評論
打印
Their places were taken by a delegation from the principal churches of the town headed by the president of the local theological seminary. "Mr. Mayor," this gentleman said, "we believe that further scientific inquiry into the nature of this object will prove fruitless. It belongs not to man but to God. What we witness is a veritable and unquestioned miracle.
他們的位置被來自該城一些主要教堂的一個代表團所取代，這個代表團由當地神學院的院長率領。“市長先生，”那位先生說道，“我們認為對這個物體的性質的進一步科學調查將是徒勞的。這件物體不屬于人，而屬于上帝。我們所見到的是一個的的確確的上帝創造的奇跡。
"No material description of this block is possible, since it is not material, but spiritual. God in His wisdom has chosen to send us a reminder made manifest that, though men can tinker with the building blocks of nature, they cannot explain them."
“對這塊東西作物質的描述是不可能的，因為它不是物質的，而是精神的。上帝以其智慧選送給我們這塊東西，以提醒我們明白一個道理，盡管人類能夠擺弄大自然提供的各種素材，但卻無法解釋它們。”
By now it was past noon and John Thomas suddenly realized that he was hungry. Not only that, but most of the discussions he had been hearing were totally without meaning for him. He recognized a word here and there, but that was all. It is true that the general feeling of excitement and wonder had communicated itself to him and he had enjoyed being the center, directly and indirectly, of so much attention. But at last he was bored and wanted his lunch.
其時已是午后了。約翰·托馬斯突然感到餓了。不僅如此，而且他覺得他所聽到的大多數爭論對他毫無意義。他時而能聽懂個把單詞，僅此而已。他確實曾為人們的激動和驚奇的情緒所感染，而且他也樂于直接地或間接地成為眾人注目的中心。但他終于厭倦了，只想吃午飯。
His mother took him into the house and made him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and gave him a glass of milk. While he was eating, he said to her, "Mother, do you like having that funny block in our back yard and all those queer people?"
他的母親把他帶進了屋內，給他做了花生醬果子凍三明治，還給他一杯牛奶。他一邊吃，一邊對他的母親說：“媽媽，你喜歡那個奇怪的金屬塊留在我們后院里嗎？你喜歡那些怪人嗎？”
"No," she said, "I don't. I'll never get any work done, and all that talk makes my head swim. I don't know who's right and who's wrong, but I do know that your father will want to stay around to superintend things, and the people he works for won’t like that. I wish that block would take itself off to whatever place it came from. "
“不，“她說，“我不喜歡。那樣什么事也做不成了。那些談話把我的頭都搞暈了。我搞不明白誰對誰錯，但我清楚，這一來你爸爸就得待在家里料理事情，而他的雇主卻不會高興。但愿這塊東西自動離開，哪兒來，哪兒去。”
"So do I," John Thomas said. "I’m tired of it."
“我也希望如此。”約翰·托馬斯說。“我對那玩意兒厭倦了。”
At that precise moment there was a shout from the yard. "It's gone. The block has gone."
就在那一時刻，院子里傳來一聲大喊。“跑了，那塊東西跑了。”
