牛津書蟲系列 星際動物園 2 A spaceship made of plastic

2 A spaceship made of plastic

2 塑料做的飛船

I couldn't believe what I'd done.I'd run away—me!

我的所作所為真是難以置信。我跑掉了——天啊!

I'm not very brave and I love my parents very much.I never thought I could ever disobey them.

我的膽子不是很大，我也非常愛我的父母。我從沒想過我會不聽他們的。

I was afraid.And I felt sad for my parents.Poor mother and father!

我害怕。我為我的父母感到難過。可憐的媽媽、爸爸!

But I had to live my own life.I couldn't get married to a horrible old man like Buffalo!

但我要過自己的生活。我不能嫁給水牛那樣的糟老頭子!

I knew they would follow me quickly so I told the spaceship to take me to a very quiet part of the Galaxy，a long way from any planets with people on.

我清楚他們會很快跟上我的，所以我吩咐飛船把我?guī)У姐y河系的一個(gè)特別寧靜的角落，離任何一個(gè)有人類居住的星球都很遠(yuǎn)很遠(yuǎn)。

The spaceship went.

飛船進(jìn)發(fā)了。

How can a spaceship travel across the Galaxy in no time at all?

飛船怎么能在瞬間橫穿銀河系呢?

Well，I learnt the answer to that in school.There are a lot of little black holes in space.They are about as big as a potato.A spaceship goes into one black hole and comes out of another black hole on the other side of the Galaxy.

喔，我是在學(xué)校里知道這答案的。宇宙空間里有好多小黑洞。它們跟土豆差不多大校飛船從一個(gè)黑洞進(jìn)去，從另一個(gè)黑洞出來時(shí)就到了銀河系的另一側(cè)。

Don't ask me how a big thing like a spaceship can go into a thing as small as a potato.I was probably asleep when the robot teacher told me the answer to that!

別問我為什么飛船這樣的龐然大物能鉆進(jìn)土豆這樣小的東西里。機(jī)器人老師給我講這個(gè)答案時(shí)我可能睡著了!

Nobody could find me now.I was in the middle of the Galaxy in empty space.

現(xiàn)在沒人能找到我了。我在茫茫太空中，在銀河系的中間。

There were stars above my head，stars below my feet，starson my left hand，stars on my right hand.

我的頭上是星星，腳下是星星，左邊是星星，右邊是星星。

Strange.I knew all these stars were a long，long way away but they didn't look far away.They looked very close;I wanted to reach out my hand and touch them.

奇怪，我知道所有這些星星都很遙遠(yuǎn)很遙遠(yuǎn)，但看上去并不遠(yuǎn)。他們似乎非常近;我想伸出手去觸摸它們。

And the silence.So very，very， very quiet.

還有寂靜。靜極了，靜極了。

The Book of Remembering says how I felt：'Their hearts were empty.'

《往事追憶》道出了我的感受：“他們的心里空蕩蕩的。”

My heart was empty.I saw millions of stars but there was no life in the Galaxy except us humans.Well，there are potatoes and wheat and rice but you can't talk to vegetables.

我的心里空蕩蕩的。我能看見好幾百萬顆星星，除了我們?nèi)祟悾y河系里就再也沒有別的生命了。當(dāng)然，有土豆、小麥和水稻，可你不能跟植物說話埃

We are alone.

我們孤零零的。

The Book of Remembering says we did it.We polluted Earth and so killed all the animals. We ran away from Earth and we're still running.That was twenty thousand years ago and we still can't forget.

《往事追憶》上說那是我們造成的。我們污染了地球，也就害死了所有的動物。我們從地球逃了出來，直到現(xiàn)在還在東奔西跑。那是兩萬年以前的事了，可我們至今難忘。

The Book of Remembering gives names for thousands of animals.Fantastic!Could there really be thousands of animals?The idea of animals is so strange.What did they look like?The Book of Remembering has no pictures， but says there are birds that fly，and fish that swim.There are animals with no legs，and animals with lots of legs—ugh!What a horrible idea!

《往事追憶》上羅列了幾千種動物的名字。難以置信!真的可能有幾千種動物嗎?有關(guān)動物的想法太離奇了。它們長得什么樣?《往事追憶》上沒有插圖，但說有會飛的鳥，會游泳的魚。有的動物沒有腿，而有的動物有好多條腿——嗚!多可怕的想法!

Can anybody believe stories like that?

真有人會相信這種故事嗎?

And now I was running away too.Perhaps I was wrong to run away.

如今我也在逃亡。我逃跑可能錯了。

Suddenly the spaceship went'PING!'

突然飛船“砰!”地響了一聲。

'Yes，what is it?'I asked.

“哎，怎么了?”我問。

'There is something near us.'

“我們旁邊有個(gè)東西。”

'Oh!'I said.'I thought we were a long way from anything out here.Take me closer.'

“啊!”我說，“我以為我們離哪兒都很遠(yuǎn)呢。讓我靠近點(diǎn)兒。”

We moved closer，but I couldn't see anything.

我們靠近了些，可我什么也看不見。

Then one star disappeared，then another star，and another.It was too dark to see what the thing was.It was just a big black shape between me and the stars.

接著，一顆星星不見了，又有一顆不見了，又是一顆。天太黑，看不見那是什么東西。只能看見我和星星之間黑乎乎的一大塊。

It was probably just a big old rock，which had broken off a moon or a planet.

它可能只是一塊從衛(wèi)星或行星上脫落的巨大的古巖石。

Well，perhaps it contained gold or something.Then I could show the Star Council I was doing important work.Perhaps that would be a good reason not to marry Buff.

哎，那上面可能有金子什么的。那樣我就可以讓星際理事會看到我是在做重要的工作。也許這可以作為我不嫁給牛子的正當(dāng)理由。

I said，'Find out what it is made of.'

我說：“看看是什么材料制成的。”

The spaceship shot a laser at the thing and said，'It is not natural.It may be a spaceship，although it is moving too slowly to arrive at a star.It is made of plastic.'

飛船對著那個(gè)東西發(fā)出一束激光，然后說，“它不是天然的。它可能是個(gè)飛船，盡管它的運(yùn)動速度太慢，無法抵達(dá)星球。它是塑料做的。”

A spaceship made of plastic? You can't make spaceships out of plastic!And spaceships don't travel slowly.

一個(gè)塑料做的飛船?不可能用塑料做飛船!因?yàn)轱w船的運(yùn)行速度不能太低。

I was a little afraid，but this was something really important;nobody could make me get married after I had discovered something as strange as this.I was afraid but also excited.Most girls just get married once a year and have another baby.That's enough excitement for them.Not me!

我有點(diǎn)害怕，可這是一件真正重要的事;我發(fā)現(xiàn)了這么一個(gè)希奇的東西，不會有人再逼我結(jié)婚了。我害怕，但又興奮。多數(shù)姑娘每年結(jié)婚一次，再生一個(gè)孩子。這對她們就夠刺激了?？晌也?

I was going to visit this spaceship and meet…the people inside it.

我要上這只飛船，去見——里面的人。

'Show me this plastic spaceship，'I said.

“讓我看看這塑料飛船，”我說。

My spaceship shone out light.The thing was big，big，BIG.Who would build a spaceship so big? The plastic was full of holes and the spaceship looked old and dead.Would anybody be left alive inside? I didn't think so.

我的飛船發(fā)射出燈光。這個(gè)東西真大，大極了。誰會制造這么大的飛船?塑料上到處是洞，飛船看上去很破舊，死一般的沉寂。里面會有活著的人嗎?我想不會。

The spaceship was round like a ball.It turned slowly，which made things inside just heavy enough to stay on the ground.

這個(gè)飛船象球一樣圓。它慢慢地旋轉(zhuǎn)著，僅能夠使里面的東西有足夠的重量呆在地面上。

I saw a door on it and said，'Land there.'

我看到上面有扇門，就說道：“在那兒著陸。”

My spaceship landed.I put on a spacesuit， went outside and moved to the big round door.I pulled and pushed and hit it.At last something moved and the door opened.

我的飛船著陸了。我穿上太空服，出了飛船，朝那個(gè)大圓門移動過去。我又拉又推又打。最后不知動了什么機(jī)關(guān)，門打開了。

Inside，there was a tunnel.A long black tunnel.I climbed in and the door closed behind me.

里面是一條隧道。又長又黑的隧道。我爬了進(jìn)去，身后的門關(guān)上了。