By the time Shi Qiang entered the door of Ding Yi’s home, Wang Miao and Ding Yi were already very drunk. The two were excited to see Shi Qiang. Wang stood up and hugged the newcomer’s shoulders. “Ah, Da Shi, Officer Shi…”
当史强推门进来时，两人已经喝得有八分醉了，他们看到大史后都很兴奋。汪淼站起来搂住来者的双肩，“啊，大史．史警官……”
Ding, who couldn’t even stand straight, found a glass and put it on the pool table. He poured some liquor into it, and said, “Your out-of-the-box thinking was not helpful. Whether we look at those messages or not, the result four hundred years from now will be the same.”
丁仪则晃晃悠悠地找了个杯子放到台球桌上，给他倒酒，“你那个邪招还不如不出。那个信息，我们看不看，四百多年后的结果都一样。”
Da Shi sat down in front of the pool table, glancing at the two with a crafty gaze. “Is it really like you say? Everything’s over?”
大史在台球桌前坐下来，两眼贼溜溜地看看两人：“事情真像你们说的那样，什么都完了？”
“Um… what do you think?”
“那你——说呢？”
“Imagine an ancient kingdom, if you will. Their technology is advancing. They can invent better swords, knives, spears, et cetera. Maybe they can even invent auto-repeating crossbows that can shoot many arrows like a machine gun –“
“想象一个古代的王国，他们的技术也在进步，能为士兵造出更好的刀啊剑啊长矛啊，甚至还有可能过出像机关枪那样连发的弓箭呢，但……”
“Technology is still making progress. Academician Wang and his people just created the nanomaterial –“
“技术不还是在进步嘛，汪院士他们还搞出了纳米材料……”
“You can’t use the accelerators and can’t study the structure of matter. That means it’s all over?” Da Shi asked.
“加速器不能用，物质结构不能研究，就什么都完了？”
“Of course. It’s all over,” Ding said.
“当然，什么都完了。”
Da Shi nodded, understanding. “But if they don’t know that matter is made from molecules and atoms, they will never create missiles and satellites. They’re limited by their level of science.”
大史若有所思地点点头，“但如果他们不知道物质是由原子、分子组成的，就永远造不出导弹和卫星，科学水平限制着呢。”
Ding patted Da Shi on the shoulder. “I always knew that our Officer Shi was smart. It’s just that you –“
丁仪拍拍大史的肩，“我早就看出来史警官是个聪明人，就是看着……”
Wang took over. “The study of the deep structure of matter is the foundation of the foundations of all other sciences. If there’s no progress here, everything else — I’ll put it your way — is bullshit.”
汪淼接着说：“物质深层结构的研究是其他一切科学基础的基础，如果这个没有进展，什么都是——用你的说法：扯淡。”
Ding pointed at Wang. “Academician Wang will be busy for the rest of his life, and continue to improve our swords and knives and spears. What the fuck am I going to do? Who the hell knows?” He threw an empty bottle onto the table and picked up a billiard ball to smash it.
丁仪指指汪森：“汪院士这辈子还不会闲着，能继续改进刀啊剑啊长矛啊。我他妈的以后干什么？天知道！”说着他把一个空洒瓶扔桌上，捡起台球丢过去砸。
“This is a good thing!” Wang lifted his glass. “We will be able to live out the rest of our lives one way or another. After this, decadence and depravity can be justified! We’re bugs! Bugs that are about to go extinct! Haha…”
“这是好事！”汪淼举起酒杯说，“我们这辈子反正能打发完，今后，颓废和堕落有理由了！我们是虫子！即将灭绝的虫子，哈哈……”
“Exactly!” Ding also lifted his glass. “They think so little of us that they don’t even bother to disguise their plans for us, telling the Adventists everything. It’s like how you don’t need to hide the bottle of bug spray from the little critters. Let’s toast the bugs! I never thought the end of the world would feel so good. Long live bugs! Long live sophons! Long live the end of the world!”
“说得好！”丁仪也举起酒杯，“为虫子干杯！真没想到世界末日是这么的爽，虫子万岁，智子万岁！末日万岁！”
The car left the city and sped west along the Beijing-Shijiazhuang Highway. It exited the highway as soon as they were inside Hebei Province. Da Shi stopped the car and dragged his two passengers out.
车开出了城市，沿京石告诉向西疾驶，刚刚进入河北境内就下了高速公路。大史停下了车，把车里的两人拖出来。
Da Shi shook his head and drained the glass. He shook his head again. “Bunch of pussies.”
大史摇摇头，把面前他那杯酒一口干了，又摇摇头，“熊样儿。”
As soon as Ding and Wang got out of the car, the bright afternoon sun made them squint. The wheat fields of the North China Plain spread out before them.
丁仪和汪淼一下车，午后灿烂的阳光就令他们眯起了眼，覆盖着麦田的华北大平原在他们面前铺展开。
“To look at bugs.” Da Shi lit one of the cigars Colonel Stanton had given him and pointed at the wheat fields with it.
“看虫子。”大史点上—根斯坦顿上校送的雪茄说，同时用雪茄指指面前的麦田。
“Whatever, buddy. Sit back down. Drink.”
“得了史兄，坐下，喝。”
“To find something to cheer you up.”
“找振作啊。”
Da Shi stood up. “Let’s go.”
大史站了起来：“走。”
“What did you bring us here for?” Wang asked.
“你带我们来这儿干什么？”汪淼问。
“Where?”
“去哪儿？”
“What do you want?” Ding stared at Da Shi drunkenly. “You think you can cheer us up?”
“那你要咋的？”丁仪用醉眼盯着大史说，“你能让我们振作起来？”
Downstairs, the three got into Da Shi’s car. As the car started, Wang asked in slurred speech where they were going. Da Shi said, “My hometown. Not too far.”
下楼后，三人上了大史的车。当车开动时，汪淼大着舌头问去哪儿，大史回答：“我老家，不远。”
Da Shi took the two by their arms and dragged them up. “Let’s go. Bring the liquor if you have to.”
大史扯着两人的胳膊把他们拽起来：“走，不行就把酒拿上。”
“I just want to ask the two of you one question: Is the technological gap between humans and Trisolarans greater than the one between locusts and humans?”
“我只想请二位想一个问题：是地球人与三体人的技术水平差距大呢，还是蝗虫与咱们人的技术水平差距大？”
Wang and Ding now noticed that the fields were covered by a layer of locusts. Every wheat stalk had a few crawling over it. On the ground, more locusts wriggled, like some thick liquid.
汪淼和丁仪这才发现，田野被厚厚的一层蝗虫覆盖了，每根麦秆上都爬满了好几只，地面上，更多的蝗虫在蠕动着，看去像是一种粘稠的液体。
“They’re plagued by locusts here?” Wang brushed away some locusts from a small area near the edge of the field and sat down.
“这地方也有蝗灾了？”汪淼赶走田埂一小片地上的蝗虫，坐了下来。
“Like the dust storms, they started ten years ago. But this year is the worst.”
“像沙尘暴一样，十年前就有了，不过今年最厉害。”
“So what? Nothing matters now, Da Shi.” Ding spoke, his voice still drunk.
“那又怎么样？大史，什么都无所谓了。”丁仪带着未消的醉意说。
The question hit the two scientists like a bucket of cold water. As they stared at the clumps of locusts before them, their expressions grew solemn. They got Shi Qiang’s point.
这个问题像一瓶冷水泼在两名醉汉科学家头上，他们盯着面前成堆的蝗虫，表情渐渐凝重起来，两人很快就明白了大史的意思。
Look at them, the bugs. Humans have used everything in their power to extinguish them: every kind of poison, aerial sprays, introducing and cultivating their natural predators, searching for and destroying their eggs, using genetic modification to sterilize them, burning with fire, drowning with water. Every family has bug spray, every desk has a flyswatter under it… this long war has been going on for the entire history of human civilization. But the outcome is still in doubt. The bugs have not been eliminated. They still proudly live between the heavens and the earth, and their numbers have not diminished from the time before the appearance of the humans.
看看吧，这就是虫子，它们的技术与我们的差距，远大于我们与三体文明的差距。人类竭尽全力消灭它们，用尽各种毒剂，用飞机喷洒，引进和培养它们的天敌，搜寻并毁掉它们的卵，用基因改造使它们绝育；用火烧它们，用水淹它们，每个家庭都有对付它们的灭害灵，每个办公桌下都有像苍蝇拍这种击杀它们的武器……这场漫长的战争伴随着整个人类文明，现在仍然胜负未定，虫子并没有被灭绝，它们照样傲行于天地之间，它们的数量也并不比人类出现前少。
“Let’s get back,” Wang said. “There’s so much to do.”
“我们快回去吧，有好多工作要做呢。”汪淼说。
The Trisolarans who deemed the humans bugs seemed to have forgotten one fact: The bugs have never been truly defeated.
把人类看作虫子的三体人似乎忘记了一个事实；虫子从来就没有被真正战胜过。
A small black cloud covered the sun and cast a moving shadow against the ground. This was not a common cloud, but a swarm of locusts that had just arrived. As the swarm landed in the fields nearby, the three men stood in the middle of a living shower, feeling the dignity of life on Earth. Ding Yi and Wang Miao poured the two bottles of wine they had with them on the ground beneath their feet, a toast for the bugs.
太阳被一小片黑云遮住了，在大地上投下一团移动的阴影。这不是普遍的云，是刚刚到来的一大群蝗虫，它们很快开始在附近的田野上降落，三个人沐浴在生命的暴雨之中，感受着地球生命的尊严。丁仪和江森把手中拎着的两瓶酒徐徐洒到脚下的华北平原上，这是敬虫子的。
“Da Shi, thank you.” Wang held out his hand.
“大史，谢谢你。”汪淼向大史伸出手去。
“I thank you as well.” Ding gripped Da Shi’s other hand.
“我也谢谢你。”丁仪握住了大史的另一只手。
0 条评论