造物弄人（2009）

他四肢着地蹲下来 裹着他的长披肩
“He stooped down upon all fours, wrapped up in his plaid…”
-妈妈 看我找到了什么 -看看
– Look what I found, mama. – Look at that.
我应该喂它什么呢
What shall I feed it?
问问尊敬的英尼斯先生吧
Let’s ask reverend Innes.
呃
Oh, erm…
我觉得树叶吧
A leaf, I should think.
这是墓地甲虫 是吧 查尔斯
Necrophorus humator, isn’t he, Charles?
真是个不错的标本
Rather a splendid specimen.
对啊 它是食肉的
Yes, he is. He’s a… carnivore.
它吃腐肉和昆虫
He eats carrion and insects.
兄弟们 我们需要腐肉和昆虫
Boys! We need carrion and insects!
看 这里有只蠕虫 这有只蠕虫
Look, here’s a worm, here’s a worm.
-是只地蜈蚣 打扁它 -不 别杀它
– An earwig! Squish it! – No, don’t kill it.
我了解那个表情
I know that expression.
他在梦想那些不再受
He’s dreaming of his glory days
妻子和家庭羁绊的美好日子
When he was unencumbered with wife and family.
自♥由♥地行走于整个星球
Free to wander the planet.
实际上 我是 我是在回想
Actually, I was… I was remembering how the tropical seas
漂满生命微粒的热带海洋
teemed with living particles
似乎将小猎犬号♥环绕在光圈中
that seemed to surround the Beagle with a luminous glow
为它在夜里留下一条闪光的道路
And leave a glistening pathway through the night.
令人迷惑
Puzzling.
如此美丽却只有如此少的用处
So much beauty for so little purpose.
如此少的用处
So little purpose?
它们帮忙照亮了船行驶的道路
They were helping to light the ship’s way.
说得好 就是这样
Well said. Exactly.
约翰 你熟悉托马斯·马尔萨斯的作品吗
John, are you familiar with the works of Thomas Malthus?
-他和他的堂亲结了婚 -我也是
– He married his first cousin. – So did I.
-是的 但我不是那个意思 -当然不是
– Yes, but I wasn’t suggesting that – Of course you weren’t.
不管怎样 托马斯·马尔萨斯计算出
Anyway, Thomas Malthus calculated that if,
如果每一条鲑鱼
Well, if every trout,
比如说 有一百个左右的后代
Say, had a hundred or so offspring
它的后代也如此
And so on and so forth throughout the generations,
几十年内我们就会没在齐膝深的鲑鱼里
We’d be knee-deep in trout in just a few decades.
你对此作何反应
How would you respond to that?
我的回应是
I’d respond by saying
它们大多数的卵被破坏了或者被吃了
That most of the eggs are destroyed or eaten
所以数量保持稳定
So that the numbers remain stable.
那正是主完美的计划
That’s the beauty of God’s plan.
你没意识到这计划多么浪费
It doesn’t strike you as a wasteful plan,
无数生命被创造出来
These myriad lives created
只是为了被瞬间毁灭
Only to be immediately extinguished?
它们为其他的卵提供食物
They provide food for others.
吃奶酪和黄瓜吗
Cheese and cucumber?
上千条死掉 只为了让几条活下来
Thousands die so that only a few may live.
这不是把全部的幸福建立在
Is not the sum total of
部分的巨大亏损之上吗
Happiness in some sort of massive deficit?
查尔斯 如此去推测主的心意
Charles, it is really not
的确不是我的职责所在
My duty to speculate on the mind of God,
但我看来自然确实一片和平
But it does seem to me that nature is at peace.
还有另一种视角
There is another view.
自然是战场
That all of nature is a battlefield.
不记得我在哪读到过这个
Remind me where I read that.
-非常好 -好的 我能继续吗
– This is very good. – Good. Shall I continue?
请继续
Hmm, please do.
很快 他回来了
“In a short time, he returned,
遣散了他所有的侍从 只留下一个
And dismissed his attendants, excepting one,
并暗示韦弗利
And intimating to Waverley
他必须效仿他谨慎的道路
That he must imitate his cautious way…”
克里斯蒂安想 现在 我该做什么
“‘Now,’ thought Christian, ‘what shall I do?”‘
时不时地 火焰
“And ever and anon the flame
和烟雾会大量涌出来
and smoke would come out in such abundance
带着火星和令人厌恶的噪音
With sparks and hideous noises
克里斯蒂安被迫放下手中的剑
That Christian was forced to put up his sword
专心于另一种叫祈祷的武器
And betake himself to another weapon called all prayer.”
就读到这儿吧
Let us stop there.
爸爸不来跟我们说晚安吗
Is papa not coming to kiss us goodnight?
他工作得有点不舒服 可能明天吧
He is a little unwell from working. Maybe tomorrow.
你昨晚就这么说
You said that last night.
我觉得安妮死后 他就不爱我们了
I think when Annie died, he stopped loving us.
不 埃蒂
No, Etty.
他只是有点累 而且有点忙
He’s just a little bit tired and a little bit busy.
晚安 亲爱的
Goodnight, darling.
你在做什么 安妮
What are you doing, Annie?
我在让你变漂亮
I’m making you beautiful.
但我需要思考
But I need to think.
是什么让你如此害怕
What are you so scared of?
-只是一个理论 -不 他们是对的
– It’s only a theory. – No, they’re right.
那将改变一切
It changes everything.
设想一下 整个世界不再相信
Suppose the whole world stopped believing
上帝对我们有何安排
That God had any sort of plan for us.
一切都无所谓 没有爱 没有信任
That nothing mattered. Not love, not trust.
没有信仰 没有荣誉
Not faith, not honour.
只有残忍♥才能存活
Only brute survival.
撇开其他事情不说 这会使妈妈心碎的
Apart from anything else, it would break your mother’s heart.
心不会碎 真蠢 你跟我说过的
Hearts can’t break, silly. You told me that.
吸气 爸爸 呼气
Breathe in, papa. Breathe out.
-给我讲个故事 -好的 讲什么
– Tell me a story. – Alright. What about?
关于珍妮的
About Jenny.
-已经很晚了 我没有时间了 -拜托了
– It’s late. I have no time. – Please?
为什么是珍妮 那太悲伤了
Why Jenny? It’s so sad.
我喜欢悲伤的故事
I like sad stories.
很久很久以前
Once upon a time,
有红毛猩猩一家
There was a family of orang-utans
住在婆罗洲丛林的最深处
Living in the deepest jungles of Borneo.
它们的大女儿是所有猩猩中最可爱
Their eldest daughter was the most loving, the most caring,
最有爱心 也是最值得信任的
And the most trusting orang of all.
而且她也是最最
But she was also the most…
聪明的
Intelligent.
我想说是最爱钻研的
Well, I was going to say inquisitive.
我是不是没有提到她不总是
Did I neglect to mention she was not always
最顺从听话的生物
The most obedient of creatures?
当她感受到危险时 已经太晚了
By the time she realised her danger, it was too late.
他们将她装在袋子里 把她带走了
They put her in a bag and they carried her off…
她的亲人如此绝望
Much to her loving parents’ despair.
很遗憾 她的亲人如此绝望 这是当然的
So sorry. Much to her loving parents’ despairical,of course.
之后迪亚克人
And the Dayaks
将她关在一个笼子里
Bundled her into a cage
沿河出发打算卖♥♥掉她
And set off to sell her down the river.
他们将她卖♥♥给一个商人
They sold her to a trader for
换了三便士 三法新
Threepence, three farthings,
之后将她放在一个更大的
And he put her in a bigger
笼子里 卖♥♥到伦敦动物园 卖♥♥了三百基尼
Cage and sold her to London Zoo for 300 guineas.
她是人们在英格兰
She was the first orang-utan
见到的第一只猩猩
That anyone had ever seen in England.
人们都凝视着珍妮 珍妮也凝视着他们
Everyone peered at Jenny, and Jenny peered back,
她对这些陌生的物种感到好奇
And she marvelled at what strange creatures they all were.
动物园的管理者们 他们给她洗澡
The curators of the zoo, they… they cleaned her up…
使她在文明社会中也能体面见人
…made her presentable for polite society.
我第一次见到她的时候…
Which was when I was first introduced to her.
那是什么 珍妮
What is that, Jenny?
拜托
Oh, come on.
太棒了
Bravo!
最后还是要说再见了
When eventually it came time to say goodbye,
她变得非常沮丧 拒绝和我握手
She grew quite downcast and refused to shake my hand.
终于 在我许下承诺后
Finally, she took it,
她和我握了手
But only after I’d made her a promise
那承诺我永远无法兑现
I was never able to keep:
我说我会再来看她
That I would visit her again
很快
Very soon.