障者的輔助工具，也不僅僅是身體可自由替換的零部件或裝飾品，義體已經成為人類生命的一部分，它儲存著你的喜怒哀樂、你的階級、你的社會關係、你的記憶。

義體就是你。

Prostheses were no longer merely aids for the handicapped or even decorations or components of the body, to be exchanged and upgraded at will; rather, prostheses had already become a part of the definition of human life: they were the repositories for our joys, sorrows, terrors, and passions, our class, our social status, our memories.

Your prostheses are you.

你，我，甚至整個人類，都是寄生蟲。

You, me, even the entire human race—we’re all parasites.

一場慢上百萬倍的核爆。億萬年間趨同進化的副產品。你的第二人格和生命意外險。量子退相幹時浮現的自由意誌。我是偶然。我是必然。我是一個新的錯誤。我既是主宰又是奴隸，是獵人又是獵物。我隻是個開始。

A nuclear explosion that has been slowed down a million times; a byproduct of billions of years of convergent evolution; your second personality and life insurance; the free will that emerges from quantum decoherence. I’m accidental; I’m inevitable. I’m a new error. I’m the master and the slave. I’m the huntress and the prey. I’m only a beginning.

上帝按照自己的模樣創造人類，人類探究世間萬物的秘密，發明理論，創造科技。人類寄望於造出更接近自己的造物，讓科技模仿生命，不斷進化，力圖接近金字塔的頂點，而人類卻輕易地將自己全盤托付給科技，退縮為坐享其成的寄生物，停滯前進的步伐。

God had created humankind in His own image. Humankind explored the mysteries of the world, invented theories, devised science and technology. Humans wanted to create something even closer to their creator, to make science imitate life, evolving endlessly to approach the apex of the pyramid. Humans would then entrust their future to technology and become its parasites, no longer progressing forward.

人總自以為是弄潮兒，到頭來不過是隨波逐流。

People always think of themselves as playing with the tides, but in the end, they find out that the tides play with them.

For all tomorrow’s parties.