01 The World Through a Spy-Glass
01透過小望遠鏡看到的世界
You may never have seen your own face. This may surprise you and you may say it isn't so- but it is so. You may see the end of your nose. You may even see your lips if you pout out—so. If you stick out your tongue you may see the tip of it. But you can't go over there, outside of yourself, and look at your own face. Of course you know what your face looks like, because you have seen it in a mirror; but that's not yourself—it's only a picture of yourself.
你從來都沒看過你自己的臉。這樣說可能讓你驚訝，你也許會說這不可能，但事實的確如此。你或許能看到你的鼻尖。你或許能看到你的嘴唇—如果撅起嘴巴的話。如果伸出舌頭，你或許還能看到你的舌尖。但是你無法離開你自己去看自己的臉。當然你知道自己長的什么樣子,因為你在鏡子里看到過自己的臉。但這不是你自己,而只是你的一個圖像。
And in the same way no one of us can see our own World—all of it—this World on which we live. You can see a little bit of the World just around you—and if you go up into a high building you can see still more—and if you go up to the top of a high mountain you can see still still more—and if you go up in an airplane you can see still, still, still more. But to see the Whole World you would have to go much higher than that, higher than any one has ever been able to go or could go. You would have to go far, far above the clouds; way, way off in the sky where the stars are—and no one can do that even in an airplane.
同樣的道理，我們中沒有人能看到我們居住的這個世界，看不到它的全部。你可以看到世界的一點點，也就是你自己周圍的那點地方；如果你爬到一棟高樓上，就可以看到更多；如果你爬到一座高山頂上，就可以看到更多更多；如果你乘一架飛機向上飛，你可以看到更多更多更多。但是要看到整個世界，你不得不到一個比那更高的地方，一個比任何人到達過或能夠到達的更高的地方。你不得不走到遠在云層之上，很高很高的地方，直到星空中老遠老遠的地方；這沒有人能做到，即使坐飛機也做不到。
Now you cannot see the World in a mirror as you can see your face. So how do we know what the World looks like? A fish in the sea might tell her little fish, "The World is all water—just a huge tub; I've been everywhere and I know.” Of course, she wouldn't know anything different. A camel in the desert might tell her little camels, "The World is all sand—just a huge sand pile; I've been everywhere and I know.” A polar bear on an iceberg might tell her little polar bears, "The World is all snow and ice—just a huge refrigerator; I've been everywhere and I know." A bear in the woods might tell her little bear cubs, "The World is all woods—just a huge forest I've been everywhere and I know." In the same way, once upon a time, people used to tell their little children, "The World is just a big island like a huge mud pie with some water, some sand, some ice, and some trees on it, and with a cover we call the sky over us all; we've been everywhere and we know."
你無法像在鏡子里看見你自己那樣來看見這個世界，那么我們怎么知道世界是什么樣子的呢？大海里的魚會對魚寶寶們說：“世界都是水—就是好大好大一盆水；我哪兒都去過，我當然知道。”當然，除了水，她不可能知道什么別的事情。沙漠里的駱駝會對小駱駝們說：“世界都是沙—就是好大好大一堆沙；我哪兒都去過，我當然知道。” 冰山上的北極熊會對小北極熊們說：“世界都是雪和冰—就是好大好大一個冰箱；我哪兒都去過，我當然知道。” 森林里的熊會對小熊仔說：“世界都是森林—就是一個巨大的森林；我哪兒都去過，我知道就是這樣。”同樣，人們從前常常對孩子們說：“世界是一個大大的島，就像是一個用泥做的大餡餅，上面有水呀、沙呀、冰呀和樹呀等等，在我們的上方有一個我們稱之為天空的蓋子；我們哪兒都去過，我們當然知道。”
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