1. Margie even wrote about it that night in her diary. On the page headed May 17, 2157, she wrote, "Today, Tommy found a real book!" It was a very old book. Margie's grandfather once said that when he was a little boy his grandfather told him that there was a time when all stories were printed on paper. They turned the pages, which were yellow and crinkly, and it was awfully funny to read words that stood still instead of moving the way they were supposed to--on a screen, you know.
那天晚上,瑪吉甚至把這件事寫在了自己的日記里。在日記里標題為“2157年5月17日”的那頁中,她寫道:“今天,湯米發現了一本真正的書!”這是一本非常古老的書。瑪吉的祖父曾跟她說過,當他還是個小男孩時,他的祖父告訴他,曾幾何時所有的故事都是印在紙上的。他們翻動著褶皺的黃色書頁,閱讀著印在書頁上靜止不動,而不是屏幕上按照預期方式移動的文字——你知道,這的確是一種非常有趣的體驗。
2. "Gee," said Tommy, "what a waste. When you're through with the book, you just throw it away, I guess. Our television screen must have had a million books on it and it's good for plenty more. I wouldn't throw it away." "Same with mine," said Margie. She was eleven and hadn't seen as many telebooks as Tommy had. He was thirteen. She said: "Where did you find it?" "In my house." He pointed without looking, because he was busy reading. "In the attic." "What's it about?" "School." Margie was scornful. "School? What's there to write about school? I hate school."
“哎呀,”湯米說,“這太浪費了。我猜,你讀完這本書時,你就得把它丟掉。我們的電視屏幕上肯定有一百萬本書,而且應該還可以容納更多。并且,我不會扔掉它。“ “我也這么想的,”瑪吉說——她今年11歲,還沒有像13歲的湯米那樣看過很多電視書。瑪吉說:“你在哪里找到它的?” “在我家里。”他指了指家的方向,但沒有抬頭看,因為他正忙著看這本書。“就在閣樓里。” “它是本關于什么的書?” “學校。”瑪吉露出輕蔑的神情,接過話來:“學校?學校有什么好寫的?我討厭學校。”
3. Margie always hated school, but now she hated it more than ever. The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse until her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully and sent for the County Inspector. He was a round little man with a red face and a whole box of tools with dials and wires. He smiled at Margie and gave her an apple, then took the teacher apart.
瑪吉一直很討厭學校,但現在比以往更嚴重了。機器老師對她進行了一次又一次地理學測試,她的成績卻一次比一次遭。最后,她的母親只得傷心地搖了搖頭,請來了縣里的檢查員。他是一個圓臉的矮個男人,臉紅撲撲的,帶著一整箱工具,有撥盤和電線什么的。他對瑪吉笑了笑,給了她一個蘋果,然后把“老師”拆開了。
4. Margie had hoped he wouldn't know how to put it together again, but he knew how all right, and, after an hour or so, there it was again, large and black and ugly, with a big screen on which all the lessons were shown and the questions were asked. That wasn't so bad. The part Margie hated most was the slot where she had to put homework and test papers. She always had to write them out in a punch code they made her learn when she was six years old, and the mechanical teacher calculated the mark in no time. Margie was disappointed. She had been hoping they would take the teacher away altogether. They had once taken Tommy's teacher away for nearly a month because the history sector had blanked out completely.
瑪吉希望他不知道怎么把那東西重新裝好,但他的技術非常不錯,大約一小時后,它就恢復了原樣——那個又大又黑又丑,還有一個用于展示各種課程并提出各種提問的大屏幕。這還不是最糟糕的,瑪吉最討厭是那個用于放入家庭作業和試卷的插槽。她總是不得不用她六歲時他們讓她學會的代碼完成作業和試卷,然后機器老師會在最短的時間內計算出她的分數。瑪吉非常失望。她一直希望他們能把這臺老師徹底帶走。他們曾經把湯米的老師帶走了將近一個月時間,因為歷史課部分被全部刪除了。
5. So she said to Tommy, "Why would anyone write about school?" Tommy looked at her with very superior eyes. "Because it's not our kind of school, stupid. This is the old kind of school that they had hundreds and hundreds of years ago." He added loftily, pronouncing the word carefully, "Centuries ago." Margie was hurt. "Well, I don't know what kind of school they had all that time ago." She read the book over his shoulder for a while, then said, "Anyway, they had a teacher."
于是,她對湯米說:“為什么有人會寫關于學校的事情?”湯米用優越感非常強的眼神看著她。“因為它不是我們這種學校,傻瓜。這是好幾百年前的老式學校,”他語氣傲慢、字正腔圓地補充說,“是幾個世紀以前的事情了。”瑪吉感到內心受到了傷害,于是說:“好吧,我不知道他們那時候的學校是什么樣的。”她扒在他的肩膀上看了一會兒這本書,然后說:“反正,他們會有老師。”
6. "Sure they had a teacher, but it wasn't a regular teacher. It was a man." "A man? How could a man be a teacher?" "Well, he just told the boys and girls things and gave them homework and asked them questions." "A man isn't smart enough." "Sure he is. My father knows as much as my teacher." "He can't. A man can't know as much as a teacher." "He knows almost as much, I betcha."
“他們當然有老師,但不是那種普通的老師,而是人。” “人?人怎么可能當老師?” “嗯,他只負責為男孩、女孩們講解課程,給他們留家庭作業,并向他們提問。” “可人不夠聰明啊。” “他確實夠聰明了。我爸爸和我的老師知道的一樣多。” “不可能,人不可能知道的跟老師一樣多。” “幾乎一樣多,我確信。”
7. Margie wasn't prepared to dispute that. She said, "I wouldn't want a strange man in my house to teach me." Tommy screamed with laughter. "You don't know much, Margie. The teachers didn't live in the house. They had a special building and all the kids went there." "And all the kids learned the same thing?" "Sure, if they were the same age."
瑪吉不準備在這件事上繼續爭論。于是,她說:“我可不希望家里有一個陌生人給我上課。”湯米大笑著尖叫起來:“你真的不太了解,瑪吉。老師們并不住在學生們的家里。他們有一座專門的建筑,所有的孩子都去那里上課。” “那,所有孩子都要學同樣的東西?” “當然了,只要他們的年齡一樣大。”
8. "But my mother says a teacher has to be adjusted to fit the mind of each boy and girl it teaches and that each kid has to be taught differently." "Just the same they didn't do it that way then. If you don't like it, you don't have to read the book." "I didn't say I didn't like it," Margie said quickly. She wanted to read about those funny schools. They weren't even half-finished when Margie's mother called, "Margie! School!" Margie looked up. "Not yet, Mamma." "Now!" said Mrs. Jones. "And its probably time for Tommy, too."
“但,我的媽媽說:老師必須調整教學計劃,以適應它教授的每個孩子的心智情況,并且每個孩子都必須接受不同的教育。” “可他們沒有那么做,他們就是以完全相同的方式給孩子們上課的。如果你不喜歡這種方式,你就沒必要讀這本書了。” “我沒說我不喜歡啊,”瑪吉快速地說道。她想讀一讀有關這樣的有趣的學校的事情。當瑪吉的媽媽喊道:“瑪吉!上學啦!”時,他們甚至還沒讀完這本書的一半內容。瑪吉抬起頭來,答道: “再等一會兒,媽媽。” “就現在!”瓊斯太太說,“還有,湯米的上學時間也快到了。”
9. Margie said to Tommy, "Can I read the book some more with you after school?" "Maybe," he said nonchalantly. He walked away whistling, the dusty old book tucked beneath his arm.
瑪吉對湯米說:“我可以放學后和你一起讀這本書嗎?” “也許吧,”他滿不在乎地答道。然后,他便把這本滿是灰塵的舊書夾在腋下,吹著口哨走開了。
Margie went into the schoolroom. It was right next to her bedroom, and the mechanical teacher was on and waiting for her. It was always on at the same time every day except Saturday and Sunday, because her mother said little girls learned better if they learned at regular hours. The screen was lit up, and it said: "Today's arithmetic lesson is on the addition of proper fractions. Please insert yesterday's homework in the proper slot."
瑪吉走進教室。教室就在她臥室旁邊,機器老師正等著她。除了星期六和星期天以外,每天的同一時間機器老師都會準時開機,因為她的母親說,遵守作息時間會讓小女孩學習更好。屏幕亮了起來,同時傳來了機器老師的聲音:“今天的算術課學習真分數的加法。請在相應的插槽中放入昨天的家庭作業。”
10. Margie did so with a sigh. She was thinking about the old schools they had when her grandfather's grandfather was a little boy. All the kids from the whole neighbourhood came, laughing and shouting in the schoolyard, sitting together in the schoolroom, going home together at the end of the day. They learned the same things, so they could help one another on the homework and talk about it.
瑪吉嘆了口氣,照做了。但她腦子里想的都是,她祖父的祖父還是個小男孩時的那種老式學校的樣子——整個街區的所有孩子都來到同一所學校;一起在學校的操場上歡笑著,大喊著;坐在同一間教室里;放學時一起回家;他們學習同樣的東西,于是他們可以在完成家庭作業時相互幫助,一起討論。
11. And the teachers were people...The mechanical teacher was flashing on the screen: "When we add the fractions 1/2and 1/4..." Margie was thinking about how the kids must have loved it in the old days. She was thinking about the fun they had.
還有,老師們都是人......此時,機器老師開始在屏幕上閃爍:“當我們把分數1/2和1/4加在一起時......”但,此時此刻,瑪吉正想著那時的孩子們一定非常喜歡那樣的上課方式,正想著他們所擁有的樂趣。