評論
打印
But Tom, 50, was playing it at his desk in Los Angeles one evening in the silence of a nearly empty office building. Actually, he only appeared to be alone. His glowing computer screen showed a game already in progress with several habitual partners: "Blue Whale," a man from Germany; Russ from Ohio; and Freddy, a Chinese-American who lives in Minnesota. Tom played effortlessly as we talked.
而在洛杉磯的一個夜晚，50歲的湯姆一個人坐在辦公桌旁，在寂靜、空蕩蕩的辦公大樓里玩起了麻將。表面上他只是一個人在玩麻將。可實際上他那閃亮著的計算機屏幕表明他在與幾個老牌友對弈：德國人“藍鯨”、俄亥俄州的盧斯、明尼蘇達州的美籍華人弗雷迪。我們一邊談著話，湯姆一邊輕松地玩著。
"I've learned about 11 different styles of mahjong," he told me with that detached friendliness of those whose true connection is with machines. "There are a couple of different ways of playing it in America. We usually play Chinese mahjong."
“我已會11種不同的麻將玩法。”湯姆對我很友善，像那些心思連在計算機上的其他人一樣，有點心不在焉。他對我說：“美國的玩法不少，可我們一般玩中式的。”
I watched the little tiles, like cards, bounce around the screen. As Tom played, he and his partners conversed by typing short comments to each other.
小小麻將牌像撲克一樣在屏幕上彈來彈去。湯姆用文字方式與牌友簡短地評論著牌局。
Does he ever play with real people? "Oh yeah," Tom replied. "Once a week at the office in the evening, and Thursday at lunch." A new name appeared on the screen. "There's Fred's mother. Can't be, they're in Vegas. Oh, it must be his sister. TJ's online too, she's the one from Wales—a real night owl. She's getting married soon, and she lived with her fiance, and sometimes he gets up and says‘Get off that damn computer!’"
他面對面地打過麻將嗎？他回答：“打過。一周一次，晚上在辦公室打，周四中午打。”這時，屏幕上跳出一個新名字?！案ダ椎系哪赣H。不可能，他們在維加斯。噢！一定是他姐姐。TJ也在線，她是威爾士人，真正的夜貓子。她快結婚了，現在和未婚夫住在一起。有時她未婚夫會起床對她說：‘從那個該死的電腦上下來！’”
Tom played on into the night. At least it was night where I was. He , an American playing a Chinese game with people in Germany, Wales, Ohio, and Minnesota, was up in the cybersphere far above the level of time zones. It is a realm populated by individuals he's never met who may be more real to him than the people who live next door.
湯姆一直玩到深夜——至少我這兒是深夜。他游走在超越時區的網絡世界：一個美國人卻同時與德國人、威爾士人、俄亥俄人和明尼蘇達人一起玩中國游戲。對他來說，這是一個人們從未謀面，但卻比隔壁的鄰居更加盤實的網絡世界。
