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The Ants 螞蟻
by Exurb1a
It so happened that I was sat in the sun with a book，and just as I was about to nod off，a little voice called out:
那天我正拿著一本書坐在太陽底下，正當我快要打盹時，一個細微的聲音叫了出來:
“Excuse me，what is this for?“
“不好意思，請問這是做什麼的？”
A small ant had crawled across the page of my book， and was now sat staring up at me.
一隻小螞蟻爬過了我的書頁，正坐著盯著我看。
“What?“I said.
“什麼？”我說。
“Excuse me，“ the ant said，“what is this for?“
“不好意思，”小螞蟻問道，“這是做什麼的？”
“What is what for?“ I said.
“什麼是做什麼的？”我反問道。
“This great black-and-white expanse I'm standing on right now，“ it tapped the book with a little black leg.
“我現在站在這個巨大的黑白相間的平原，”它用一條小黑腿輕拍著書。
“Look，“ I said，“you wouldn't understand even if I explained it to you.“
“聽著，”我說，“即使我解釋給你聽，你也不會明白的。”
“That might be so，“ the ant said，“but though I am very small， I am also very curious，and I don't want to turn to dust having known nothing at all. So， if you would， please – what is this for?“
“也許是這樣，”螞蟻說，“但是，我雖然很小，我同樣懷有好奇，我不想再一無所知的時候化作一粒微塵。所以，如若可以的話請你告訴我——這是幹什麼用的?”
He stood up on his two back legs， eagerly awaiting my answer， and his antennae stood to attention most respectfully.
他兩條後腿直立起來，急切地等待著我的回答，他的觸角恭恭敬敬地豎起來。
I said:*Sigh*“It's like this: you're standing on a page. Pages are made from trees. We put lots ofthem together and call it a book.“
我輕嘆一口氣，“是這樣的:你正站在一頁紙上。書頁是用樹做的。我們把很多書頁裝訂在一起，稱之為一本書。”
“What is a book for， then?“ the ant said.
“那書又是做什麼用的呢？”螞蟻接著問道。
“Well， it stores thoughts，“ I said.
“額，書本是用來儲存思想的。”我說。
“That way， we can transmit them to other people very far away.“
“這樣，我們就可以把思想傳播給到很遠很遠的地方。”
“How?“ the ant said.
“這是怎麼做到的？”螞蟻問道。
“Now， look， this isn't the time or place，“ I said， a little too firmly.
“現在，聽著，這不是個正確的時間，也不是個好地點。我沒有時間和你解釋這一切。”我說，語氣有點沖。
The ant bowed his tiny head， and his antennae wilted.
螞蟻低下了他的小腦袋，他的觸角都蔫了。
I said softly:“Look， you see those little black squiggles – excuse me; to you， very big black squiggles about you on the page?“
我輕聲說:“好吧聽著，你看見那些黑色的彎彎曲曲的圖案了麼——對不起;對你來說，書頁上你周圍的那些又大又黑的彎彎曲曲的圖案?”
The ant nodded.
螞蟻點點頭。
“Those are words and numbers.“
“那些是詞匯和數字。”
“They don't look like words and numbers，“ the ant said.
“它們看起來不像詞匯和數字，”螞蟻說。
“They represent them，“ I said.
“他們象徵了詞匯和數字，”我說。
“Hmm，“ the ant said， and thought about this a while.
“嗯......”螞蟻說，思索了一會兒。
I said:“Do you understand?“
我問道:“你明白了嗎？”
The ant said:“Not really. You were right. It's beyond me. But though I'll never be as clever as you animals， I'm at least a little cleverer than I was a moment ago. So thank you for that.“
螞蟻說:“並不能，你說的對，這已經超越了我可以理解的範疇。但是，雖然我永遠不會像你們人類一樣聰明，我至少比剛才的自己聰明瞭一點。所以謝謝你。”
“You're welcome“， I said.
“不客氣。”我說。
“Well， good luck on being a thing in the world，“ the ant said.
“那麼，生而為世界之物，祝你好運。”螞蟻說。
“Good luck to you， too，“ I said.
“也祝你好運。”我說。
The little ant made off on his way and disappeared into the grass.
小螞蟻爬走了，消失在草叢中。
I read to the end of my page， but could not forget the little ant.
我讀到這本書的最後一頁，但始終不能忘記那隻小螞蟻。
Eventually， I looked up from the book – to the trees， to the mountain， to the sky. The moon was climbing up for evening， birds were migrating in the distance.
最後，我從書本上抬起頭來——看著樹木，看著山脈，看著天空。天幕正在緩緩降下，月亮正爬上夜空，遠方的鳥兒正忙著遷徙。
I called out:“Excuse me， what is this for?“
我喊道:“不好意思，這是幹什麼用的?”
“What?“ came a booming voice above.
“什麼?”上空傳來一個低沉的回應。
“This great green-and-blue sphere I'm standing on right now，“ I patted the ground with my foot，“What is all this for?“
“我現在站在這個綠藍相間的大球體上，”我用腳輕拍著地面，“這一切是為了什麼?”
“Look，“ the voice said，“you wouldn't understand even if I explained it to you.“
“聽著，”那個聲音說，“即使我解釋給你聽，你也不能理解。”
“That might be so，“ I shouted，“but though I am very small， I am also very curious，and I don't want to turn to dust having known nothing at all. So， if you would， please – what is all this for?“
“也許吧，”我喊道，“但是，我雖然很小，我同樣懷有好奇，我不想再一無所知的時候化作一粒微塵。所以，如若可以的話請你告訴我——這是幹什麼用的?”
And the voice said:*Sigh*
那個聲音輕嘆了一口氣。
“It's like this...“
“好吧，是這樣的......”