A Rise To The Surface/向着大地
By George Nikolopoulos
Translated by Noc
2015-01
彗星科幻
(译文见后)
As I often do at night, I am at the Observatory, looking at the planet surface on a silver screen. The surface is lethal and has been so for a million years.
I stare at the Blue Planet, shining in the night sky. When the atmosphere and the water of our own planet began to evaporate, our people dreamed of flying there to colonize it. Strange ships were built, capable of traveling through the void between worlds.
The mission failed. Our planet died. We retreated underground, where there was still water to be found. We built cities to live in, until we could find a way to reverse the destruction so we could walk on the surface again. My ancestors built their city in a deep cavern under a hill; we are still living down there.
As dawn breaks, I see a strange creature rolling over the plains. As it approaches, it seems gigantic. I am not sure what I expected them to look like, but certainly not like this.
It is coming close to the hillside above me. Its belly opens. Several much smaller creatures emerge, though they are still larger than our own people. What is going on? Are they its children? Is it giving birth right here?
It finally dawns on me. The larger creature is just a machine that moves. We used to have machines like this, in the old days. The true people are the ones who came out of the machine's belly.
They are white, with big round heads and shiny faces. I can discern no eyes, ears or nose-slits; I wonder how they can see and communicate. Their bodies are large and bloated. They have two arms only, and two legs.
I am over-excited. I feel my upper body expanding, then contracting. I have to share the knowledge. I know there used to be a machine for communicating over long distances, but no one has needed to use it for thousands of years and it is long dead now.
I continue watching them for several hours. They walk around clumsily, gathering dirt and pebbles and putting them in little boxes. As night falls, they get back into their machine and leave.
I walk back to the City Under The Hill. A grey city with grey houses, grey people walking the grey streets. The cloud over the city ripples and rolls, always on the brink of a storm that never comes. I feel the ocean breeze on my skin as I walk along the shore. I wonder what it would be like, sailing the ocean; they say there is another city on the other side. But no one can cross over it, no more than one could walk the planet's surface; strange beings roam the ocean.
I walk to the house of my instructor, Runner. He was named so because in his youth he was once so excited that he ran, like people did in the old days. I would have loved to see him run, but it was centuries before I was born. Runner is an old man now; no more running for him.
I knock at his door and wait. After a while he opens it. He greets me with a smile, showing too many teeth. I tried to count them, once, when I was younger and he'd dozed off with his mouth open, but he woke before I'd managed to count them all. They say he is a thousand years old --I do not believe it, but he must be close-- so I guess there must be nearly a hundred teeth in his mouth.
"What brings you to my doorstep, Stargazer?" he says, after a long pause. He motions me inside, indicating that I can sit down and get refreshed before I reply. I am still so excited about the news I bring that I almost spill it out right there at the doorstep, but of course I am not that rude.
I am Stargazer; I chose that name myself on my hundredth birthday, at my coming-of-age ceremony. I've always wanted to go outside and see the stars. I know it is impossible but I still dream about it, sometimes. That's why I am so often at the Observatory. It is the only place where I can look at the surface; a relic of the old days, when our people still thought it would be possible to return up there someday. I am the only one who goes to the Observatory now; Runner was the one who showed it to me, but he is too old now to walk that far.
I enter the house and sit on the sofa. He goes to the kitchen; after a long while he comes back, bringing me a cup of boiled water with herbs. One cup leads to another as we engage in idle conversation, and before I know it hours have passed and I have not spoken about my great discovery yet.
In the end, he politely raises an eyebrow; I finally get to tell him about what I saw at the Observatory.
"I would give everything to meet the people from the Blue Planet," I say.
He is puzzled. "Why do you say that?" he says. "How do you know the strangers come from there?"
"I just know."
He sighs. "This is not an argument," he says.
I shrug. "The old ones believed that the Blue Planet can sustain life," I say. "You taught me so yourself. That's why we coveted it, when our own planet started to die. Where else could they be from?"
It's not only that. The Blue Planet has been haunting my dreams; I know deep in my bones it is where the strangers come from. But I am not going to tell him about my dreams; and my reasoning seems to satisfy him.
"You should wear a suit," he says.
A suit? We wear a piece of cloth around our genitals to protect them when we're sexually active; we wear gloves on our lower hands during ceremonies. But what is a suit?
He reads my expression. "A space-suit," he says. He stumbles over the unfamiliar word. "The old ones had crafted space-suits so that we could walk the surface if the need arose. But there was never a need, so they are still stored near the Observatory."
My mouth hangs open. "You mean that I can wear a space-suit and go to the surface?" I say. I feel betrayed. "You knew I've always dreamed of going outside and yet you never told me."
"You were impetuous in your youth," he says. "There was no reason for you to go to the surface. Now I can see a reason."
He gives me instructions on where I can find the suits, and how to wear them, and how to find the hidden path to the gates that lead outside, and the procedure for opening the doors safely and closing them again behind me. We meticulously go over everything we know about the surface. A couple of days pass while he instructs me, so then we are hungry and he brings food. We eat four different kinds of bread and a vegetable pie he bakes for the occasion. Another day passes while we digest the excessive quantities of food.
I finally leave his house, shaken. Now that my dream seems to be within reach, I begin to feel afraid. Can I survive the surface? I meditate as I walk, trying to get in touch with my inner feelings.
Normally in a situation such as this, I should go home and remain isolated for twenty days, contemplating all angles in order to make the right decision. There is no need; I make my decision right there on the spot.
Even if I have to risk everything to fulfill it, I cannot throw away my dream. I cannot remain down here and pretend that nothing has changed.
But there is still something to do before I go. I have to get the blessing of Shadowchaser, and I have a feeling that this will not come easy.
She greets me as an equal and a companion. We have been paired since puberty; the elders calculated that our cycles of sexual activity would intersect a couple of centuries later, giving us the prospect of having children. This was too wonderful an opportunity for the elders to miss; our good fortune is that we had always been fond of each other, so it was a happy arrangement for us. Now there are less than eighty years left before we can consummate our relationship and become a proper couple.
I glance at her breasts. Her nipples are protruding and her breasts bulging; she is not wearing a loincloth yet, so her sexual cycle must be just starting. I will not be sexually active for another ten years --we will be finally attuned on the cycle after that one-- but the thought is strangely arousing, for a fleeting moment. Then it passes, and I am myself again.
I tell her about my quest, as I've already begun to think of it. Her face is set in stone. "You've been poisoned with knowledge," she says.
Knowledge is not a poison; but I know I've been poisoned with glory. The glory of our people's past. Our past tastes like dust and ashes in my mouth. We lived on the surface. We gazed at the stars. We were proud.
We were alive.
Now there's just this City Under The Hill, with a cloud that doesn't turn to rain and an ocean that we cannot cross. We used to communicate with the other colonies, but they've been silent for hundreds of thousands of years. Or it's us that have been silent. Silent as the tomb.
She doesn't share my sentiments. She is not interested in the past; she is happy with things as they are. "If you meet them," she says, "it will be the end of us."
"They have come to save us," I say.
She shakes her head. "You can't really believe this," she says.
I don't. I know they haven't come to save us, they probably don't even know we exist. But they will save us, one way or the other; I feel it in my bones also. But I don't want to tell her about my feelings, either.
I reach out and take her four hands in mine. Our eight arms entwine. "I have to go," I say. "I am sorry that you do not see things the way that I do, but disagreement is healthy among couples. Nevertheless, I will be back. Will you wait for me?"
To this she agrees. She was born to wait, as we all were. A million years underground have prepared us for a lot of waiting.
As I take my lonely road to the surface, I turn and look back towards the city. After thousands of years, the storm has broken out. It is raining under the hill.
—————————--
和平时夜里一样,我在天文台透过屏幕看着星球表面。地表的环境无法生存,一百万年前就已经如此。
我凝视着在夜空中闪耀的蓝星。当我们星球上的水和大气开始蒸发的时候,我们的族人曾梦想飞往那里,把它变成我们的殖民地。人们建起了神奇的飞船,理应能穿越两个世界间的虚空。
计划没成功。我们的星球死了。我们撤到地下,那儿还能找到水。我们建造了用来安身的城市,在找到方法逆转星球的毁灭命运、再次行走于大地上之前,我们会一直住在那里。我的祖先们将城市建在了丘陵下方深深的洞穴中;我们至今仍住在那儿。
天亮的时候,我看见一个陌生的生物翻滚着越过平原。随着它走近,看起来愈发庞大。我没指望它们能长成啥样,但肯定不是这样。
它朝着我头上的丘陵过来,腹部打开,出来了几个小得多的生物,不过它们的体型仍比我的族类要大一些。这是什么情况?那些是它的孩子吗?它是不是就地分娩了?
我终于慢慢明白过来了。那巨大的生物只是个会动的机器。这种机器我们以前也有。从机器肚子里出来的那些人才是真正的生物。
他们很白,头颅又圆又大,脸上闪闪发光。我没看到任何像是眼睛,耳朵或是鼻缝之类的东西。不知道他们是怎么看东西和互相交流的。他们的身躯大而臃肿。身上只有两只手臂,还有两条腿。
我太兴奋了。我感到上半身鼓胀起来,接着又缩下去。我得把这一新知识告诉别人。确实有一台机器用于长距离通信,不过数千年来它无处可用,早就报废了。
我继续观察了好几小时。他们笨拙地四处走动,收集尘土和砾石,再把它们放进小盒子里。到了晚上,他们回到机器里,离开了。
我走回山底之城。那是一座建有灰色房屋的灰色城市,灰色的人们走在灰色的街上。城市上方的云层翻滚起伏,暴风雨总是近在咫尺,却从未真正降临。我沿着海岸行走,感到海风轻拂着我的皮肤。我想着在海上航行会是什么感觉;他们说海的那边有另一座城市。不过,没人能渡过大洋,正如没人能在星球表面上行走;海洋是因为有怪物游荡。
我走到我的导师奔跑之人的门前。导师名字的来历是这样的,他年轻时有一回太过兴奋,居然像旧时代的那些人一样跑了起来。我倒是很乐意看他跑几步,不过那是我出生前几个世纪的事情了。奔跑之人现在已经年老,没法再跑了。
我敲了敲门,然后等着。过了会儿他才开了门。他向我微笑问好,露的牙齿有些多。我还小的时候,他有一次张着嘴打瞌睡,我想趁机数清他到底有多少颗牙,不过在我数清楚之前,他就醒了。人们说他有一千岁了——我可不信,但他的真实年龄应该也差不离——我估计他嘴里肯定有近一百颗牙。
“何事光临,观星之人?”他沉默了一阵才开口。他打了个手势,示意我可以先坐下来休息一会儿,然后再回答他的问题。我依旧因自己带来的消息兴奋不已,差点站在门阶上就一吐为快,但我当然没那么粗鲁。
我叫观星之人;这名字是我在一百岁生日的成年礼上自己选的。我一直想到外面去观看星星。我知道那是不可能的,但依然时不时做着这个梦。正因如此,我才会常常跑到天文台去。那是我能看见地表的唯一地点;是旧时代的遗迹——在那个时代,人们仍认为某天我们能重返地面。现在,只有我还会去天文台了;是奔跑之人把那地方介绍给我,不过他现在太老了,走不了那么远。
我进入室内,坐在沙发上。奔跑之人去了厨房,过了好长一会儿才回来,给了我一杯沸水泡的药草茶。我们一边闲聊,一边一杯接一杯地喝茶,不知不觉几小时过去了,我却还没有谈起那个大发现。
最后,他礼貌地扬起一边眉毛,我总算把我在天文台看到的东西告诉了他。
“如果能和那些蓝星来客见上一面,我愿意付出一切,”我说。
他有些迷惑。“你为什么那么说?”他说。“你怎么知道那些陌生人是从蓝星来的?”
“我就是知道。”
他叹了口气。“那可算不上论据,”他说。
我耸耸肩。“古人相信蓝星的环境能维持生命存在,”我说。“这是你自己教我的。所以当我们自己的星球开始死亡时,我们才会觊觎蓝星。他们还能从哪来?”
不仅仅是那样。蓝星一直在我的梦境里徘徊不去;在内心深处我知道,那些陌生人就是从蓝星来的。不过我可不打算跟他说我的梦境;而他对我先前说的理由似乎很满意。
“你应该穿套制服,”他说。
制服?我们会系块缠腰布,这是为了在我们处于性活跃状态时保护生殖器;有仪式时我们会在附手上带手套。但制服是什么?
他看出我很困惑。“太空制服,”他磕磕绊绊地念出这陌生的词组。“古人精心设计出了这种服装,这样只要有需要,我们便可穿上它在地表上行走。不过我们从来没有这种需要,所以它们现在还放在天文台附近。”
我下巴都要掉了。“你是说,我能穿着制服去地表?”我说。我感觉受骗了。“你知道我一直想去外面,却从来没告诉过我。”
“你年轻时很鲁莽,”他说。“没必要让你到地面上去。但现在,有让你出去的理由了。”
他指点我在哪能找到那些制服,怎么穿,以及如何找到通往出口大门的密道,还有安全打开大门、并在通过后关上它们的步骤。我们不厌其烦地重温对地表世界的一切所知。他教导着我,就这样过了好几天,我们肚子饿了,他便拿来了食物。我们吃了四种面包,还吃了一块他临时烤的蔬菜派。再用了一天消化那些过量的食物。
最后,我离开他的房子,浑身打颤。梦想似乎触手可及,我反倒开始害怕了。我能在地面上活下来么?我边走边冥想,试着与自己的内在情感建立连接。
通常碰到这种情况,我会回家把自己隔离起来过上二十天,慎重地考虑方方面面,以便做出最正确的选择。没这个必要——我当即就做出了决定。
去实现梦想也许会让我失去一切,即便如此,我也不可能放弃。我不可能继续缩在地底下,假装一切如常。
不过在走之前,我还有事要办。我必须获得逐影之人的祝福,而我有预感,这事不容易。
她用同辈和伴侣的礼节向我问好。从青春期时我们就被配成一对了。长老们计算出我们的性活跃周期将在几个世纪后重叠,我们将有可能在那时产下后代。对长老们来说,这是个不容错过的绝佳机会;而我们的运气也不错——我们两个总是互相吸引,所以对这一安排也很满意。再有不到八十年,我们就能完成灵与肉的结合,成为名副其实的伴侣。
我扫了眼她的胸脯。她的乳头凸起,乳房鼓涨;她还没系上缠腰布,所以她的性活跃周期肯定是才开始。我还要再等十年才会达到性活跃状态——再下一次,我们的周期就会交汇——在一转念间,这念头忽然相当引人遐想。不过这感觉很快消失了,我又恢复了常态。
我告诉她要去的时候,脑子已经完全被这个念头占据了。她的脸孔冷硬如岩。“你中了知识的毒,”她说。
知识并不是毒药,但我知道,我中了荣耀的毒。我们种族过往的荣耀。对我来说,那些过往尝起来就像尘土和灰烬一样苦涩。我们曾生活在大地上。我们曾仰望星辰。我们曾充满骄傲。
我们曾活着。
而现在,我们只有这座山底之城,只有一层不会下雨的云和一片无法逾越的大洋。我们曾经跟其它殖民地互通讯息,但我们已有几十万年没有再收到他们的消息了。也可能沉默的是我们。沉默得就像坟墓。
她不能理解我的这种伤感。她对过去不感兴趣,眼下的一切让她很满足。“如果你和他们碰了面,”她说,“我们会灭亡的。”
“他们是来救我们的。”我说。
她摇摇头。“你可不能指望这个。”她说。
我没指望这个。我知道他们不是来救我们的,他们可能都不知道我们的存在。但他们一定会以某种方式拯救我们。不过,我并不想把我的感觉告诉她。
我伸出手臂,握住她的四只手。八条手臂交织在一起。“我得走了,”我说。“很遗憾你我看待事物的方式不同,但是伴侣之间,有分歧是正常的。无论如何,我会回来的。你会等我吗?”
对于这个问题,她给了肯定的答复。她生来就是为了等待,我们都是如此。一百万年的地下生活早就让我们对长时间的等待习以为常。
当我独自踏上前往地表的旅途时,我回头望向城市。历经无数岁月,暴风雨终于来临了。山底下起了雨。
「完」
—————————————————————————--
彗星科幻:每月举办的国际短篇科幻赛事,展现地球上最好最高水平的科幻短篇创作。
每月从全世界范围邀请5名优秀科幻作者命题创作,字数3000-4500,获胜者奖金3000元(海外作者500美金)。
投稿、合作请联系:sfcomet@qq.com
官网:www.SFComet.com
微信号:SFComet
By George Nikolopoulos
Translated by Noc
2015-01
彗星科幻
(译文见后)
As I often do at night, I am at the Observatory, looking at the planet surface on a silver screen. The surface is lethal and has been so for a million years.
I stare at the Blue Planet, shining in the night sky. When the atmosphere and the water of our own planet began to evaporate, our people dreamed of flying there to colonize it. Strange ships were built, capable of traveling through the void between worlds.
The mission failed. Our planet died. We retreated underground, where there was still water to be found. We built cities to live in, until we could find a way to reverse the destruction so we could walk on the surface again. My ancestors built their city in a deep cavern under a hill; we are still living down there.
As dawn breaks, I see a strange creature rolling over the plains. As it approaches, it seems gigantic. I am not sure what I expected them to look like, but certainly not like this.
It is coming close to the hillside above me. Its belly opens. Several much smaller creatures emerge, though they are still larger than our own people. What is going on? Are they its children? Is it giving birth right here?
It finally dawns on me. The larger creature is just a machine that moves. We used to have machines like this, in the old days. The true people are the ones who came out of the machine's belly.
They are white, with big round heads and shiny faces. I can discern no eyes, ears or nose-slits; I wonder how they can see and communicate. Their bodies are large and bloated. They have two arms only, and two legs.
I am over-excited. I feel my upper body expanding, then contracting. I have to share the knowledge. I know there used to be a machine for communicating over long distances, but no one has needed to use it for thousands of years and it is long dead now.
I continue watching them for several hours. They walk around clumsily, gathering dirt and pebbles and putting them in little boxes. As night falls, they get back into their machine and leave.
I walk back to the City Under The Hill. A grey city with grey houses, grey people walking the grey streets. The cloud over the city ripples and rolls, always on the brink of a storm that never comes. I feel the ocean breeze on my skin as I walk along the shore. I wonder what it would be like, sailing the ocean; they say there is another city on the other side. But no one can cross over it, no more than one could walk the planet's surface; strange beings roam the ocean.
I walk to the house of my instructor, Runner. He was named so because in his youth he was once so excited that he ran, like people did in the old days. I would have loved to see him run, but it was centuries before I was born. Runner is an old man now; no more running for him.
I knock at his door and wait. After a while he opens it. He greets me with a smile, showing too many teeth. I tried to count them, once, when I was younger and he'd dozed off with his mouth open, but he woke before I'd managed to count them all. They say he is a thousand years old --I do not believe it, but he must be close-- so I guess there must be nearly a hundred teeth in his mouth.
"What brings you to my doorstep, Stargazer?" he says, after a long pause. He motions me inside, indicating that I can sit down and get refreshed before I reply. I am still so excited about the news I bring that I almost spill it out right there at the doorstep, but of course I am not that rude.
I am Stargazer; I chose that name myself on my hundredth birthday, at my coming-of-age ceremony. I've always wanted to go outside and see the stars. I know it is impossible but I still dream about it, sometimes. That's why I am so often at the Observatory. It is the only place where I can look at the surface; a relic of the old days, when our people still thought it would be possible to return up there someday. I am the only one who goes to the Observatory now; Runner was the one who showed it to me, but he is too old now to walk that far.
I enter the house and sit on the sofa. He goes to the kitchen; after a long while he comes back, bringing me a cup of boiled water with herbs. One cup leads to another as we engage in idle conversation, and before I know it hours have passed and I have not spoken about my great discovery yet.
In the end, he politely raises an eyebrow; I finally get to tell him about what I saw at the Observatory.
"I would give everything to meet the people from the Blue Planet," I say.
He is puzzled. "Why do you say that?" he says. "How do you know the strangers come from there?"
"I just know."
He sighs. "This is not an argument," he says.
I shrug. "The old ones believed that the Blue Planet can sustain life," I say. "You taught me so yourself. That's why we coveted it, when our own planet started to die. Where else could they be from?"
It's not only that. The Blue Planet has been haunting my dreams; I know deep in my bones it is where the strangers come from. But I am not going to tell him about my dreams; and my reasoning seems to satisfy him.
"You should wear a suit," he says.
A suit? We wear a piece of cloth around our genitals to protect them when we're sexually active; we wear gloves on our lower hands during ceremonies. But what is a suit?
He reads my expression. "A space-suit," he says. He stumbles over the unfamiliar word. "The old ones had crafted space-suits so that we could walk the surface if the need arose. But there was never a need, so they are still stored near the Observatory."
My mouth hangs open. "You mean that I can wear a space-suit and go to the surface?" I say. I feel betrayed. "You knew I've always dreamed of going outside and yet you never told me."
"You were impetuous in your youth," he says. "There was no reason for you to go to the surface. Now I can see a reason."
He gives me instructions on where I can find the suits, and how to wear them, and how to find the hidden path to the gates that lead outside, and the procedure for opening the doors safely and closing them again behind me. We meticulously go over everything we know about the surface. A couple of days pass while he instructs me, so then we are hungry and he brings food. We eat four different kinds of bread and a vegetable pie he bakes for the occasion. Another day passes while we digest the excessive quantities of food.
I finally leave his house, shaken. Now that my dream seems to be within reach, I begin to feel afraid. Can I survive the surface? I meditate as I walk, trying to get in touch with my inner feelings.
Normally in a situation such as this, I should go home and remain isolated for twenty days, contemplating all angles in order to make the right decision. There is no need; I make my decision right there on the spot.
Even if I have to risk everything to fulfill it, I cannot throw away my dream. I cannot remain down here and pretend that nothing has changed.
But there is still something to do before I go. I have to get the blessing of Shadowchaser, and I have a feeling that this will not come easy.
She greets me as an equal and a companion. We have been paired since puberty; the elders calculated that our cycles of sexual activity would intersect a couple of centuries later, giving us the prospect of having children. This was too wonderful an opportunity for the elders to miss; our good fortune is that we had always been fond of each other, so it was a happy arrangement for us. Now there are less than eighty years left before we can consummate our relationship and become a proper couple.
I glance at her breasts. Her nipples are protruding and her breasts bulging; she is not wearing a loincloth yet, so her sexual cycle must be just starting. I will not be sexually active for another ten years --we will be finally attuned on the cycle after that one-- but the thought is strangely arousing, for a fleeting moment. Then it passes, and I am myself again.
I tell her about my quest, as I've already begun to think of it. Her face is set in stone. "You've been poisoned with knowledge," she says.
Knowledge is not a poison; but I know I've been poisoned with glory. The glory of our people's past. Our past tastes like dust and ashes in my mouth. We lived on the surface. We gazed at the stars. We were proud.
We were alive.
Now there's just this City Under The Hill, with a cloud that doesn't turn to rain and an ocean that we cannot cross. We used to communicate with the other colonies, but they've been silent for hundreds of thousands of years. Or it's us that have been silent. Silent as the tomb.
She doesn't share my sentiments. She is not interested in the past; she is happy with things as they are. "If you meet them," she says, "it will be the end of us."
"They have come to save us," I say.
She shakes her head. "You can't really believe this," she says.
I don't. I know they haven't come to save us, they probably don't even know we exist. But they will save us, one way or the other; I feel it in my bones also. But I don't want to tell her about my feelings, either.
I reach out and take her four hands in mine. Our eight arms entwine. "I have to go," I say. "I am sorry that you do not see things the way that I do, but disagreement is healthy among couples. Nevertheless, I will be back. Will you wait for me?"
To this she agrees. She was born to wait, as we all were. A million years underground have prepared us for a lot of waiting.
As I take my lonely road to the surface, I turn and look back towards the city. After thousands of years, the storm has broken out. It is raining under the hill.
—————————--
和平时夜里一样,我在天文台透过屏幕看着星球表面。地表的环境无法生存,一百万年前就已经如此。
我凝视着在夜空中闪耀的蓝星。当我们星球上的水和大气开始蒸发的时候,我们的族人曾梦想飞往那里,把它变成我们的殖民地。人们建起了神奇的飞船,理应能穿越两个世界间的虚空。
计划没成功。我们的星球死了。我们撤到地下,那儿还能找到水。我们建造了用来安身的城市,在找到方法逆转星球的毁灭命运、再次行走于大地上之前,我们会一直住在那里。我的祖先们将城市建在了丘陵下方深深的洞穴中;我们至今仍住在那儿。
天亮的时候,我看见一个陌生的生物翻滚着越过平原。随着它走近,看起来愈发庞大。我没指望它们能长成啥样,但肯定不是这样。
它朝着我头上的丘陵过来,腹部打开,出来了几个小得多的生物,不过它们的体型仍比我的族类要大一些。这是什么情况?那些是它的孩子吗?它是不是就地分娩了?
我终于慢慢明白过来了。那巨大的生物只是个会动的机器。这种机器我们以前也有。从机器肚子里出来的那些人才是真正的生物。
他们很白,头颅又圆又大,脸上闪闪发光。我没看到任何像是眼睛,耳朵或是鼻缝之类的东西。不知道他们是怎么看东西和互相交流的。他们的身躯大而臃肿。身上只有两只手臂,还有两条腿。
我太兴奋了。我感到上半身鼓胀起来,接着又缩下去。我得把这一新知识告诉别人。确实有一台机器用于长距离通信,不过数千年来它无处可用,早就报废了。
我继续观察了好几小时。他们笨拙地四处走动,收集尘土和砾石,再把它们放进小盒子里。到了晚上,他们回到机器里,离开了。
我走回山底之城。那是一座建有灰色房屋的灰色城市,灰色的人们走在灰色的街上。城市上方的云层翻滚起伏,暴风雨总是近在咫尺,却从未真正降临。我沿着海岸行走,感到海风轻拂着我的皮肤。我想着在海上航行会是什么感觉;他们说海的那边有另一座城市。不过,没人能渡过大洋,正如没人能在星球表面上行走;海洋是因为有怪物游荡。
我走到我的导师奔跑之人的门前。导师名字的来历是这样的,他年轻时有一回太过兴奋,居然像旧时代的那些人一样跑了起来。我倒是很乐意看他跑几步,不过那是我出生前几个世纪的事情了。奔跑之人现在已经年老,没法再跑了。
我敲了敲门,然后等着。过了会儿他才开了门。他向我微笑问好,露的牙齿有些多。我还小的时候,他有一次张着嘴打瞌睡,我想趁机数清他到底有多少颗牙,不过在我数清楚之前,他就醒了。人们说他有一千岁了——我可不信,但他的真实年龄应该也差不离——我估计他嘴里肯定有近一百颗牙。
“何事光临,观星之人?”他沉默了一阵才开口。他打了个手势,示意我可以先坐下来休息一会儿,然后再回答他的问题。我依旧因自己带来的消息兴奋不已,差点站在门阶上就一吐为快,但我当然没那么粗鲁。
我叫观星之人;这名字是我在一百岁生日的成年礼上自己选的。我一直想到外面去观看星星。我知道那是不可能的,但依然时不时做着这个梦。正因如此,我才会常常跑到天文台去。那是我能看见地表的唯一地点;是旧时代的遗迹——在那个时代,人们仍认为某天我们能重返地面。现在,只有我还会去天文台了;是奔跑之人把那地方介绍给我,不过他现在太老了,走不了那么远。
我进入室内,坐在沙发上。奔跑之人去了厨房,过了好长一会儿才回来,给了我一杯沸水泡的药草茶。我们一边闲聊,一边一杯接一杯地喝茶,不知不觉几小时过去了,我却还没有谈起那个大发现。
最后,他礼貌地扬起一边眉毛,我总算把我在天文台看到的东西告诉了他。
“如果能和那些蓝星来客见上一面,我愿意付出一切,”我说。
他有些迷惑。“你为什么那么说?”他说。“你怎么知道那些陌生人是从蓝星来的?”
“我就是知道。”
他叹了口气。“那可算不上论据,”他说。
我耸耸肩。“古人相信蓝星的环境能维持生命存在,”我说。“这是你自己教我的。所以当我们自己的星球开始死亡时,我们才会觊觎蓝星。他们还能从哪来?”
不仅仅是那样。蓝星一直在我的梦境里徘徊不去;在内心深处我知道,那些陌生人就是从蓝星来的。不过我可不打算跟他说我的梦境;而他对我先前说的理由似乎很满意。
“你应该穿套制服,”他说。
制服?我们会系块缠腰布,这是为了在我们处于性活跃状态时保护生殖器;有仪式时我们会在附手上带手套。但制服是什么?
他看出我很困惑。“太空制服,”他磕磕绊绊地念出这陌生的词组。“古人精心设计出了这种服装,这样只要有需要,我们便可穿上它在地表上行走。不过我们从来没有这种需要,所以它们现在还放在天文台附近。”
我下巴都要掉了。“你是说,我能穿着制服去地表?”我说。我感觉受骗了。“你知道我一直想去外面,却从来没告诉过我。”
“你年轻时很鲁莽,”他说。“没必要让你到地面上去。但现在,有让你出去的理由了。”
他指点我在哪能找到那些制服,怎么穿,以及如何找到通往出口大门的密道,还有安全打开大门、并在通过后关上它们的步骤。我们不厌其烦地重温对地表世界的一切所知。他教导着我,就这样过了好几天,我们肚子饿了,他便拿来了食物。我们吃了四种面包,还吃了一块他临时烤的蔬菜派。再用了一天消化那些过量的食物。
最后,我离开他的房子,浑身打颤。梦想似乎触手可及,我反倒开始害怕了。我能在地面上活下来么?我边走边冥想,试着与自己的内在情感建立连接。
通常碰到这种情况,我会回家把自己隔离起来过上二十天,慎重地考虑方方面面,以便做出最正确的选择。没这个必要——我当即就做出了决定。
去实现梦想也许会让我失去一切,即便如此,我也不可能放弃。我不可能继续缩在地底下,假装一切如常。
不过在走之前,我还有事要办。我必须获得逐影之人的祝福,而我有预感,这事不容易。
她用同辈和伴侣的礼节向我问好。从青春期时我们就被配成一对了。长老们计算出我们的性活跃周期将在几个世纪后重叠,我们将有可能在那时产下后代。对长老们来说,这是个不容错过的绝佳机会;而我们的运气也不错——我们两个总是互相吸引,所以对这一安排也很满意。再有不到八十年,我们就能完成灵与肉的结合,成为名副其实的伴侣。
我扫了眼她的胸脯。她的乳头凸起,乳房鼓涨;她还没系上缠腰布,所以她的性活跃周期肯定是才开始。我还要再等十年才会达到性活跃状态——再下一次,我们的周期就会交汇——在一转念间,这念头忽然相当引人遐想。不过这感觉很快消失了,我又恢复了常态。
我告诉她要去的时候,脑子已经完全被这个念头占据了。她的脸孔冷硬如岩。“你中了知识的毒,”她说。
知识并不是毒药,但我知道,我中了荣耀的毒。我们种族过往的荣耀。对我来说,那些过往尝起来就像尘土和灰烬一样苦涩。我们曾生活在大地上。我们曾仰望星辰。我们曾充满骄傲。
我们曾活着。
而现在,我们只有这座山底之城,只有一层不会下雨的云和一片无法逾越的大洋。我们曾经跟其它殖民地互通讯息,但我们已有几十万年没有再收到他们的消息了。也可能沉默的是我们。沉默得就像坟墓。
她不能理解我的这种伤感。她对过去不感兴趣,眼下的一切让她很满足。“如果你和他们碰了面,”她说,“我们会灭亡的。”
“他们是来救我们的。”我说。
她摇摇头。“你可不能指望这个。”她说。
我没指望这个。我知道他们不是来救我们的,他们可能都不知道我们的存在。但他们一定会以某种方式拯救我们。不过,我并不想把我的感觉告诉她。
我伸出手臂,握住她的四只手。八条手臂交织在一起。“我得走了,”我说。“很遗憾你我看待事物的方式不同,但是伴侣之间,有分歧是正常的。无论如何,我会回来的。你会等我吗?”
对于这个问题,她给了肯定的答复。她生来就是为了等待,我们都是如此。一百万年的地下生活早就让我们对长时间的等待习以为常。
当我独自踏上前往地表的旅途时,我回头望向城市。历经无数岁月,暴风雨终于来临了。山底下起了雨。
「完」
—————————————————————————--
彗星科幻:每月举办的国际短篇科幻赛事,展现地球上最好最高水平的科幻短篇创作。
每月从全世界范围邀请5名优秀科幻作者命题创作,字数3000-4500,获胜者奖金3000元(海外作者500美金)。
投稿、合作请联系:sfcomet@qq.com
官网:www.SFComet.com
微信号:SFComet