Chu Yan, Morovich, and Guan Yifan were floating through a long corridor on Blue Space. In front of them drifted an information window showing a map of the interior of the ship. Three red dots flashed on the map, and the three of them were approaching one of these dots now.
褚岩说。他正同莫沃维奇和关一帆一起在“蓝色空间”号上一条长长的廊道中飘行，他们的前面有一个信息窗口，其中显示着飞船内部的交通图，图中有三个红点在闪动，他们正向其中一个所在的位置飘去。
“Right there!” Guan pointed straight ahead.
“好像在那里！”关一帆指指前方说。
“It’s possible to detect the warped points using the naked eye,” Chu Yan said. “But the best way is to monitor the electromagnetic radiation. The emission from these points is very faint, but it has a distinct spectral signature. The regular sensors on our ships can detect and locate them. Typically, a volume of space as large as a ship in this region contains one to two warped points, but we once found twelve at once. Look, right now there are three.”
“翘曲点用肉眼就能看见，但最好的方法是检测电磁辐射，它们发出一种电磁波，很微弱，但频谱有很明显的特征，飞船上的常规监测系统就能检测和定位。一般来说，像飞船这么大的体积内总会有一到两个翘曲点，最多的一次出现过十二个。看，现在就有三个。”
In the bulkhead in front of them was a circular hole about a meter in diameter. The edge was smooth, mirrorlike. Through the hole they could see tubes of various thicknesses. Several tubes had entire sections missing in the middle. In two of the thicker tubes, they could see liquid flowing. The liquid seemed to flow from one section, disappear, and then reappear in the corresponding section of the tube on the other side. The missing sections were of different lengths, but overall seemed to describe a spherical space. Based on the shape of the missing sections, part of the invisible bubble protruded into the corridor. Morovich and Guan carefully avoided it.
他们看到前方光滑的舱壁上出现了一个圆孔，直径一米多，边缘仍是那种光洁晶亮的镜面。向孔内看去，可以看到密集的粗细不同的管道，而这些管道中的一部分断开了，它们中间的一段消失了，断开的管道有六七根，其中两根较粗的管道断面里有什么东西在晃动，那是里面流动的液体。同一根管道相对的两个断面中都有液体晃动，液体显然流过了消失的一段。每根管道的消失段长短不一，所有的断面大致勾勒出一个球形，从这个形状上看，这个无形的空间泡的另一半显然在舱壁的这一侧，也就是在廊道里。莫沃维奇和关一帆小心地避开了这一部分空间。
“Let’s go in,” said Chu Yan. Then he jumped into the bubble, as though diving into a pool. Morovich and Guan watched in consternation as Captain Chu disappeared from head to toe. The cross section of his body on the surface of the invisible bubble rapidly changed shape, and the mirrorlike edge of the hole threw reflections onto the surrounding bulkheads like ripples.
“我们进去吧。”褚岩说，然后像跳水似的钻进了那个空间。莫沃维奇和关一帆惊恐地看着他的身体从头到脚消失在空气中，在空间无形的球面上，他身体的断面飞快地变换着形状，那晶亮的镜面甚至在周围的舱壁上反射出水纹一样跳动的光影。
As Morovich and Guan stared at each other, two hands and forearms emerged from the bubble and remained suspended in midair. Each hand grabbed hold of one of theirs, and they were pulled into fourth-dimensional space.
褚岩很快完全消失了，正当莫沃维寄和关一帆面面相觑之际，突然从那个空间伸出两只手，那两只手和前臂就悬在空中，分别伸向两人，莫沃维奇和关一帆各抓住一只手，立刻都被拉进了四维空间。
Chu Yan carelessly extended a hand into the invisible bubble, and half of his arm disappeared. Standing to the side, Guan Yifan saw a clear cross section of his cut-off arm, like the cross sections of Vera’s legs that had been seen by Sublieutenant Ike aboard the Gravity. Chu Yan pulled his arm back and showed the astonished Morovich and Guan that it was unharmed. Then he encouraged them to try it. The two carefully reached into the invisible bubble. They watched their hands, and then arms, vanish, but they felt nothing.
褚岩并不在意，他把手向前伸去，伸进了那个无形泡所在的空间，半只手臂消失了，在另一侧的关一帆看到了手臂光洁的断面，就像在“万有，引力”号上艾克中尉曾看到的薇拉的腿一样。褚岩抽回手臂，让吃惊的莫沃维奇和关一帆看看它完好无损，然后鼓励他们也试试。于是，两人也小心翼翼地把手伸进那无形的泡泡，看着它们消失，然后手臂也消失了，但没有任何感觉。
All who had experienced it agree that the sensation of being in four-dimensional space was indescribable. They would even say that it was the only thing encountered by humanity thus far that absolutely could not be captured by language.
有过亲身经历的人都一致同意，置身四维空间的感觉是不可能用语言来描述的，他们甚至断言，四维感觉是人类迄今为止所遇到的唯一一种绝对不可能用语言描述的事物。
People usually resorted to this analogy: Imagine a race of flat beings living inside a two-dimensional picture. No matter how rich or colorful the picture was, the flat people could only see the profile of the world around them. In their eyes, everything consisted of line segments of various lengths. Only when such a two-dimensional being was taken up out of the picture into three-dimensional space and looking down on the world could he see the entirety of the image.
人们总是喜欢用这样一个类比：想象生活在三维空间中的一张二维平面画中的扁片人，不管这幅画多么丰富多彩，其中的二维人只能看到周围世界的侧面，在他们眼中，周围的人和事物都是一些长短不一的线段而已。只有当一个二维扁片人从画中飘出来，进人三维空间，再回头看那幅画，才能看到画的全貌。
This analogy simply expressed in some more detail the indescribability of experiencing four-dimensional space.
这个类比，其实也只是进一步描述了四维感觉的不可描述。
A person looking back upon the three-dimensional world from four-dimensional space for the first time realized this right away: He had never seen the world while he was in it. If the three-dimensional world were likened to a picture, all he had seen before was just a narrow view from the side: a line. Only from four-dimensional space could he see the picture as a whole. He would describe it this way: Nothing blocked whatever was placed behind it. Even the interiors of sealed spaces were laid open. This seemed a simple change, but when the world was displayed this way, the visual effect was utterly stunning. When all barriers and concealments were stripped away, and everything was exposed, the amount of information entering the viewer’s eyes was hundreds of millions times greater than when he was in three-dimensional space. The brain could not even process so much information right away.
首次从四维空间看三维世界的人，首先领悟到一点：以前身处三维世界时，他其实根本没看见过自己的世界，如果把三维世界也比做一张画，他看到的只是那张画与他的脸平面垂直放置时的样子，看到的只是画的侧而一条线；只有从四维看，画才对他平放了。他会这样描述：任何东西都不可能挡住它后面的东西，任何封闭体的内部也都是能看到的，这只是一个简单的规则，但如果世界真按这个规则呈现。在视觉上是极其震撼的。当所有的遮挡和封闭都不存在，一切都暴露在外时，目击者首先面对的是相当于三维世界中亿万倍的信息量，对于涌进视觉的海量信息，大脑一时无法把握。
Given this description, those who had never experienced four-dimensional space might get the wrong impression that they were seeing everything “through” the hull. But no, they were not seeing “through” anything. Everything was laid out in the open, just like when we look at a circle drawn on a piece of paper, we can see the inside of the circle without looking “through” anything. This kind of openness extended to every level, and the hardest part was describing how it applied to solid objects. One could see the interior of solids, such as the bulkheads or a piece of metal or a rock — one could see all the cross sections at once! Morovich and Guan were drowning in a sea of information — all the details of the universe were gathered around them and fighting for their attention in vivid colors.
没有这仲经历的人在听他们描述时会产生一个错误的印象。感觉他们是“透过”舰体看到所有的一切，事实是他们没有“透过”什么，一切的一切都并列在外。就像我们看一张纸上画的圆圈，能看到圆圈内部，并没有“透过”什么。这种展开是所有层次上的。最难以描述的是固体的展开，竞然能够看到固体的内部，比如舱壁或一块金属、一块石头，能看到它们所有的断面！他们被视觉信息的海洋洋淹没了，仿佛整个宇宙的所有细节全聚集在周围色彩斑斓地并列呈现出来。
In Morovich and Guan’s eyes, Blue Space was a magnificent, immense painting that had just been unrolled. They could see all the way to the stern, and all the way to the bow; they could see the inside of every cabin and every sealed container in the ship; they could see the liquid flowing through the maze of tubes, and the fiery ball of fusion in the reactor at the stern… Of course, the rules of perspective remained in operation, and objects far away appeared indistinct, but everything was visible.
此时，在莫沃维奇和关一帆的眼前，“蓝色空间”号飞船像一幅宏伟的巨画舒展开来。他们可以一直看到舰尾。也可以一直看到舰首。他们能够看到每一个舱室的内部。也能够看到舱中每一个封闭容器的内部；可以看到液体在错综复杂的管道中流动，看到舰尾核反应堆中核聚变的火球……当然，透视原理仍然起作川，太远就看不清楚，但一切都能看到。
Morovich and Guan had to learn to deal with an entirely novel visual phenomenon: unlimited details. In three-dimensional space, the human visual system dealt with limited details. No matter how complicated the environment or the object, the visible elements were limited. Given enough time, it was always possible to take in most of the details one by one. But when one viewed the three-dimensional world from four-dimensional space, all concealed and hidden details were revealed simultaneously, since three-dimensional objects were laid open at every level. Take a sealed container as an example: One could see not only what was inside, but also the interiors of the objects inside. This boundless disclosure and exposure led to the unlimited details on display.
这时，他们不得不面对一个全新的视觉现象：无限细节。在三维世界里，人类的视觉面对的是有限细节，一个环境或事物不管多么复杂，呈现的细节是有限的。只要用足够的时间依次观看，总能把绝大部分细节尽收眼底。但从四维看三维时，由于三维事物在各个层次上都暴露在四维视野中，原来封闭和被遮挡的一切都平行并列出来。比如一个封闭容器，首先可以看到它内部的物体，而这些内部物体的内都也是可见的，在这无穷层次的暴露并列中，便显露出无限的细节。
Everything in the ship lay exposed before Morovich and Guan, but even when observing some specific object, such as a cup or a pen, they saw infinite details, and the information received by their visual systems was incalculable. Even a lifetime would not be enough to take in the shape of any one of these objects in four-dimensional space. When an object was revealed at all levels in four-dimensional space, it created in the viewer a vertigo-inducing sensation of depth, like a set of Russian nesting dolls that went on without end. Bounded in a nutshell but counting oneself a king of infinite space was no longer merely a metaphor.
在莫沃维奇和关一帆面前的飞船，虽然一切都显露在眼前，但任何一个小范围内的一件小东西，比如一只水杯或一支笔，它们并列出来的细节也是无限的，视觉也接收到无限的信息，用眼睛看时，穷尽一生也不可能看全它们在四维空间的外形。当一个物体在所有层次上都暴露在四维时，便产生了一种令人眩晕的深度感，像一个无限嵌套的俄罗斯套娃，这时，“从果核中看到无穷”不再是一个比喻。
Morovich and Guan looked at each other, then looked at Chu Yan to the side. They saw bodies revealed at every level with the details displayed in parallel: They could see bones, organs, the marrow inside the bones, the blood flowing through the ventricles and atria of the heart, the openings and closings of the mitral and tricuspid valves. When gazing at each other, they could see clearly the interior structure of the lenses of the eyes…
莫沃维奇和关一帆也相互看到了对方，还看到了旁边的褚岩。他们看到的是并例出无限细节的人体、可以看到所有的骨骼和内脏。可以看到骨骼里的骨髓。可以看到血液在心脏心室间的流动和瓣膜的开闭，与对方对视时，也可以清晰地看到眼球晶状体的结构……
The phrase “in parallel” might also lead to misunderstanding. The physical locations of the parts of the body had not been shifted around: The skin still enclosed the organs and the bones, and the familiar shape of each person in three-dimensional space persisted — but it was now merely one detail among an infinity of details, visible at the same time, in parallel.
但“并列”这个词同样可能引起误解，人体各部分的物理位置并没有任何变化，皮肤仍然包裹着内脏和骨骼，每个人在三维世界中的熟悉形象还在，是细节的一部分。与其他无限的细节并列在一起。
“Be careful of where you move your hands,” Chu Yan said. “You might poke an internal organ — yours or someone else’s — by mistake. But as long as you don’t use too much force, even contact won’t be a big deal. You’ll feel a bit of pain or nausea, and of course there’s the risk of infections. Also, don’t touch or move things unless you know exactly what they are. Everything on the ship is now naked: You might be touching a live wire or heated steam, or even integrated circuits, and cause system malfunctions. Overall, you’re like gods in the three-dimensional world, but you have to get used to being in four-dimensional space before you can use your powers effectively.”
“你们注意手不要乱动，不小心可能会触到别人心或自已的内脏。”褚岩说。“不过只要不用力也间题不大，可能有点儿疼或恶心，有时还会造成轻微的感染。也别乱动周围的东西，除非你确实知道那是什么。现在飞船上的一切都是裸露的，你可能触到高压电缆或高温蒸汽什么的。还可能接触到集成电路，造成系统故障。总之，对于三维世界来说你们现在有神一样的力量。但必须经过一段时问对四维的适应才能使用这种力量。”
Morovich and Guan quickly learned how to avoid touching inner organs. By moving in a certain direction, they could grasp someone’s hand instead of the bones inside the hand. To touch the bones or organs required exertion in another direction — a direction that didn’t exist in three-dimensional space.
莫沃维奇和关一帆很快知道了怎样不触动内脏。从一个方向上，他们可以像在三维世界里一样握住别人的手而不是抓住里面的骨头；要触到骨头或内脏，则需从另一个方向，那是一个在三维空间中不存在的方向。
Next, Morovich and Guan discovered something else that excited them: They could see the stars in every direction. They could see the bright glow of the Milky Way extending through the universal eternal night. They knew that they were still inside the ship — none of them wore space suits, and all breathed the air on the ship — but in the fourth dimension, they were exposed to space. All three veteran spacers had performed countless spacewalks, but they had never felt so utterly intimate with space. During spacewalks, they were at least enclosed by space suits, but now, nothing stood between space and them. The ship that revealed infinite details did not shield them from space. In the fourth dimension, the ship lay in parallel with all of space.
接下来，莫沃维奇和关一帆又发现了一件令他们激动的事情：他们能看到星空，在各个方向上都能看到，他们清楚地看见，在宇宙的永恒之夜中，银河系在灿烂地延伸着。他们知道自己此时仍身处飞船中，三人都没有穿宇宙服，都在呼吸着飞船中的空气，但在第四个维度上，他们暴露在太空中。作为宇航员，三个人都曾经历过无数次太空行走，但从未感觉到自己在太空中暴露得这样彻底。以往太空行走时，他们至少包裹在宇宙服中，而现在，没有任何东西挡在他们和宇宙之间，周围这展现出无限细节的飞船对星空没有丝毫遮挡，在第四维度上，整个宇宙与飞船也是并列的。
The brain that had been adapted from birth to sense and feel three-dimensional space could not handle the infinite information generated by countless details, and initially, information overload threatened to shut down processing. But the brain soon grew used to the four-dimensional environment, and without conscious thought it learned to ignore most details, leaving only the frames around objects.
对于由无限细节产生的无限信息。生来就是用于感觉和思考三维空间的大脑无法把握，最初都处于信息超载的堵塞状态。但大脑会很快适应四维环境。无意识地忽略掉大部分细节，只把握事物的大框架。
After the initial vertigo, Morovich and Guan experienced another, even greater shock. Once their attention was no longer completely absorbed by the inexhaustible details of the environment around them, they sensed space itself, or sensed the fourth dimension. Later, people would call this feeling “high-dimensional spatial sense.” For those who had experienced it, high-dimensional spatial sense was hard to convey in words. They often tried to explain it this way: Concepts like “vastness” or “boundlessness” in three-dimensional space were replicated an infinite number of times in four-dimensional space in a direction that did not exist in three-dimensional space. They often resorted to the analogy of two mirrors facing each other: In either mirror one could see a boundless multitude of replicated mirrors, a hall of mirrors that extended into infinity. In this analogy, each mirror in the hall was a three-dimensional space. In other words, the vastness that one experienced in three-dimensional space was but a cross-section of the vastness of four-dimensional space. The difficulty of describing high-dimensional spatial sense lay in the fact that for observers situated in four-dimensional space, the space they could see was empty and uniform, but there was a depth to it that could not be captured by language. This depth was not a matter of distance: It was bound up in every point in space. Guan Yifan’s exclamation later became a classic quote: “A bottomless abyss exists in every inch.”
当最初的眩晕过去后，莫沃维奇和关一帆又面临着一个更大的震撼·这个感觉刚才被周围环境的无限细节所转移——即对空间本身的感觉，或者说是对三维之外的第四个维度的感觉，后来人们称之为高维空间感。对于亲历过四维空问的人来说，高维空间感是最难川语言描述的，他们往往试图这样说明：我们在三维空间中称之为广阔、浩泌的这类东四，会在第四个维度上被无限重复，在那个三维世界中不存在的方向上被无限复制。他们常用两面相对的镜子来类比：这时在任可一面镜子中都可以看到被复制的无数面镜子，一个向深处无限延仲的镜子长廊，如果作为类比。长廊种每面镜子就都是一个三维空间。或者说：人们在三维世界中看到的广阔浩渺，其实只是真正的广阔浩渺的一个横断面。描述高维空间感的难处在于，置身于四维空间中的人们看到的空间也是均匀和空无一物的。但有一种难以言表的纵深感。这种纵深不能用距离来描述，它包含在空间的每一个点中。关一帆后来的一句话成为经典：“方寸之问，深不见底啊。”
“How does one find a warped point in four-dimensional space?” Morovich asked.
“在四维怎么看到翘曲点？”莫沃维奇问。
Chu Yan said, “We should return. The warped points remain stable for only a brief period of time before drifting away or disappearing. To find a new warped point requires moving in four-dimensional space. That’s a dangerous undertaking for novices like you.”
褚岩说：“我们该回去了，翘曲点只能稳定一段时间，然后就会漂移或消失。寻找新的翘曲点需要在四维中移动，对你们这样第一次进来的人有一定的危险。”
The experience of high-dimensional spatial sense was a spiritual baptism. In one moment, concepts like freedom, openness, profundity, and infinity all gained brand-new meanings.
感受高维空间感是一场灵魂的洗礼，在那一刻，像自由、开放、深远、无限这类概念突然都有了全新的含义。
Chu Yan pointed in the direction they had come from. Morovich and Guan saw those tubes again, which now also lay open so that all the liquids flowing through them could be seen clearly. Inside the spherical region, the tubes were curved and distorted, and the sphere appeared like a drop of dew hanging on a spiderweb. This was different from how the region had appeared in three-dimensional space. There, the warped point didn’t refract light, and so appeared completely invisible. Its presence could only be made known via the disappearance of objects that had entered four-dimensional space inside the bubble.
褚岩指指他们来的方向，莫沃维奇和关一帆又看到了那些管道，它们也呈展开状态，可以倩楚地看到内部流动的液体。就在他们刚才进人四维空间的地方。有一个透明的球形区域。里面的管道弯曲变形，那个区城像附着在蛛网上的一颗露珠。这与在三维空间的情况不一样，后者的翘曲点没有光的折射效应，是完全隐形的，只能通过它内部已进入四维的物体的消失来感知其存在。
“Simple. A warped point is usually spherical. Light is refracted inside the sphere, and objects inside are distorted, causing a visual break in the image of the objects. Of course, this is just an optical effect in four-dimensional space, not a real change in the shapes of the objects. Look over there –“
“很简单：翘曲点一般是球形的，光在球体内部有折射，里面的物体也有一定的变形，造成物体形状的不连续。当然这只是四维空间中的光学效应造成的。不是真正的变形，你们看——”
Chu Yan indicated that the other two should follow, and entered the dewdrop-like bubble. In an instant they were back inside the three-dimensional world, back in the corridor inside the ship, in exactly the place where, ten minutes ago, they had entered four-dimensional space. In fact, they had never left — the space they were in had just gained an extra dimension. The round opening in the bulkhead was still there, and they could still see the “broken” tubes inside.
褚岩示意两人跟着他，进人那个露珠状的泡内，就在一瞬间。他们又回到了三维世界。回到飞船的廊道中。就在十分钟前进入四维空间时的那个位置。其实他们刚才就没有离开，只是所在的空间多了一个维度。舱壁上的那个圆洞依旧。仍可以看到里面那些中断的管道。
“If you come here again, you must wear space suits. Novices can’t always tell locations accurately, and finding a new warped point for the return trip might result in landing outside the ship in three-dimensional space.”
“如果你们再进来，一定要穿字宙服。因为如果寻找新的翘曲点返回。新手有时定位不准。返到三维时可能落在飞船外面。”
But to Morovich and Guan, the world no longer seemed familiar. They now experienced the three-dimensional world as narrow and smothering. Guan dealt with it slightly better — he had at least experienced four-dimensional space once before, in a semiconscious state. But Morovich was feeling claustrophobic, as though he was being suffocated.
但对于莫沃维奇和关一帆，这已经不是原来那个熟悉的世界了。在他们现在的感觉中，三维世界是如此地侠窄和憋闷。关一帆稍好一些。他毕竟在半睡半醒的状态下经历过一次；莫沃维奇则完全处于幽闭恐懊之中，有一种窒息感。
“How did all this happen?” Morovich tore open his collar and gasped.
“这一切到底是怎么回事？“莫沃维奇扯开衣领喘息着问。
“This is normal. You’ll get used to it after a few times.” Chu Yan laughed. “The two of you now know what real vastness means. Even if you put on space suits and go take a walk in space now, you’ll feel confined.”
“这种感觉很正常。多经历几次就好了。”褚岩笑着说，“二位已经是真正知道广阔的含义的人，现在就是穿上宇宙服到外面的太空中散步，你们也会感觉映窄的。”
“We entered a region of space where space has four dimensions. That’s it. We call this region a four-dimensional fragment.”
“我们进入了一个太空区域，这个区域中的空间维度是四。就这么简单。我们把这个区城叫宇宙中的四维碎块。”
“Four-dimensional space contains three-dimensional space, just as three-dimensional space contains two-dimensional space. To make another analogy: We’re located inside a three-dimensional sheet of paper in four-dimensional space.”
“四维空间包含三维空间，就像三维包含二维一样。要比喻的话，我们现在就处于四维空间中的一张三维的纸片上。”
“Let me propose a model,” said Guan excitedly. “The entirety of our three-dimensional space is a large, thin sheet of paper, sixteen billion light-years across. Somewhere on this sheet of paper is a tiny, four-dimensional soap bubble.”
“是不是这样一个模型——”关一帆激动地说，“我们的三维宇宙就是一大张薄纸，一张一百六十亿光年宽的薄纸。这张纸上的某处粘着一个小小的四维肥皂泡？”
“But we’re in three-dimensional space now!”
“可我们现在是在三维中呀！”
“Perfect, Dr. Guan!” Chu Yan clapped Guan’s shoulder, making him tumble in weightlessness. “I’ve been trying to come up with a good analogy, and you hit it in one try. This is why we need a cosmologist! You’re exactly right. We were on this three-dimensional sheet of paper, crawling over the surface. Then we came into the soap bubble. From a warped point, we can manage to leave the surface of the paper and entered the space inside the bubble.”
“太妙了，关博士！”褚岩兴奋地一拍关一帆的肩膀，使他在失重中翻了一个跟头，“我一直在想一个形象的比响，你一下子就找到了！我们需要一个宇宙学家！正是这样。我们现在是处于这张三位大纸片上。在纸面上爬行，进人了那个肥皂泡与纸面相交的区域。刚才我们从翘曲点离开纸面。进入了肥皂泡里面。”
“Though we were in four-dimensional space just now, our bodies remained three-dimensional,” Morovich said.
“刚才虽在四维中，我们自身仍是三维的。”莫沃维奇说。“是这样。我们是飘到四维中的三维扁片人。”
“What exactly are warped points?”
“翘曲点到底是什么东西？”
“The three-dimensional sheet of paper is not completely flat everywhere. Some places are warped, reaching into the fourth dimension. That’s what a warped point is: a tunnel from lower dimensions into higher dimensions. We can get into four-dimensional space by jumping into them.”
“三维宇宙这张纸片不是处处平坦的，有些地方弯曲着，翘曲到四维·这就是翘曲点。这是一些低维通向高维的通道，我们可以由这些点进入四维。”
“Are there many warped points?”
“翘曲点很多吗？”
“That’s right. We were flat, three-dimensional people drifting in four-dimensional space. It’s not clear how our bodies are able to survive in four-dimensional space, given that the physical laws are likely different. There are many such mysteries.”
“没错。我们是在四维空间里漂泊的平面、立体的人。目前还不清楚我们的身体是如何在四维空间中生存的，因为物理定律可能不同。有许多这样的谜团。”
“Oh yes. They’re everywhere. Blue Space was able to discover their secret earlier because we have more people aboard, and so there were many more opportunities to encounter warped points. Gravity, besides having fewer people, also had a much stricter psychological monitoring regime — even those who encountered warped points dared not discuss them.”
“很多。到处都是。‘蓝色空间’号之所以能够早些发现这个四维的秘密，是因为我们的飞船上人多，所以与翘曲点接触的机会也多；而‘万有引力’号号上人少，比较空旷，加上你们的心理甄别很严格，有人遇到了也不敢说出来。”
“Are all warped points this small?”
“翘曲点都是这么大吗？”
“No. Some are much bigger. There’s one mystery we’ve never been able to solve: We once observed that the rear third of Gravity had warped into four-dimensional space, and stayed there for several minutes. How could you have not noticed anything odd?”
“不。有的很大。我感到不解的是，曾经观察到‘万有引力’号后部三分之一都翘曲到四维，持续了好几分钟，你们居然都没发现什么？“
“Well, the last third of the ship usually had no crew. Oh, wait, he was there.” Morovich turned to Guan Yifan. “You must have experienced that. I think I heard about it from Dr. West.”
“飞船的后三分之一部分一般没有人，哦，平时只有他一个，莫沃维奇转向关一帆说，”你经历过一次了，是吧？我听韦斯特说过。“
“I was only half awake. Later, that idiot convinced me that I was only hallucinating.”
“当时半睡半醒的，后来听了那个白痴的话，我真以为是自己的心理幻觉。”
“It’s not possible to look into the fourth dimension from three-dimensional space. But it is possible to be in four-dimensional space and see everything happening in three-dimensional space and to affect things in it. We were able to lay an ambush against the droplets from four-dimensional space. No matter how powerful the strong-interaction probes were, they were still three-dimensional objects. In a sense, three-dimensionality is synonymous with fragility. Viewed from four-dimensional space, it was an unrolled painting, defenseless. We approached it from the fourth dimension, and, without understanding its principles of operation, sabotaged its internal mechanisms — completely exposed — at random.
“从三维空间看不到四维，但从四维空问能够看到三维世界的一切并且能对它产生作用。我们就是在四维的高度伏击了水滴。不管强互作用力探测器有多强大，它仍然是一个三维物体。现在看来，三维本身就意味着脆弱，从四维看去，它不过是一张展开的图纸而已，毫无防御能力，可以从四维接近它，不需要知道它的原理，只需在它的内部。哦，对四维来说全是外部，随意破坏就行。”
The round opening in the bulkhead next to the three of them began to move slowly and to shrink. When it was just over ten meters from them, the opening disappeared completely. But the information window floating near them indicated that two more warped points had appeared aboard Blue Space.
这时，三人旁边舱壁上的圆洞开始缓缓移动，同时在缩小，当移到距他们十几米远处时完全消失了。但飘浮在他们附近的信息窗口显示，又有两个新的翘曲点在‘篮色空间“号上出现了。
“We think not.”
“现在看来，应该不知道。”
“Is Trisolaris aware of the existence of the four-dimensional fragment?”
“三体世界也不知道四维碎块的事？”
“How could a four-dimensional fragment appear in three-dimensional space?” Guan Yifan muttered to himself.
“三维宇宙中怎么会出现四维碎块呢？”关一帆沉吟道。
“About the size of the Solar System.”
“与太阳系的大小差不多。”
“Talking about the size of four-dimensional space from three-dimensional space is kind of meaningless. We can only discuss how big the projection of the fragment is in three dimensions. Based on preliminary investigation, we think the three-dimensional projection is spherical. If that’s true, based on the data collected so far, its radius is between forty to fifty AU.”
“在三维空间谈四维的大小没有意义，我们只能说碎块在三维的投影有多大。只进行了初步探测，我们猜测碎块的三维投影是球形的，如果这样，按目前探测的数据计算，它的半径可能在四十至五十个天文单位之间……
“No one knows. Doctor, this is your puzzle to solve.”
“不知道，谁都不知道。博士，这是你的事了。”
“The soap bubble — uh, four-dimensional fragment — how big is it?”
“巴皂泡——这个四维碎块有多大？”
After the discovery of the four-dimensional fragment, Blue Space had explored and studied the space inside extensively. The addition of Gravity brought more advanced equipment and techniques, so the crews could conduct more comprehensive and in-depth exploration.
自从发现四维碎块的存在后，“蓝色空间”号就对这片空间进行了大量的探测研究，现在“万有引力”号的加入带来了更为先进的设备和技术，使探测的范围和深度扩大了许多。
Through the telescope, they discovered a ring-shaped object. Since it was impossible to determine its distance from the ship, it was also impossible to estimate its size. The best guess was that its three-dimensional diameter was between eighty to one hundred kilometers, and the band of the ring was about twenty kilometers thick. The whole thing resembled a giant wedding band spinning in space. Complex patterns resembling circuitry could be discerned on the surface of the band. Based on the evidence, it seemed reasonable to conclude that the ring had been constructed by intelligent beings.
望远镜发现了一个团环状的物体，由于无法确定它与飞船的距离，也就无法测量其体积，估计其三维直径在八十至一百千米左右，环箍直径约二十千米，像一只太空魔戒。环箍上可以看到电路状的复杂结构。从外形上看，基本可以确定这个物体是智慈体制造的。
In three-dimensional space, this region appeared very empty and showed no irregularities. Much of the exploration had to be conducted in four-dimensional space. Since releasing probes into four-dimensional space was no trivial matter, most of the research was conducted by inserting a telescope into the fragment through a warped point. Manipulating a three-dimensional instrument in four dimensions required some practice, and a period of adjustment, but once the scientists got the hang of it, they immediately made shocking discoveries.
在三维空间中，这片太空区城十分空旷，看上去没有什么异常。探测研究主要在四维空间进行。在四维释放探测器有很大的难度。大部分探侧研究主要是通过夭文望远镜，把望远镜通过翘曲点送人四维，对周围太空进行观察。在四维空间操纵三维仪器需要一段时间的适应，当观测正常进行时，立刻有了震撼的发现。
But the most shocking thing was that the “Ring” was sealed. It existed in four-dimensional space, but didn’t reveal its interior as a three-dimensional object would have. Since its inside was concealed, that meant it was a true four-dimensional object. This was also the first true four-dimensional object detected by humanity since entering four-dimensional space.
一个最令人震惊的事实是：“魔戒”是封闭的！它处于四维空间中，却没有呈现三维展开，它的内部完全不可见，这就意味着它是一个四维物体！进入四维空间后，这是人们第一次见到四维实体。
People initially feared an attack, but the surface of the Ring showed no signs of any activity. They also detected no emission of any electromagnetic, neutrino, or gravitational wave signals. Other than a slow, stately revolving motion, the Ring showed no acceleration. The working theory was that this was a ruin, perhaps a long-abandoned space city or spaceship.
人们首先感到的是可能被攻击的恐供，但“魔界”表而没有任何活动的迹象，也没有探侧到它发出的电磁波、中微子和引力波信号。“魔戒”除了缓慢的自转外，没有任何加速迹象。初步判断这可能是一个废墟，被废弃已久的太空城或宇宙飞船。
This was the first time humanity had observed another civilization outside of the Earth and Trisolaris.
这是人类第一次直接观察到两个世界之外的第三方宇宙文明。
Further observations revealed more unknown objects in the depths of four-dimensional space. They were all sealed four-dimensional objects of different sizes and shapes, and many seemed to be artifacts fashioned by intelligence: pyramids, crosses, polyhedral frames, and so on. Other objects were irregular forms composed from simpler shapes, also clearly not natural. More than a dozen of these objects had shapes that could be discerned by telescope, though farther away were many more objects that appeared only as point sources. In total, about a hundred such objects were found. Like the Ring, none of them showed signs of activity, and they emitted no detectable signals.
在接下来的观测中，在四维碎片的深处发现了更多的不明物体。它们大小不一，形状各异，但都带有明显的智慧制造特征。有金字塔形、十字形、多边体框架结构等。还有各种不规则的组合体，但明显不是自然天体。望远镜能够分辨出形状的这类物体已经有十几个。在更远处还有大量的只能看出点状的物体·总计有上百个。同“魔戒”一样，它们没有任何活动迹象。也没有发出任何可检测的偷号；还有一个共同点：它们郁是封闭的四维实体。
Similarly, locating a warped point to return to three-dimensional space would be very difficult. Since the coordinate in one of the four directions could not be determined, when a warped point was found, all that was known was its direction, not its distance from the observer. The crew of the pinnace could use a warped point to return to three-dimensional space and, to their surprise, find themselves far away from Blue Space.
同时，在四维太空中寻找返回的翘曲点比较困难。由于有一个维度坐标无法确定。如果发现翘曲点，只能得知它所在的方向。却无法确定距离，有时翘曲点可能距太空艇很远，通过它返回三维时空后，也会落到距飞船十分遥远的地方。
Guan Yifan proposed to Captain Chu the plan of piloting a pinnace to the Ring and studying it up close. If possible, he wanted to enter the Ring. The captain denied this proposal unequivocally. Navigating through four-dimensional space was fraught with risks. To precisely fix one’s location required four coordinates, but equipment brought from three-dimensional space could only determine three coordinates. This meant three-dimensional explorers could not determine the location of any object in four-dimensional space with precision. An explorer could not ascertain the location or distance of the Ring using instrumentation or visual observation, so it would be possible to collide with the Ring at any moment.
关一帆向褚岩舰长提出，要驾驶一艘太空艇近距离考察“魔戒”，有可能的话就进入它的内部。这个要求被坚决拒绝了。在四维空间航行充满危险，确定位置需要四个坐标，而来自三维世界的设备或目测只能确定三个坐标，这样，对于三维航行者来说，四维空间中任何一个物体的位置都是不确定的，无论是使用仪器或目测，探险者都无法确定“魔戒”的方位和距离。有可能突然撞上它。
After that, Blue Space and Gravity suffered six micrometeoroid strikes in one day. A 140-nanometer micrometeoroid struck and completely destroyed the magnetic levitation controller of Blue Space’s fusion reactor core. This was a key system aboard the ship. The fusion reactor core could reach temperatures as high as a million degrees, which would vaporize any material it came in contact with. A magnetic field kept it centered within the reaction chamber. If the controller failed, the superheated reactor core could escape from the magnetic field and instantly destroy the ship. Fortunately, the backup unit kicked in immediately and shut off the reactor — which was operating at minimal power — and averted catastrophe.
接着。两艘飞船内部在一天内同时遭到六次微陨石撞击。其中“蓝色空间”号聚变反应堆的磁悬浮控制单元被一颗直径一百四十纳米的微陨石击中，完全摧毁。这是飞船最致命的关键系统，核聚变反应的小火球温度高达百万度，能够汽化任何材料，它是由磁场悬浮在宽大的反应舱的中心位置。一且控制单元失效，聚变火球将从磁场中逃逸，可能在瞬间烧穿舰体。好在冗余单元及时投人，关闭了处于最低功率状态运行的反应堆，没有造成更大的灾难。
Finally, most of the radio waves linking Blue Space and the pinnace would spill into the fourth dimension, leading to far faster decay of signal strength and causing communication difficulties.
另外。太空艇与飞船间通信的电波有相当大的部分滋散到第四个维度，导致信号很微弱。两者间联系很困难。
As the two ships sailed deeper into the four-dimensional fragment, the density of micrometeoroid strikes increased, and even larger meteoroids, visible to the naked eye, passed near the ships. Their velocity relative to the ships was several times the third cosmic velocity. In three-dimensional space, the critical parts of the ships were wrapped in layers of protection, but here, they lay exposed to the fourth dimension, completely defenseless.
随着向四维碎块内部的深人。微陨石的密度明显增大，同时还观测到肉眼可见的大陨石从飞船附近掠过，它们与飞船的相对速度是第三字宙速度的几倍。在三维太空中。飞船的关键部位都层层保护。可以抵挡这些陨石的撞击，但现在，它们完全暴露在四维中，没有任何防护能力。
“Even if you focus only on the practical, we can probably recover unimaginable knowledge and artifacts from that ring-shaped ruin.”
“即使从现实考虑，我们也可能从那个圆环废墟中得到意想不到的东西！”
Guan Yifan raged against this decision. “The greatest mystery in the universe is right in front of us. The answers to all our cosmological questions may be found here. How can we leave?”
但关一帆对这个决定暴跳如雷：“宇宙最大的秘密就在眼前，这里可能隐藏着宇宙学一切问题的答案，我们怎么能离开？！”
“Are you talking about the three and three hundred thousand syndrome? The fragment did remind me of it.”
“你是说’三与三十万综合征‘吗？四维碎块真让我想到了它。”
Chu Yan decided that the two ships should retreat from the four-dimensional fragment. The fragment as a whole was moving away from the Solar System, heading in the same direction as the ships’ course; thus, although Blue Space and Gravity were sailing away from the Solar System at a high speed, their velocity relative to the fragment was small, and they had only slowly caught up to the fragment. They weren’t deep within the fragment and should be able to decelerate and leave it easily.
褚岩决定两艘飞船立刻退出四维碎块。碎块在整体上有一个远离太阳系的速度，与飞船的航行速度方向相同，所以尽管“蓝色空问”号和“万有引力”号飞离太阳系的速度很快，但它们与四维碎块间的相对速度很小，两舰只是慢慢追上了碎块，目前只深入了很小的距离，减速退出它也很容易。
“Such gains are only meaningful if we survive this ordeal. Right now, both of our ships could be annihilated any moment.”
“但这一切的前提是要生存下去，现在，两舰随时面临毁灭。”
Guan sighed and shook his head. “Fine. But before you leave, let me ride a pinnace to explore the Ring. Give me a chance. You spoke of survival, but perhaps our future survival depends on what I can discover here!”
关一帆叹息着摇摇头，“那好吧，离开前让我乘太空艇去探侧一下’魔戒‘，你不是谈生存吗？给我一次机会吧，也许我们以后的生存取决于我这次的发现！”
“In a four-dimensional world, only a live observer can understand what is seen. You know this better than I.”
“四维世界，只有亲眼看到才知道是怎么回事，这你应该比我清楚。”
“We can consider sending a drone.”
“可以考虑发射无人探侧器。”
Prior to this, the longest voyage in four-dimensional space had been the attack on the droplets and Gravity. During the attack, a pinnace had sailed through four-dimensional space to approach Gravity, and then three people, including Lieutenant Commander Park Ui-gun, had entered Gravity via a warped point to reconnoiter. Thereafter, more than sixty marines had boarded Gravity in three separate waves. The attack on the droplets had relied on smaller shuttles. But this voyage of discovery to the Ring would be far longer.
人类曾经在四维空间进行过的最长的航行，是“蓝色空间”号对水滴和“万有引力”号的袭击。当时曾用太空艇通过四维接近“万有引力”号首先把包括朴义君少校在内的三人通过翘曲点送人飞船进行侦察。然后分三批把六十多名陆战队员从四维投放到飞船中。对水滴的攻击则使用小一些的太空穿梭机。但这一次，对“魔戒”的探险肮程则远得多。
After a brief discussion, the senior staff of both ships approved Guan’s proposal. Guan Yifan, Lieutenant Zhuo Wen, and Dr. West made up the exploratory team. Lieutenant Zhuo was the science officer aboard Blue Space and had comparatively extensive experience navigating in four dimensions. Dr. West, on the other hand, simply insisted that he come; the request was ultimately approved because he had studied Trisolaran language before the voyage.
经过两舰指挥层短暂的商议后，关一帆的提议被批准了，并组成了一支三人探险队。除关一帆外，还有卓文上尉和韦斯特医生。卓文是“蓝色空间”号上的科学军官，有着比较丰富的四维空间航行经验；韦斯特医生则是自己坚决要求加人的。被批准主要是因为他在起航前有过研究三体语言学的经历。
The pinnace entered four-dimensional space from a warped point between the two ships. At the tail of the pinnace, the small fusion reactor’s core turned from dim red to a faint blue as its power level increased. This flame, together with the balls of fire in the reactors of the two larger ships, illuminated this world of infinity times infinity. Blue Space and Gravity quickly receded, and as the pinnace sailed deeper into four-dimensional space, the high-dimensional spatial sensation intensified. Although Dr. West had already been to four-dimensional space twice, he exclaimed, “How grand is the spirit that can grasp such a world!”
太空艇从位于两艘飞船之间的一个翘曲点进入四维。在出发探险的三个人身后。太空艇小型发动机的核聚变火球在燃烧，随着功率的增加，由暗红变成幽蓝，与两艘飞船的聚变堆中的两个大火球一起，照亮了这个并列展开的无穷世界。这个一世界属于“蓝色空间”号和“万有引力”号的部分在快速离去。渐入太空深处后，高维空间感更加强烈。韦斯特医生虽然已经两次进人四维，仍不由得赞叹：“什么样的心灵才能把握这样的世界啊！”
Lieutenant Zhuo piloted the pinnace using voice commands or by moving the cursor with his gaze — it was a good idea to avoid using hands and risking contact with some sensitive piece of equipment that now lay exposed in four dimensions. To the naked eye, the Ring was still but a barely visible dot, but Zhuo cautiously kept the pinnace flying at a very low speed. Due to the extra unmeasurable dimension, visual judgments of distance were completely unreliable. The Ring might be as far away as an astronomical unit or as close as the pinnace’s bow.
卓文上尉在驾驶太空艇时使用日光跟踪鼠标或语音控制，一般不动手。以免触碰到暴露的敏感部件。这时，“魔戒”用肉眼看去仍是一个隐约可见的小点，但他仍谨慎地使太空艇在很低的速度上行驶。由于空间中多出来的那个不可测度的维度，视觉看到的距离是完全不可靠的，“魔戒”可能仍远在一个天文单位之外，也可能已经近在眼前。
All of a sudden, the coin-sized Ring turned into a gigantic structure. Lieutenant Zhuo banked sharply and barely managed to avoid collision. The pinnace passed through the Ring like an arch in space. The pinnace decelerated, turned around, and came to a stop a short distance from the Ring.
突然间，硬币大小的“魔戒”顶天立地地出现在前方，卓文用目光操纵太空艇紧急转向，使撞向环箍的太空艇从“魔戒”的圆环中穿过。从艇中看去，像是通过了太空中一道巨大的拱门。太空艇全力减速、然后返回，悬停在距“魔戒”的圆心不远处。
After three hours, the pinnace had already exceeded the previous record of distance sailed from the ships in four-dimensional space. The Ring remained but a dot. Lieutenant Zhuo grew even more cautious and was prepared to decelerate at full power and to change the heading at a moment’s notice. Guan Yifan grew impatient and asked Zhuo to fly faster. Just then, West cried out in surprise.
航行持续了三个小时。太空艇已经超出了曾经在四维空间进行的最远的航行距离，“魔戒”看上去仍然是一个点，但卓文却更加谨慎了，随时做好全力减速和紧急转向的准备，一尸帆有些不耐烦了，请求卓文提高些速度，就在这时、韦斯特惊叫起来。
“You’ve got to remember that we’re basically blind in the fourth dimension,” Lieutenant Zhuo said. He decreased their speed again.
“要随时记住：在第四个维度上我们是瞎子。”卓文说，并再次放慢速度。
The Ring turned into a real ring — it just happened. One moment, it was still a dot; the next moment, it was a ring the size of a coin. There was no gradual process of change at all.
‘魔戒’显示出圆环形状，是突然显示的，由一个点瞬间变成硬币大小。没有逐渐增大的过程。
Two more hours passed. If they were still in three-dimensional space, they would have sailed about two hundred thousand kilometers.
航行又持续了两个多小时，如果在三维，太空艇已经航行了二十万千米左右。
From up close, the surface of the Ring appeared very different from images taken by the telescope. Instead of a golden yellow light, it gave off a dark copper glow. Those faint etched lines that had looked like circuitry were really lines left by micrometeoroids striking its surface. There was still no evidence of any activity, and it didn’t emit light or other radiation. Looking at the ancient surface of the Ring, all three felt a sense of familiarity. They recalled the destroyed droplets, and then tried to imagine the immense four-dimensional Ring with a mirrorlike smooth surface — it would have been a breathtaking sight.
从这个距离看到的“魔戒”表面，与从飞船上用望远镜观察有很大不同。它的色彩由金黄变成了暗铜色，那些电路般的精细线条其实是碰撞的擦痕，仍然没有任何活动迹象，也没有光亮和其他辐射。看着“魔戒”陈旧的表面，太空艇上的三个人都感到似曾相识，他们想起了被摧毁的水滴，进而想象：如果这个巨大的四维圆环也曾有过晶亮的镜面表面，那又是何等惊人的景象。
This was the first time humans had come close to a four-dimensional object. Similar to high-dimensional spatial sense, they felt the magnificence of high-dimensional materiality. The Ring was completely sealed, and they could not look inside the band, but they could feel an immense sense of depth and of containment. What they were seeing wasn’t just a Ring, but an infinity of Rings all stacked together in concealment. This sensation of four-dimensionality impressed itself upon the soul, and gave the observers the experience of seeing the mountain contained in a mustard seed described in Buddhist parables.
这是人类第一次近距离看到四维物体，与高维空间感相似，他们感受到了被称为高维质感的宏伟。“魔戒”是全封闭的，看不到内部，但M能感觉到一种巨大的纵深感和包容性，在来自三维世界的眼光中，所看到的“魔戒”不是一个“魔戒”，而是无数个“魔戒”的叠加，这种四维质感摄人心魄，是真正的纳须弥于芥子的境界。
The original plan had intended the hailing message as an experiment; there was no preparation for how to develop further communications. While the three in the pinnace debated what to do, the Ring sent a second bitmap to the pinnace: 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 1, 4, 2, 1, 5, 9.
在探险计划中，发送问候语只是一个随意的尝试，并没有准备在得到应答后如何进一步交流。正当三人不知所措时，太空艇的通信系统收到了“魔戒”发来的第二幅点阵图，是这样一个数列：1,3，5,7，11,13,1，4,2，1,5，9。
Then a third bitmap: 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 16, 6, 10, 10, 4, 7.
很快又收到了第三幅点阵图：1,3，5,7，11,13,16,6，10,10,4，7。
They weren’t expecting any answers, but an answer arrived immediately, so fast that they couldn’t believe their eyes. The information window hovering in the middle of the pinnace cabin displayed a simple bitmap similar to the one they had sent. It also consisted of six lines portraying the next six prime numbers: 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37.
他们没有指望得到应答，但应答立刻出现了，速度之快让三人不敢相信自己的眼睛。悬浮在太空艇舱里的信息窗口显示出一个简单点阵图，与他们发送的类似，也用六行点组成六个质数，但图中的点阵大了许多，把他们发送的那个数列接了下来：17,19,23,29,31,37。
Following the preestablished plan, Lieutenant Zhuo transmitted a message to the Ring via medium-frequency radio waves. This was a simple bitmap, a bit array that could be interpreted as six lines of dots that formed a sequence of prime numbers: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13.
按照计划，卓文用中频电波发送了一个问候语。这是一幅简单的点阵图，图中由六行不同数量的点组成了一个质数数列：1,3，5,7，11,13。
A fifth: 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 7, 2, 16, 4, 1, 14.
第五幅点阵图：1,3，5,7，11,13,7，2,16,4，1,14。
A fourth: 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 19, 5, 1, 15, 4, 8.
然后是第四幅点阵图：1,3，5,7，11,13,19,5，1,15,4，8。
The bitmaps came one after another. The first six numbers in each consisted of the six prime numbers sent by the pinnace as a greeting. As for the next six numbers in each series, both Lieutenant Zhuo and Dr. West turned to Guan Yifan, the scientist. The cosmologist stared at the scrolling numbers in the floating window and shrugged.
点阵图形不断地发来，这些图形所表示的数列都有一个明显的共同点：头六个质数是他们发送的问候语。至于后面那六个数，卓文和韦斯特都把期待的目光投向身为科学家的关一帆。宇宙学家对着显示窗口中那不断出现的数列思考了半天。困惑地摇摇头。
“They — or it — want to know everything about us?”
“’它‘想知道我们的有关资料？”
“We have to ask for authorization.”
“这需要请示。”
“I can’t see any pattern.”
“我看不出后六个数的规律。”
“Or at least a linguistic sample. It wants to decode it, study it, and then communicate with us further.”
“更有可能是语言样本。以便’它‘译解和学习后再与我们进一步交流。”
“Then we should send it the Rosetta System.”
“哪就把罗塞塔系统发给’它‘吧。”
“Then let’s suppose that there is no pattern.” West pointed at the window. “The first six numbers were sent by us, so it’s possible that they mean ‘you.’ The next six numbers in the transmissions show no recognizable pattern, so maybe they mean ‘all’–‘everything about you.'”
“那就假设没有规律。”，韦斯特指着显示窗口说，“前六个数是我们发送的，最可能的含义就是表示我们。后六个数没了！规律11。不断出现不同的组合，可能代表‘一切’，我们的一切。”
The Rosetta System was a database developed to teach Earth languages to Trisolarans. The database included about two million characters’ worth of documents concerning the natural and human histories of Earth with numerous videos and images. There was also software to draw connections between the linguistic symbols and the images so that an alien civilization could decode and study Earth languages.
罗塞塔系统是一个为了三体世界的地球语言教学而研制的数据库，数据库中包含了约两百万字的地球自然史和人类历史的文字资料，还有大量的动态图像和图画，同时配有一个软件将文字与图像中的相应元索对应起来，以便于对地球语言的译解和学习。
The mother ship authorized the request from the exploration team. But the pinnace didn’t have the Rosetta System in its onboard computer memory, and due to the extremely tenuous communication link between the pinnace and the mother ship, it was impossible to transmit such a large volume of data. The only solution was to have the mother ship beam the information directly at the Ring. This couldn’t be done via radio, but luckily, Gravity was equipped with a neutrino communication system. They weren’t sure if the Ring could receive neutrino signals, however.
母船批准了探险队的请求，但太空艇上没有罗塞塔系统，而此时太空艇与母船的通信信号已经很微弱了，不可能进行大容量的信息传递，只能由母直接向“魔戒”发送。用电磁波当然也不可能，好在“万有引力”号上装各了中微子通信设备，但不知道“魔戒”能否接收中微子信号。
Three minutes after Gravity transmitted the Rosetta System via a neutrino beam to the Ring, the pinnace received a new series of bitmaps from the Ring. The first one was a perfect square of sixty-four dots arranged eight by eight; the second bitmap was missing one dot in a corner, leaving sixty-three; the third bitmap was missing two, leaving sixty-two…
在“万有引力”号用中微子信号发送罗塞塔系统后的三分钟，太空艇收到了来自“魔戒”的一系列点阵图，第一幅是很整齐的一个8×8点阵，共六十四个点；第二幅图中点阵的一角少了一个点，剩下六十三个；第三幅图中又少一点，剩六十二个……
“It’s a countdown, or a progress bar,” said West. “I think this is to show that it has received the Rosetta System and is in the process of decoding it. We should wait.”
“这是倒计数，也相当于一个进度条，可能表示’它‘已经收到了罗塞塔，证在译解，让我们等侍。”韦斯特说。
“Why sixty-four dots?”
“可为什么是六十四点呢？”
“It’s a reasonably big number if you’re in base two. It’s like how we use one hundred for lots of things in base ten.”
“使用二进制时一个不大不小的数呗，与十进制的一百差不多。”
The Rosetta System was written in a language that mixed English with Chinese. It would make sense that the Ring would use the same language to communicate with them. It just happened that this message consisted entirely of Chinese characters. Guan Yifan typed a question into the floating window, and began the conversation between humanity and the Ring.
罗赛塔系统中使用的是汉英混合合的文字，”魔戒“肯定也是使用这种文字，只是这句话正好都是汉宇。关一帆向通信窗口中输入一个问题，开始了人类与’”魔戒“的交谈：
Lieutenant Zhuo and Guan were both glad to have West with them. The psychologist did seem to have some skills when it came to establishing communications with unknown intelligences.
卓文和关一帆都很庆幸能带韦斯特来，在与未知的智慧体建立交流方面、心理学家确实很有才能。
When the countdown reached fifty-seven, something exciting happened: The next number didn’t come in the form of a bitmap of dots. The Ring transmitted the Arabic number 56.
在倒计数达到五十七时，令人激动的事情出现了：下一个计数没有用点阵表示，“魔戒”发采的图片上赫然显示出人类的阿拉伯数字56！
“Wow, fast learner,” Guan said.
“学得真快！“关一帆赞叹道。
The number kept on decreasing by one every ten seconds or so. A few minutes later, the number reached 0. The last message consisted of four Chinese characters: I am a tomb.
数字继续减小，每隔约十几秒减1，几分钟后，数字减到0。最新发来的图片上显示出四个汉字：我是墓地。
It used to be a spaceship. But now it’s dead, and so it’s a tomb.
曾经是飞船。死了以后就是墓地。
Is this a spaceship?
这是一艘宇宙飞船吗？
Whose tomb is this?
谁的墓地？
Who are you? Who is conversing with us?
你是谁？和我们说话的是谁？
You told me that you came from the sea. Did you build the sea?
你们说自己从海里来，海是你们建造的吗？
Are you from far away? Or have you always been here?
你们是从远处来的，还是一直在这里？
The tomb of those who created it.
这个墓地的建造者的墓地。
(There was no answer.)
（没有回答。）
You mean you’re a ship whose crew died? In other words, you’re the control system for the ship?
你是说你是乘员已经死去的飞船本身，或者说是飞船的控制系系统？
Most of them are tombs. The others will be tombs soon. I don’t know them all.
大部分是墓地，不久后都要成为墓地，我不认识它们。
I’m from far away; they’re also from far away, from different places far away. Where?
我从远处来，它们也从远处来，从不同的远处来从哪里来？
(There was no reply to this.)
（没有回答。）
We can see many other objects in this region of space. Are they also tombs?
附近区域还有许多物体，它们也都足墓地吗？
Did you build this four-dimensional fragment?
这片四维空间是你们建造的呜？
Are you saying that for you, or at least for your creators, this four-dimensional space is like the sea for us?
这么说，这片四堆空间对于你，或者说对于你的建造者，是类似于海洋的东西吗？
More like a puddle. The sea has gone dry.
是水洼，海干了。
Why are so many ships, or tombs, gathered in such a small space?
为什么这么小的空间里聚集了这么多的飞船。或者说墓地？
I am the tomb. It is the tomb speaking to you. I’m dead.
我是墓地，墓地在和你们说话，我是死的。
I’m a tomb; I’m dead; I won’t attack anyone. There is no dark forest state between spaces of different dimensions. The lower-dimensional space cannot threaten the higher-dimensional space, and the resources of the lower-dimensional space are of no use to the higher-dimensional space. But the dark forest exists everywhere between those sharing the same dimensions.
我是墓地，我是死的，谁都不会攻击。不同维度之间没有黑暗森林，低维威胁不到高维，低维的资源对高维没有用。但同维的都是黑暗森林。
The last sentence was like a thunderclap. The three inside the pinnace cabin and everyone in the distant two mother ships hearing the exchange via a faint link all shuddered.
这句话中最后两个相同的词像两声霹雳，让太空艇上的三人，以及远处两艘母船上通过微弱信号监听的人们都打了一个寒战。
Are all the fish here?
所有的鱼都在这里吗？
Dark forest… what do you mean?
黑暗森林……是什么意思？
Are you going to attack us?
那你会攻击我们呜？
The fish who dried the sea went onto land before they did this. They moved from one dark forest to another dark forest.
把海弄干的鱼在海干前上了陆地，从一片黑暗森林奔向另一片黑暗森林
When the sea is drying, the fish have to gather into a puddle. The puddle is also drying, and all the fish are going to disappear.
海干了鱼就要聚集在水洼里。水洼也在干涸，鱼部将消失。
The same thing you mean.
就是你们的意思。
The fish responsible for drying the sea are not here.
把海弄干的鱼不在。
We’re sorry. What you said is really hard to understand.
对不起，这话很费解。
Can you give us any suggestions?
能给我们一些建议吗？
I like fish. Can I have it?
我喜欢鱼，能送给我吗？
Guan sat there, stunned for a few seconds, and then realized that the pinnace really did have some fish. He always carried an ecological sphere with him, about the size of a fist. Inside the glass sphere was water, a tiny fish, and some seaweed; together, everything formed a carefully designed miniature enclosed ecosystem. This was Guan’s favorite possession, so he had taken it with him on this adventure. If he couldn’t return, this would have accompanied him into the afterlife.
关一帆愣了好几秒钟才想到，太空艇上真的有鱼，那是他随身带着的一个小生态球，比拳头稍大一些。那个玻璃球内看上去只有一条小鱼和几片海藻，却是一个精心设计的封闭小生态系统。这是关一帆最喜爱的东西，出发前他特意带上。如果回不去。这东西就做他的陪葬品了。
Toss it over.
扔过来。
How do we give it to you?
怎么送？
Leave this puddle immediately. You are thin pictures. You’re fragile. If you stay in the puddle, you’ll turn into tombs in no time… Wait, there seem to be fish on your pinnace.
快离开水洼，你们是薄薄的画儿，你们脆弱。在水洼里很快就会变成墓地……呀，你的小船上好像有鱼。
The three put on the helmets for their space suits and opened the pinnace’s hatch. Guan lifted the ecological sphere to his eyes. Carefully, since he was in four-dimensional space, he held the sphere by its three-dimensional edge, and gave it a final glance. From this four-dimensional perspective, every detail in the sphere was revealed, and this tiny world of life seemed even more rich, varied, and colorful. Guan swung his arm and tossed the sphere in the direction of the Ring. He watched as the small, transparent sphere disappeared in space. Then he closed the hatch and continued the conversation. Is this the only puddle in the universe?
三人扣上宇宙服的头盔。打开太空舱的舱盖，关一帆把生态球举到眼前，在四维中小心地从三维的方向托住玻璃外壁，最后看了一眼。从四维看去，生态球的无限细节展现无遗，使这个小小的生命世界显得异常丰富多彩。关一帆挥臂把生态球向”魔戒“方向扔出去。看着那小小的透明球消失在四维太空中。然后他们关上舱盖，继续对话：宇宙中只有这一个水洼吗？
Since they now knew their distance from the mother ship, the return trip could be covered twice as fast. In two hours, they were back in the vicinity of Blue Space, and successfully located a warped point to return home.
由于掌握了距离，返回时太空艇的速度提高了一倍多，只用两个多小时就回到了母舰附近。并顺利地找到翘曲点回到“蓝色空间”号上。
Gravity informed them that more micrometeoroids had struck Blue Space. An increasing number of drifting objects, including some small-scale four-dimensional objects, possibly debris from ships or other artifacts, surrounded both ships. Captain Chu ordered their immediate return. The plan to board the Ring had to be scrapped.
这时，母舰传来信息，”蓝色空间“号又遭到了一次微陨石的袭击，两舰周围的各种飘浮物也迅速增多，还出现了小尺寸的四维物体，疑似飞船或建筑的碎片。褚岩命令他们立刻返回，登上。‘魔戒”的计划取消了。
The explorers were treated as heroes and given a celebratory welcome — even if their discoveries appeared to yield no practical applications for the future of the two ships.
探险队成为英雄。受到了热烈的欢迎，虽然他们的发现对两舰的未来并无实际意义。
“I go back to the analogy I made before. The probability that we managed to stumble into the only soap bubble with a diameter of forty to fifty astronomical units on the surface of a sheet of paper sixteen billion light-years across is so minuscule that it might as well be zero. I’m certain that there are other soap bubbles, probably many more.”
“还是用我们的比喻比较直观：在一张直径一百六十亿光年的大纸上粘着—个直径仅几十个天文单位的小肥皂泡，我们却正好爬进了泡内。这个概率小到可以忽略不计。可以肯定，纸面上还粘着其他肥皂泡，可能有很多。”
There was no answer. After that, the Ring remained silent and responded no more to attempts at communication.
没有回答。之后，”魔戒“完全沉默了，无论怎样联系都不再回应。
Captain Chu asked, “Dr. Guan, what do you think is the answer to the last question you asked the Ring?”
“关博士，对向’魔戒‘提的最后一个问题。你怎么着？“褚岩很有兴趣地问。
Blue Space and Gravity began to back out of the fragment. As the ships accelerated, gravity pulled them toward the ships’ sterns. Guan Yifan and the science officers from both ships tried to cram as much research about the fragment as possible into the next few days and spent almost all their time in four-dimensional space. This was only in part due to the requirements of their research — they also found the confinement and claustrophobia of being in three-dimensional space unbearable.
蓝色空间“号和”万有引力“号开始退出四维碎块的航行。随着减速的启动，飞船上出现了由船尾向船头的重力。关一帆和两舰的科学军官们抓紧从后几天时间对四维空间进行观侧研究。他们儿乎所有的时间都待在四维中。这一方面是由于作需要。另一方面也是因为三维的狭窄和幽闭越宋越让他们难以忍受。
“I think there’s an even more interesting question: Have we encountered them before? Think about the Earth: It’s been careening through space for several billion years. Is it not possible that it had entered a four-dimensional fragment in the past?”
“有一个更迷人的问题：以前遇到过吗？比如地球，已经在太空中运转了几十亿年。难道没有可能进入过四维碎块吗？”
“Do you think we’ll encounter more in the future?”
“也就是说，我们未来还会遇到更多吗？”
“Why are there bubbles at all? Why are there so many four-dimensional fragments in three-dimensional space?”
“现在的关键问题是：为什么会有肥皂泡？为什么三维宇宙中会有这么多的四维碎块？”
“That would have been an astonishing sight. I find it hard to imagine that humanity had experienced it… But I wonder if dinosaurs could have located warped points…”
“要真有那回事可太惊人了，那只能发生在恐龙时代或更早，我想人类不可能经历过。问题是：恐龙能找到翘曲点吗？”
“Captain, I think it’s likely a dark secret.”
“上校，现在我感觉到，这可能还是一个黑暗的秘密。”
“It’s a great mystery.”
“这确实是一个巨大的秘密。”
This surprised them. Based on their calculations, they should still be cruising through the fragment for another twenty hours. Their early exit was probably due to one of two reasons: one, the fragment had sped up in a direction opposite to the ships’ current heading. Two, the fragment was shrinking. The crews believed reason number two was more likely. Other than the data, they also remembered the answer from the Ring: When the sea is drying, the fish have to gather into a puddle. The puddle is also drying, and all the fish are going to disappear.
这有些出乎意料。因为按照计算，还应该有二十多个小时才能退出四维碎块内部。提前退出的原因可能有两个，一是碎块在与两舰退出的相反方向加速了，一是碎块本身在缩小。人们都相信是后者。除了观侧数据外，他们都记得“魔戒”的那句话：海干了鱼就要聚集在水洼里，水洼也在干涸。鱼都将消失。
Blue Space and Gravity were outside the fragment.
“蓝色空间”号和“万有引力”号退出了四维碎块。
On the fifth day after beginning acceleration, all those in four-dimensional space found themselves back in three-dimensional space in a flash without having passed through a warped point. The electromagnetic sensors on the two ships indicated that there were no more warped points aboard either ship.
在减速开始后第五天，突然。所有身处四维的人都在一瞬间回到了三维。他们都不是经由翘曲点回来的。从飞船的电磁辐射检测系统得知，两舰上己经没有一个翘曲点了。
The two ships stopped accelerating and began to decelerate at full power. Finally, they stopped at the vicinity of the boundary of the four-dimensional fragment, where it was safe.
两舰编队最后停泊在四维与三维空间的交界处附近，这里是安全的。
But soon they did notice a strange and spectacular sight: From time to time, luminous lines appeared in the space before them. Those lines were very thin, and very straight on first appearance. They seemed to have no thickness to the naked eye, and stretched in length between five thousand and thirty thousand kilometers. The lines appeared suddenly. At first, they gave off a blue glow. Then the color gradually shifted to red, and the straight lines curved and broke into many pieces, until they finally vanished. Observation showed that these lines manifested at the edge of the fragment, as though a giant pen constantly marked out the boundary.
但人们很快观察到一种奇怪且壮观的现象：在前方的太空中，常常出现一些发亮的长线，那些线很细，在出现之初十分笔直。肉眼看不出宽度，长度在五千到三万千米之间。它们都是突然出现的。开始会发出蓝光。然后色彩渐渐变红，笔直的线也开始弯曲。并中断成许多小段。最后消失。经观测发现，这些长线都出现在四维碎块的边缘。仿佛有一支无形的巨笔。不断地在太空中标示出四维与三维的交界线。
They launched an unmanned probe toward the region of space where the lines appeared, and by luck, the probe managed to observe one of the lines when it flashed into existence at close range. The probe was about a hundred kilometers away, rushing toward the line at full speed. By the time it arrived, the line had curled, broken up, and disappeared. The probe detected massive quantities of hydrogen and helium in the vicinity, and also some dust from heavy elements, mainly iron and silicon.
无人探测器飞向长线出没的太空区城。有一次侥幸在近处观察到长线出现的情景。当时探侧器距长线只有一百多千米，近到用普通焦距就能看出线的宽度。长线一出现。探测器就全速向它飞去。到达时线刚刚弯曲消失。在那一区域，检测到丰富的氢和氮元素，还有许多重元素尘埃。主要是铁和硅。
The edge of the four-dimensional fragment was invisible. The space before them was empty, placid like the surface of a deep pool. The sea of stars that was the Milky Way shone brightly, giving no hint that a great secret was hidden close by.
四维碎块的边缘是无形的，眼前的太空一片空旷。像深潭中的水面一般平静。银河系的星海一如既往地发出灿烂的银光，没有任何迹象显示在不远的前方另一个维度上。隐藏着巨大的秘密。
After analyzing the data, Guan and the science officers concluded that the lines were created by four-dimensional matter entering three-dimensional space. As the fragment shrank, four-dimensional matter dropped into three-dimensional space and decayed instantly. Although these bits of matter took up very little volume in four-dimensional space, their decay into three dimensions flattened the fourth dimension, causing their volume to increase greatly and expand into the form of straight lines. By their calculations, a few tens of grams of four-dimensional matter could form a line stretching almost ten thousand kilometers in three dimensions.
通过对观测数据的研究，关一帆和科学军官们很快得出结论：这些长线是进人了三维空间的四维物质，由于碎块的缩小，它们进人了三维太空，瞬间衰变成三维物质。这些进人三维空间的四维物质在四维空间的体积都很小，但它们在第四维度的部分变成三维，体积骤然增大，且呈直线状展开。据计算，一块在三维投影的质量只有几十克的四维物质，三维展开后可以形成一条上万千米的长线。
Based on the rate at which the boundary of the fragment was receding, in twenty days or so, the Ring would also enter three-dimensional space. The two ships decided to wait to observe such a wonder of the universe — they had plenty of time, after all. Using the glowing decay-lines as markers, the two ships cautiously proceeded, maintaining the same speed as the receding edge of the fragment.
现在，两舰面对这样一个事实：按照四维碎块边缘后退的速度，在二十天左右，“魔戒”将进人三维太空！两舰将等待月睹这一宇宙奇观，反正现在他们有的是时间。以前方不断划出的长线为标志，两艘飞船谨慎地向前推进，与后退的碎块边缘保持着同样的速度。
During the next dozen or so days, Guan Yifan was absorbed in deep thought and calculations, and the science officers engaged in vigorous debates. Finally, they reached the consensus that, based on current theoretical physics, they could not do too much theoretical analysis of the four-dimensional fragment. But the theories that had been developed in the past three centuries could at least make some predictions that were confirmed by observations: A higher dimension existing in macro form decayed toward lower dimensions as inevitably as water fell over a cliff. The decay of four-dimensional space into three dimensions was the root cause of the fragment’s shrinking.
在接下来的十几天里，关一帆沉浸在思考和计算中。科学军官们也在热烈讨论。最后大家一致同意，按现有的理论物理学，无法对四维碎块进行太多的理论分析，但经过三个世纪发展的理论至少能够做出一项与现实相符的预测：处于宏观状态的高维度会向低维度跌落，就像瀑布流下悬崖一样。这就是四维碎块不断缩小的原因：四维空间都跌落到三维。
They could again see the Ring with the naked eye. The existence of this self-declared tomb would soon end in three-dimensional space.
用肉眼又能够再次看到“魔戒”了，这个自称是墓地的存在即将在三维宇宙中毁灭。
But the lost dimension wasn’t truly lost: It simply curled up from the macroscopic to the microscopic and became one of the seven dimensions folded up within the quantum realm.
那个丢失的维度并没有消失，它从宏观蜷缩到微观，成为蜷缩在微观的七个维度中的一个。
Both Blue Space and Gravity stopped advancing and backed off three hundred thousand kilometers. As the Ring entered three-dimensional space, the decay process would release tremendous amounts of energy — this was why the lines that appeared earlier had given off so much light.
这时。“蓝色空间”号和“万有引力”号同时停止前进，并后退了三十万千米，因为“魔戒”进人三维太空时，在维度跌落过程中将放出巨大的能量，这也是之前出现的那些长线发光的原因。
Twenty-two days later, the edge of the fragment receded past the Ring. The moment the Ring entered three-dimensional space, the universe seemed to be cut in half. The cut surface glowed with a blinding light, as though a star had been pulled into a line in an instant. From the spaceships it was impossible to see the end points, but it was as if God had held a T-square against the plan for the universe and sketched a line straight across from left to right. Careful observation by instruments revealed that the line was close to one AU in length, or about 130 million kilometers, almost long enough to connect the Earth with the Sun. In contrast to other lines that had been observed, this one had a thickness that was visible even from several hundred thousand kilometers away. The light emitted by the line turned from a hot bluish-white to a merely warm red, and then gradually dimmed. The line itself also became twisted and loose, breaking into a belt of dust. It no longer glowed by itself, but seemed suffused with the light of the stars, a serene silver. Observers from both ships shared a strange impression: The dust belt resembled the Milky Way in the background. What had happened seemed to be the flash of a giant camera that took a picture of the galaxy. Afterwards, the photograph slowly developed in space.
二十二天后，四维碎块的边界退过了“魔戒”。在它进人三维太空的那一瞬间，宇宙仿佛被拦腰斩断，长长的断口发出炫目的强光，如同一颗恒星被瞬间拉成一条线。当光芒瀚淡一些后，一条横过整个太空的长线显现出来，从飞船上看不到它的头和尾，像上帝在宇宙的绘图板上比着丁’字尺从左到右画了一道。据测量，这条把可见的字宙分成两部分的线，其长度接近一个天文单位。约一亿三千万千米，几乎可以把地球和太阳连接起来。与以前出现的那些长线不同，这条线即使从几十万千米外仍能看出其宽度。长线发出的光由蓝白变成红色，然后渐渐暗淡下去，线本身也变得宽散弯曲。由一条笔直的长线变成一道尘埃带，弯弯曲曲不见首尾。它自身己经不发光，但浸透了星海的光芒，变成宁静的银灰色。两艘飞船上观看的人们这时都有一个奇怪的印象，感觉尘埃带看上去很像宇宙背景上的银河系，刚才发生的仿佛是一次对银河系的宏大摄影。闪光灯闪过后。拍下的照片在太空中渐渐显影。
A vast and dark secret.
一个巨大而黑暗的秘密。
Guan felt a trace of sorrow in the face of such a majestic sight. He was thinking of the ecological sphere he had given to the Ring. It wasn’t able to enjoy the gift for long. As it decayed into three-dimensional space, the Ring’s internal four-dimensional structures were annihilated instantaneously. Those other dead or dying ships within the fragment would not be able to escape a similar fate in the end. In this vast universe, they could only persist for a time in the tiny four-dimensional corner.
看着这壮丽的景象，关一帆有些伤感，他想起了自己送给“魔戒”的生态球，它只拥有了那个礼物不长的时间。在三维展开的一刹那，“魔戒”内部的所有四维结构都被完全破坏，这是一场最彻底的毁灭。四维碎块中其他那些已经死去或仍活着的飞船，最终也都无法逃脱这样的命运，在这广阔的宇宙中，它们只能在四维碎块这个小小的角落中存在。
Blue Space and Gravity sent out many probes to the dust belt. Other than scientific investigation, they also wanted to see if they could gather some useful resources. The Ring had decayed into common elements in three-dimensional space: mostly hydrogen and helium. These could be collected as fuel for nuclear fusion. However, since these elements existed mostly in the form of gas in the dust belt, they dissipated quickly, and in the end very little was collected. There were also some heavy elements, however, and they were able to gather some useful metals.
“蓝色空间”号和“万有引力”号派出多艘太空艇前往尘埃带，除了考察外，还想看看能不能收集一些有用的资源。“魔戒”三维化以后都变成很普通的元素，大部分是氢和氮，从中有可能得到核聚变燃料。但尘埃中的这两种元素都呈气态，扩散很快，没有收集到多少。另外还有一些重元素。可以采集到一些有用的金属。
An independent hibernation ark would be constructed and powered by one of the seven fusion reactors on the two ships. Anyone wishing to go home would board this ark and return to the Solar System after a voyage of thirty-five years. The two ships would inform the Earth of the hibernation ark’s course via a neutrino transmission so that the Earth could dispatch ships to meet it upon arrival. In order to prevent Trisolaris from locating Blue Space and Gravity based on this transmission, the neutrino transmission would only be made after the hibernation ark had already been on its way for some time. If the Earth could send out ships to assist the ark with deceleration before its arrival, more of the ark’s fuel could be spent for acceleration and shorten the voyage to between ten and twenty years.
两舰将装配一个独立于两舰的冬眠舱，并把两舰上七台聚变发动机巾的一台用于推进它，决定返回的人将乘坐这艘临时装配的飞船，在冬眠中返回太阳系，航行时问预计为三十五年。两舰将用中徽子通信通知地球冬眠飞船的轨道参数，以便在它到达太阳系时进行接应。为了防止三体世界借此侦洲到两舰的位置，与地球的联系将在冬眠飞船起航一段时间后再进行。如果地球方面能够在飞船到达太阳系前派出接应飞船协助减速的话，加速段就有更多的燃料用于推进，返回的航程可以缩短至十几年。
The two ships now had to consider their own future. A temporary council formed of the crews of both Blue Space and Gravity announced that everyone could pick between continuing the journey with the two ships or returning to the Solar System.
现在，两艘飞船应该考虑自己的未来了。由“蓝色空间”号和“万有引力”号共同组成的一个临时委员会宣布，两艘飞船上的任何人都可以做出选择：随两舰继续航行或返回太阳系。
A month later, the hibernation ark and the two ships both embarked on their new voyages. The hibernation ark headed for the Solar System, while Blue Space and Gravity planned to divert around the four-dimensional fragment and then aim for a new target star system.
一个月后，两舰编队和冬眠飞船同时起航，各自飞向不同的方向：冬眠飞船沿来路返回太阳系，“蓝色空间”号和“万有引力”号则计划绕过四维碎块，然后再确定一个新的目标星系。
Assuming the Earth and the Solar System still existed by then.
如果那时还有太阳系和地球的话。
Only about two hundred people chose to return. The rest didn’t want to go back to that world doomed to destruction; they would rather stay with Blue Space and Gravity and continue into the unknown depths of space.
只有两百多人选择返回，其余的人不想回到那个正在走向毁灭的世界，决定随“蓝色空间”号和“万有引力”号继续航行，飞向未知的太空深处。
The luminous glow from the fusion reactors lit up the already sparse dust belt and cast it in a golden-red hue, like a warm sunset on Earth. Everyone, whether homeward bound or heading far away, felt hot tears filling their eyes. The beautiful space sunset quickly faded, and the eternal night fell over everything.
聚变发动机的光芒照亮已经稀薄的尘埃云带，将它映成了金红色，像地球温馨的晚霞，使所有的人，回家的和远行的。都热泪盈眶。美丽的太空晚霞很快消失，永恒之夜又笼罩了一切。
The two seeds of human civilization continued to drift into the depths of the starry sea. Whatever fate held in store for them, at least they were starting again.
人类文明的两粒种子继续向星海深处飘去，不管命运如何，一切总算又开始了。
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