文/ 安迪· 威爾　譯/Cathysia　繪/ 馬豆子

蛋

THE EGG

文/ 安迪· 威爾譯/Cathysia繪/ 馬豆子

You were on your way home when You di ed. It was a car accident. Nothing part icularly remarkable, but fatal①fatal 英 ［'fe?t（?）l］ 美 ［'fetl］ adj. 致命的；重大的；毀滅性的；命中注定的eg. This short-sighted policy led to fatal results. 這個(gè)目光短淺的政策導(dǎo)致了致命的后果。nonetheless. You lef t behind a wif e and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to②try one’s best to盡全力 eg. Show students the world map. And then have they try best to introduce someplaces to Leo to visit. Just like Hawaii， san francisco and so on.環(huán)游世界是每一個(gè)人的夢想。此環(huán)節(jié)不僅能讓學(xué)生發(fā)揮想象力，還能對單元知識(shí)進(jìn)行有效的復(fù)習(xí)。save you, but to no avail③avail 英 ［?'ve?l］ 美 ［?'vel］ n.效用，利益 vt.有益于；使對某人有利 vi 有益于；使對某人有利。. Your body was so utterly④utterly 英 ［'?t?l? ］ 美 ［'?t?li］ adv. 完全地；絕對地；全然地；徹底地，十足地shattered you were better off, trust me.

And that's when you met me.

"What... what happened?" Y ou asked. "Where am I?" "Y ou died," I said, matter-of-factly⑤matter-of-factly adv. 實(shí)事求是地eg. They talk about their dad fondly and matter-of-factly， and have big pictures of him intheir rooms.他們會(huì)滿懷深情、實(shí)事求是地談?wù)撟约旱母赣H，在他們的房間里掛著他的大幅肖像。. No point in mincing⑥mincing 英 ［'m?ns??］ 美 ［'m?ns??］ adj. 裝腔作勢的；矯飾的words.

"Are you god?" You asked. "Yup," I replied. "I'm God." I said. "Walk with me."

Y ou followed along as we strode through the void. "Where are we going?" "Nowhere in particular," I said. "It's just nice to walk while we talk."

"S o what's the point, then?" Y ou asked. "When I get reborn, I'll just be a blank slate,

right? A baby. S o all my ex periences and everything I did in this lif e won't mat t er." "Not so!" I said. "Y ou hav e wit hin you all t he knowledge and experiences of all your

past lives. You just don'tremember them right now." "How many times have I been reincarnated⑦reincarnated reincarnate的過去分詞reincarnate英 ［,ri??n'kɑ?ne?t］ 美 ［,ri?n'kɑrnet］vt. 使轉(zhuǎn)世；使轉(zhuǎn)世化身 adj. 轉(zhuǎn)世化身的, then?" "Oh lots. Lots and lots. An in to lots of different lives." I said. "This time around, you'll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD."

"Wait, what?" Y ou stammered⑧stammered stammer的過去式 英 ［'st?m?］ 美 ［'st?m?］ vi. 口吃；結(jié)結(jié)巴巴地說 vt. 口吃；結(jié)巴著說出 n. 口吃；結(jié)巴. "You're sending me back in time?"

"Well, I guess technically. Time, as you know it, only exists in your universe. Things are different where I come from." "Oh," you said, a little let down. "But wait. If I get reincarnated to other places in time, I could have interacted with myself at some point."

"Sure. Happens all the time. And with both lives only aware of their own lifespan you don't even know it's happening." "So what's the point of it all?" I looked you in the eye. "The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to m ature⑨mature英 ［m?'t???］ 美 ［m?'t??r］ adj. 成熟的；充分考慮的；到期的；成年人的vi. 成熟；到期 vt. 使……成熟；使……長成；慎重做出."

"You mean mankind? You want us to mature?" "No, just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature and become a larger and greater intellect."

"J ust me? What about everyone else?"“There is no one else," I said."In this universe, there's just you and me."

Y ou stared blankly at me. "But all the people on earth..." "A ll you. Different incarnations of you."

"Wait. I'm everyone!?"

"Now you're getting it," I said, with a congratulatory⑩congratulatory 美 ［k?n'ɡr?t??l?t?ri］ adj. 祝賀的；慶祝的slap on the back.

"I'm every human being who ever lived?" "Or who will ever live, yes."

"I'm Abraham Lincoln?"

"And you're John Wilkes Booth, too?appalled appall的過去式 美 ［?'p?l］ vt. 使膽戰(zhàn)；使驚駭," I added. "I'm Hitler?" You said, appalled .

"And you're the m illions he killed." You fell silent. "Every tim e you victim ized someone," I said, "you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you've done, you've done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever "And you're the m illions he killed." You fell silent. "Every tim e you victim ized someone," I said, "you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you've done, you've done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you."

You thought for a long time.

"Why?" Y ou asked me. "Why do all this?" "Because someday, you will become like me. Because that's what you are. You're one of my kind. You're my child.”

"Whoa," you said, incredulous?incredulous 英 ［?n'kredj?l?s］ 美 ［?n'kr?d??l?s］ adj. 懷疑的；不輕信的. "You mean I'm a god?" "No. Not yet. You're a fetus?. You're still growing. Once you've lived every human life throughout all time, you will have grown enough to be born."

"So the whole universe," you said, "it's just..."

"An egg." I answered. "Now it's tim e for you to m ove on to your next life."

And I sent you on your way.

你死在回家的路上。

是車禍。沒有很離奇，但依舊致命。你丟下妻子和一雙子女。你死得并不痛苦。急救人員盡了最大努力，但回天乏術(shù)。你的身體四分五裂，還不如死了，相信我。這時(shí)候你看到了我。

“怎……怎么回事？”你問，“我在哪兒？”“你死了，”我直接地說，一點(diǎn)也不委婉。“你是上帝嗎？”你問。

“是的，”我答，“我是上帝。”我說，“跟我走。”你跟著我在虛空中穿行。“我們?nèi)ツ睦?？”“不去哪里，”我說，“我們邊說邊走就好?！?/p>

“那意義何在？”你問，“我轉(zhuǎn)世后，我又會(huì)變成白板一塊，對吧？一個(gè)嬰兒。此生中我經(jīng)歷的一切，我做的事，都不再有意義?！薄耙膊⒎侨绱耍　蔽艺f，“所有你前世的知識(shí)和經(jīng)驗(yàn)，都伴隨著你。只是此刻你并不記得?！?/p>

“那我到現(xiàn)在轉(zhuǎn)世多少次了？”

“噢，很多。很多很多。很多不同的人生。”我說，“下面這一世，你會(huì)是公元540年的一個(gè)中國的農(nóng)家女孩?！薄暗鹊龋裁?？”你結(jié)結(jié)巴巴地問，“你要把我送到過去？”

“嗯……理論上是吧。你理解的時(shí)間只存在于你的宇宙。我來的地方和你那里是不一樣的。”“哦，”你有點(diǎn)沮喪，“但是，等等，如果我可以轉(zhuǎn)世到其他時(shí)間，就說明某些情況下我可以遇到我自己?！?/p>

“當(dāng)然。這是一直都有的事。但每世都只有自己那一段生命的記憶，所以你們相遇的時(shí)候，你自己是毫無察覺的?！薄澳沁@一切到底意義何在？”

我看著你的眼睛，“生命的意義，我為你創(chuàng)造這整個(gè)宇宙的原因，在于為了讓你成熟?！薄澳闶钦f全人類？你希望我們成熟？”

“不，就是你。我為你創(chuàng)造了整個(gè)宇宙。每一世你都成長，變得更成熟，變成更偉大的智者。 ”“只有我？那其他人呢？”“沒有其他人，”我說，“在這個(gè)宇宙中，只有你和我?！?/p>

你茫然地瞪著我：“但這世界上所有其他人……”

“都是你。都是你不同的轉(zhuǎn)世?！薄暗鹊龋∥沂撬腥?？”

“現(xiàn)在你明白了，”我說，拍拍你的背表示祝賀?！懊總€(gè)曾活在這個(gè)世界上的人都是我？”“現(xiàn)在活著的也是?！薄拔沂莵啿昂薄ち挚希俊?/p>

“你同時(shí)也是約翰·威爾克斯 布斯?！蔽已a(bǔ)充道。

“我是希特勒？”你駭然道。

“你也是他殺害的千百萬人?！蹦阆萑氤聊?。

“每一次你傷害他人，”我說，“都是在傷害自己。每一次你行善舉，都是在幫助自己。他人經(jīng)歷過或即將經(jīng)歷的一切快樂和痛苦，你都會(huì)經(jīng)歷。”

你思索了很久。

“為什么？”你問我，“為什么要做這些？”“因?yàn)橛幸惶?，你?huì)成為我。因?yàn)檫@就是你。你是我的同類，你是我的孩子。”“哇，”你難以置信，“你是說我是一個(gè)上帝？”“現(xiàn)在還不是。你是一個(gè)胚胎。你還在成長。當(dāng)你經(jīng)歷了所有時(shí)間里所有人的一生，你就足夠成熟，可以出生了。”

“所以這整個(gè)宇宙，”你說，“只是一個(gè)……”

“一個(gè)蛋，”我答，“現(xiàn)在該是你去下一世的時(shí)候了?！?/p>

然后，我送你上了路。