評論
打印
In the remote southern seas there is a cluster of islands. The weather is fair, the land is fertile and the ocean is rich with fish. Each island is inhabited by a different race of people. Although physically they look alike, you can tell them apart by their styles of dress, their distinctive dialects and even their most casual gestures. A cursory tour of the archipelago reveals that each island has its own unique form of architecture. If there is any similarity between them, it is that each race builds in a manner that is stubbornly at odds with the immediate environment. On rocky hillsides there are wooden huts and in wooded valleys, towns of brick. Arid uplands are irrigated and planted with leafy gardens, whereas, on fertile plains, the parks are paved with stone. On windswept outposts people live in tents but in the most sheltered regions they have stout, resilient cottages.
在遙遠的南方海域上有一群島嶼。氣候宜人，土地肥沃，海洋里盛產魚類。每一個島嶼上都居住著一個不同的種族。盡管他們在身形外貌上非常相似，但是可以通過他們的著裝風格、他們與眾不同的方言、甚至他們最不經意的動作姿態把他們區別開。粗略地游覽一下這個群島就會發現，每一個島嶼都有它獨特的建筑形式。如果說它們之間有什么類似之處的話，那就是每一個種族的建造方式都是與鄰近環境不合情理地相悖。在多巖石的山坡上有木制的小屋，而在樹木繁茂的山谷有磚建的城鎮。在干旱的高地上引水灌溉，種植闊葉園林；然而在肥沃的平原上，公園里鋪著石頭。在受風吹襲的邊區村落，人們居住在帳篷里；而在最受庇護的地區，他們有堅固的、能復原的村舍。
Despite their differences, the islanders coexist peacefully. There is rivalry over certain fishing waters and sporting prowess but it rarely amounts to more than a few heated exchanges. Distances between the islands are not great and the sea is calm but people prefer to stick with their own kind and mixed marriages are rare. For the most part, the only contact between the different races is for trading purposes.
盡管他們有差異，島上居民還是和平共處。雖然在某些捕魚水域和體育實力上有競爭，但很少達到超過幾次激烈爭吵的程度。島嶼之間的距離并不遠，海洋也平靜，但人們更喜歡與自己的同類在一起，異族通婚很少見。在大多數情況下，不同種族間的唯一聯系是為了貿易。
At the centre of the archipelago, perhaps in the most favoured spot of all, lies an island that has been deserted for many generations. There is no obvious reason for its abandonment; it has good soil, plenty of freshwater, two natural ports and a climate no more or less suitable to the raising of crops than its neighbour's. But no birds circle overhead and no lights come on in the evenings.
在群島的中央，大概是位于所有場所中最有利的地點，有一座被廢棄了好幾代的島嶼。對于它的被棄，沒有很明顯的原因；它有優良的土壤，充足的淡水，兩個天然港口，以及比它的鄰居不多也不少適合種植莊稼的氣候。但是沒有鳥在上空盤旋，晚上也沒有燈光亮起。
