1990年2月14日,美國(guó)“旅行者1號(hào)”(voyager 1)飛船,飛到了太陽(yáng)系的邊緣?刂浦行淖屗剡^(guò)頭,最后看一眼它出發(fā)的地球。下面就是當(dāng)時(shí)拍下的照片,距離地球大約64億公里。
1994年,著名的美國(guó)科普作家卡爾·薩根(Carl Sagan)有感而發(fā),寫(xiě)了一篇短文《黯淡的藍(lán)點(diǎn)》(pale blue dot),后來(lái)成為名篇。
Look again at that dot.
再看一下這個(gè)點(diǎn)吧。
That's here. That's home. That's us.
它在那里。那就是我們的家,我們的一切。
On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives.
在它上面,有你愛(ài)的每個(gè)人、你認(rèn)識(shí)的每個(gè)人、你聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò)的每個(gè)人。歷史上的每一個(gè)人,都在它上面度過(guò)了自己的一生。
The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
所有我們的歡樂(lè)和痛苦,所有言之鑿鑿的宗教、意識(shí)形態(tài)和經(jīng)濟(jì)思想,所有獵人和強(qiáng)盜,所有英雄和懦夫,所有文明的創(chuàng)造者和毀滅者,所有的皇帝和農(nóng)夫,所有熱戀中的青年情侶,所有的父母、滿懷希望的孩子、發(fā)明者和探索者,所有精神導(dǎo)師,所有腐敗的政治家,所有“超級(jí)明星”,所有“最高領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人”,所有圣徒和罪人,從人類這個(gè)種族存在的第一天起——都發(fā)生在這顆懸浮在太陽(yáng)光中的塵埃上。
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena.
地球是宇宙競(jìng)技場(chǎng)中的一個(gè)小舞臺(tái)。
Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.
那些將軍和帝王,那些成敗和榮辱,那些血流成河,那些霸業(yè)和輝煌,不過(guò)只發(fā)生在這個(gè)點(diǎn)上的一部分地區(qū),轉(zhuǎn)瞬即逝。
Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.
想想這個(gè)小點(diǎn)上,一個(gè)角落的居民對(duì)另一個(gè)角落的居民,往往會(huì)表現(xiàn)出無(wú)限的殘忍,無(wú)所不在的誤解,互相殘殺的熱切,以及難以化解的仇恨。
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light.
我們故作姿態(tài),我們自以為很重要,我們自欺欺人地認(rèn)定人類在宇宙中的特權(quán)地位,這一切都被這個(gè)白光中的小點(diǎn)推翻了。
Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark.
我們的星球是宇宙無(wú)邊的黑暗中一顆孤獨(dú)的塵埃。
In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
茫茫黑暗中,無(wú)盡的未知,我們一點(diǎn)都不知道,哪里可以找到幫助。
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life.
地球是迄今為止,唯一的已知存在生命的地方。
There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate.
至少在可預(yù)見(jiàn)的將來(lái),人類也不會(huì)找到其他可以移民的地方。
Visit, yes. Settle, not yet.
訪問(wèn)其他星球,可以做到。定居在那里,沒(méi)有可能。
Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
不管是否接受,目前地球是我們僅有的立足之地。
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience.
據(jù)說(shuō)天文學(xué)是一種令人謙卑、塑造人格的科學(xué)。
There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world.
也許這張表現(xiàn)我們的世界是如何渺小的照片,是人類愚蠢自負(fù)的最好證明。
To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.
對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō),它更表明,我們?nèi)祟愔g必須友善相處,珍惜和保護(hù)這個(gè)黯淡的藍(lán)點(diǎn)。它是我們唯一的家。
--Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot, 1994
是的。一方面,人類是微不足道的;另一方面,宇宙雖大,但是地球只有一個(gè)。沒(méi)有了地球,人類就沒(méi)有了一切,讓我們愛(ài)惜這個(gè)星球。如果你想到它只是一粒塵埃的話,你就會(huì)明白我們多么容易失去它。