宇宙之卵 The Egg By: Andy Weir

原著內容：

You were on your way home when you died.

It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. 

You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me.

And that’s when you met me.

“What… what happened?” You asked. “Where am I?”

“You died,” I said, matter-of-factly. No point in mincing words.

“There was a… a truck and it was skidding…”

“Yup,” I said.

“I… I died?”

“Yup. But don’t feel bad about it. Everyone dies,” I said.

You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me. “What is this place?” You asked. “Is this the afterlife?”

“More or less,” I said.

“Are you god?” You asked.

“Yup,” I replied. “I’m God.”

“My kids… my wife,” you said.

“What about them?”

“Will they be all right?”

“That’s what I like to see,” I said. “You just died and your main concern is for your family. That’s good stuff right there.”

You looked at me with fascination. To you, I didn’t look like God. I just looked like some man. Or possibly a woman. Some vague authority figure, maybe. More of a grammar school teacher than the almighty.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “They’ll be fine. Your kids will remember you as perfect in every way. They didn’t have time to grow contempt for you. Your wife will cry on the outside, but will be secretly relieved. To be fair, your marriage was falling apart. If it’s any consolation, she’ll feel very guilty for feeling relieved.”

“Oh,” you said. “So what happens now? Do I go to heaven or hell or something?”

“Neither,” I said. “You’ll be reincarnated.”

“Ah,” you said. “So the Hindus were right,”

“All religions are right in their own way,” I said. “Walk with me.”

You followed along as we strode through the void. “Where are we going?”

“Nowhere in particular,” I said. “It’s just nice to walk while we talk.”

“So what’s the point, then?” You asked. “When I get reborn, I’ll just be a blank slate, right? A baby. So all my experiences and everything I did in this life won’t matter.”

“Not so!” I said. “You have within you all the knowledge and experiences of all your past lives. You just don’t remember them right now.”

I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders. “Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic than you can possibly imagine. A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are. It’s like sticking your finger in a glass of water to see if it’s hot or cold. You put a tiny part of yourself into the vessel, and when you bring it back out, you’ve gained all the experiences it had.

“You’ve been in a human for the last 48 years, so you haven’t stretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness. If we hung out here for long enough, you’d start remembering everything. But there’s no point to doing that between each life.”

“How many times have I been reincarnated, then?”

“Oh lots. Lots and lots. An in to lots of different lives.” I said. “This time around, you’ll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD.”

“Wait, what?” You stammered. “You’re sending me back in time?”

“Well, I guess technically. Time, as you know it, only exists in your universe. Things are different where I come from.”

“Where you come from?” You said.

“Oh sure,” I explained “I come from somewhere. Somewhere else. And there are others like me. I know you’ll want to know what it’s like there, but honestly you wouldn’t understand.”

“Oh,” you said, a little let down. “But wait. If I get reincarnated to other places in time, I could have interacted with myself at some point.”

“Sure. Happens all the time. And with both lives only aware of their own lifespan you don’t even know it’s happening.”

“So what’s the point of it all?”

“Seriously?” I asked. “Seriously? You’re asking me for the meaning of life? Isn’t that a little stereotypical?”

“Well it’s a reasonable question,” you persisted.

I looked you in the eye. “The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.”

“You mean mankind? You want us to mature?”

“No, just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature and become a larger and greater intellect.”

“Just me? What about everyone else?”

“There is no one else,” I said. “In this universe, there’s just you and me.”

You stared blankly at me. “But all the people on earth…”

“All you. Different incarnations of you.”

“Wait. I’m everyone!?”

“Now you’re getting it,” I said, with a congratulatory slap on the back.

“I’m every human being who ever lived?”

“Or who will ever live, yes.”

“I’m Abraham Lincoln?”

“And you’re John Wilkes Booth, too,” I added.

“I’m Hitler?” You said, appalled.

“And you’re the millions he killed.”

“I’m Jesus?”

“And you’re everyone who followed him.”

You fell silent.

“Every time you victimized someone,” I said, “you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you.”

You thought for a long time.

“Why?” You asked me. “Why do all this?”

“Because someday, you will become like me. Because that’s what you are. You’re one of my kind. You’re my child.”

“Whoa,” you said, incredulous. “You mean I’m a god?”

“No. Not yet. You’re a fetus. You’re still growing. Once you’ve lived every human life throughout all time, you will have grown enough to be born.”

“So the whole universe,” you said, “it’s just…”

“An egg.” I answered. “Now it’s time for you to move on to your next life.”

And I sent you on your way.

The Egg

Written by Andy Weir

Translation: Xiuzhu Shao

蛋
你在回家的路上死了。
那是一場車禍。不大，但仍然致命。你留下了妻子和兩個孩子。你死的並不痛苦。救護員盡力去救你，但沒有成功。你的身體被摔得太徹底了。死了很好，相信我。
這時你遇見了我。
“發生了什麼?”你問，“我在那兒？”
“你死了。”我說，沒有必要拐彎抹角。
“有一輛。。。一輛卡車失控。。。”
“對。”我說。
“我。。。我死了?”
“對。但別難過，每個人都會死。”我說。
你看了看周圍，一片虛空，只有你和我。 “這是什麼地方？”你問，“是來世嗎？”
“差不多吧。”我說。
“你是上帝？”你問。
“對，”我回答，“我是上帝。”
“我的孩子。。。我的老婆。。。”你說。
“怎麼了？”
“他們會好嗎？”
“這正是我想看到的，”我說，“你剛剛去世，但主要關心的是你的家人。這是好事。”
你充滿好奇地看著我。在你眼裡，我並不像神。我只像一個普通的男人，或許一個女人，一種模糊的權威形象。比起上帝，我長得更像一位老師。
“別擔心，”我說，“他們會好起來的。你的孩子們會把你記得十全十美。他們還來不及發展對你得敵意。你的妻子表面上會哭，但其實會暗暗鬆一口氣。說實在的，你們的婚姻已經破裂了。如果這是任何安慰的話，她會為此感到非常內疚。”
“哦，”你說，“那現在會發生什麼？我會去天堂還是地獄還是到哪裡？”
“都不會，”我說，“你會重新投胎。”
“啊，”你說，“原來印度教是對的。”
“每一個宗教都有他們自己對的地方，”我說，“和我一起走吧。”
你跟著我大步穿行於虛空。 “我們去哪兒呢？”
“不是什麼特別的地方，”我說。 “剛好我們可以邊走邊談。”
“那最終的目的是什麼呢？”你問，“我重生的時候，會變成一張白紙，對嗎？一個嬰兒。所以我此生所有的經歷和所做的一切都不再有意義。 ”
“不是這樣！”我說，“你之中包含有你累生累世所有的知識和經驗。只是現在你不記得它們了。”
我停下腳步，握住你的肩膀。 “你的靈魂比你所能想像的任何東西都更為壯觀、美麗和巨大，人類的頭腦只可容納你的一小部分。就像你把手指放進一杯水里試探溫度一樣，你只把自己小小的一部分放進身體這個容器。但當你把它拿回時，你就獲得了這個容器的所有經驗。”
“你才在一個人體裡過了48年，所以你還沒有充分伸展你自己，覺悟到你其餘的龐大意識。如果我們在這裡逗留足夠長的時間，你會開始記起一切。但一生和一生之間沒有必要這樣做。”
“那我曾轉過多少次世呢？”
“哦，很多，很多很多。很多不同的生命。”我說，“接下來，你是一個活在公元540年的中國農家姑娘。”
“等等，什麼？”你結結巴巴地說，“你要把我送回過去？”
“理論上說，我想是這樣吧。你所知道的時間其實只存在於你的世界裡。而在我的世界裡，一切都不同。”
“你從哪裡來？”你問。
“哦，”我解釋道，“我來自某一個地方，另一個地方。那兒有很多和我一樣的存在。我知道你想知道那兒是什麼樣子，但老實說，你不會理解。”
“哦，”你說，有點失望。 “但等等。如果我恰巧轉世到一個地方，我很可能曾經與我自己在某一點相遇。”
“當然，這種情況經常發生。但每一個生命只曉得它自己的周期，所以你根本不知道它實際在發生。”
“那這一切的意義是什麼呢？”
“真的嗎？”我問，“當真？你在問我生命的意義？不覺的有點老套？”
“但這的確是一個合理的問題。”你堅持。
我看著你的眼睛。 “生命的意義，也是我創造整個宇宙的原因，是為了讓你成熟。”
“你是指人類？你想讓我們成熟？”
“不，只有你。我為你創造了整個宇宙。你每一次的生命都讓你成長和成熟，成為一個更大的、更偉大的智者。”
“只是我嗎？其他人怎麼辦？”
“沒有別人，”我說，“這個宇宙裡只有你和我。”
你茫然地盯著我，“但地球上所有的人。。。”
“全是你，不同化身的你。”
“等等，我是每個人？！”
“你終於懂了，”我說，祝賀地拍了拍你的背。
“我是每一個活過的人？”
“還是未來每一個將要活的人，對。”
“我是林肯？”
“你也是約翰·布斯。”我說。
“我是希特勒？”你震驚地說。
“你也是被他殺死的幾百萬人。”
“我是耶穌？”
“你也是跟隨他的每一個人。”
你沉默了。
“你每次害了一個人，”我說，“你就在害自己。你每一次善意的行動，都是對自己的善意。任何人所經歷的每一個快樂和悲傷的時刻，都曾經被你，或將會被你，所經歷。”
你想了很久。
“為什麼？”你問我，“為什麼你要做這一切？”
“因為有一天，你會變得和我一樣。因為這就是你的本來面目，你和我是同類，你是我的孩子。”
“哇，”你難以置信地說，“你的意思是說我是上帝？”
“不，還不是。你還是個胎兒，你還在發育。一旦你活過所有時間的所有人的生命之後，你才會發育到足夠成熟去獲得新生。”
“那整個宇宙，”你說，“只是一個。。。”
“蛋。”我回答，“現在時間到了，該讓你進入下一個生命了。”
然後我把你送上了路。