One small step back to where we started
注： “One small step back to where we started”是首屆《參考消息》讀者譯文大賽文章要求參賽者翻譯的文章。本人水平有限，不敢參加啦。不過(guò)看到這樣一篇有一定挑戰(zhàn)性的文章，不禁手癢，于是在這里獻(xiàn)上自己的譯文版本，與翻譯愛(ài)好者們交流切磋。
“一千個(gè)人心中有一千個(gè)哈姆雷特。”同樣，一千個(gè)翻譯就會(huì)有一千種譯文。歡迎翻譯愛(ài)好者們不吝指正。
?。牐?br> ?。牐?One small step back to where we started
?。牐?重返起點(diǎn)的一小步
?。牐?br> The Apollo missions were supposed to reveal the truth about the Moon. In fact, they taught us about the Earth – and ourselves
阿波羅任務(wù)的本意是揭示月球的真相。可實(shí)際上，它們要告訴我們的卻是地球和我們自己。
?。牐?br> ?。牐燤ark Mason
馬克•梅森
?。牐?br> ?。牐營(yíng)n July 1969, soon after their return from the moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were shown footage of the world’s reaction to the lunar landing. They saw the US newscaster Walter Cronkite wiping away his tears; people gathered around televisions from China to Brazil; pavements outside TV shops crammed as people watched in awe. Aldrin turned to Armstrong. “Neil,” he said, “we missed the whole thing”.
1969 年 7 月，從月球返回后不久，有人給尼爾•阿姆斯特朗和巴茲;奧爾德林放了一段錄像，讓他們看看全世界人們對(duì)登月的反應(yīng)。他們看到美國(guó)新聞主播沃爾特;克朗凱特正在擦拭自己的淚花；從中國(guó)到巴西，人們聚集在電視機(jī)旁；當(dāng)人們懷著敬畏的神情觀看時(shí)，電視機(jī)商店外面的人行道被圍得水泄不通。奧爾德林轉(zhuǎn)向阿姆斯特朗。“尼爾，”他說(shuō)道，“我們錯(cuò)過(guò)了這一切”。
?。牐?br> That comment (reminiscent of George Harrison’s complaint that the Beatles felt left out because “We were the only people who never got to see the Beatles”) reveals the surprising truth about the Apollo missions: they weren’t about the Moon. They were about the Earth.
?。牐犇莻€(gè)評(píng)論（它令人回想起喬治;哈里森的抱怨——甲殼蟲(chóng)樂(lè)隊(duì)覺(jué)得自己被忽略了，因?yàn)?#8220;我們是唯一從來(lái)沒(méi)有看過(guò)甲殼蟲(chóng)樂(lè)隊(duì)的人”）揭示了令人驚訝的阿波羅任務(wù)的真相：它們并非月球之行，而是地球之旅。
?。牐?br>
?。牐燭he clues had been there from the start, when the crew of Apollo 8 became the first humans to leave their home planet’s orbit. Orbiting the Moon on Christmas Eve 1968, fulfilling dreams as old as mankind itself, their real wonder was not at the dead grey planet beneath them, but at the vibrant blue globe in the distance. The first three men to see the Moon up close soon realised — with a much deeper sense of reverence — that they were the first three men to see the Earth from a distance. Witnessing an earthrise made them feel humble. They read the opening chapters of Genesis to a worldwide audience of millions, signing off with, “Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.”
?。牐爮囊婚_(kāi)始當(dāng)阿波羅 8 號(hào)的全體乘員成為第一批離開(kāi)其所在星球軌道的人時(shí)，這一切就不言而喻了。在 1968 年平安夜環(huán)繞月球軌道飛行，實(shí)現(xiàn)了與人類自身一樣古老的夢(mèng)想，真正使他們感到驚奇的不是他們下方那顆死氣沉沉的灰色行星，而是遠(yuǎn)方那個(gè)生機(jī)勃勃的藍(lán)色地球。第一批近距離觀看月球的三個(gè)人不久就意識(shí)到——懷著更深的敬意——他們是第一批遠(yuǎn)距離注視地球的三個(gè)人。親眼目睹“地出”奇觀讓他們覺(jué)得自己很卑微。他們向全世界億萬(wàn)觀眾朗讀了《創(chuàng)世紀(jì)》中的開(kāi)篇，在結(jié)束時(shí)說(shuō)道，“圣誕快樂(lè)，愿上帝保佑你們所有人，在美好地球上的所有人。”
?。牐?br> ?。牐燨ver the next four years, Apollo taught us what it means to be human: in a word, restless. Curiosity is never satisfied, it merely finds new targets. Quite how quickly the shift can occur was learnt by Pete Conrad, the third man to walk on the Moon (and the first to fall over on it). Once Armstrong and Aldrin had claimed the prize, no one was interested in Apollo 12. Conrad later appeared in an American Express advert of famous Americans nobody recognised. (Others included Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny.) Yet in many ways Conrad’s was the most interesting Apollo mission of all. His fellow moonwalker, Al Bean, never the most naturally gifted astronaut, compensated with sheer hard work. Finally standing on the lunar surface, he threw his silver Nasa badge into the distance, knowing that the moonwalk had earned him a gold one. But as they flew back to Earth, he turned to Conrad and admitted disappointment in the Moon itself: “It’s kind of like the song Is That All There Is?” Another timeless truth: achievements themselves aren’t what count, it’s the fact that you worked for them.
?。牐犜诮酉聛?lái)的四年里，阿波羅告訴我們它對(duì)人類意味著什么：那就是，不得安寧。好奇心永遠(yuǎn)得不到滿足，只不過(guò)它找到了新的目標(biāo)。皮特;康拉德，第三個(gè)踏上月球的人（而且是第一個(gè)在月球上跌倒的人）總算體會(huì)到這一切改變得有多快。一旦阿姆斯特朗和奧爾德林搶去了風(fēng)頭，再也沒(méi)人對(duì)阿波羅 12 號(hào)感興趣了。后來(lái)康拉德在美國(guó)運(yùn)通推出的“默默無(wú)聞的美國(guó)人”榜上有名。（其他人還包括《兔八哥》的配音演員梅爾•布蘭科）。然而，從很多角度上講，康拉德的登月之行才是所有阿波羅任務(wù)中最有趣的任務(wù)。和他一起登月的伙伴阿蘭;比恩，絕對(duì)不是最有天賦的宇航員，完全依賴于勤能補(bǔ)拙。當(dāng)他終于站在了月球的表面，他把美國(guó)國(guó)家航空航天（NASA）頒發(fā)的銀質(zhì)徽章扔向遠(yuǎn)方，因?yàn)樗涝谠虑蛏闲凶咭呀?jīng)為他贏得了金質(zhì)徽章。但是，當(dāng)他們飛回地球時(shí)，他轉(zhuǎn)向康拉德，承認(rèn)自己對(duì)月球本身有點(diǎn)失望：“它有點(diǎn)像那首叫《一切不過(guò)如此？》的歌曲。”另一個(gè)永恒的真相就是：成績(jī)本身并不能說(shuō)明什么問(wèn)題，重要的是你為之付出的努力。
?。牐?br> When Bean returned to Earth he would sit in shopping malls, simply to marvel at the variety of human life. And he has never again complained about the weather: “I’m just glad there is weather.” As so often, a journey into the unknown had revealed more about the traveller’s home than about the destination.
?。牐牣?dāng)比恩重返地球之后，他總是坐在購(gòu)物中心，驚嘆于豐富多彩的人類生活。從此以后，他再也沒(méi)有抱怨過(guò)天氣：“有天氣存在，我就覺(jué)得很高興啦。”如同經(jīng)常發(fā)生的那樣，一段通往未知世界的旅程展示的更多的是旅行者的家鄉(xiāng)，而不是其目的地。
?。牐燰irtually every Apollo astronaut came back with a deep sense of the Earth’s fragility. Ed Mitchell, Moonwalker No 6: “When we see ourselves in this bigger perspective — call it the ET point of view, the God point of view — a shift takes place in your perception and you start to think quite differently.” Apollo 16’s Charlie Duke describes Earth as “hanging in space like a jewel”. “People are always asking what we discovered when we went to the Moon,” says Dick Gordon, of Apollo 12. “What we discovered was the Earth.”
實(shí)際上，每一位阿波羅登月宇航員返回之后，都會(huì)深深地感到地球的脆弱。艾德加•米切爾，第六位登月的宇航員，曾說(shuō)過(guò)：“當(dāng)我們從這個(gè)更大的視角來(lái)審視自己——我們稱之為“外星人視角”、“上帝視角”——你的看法就會(huì)發(fā)生變化，你就會(huì)開(kāi)始用截然不同的方式考慮問(wèn)題。”阿波羅 16 號(hào)的宇航員查爾斯;杜克將地球描述為像“孤懸在太空的一顆寶石”。“人們總是問(wèn)我們登上月球之后發(fā)現(xiàn)了什么，”阿波羅 12 號(hào)的宇航員迪克;戈?duì)柕钦f(shuō)道。“其實(shí)我們發(fā)現(xiàn)的是地球。”
?。牐?br> ?。牐燭he discovery gave a big boost to the nascent Green movement. Sir Jonathon Porritt cites the “deep and lasting effect” that Apollo had on “many environmentalists — including me”. Friends of the Earth was founded in the same year that man first walked on the Moon. The inaugural Earth Day happened a year later. Everyone seemed to agree with Michael Collins’s thought as he splashed back down into the Pacific with Armstrong and Aldrin: “Nice ocean you got here, planet Earth.”
?。牐犨@一發(fā)現(xiàn)極大地推動(dòng)了當(dāng)時(shí)還處于萌芽狀態(tài)的綠色運(yùn)動(dòng)。喬納森;波利特先生提到了阿波羅給“包括我在內(nèi)的很多環(huán)境保護(hù)主義者”所帶來(lái)的“深遠(yuǎn)影響”。在人類首次登上月球的同一年，環(huán)保組織“地球之友”成立。一年之后“世界地球日”創(chuàng)立。每個(gè)人看起來(lái)都同意當(dāng)時(shí)邁克爾•柯林斯腦海中閃過(guò)的念頭（當(dāng)時(shí)他正與阿姆斯特朗和奧爾德林一起濺落到太平洋里）：“地球啊，你擁有多么美麗的海洋！”
?。牐?br> ?。牐燩olitically, too, there was a shift. The Earth from space looks just like a map — except without the national borders. Collins remembers people of every nation saying to him, “‘We did it’ — it was a wonderful thing.” Ed Mitchell, on his way back from the Moon, realised that “the molecules of my body and of the spacecraft and of my partners were manufactured in some ancient generation of stars — and that was an overwhelming sense of oneness and connectedness”. Inspired by the landings, René Dubos coined the phrase “Think globally, act locally”. T minus zero for Apollo was T plus one for globalisation.
?。牐犝紊弦餐瑯影l(fā)生了微妙的變化。從太空中看，地球就像一幅地圖——只不過(guò)沒(méi)有國(guó)界而已?？铝炙褂浀妹總€(gè)民族的人都對(duì)他說(shuō)，“‘我們成功了’——這真是個(gè)奇跡。”在他從月球返回的路上，艾德加•米切爾意識(shí)到“我身體的分子、宇宙飛船的分子以及我同伴的分子都是在某個(gè)古代的恒星上制造出來(lái)的——那是一種極其強(qiáng)烈、融為一體的感覺(jué)”。受登月之行的啟發(fā)，勒內(nèi);杜博斯創(chuàng)造出了“心懷全球、立足本土”這一警句。阿波羅的倒計(jì)時(shí)揭開(kāi)了全球化的序幕。
?。牐燳et despite the astronauts’ protestations that the Moon itself was a letdown, which of us, given the chance, wouldn’t want to go there? The Chinese are planning missions of their own, and the commercial investment being ploughed into space tourism proves just how much we yearn for new experiences. So much so that we resent anyone who dampens our excitement.
?。牐犎欢?，盡管宇航員們聲稱對(duì)月球本身感到失望，但是如果有機(jī)會(huì)，我們中又有誰(shuí)不愿意到那里去呢？中國(guó)人正在計(jì)劃他們自己的登月任務(wù)，對(duì)太空旅行的商業(yè)投資也證明了我們是多么渴望擁有全新的體驗(yàn)。這種渴望是如此強(qiáng)烈，以至于我們會(huì)怨恨任何給我們的激情潑冷水的人。
?。牐燩ete Conrad used to say he was prouder of his work on the Skylab missions than his walk on the Moon. “Some people even get mad,” he said. “‘What do you mean, the Moon isn’t the biggest thing in your life?’ I say: ‘Well, it isn’t’. They think, ‘Well, it should be’. I say: ‘Why? I’m the guy that did this’.” Maybe life is one long “wet paint” sign: you don’t believe it until you reach out and touch.
皮特•康拉德過(guò)去常說(shuō)，與在月球上漫步相比，讓他更加感到自豪的是在執(zhí)行太空實(shí)驗(yàn)任務(wù)時(shí)所從事的工作。“有些人甚至都瘋了，”他說(shuō)。“‘你這是什么意思，難道月球不是你一生中最重要的事情嗎？’我說(shuō)：‘嗯，它不是。’他們認(rèn)為，‘哼，它應(yīng)該是’。我說(shuō)：‘為什么？我才是有切身體會(huì)的人啊’。”也許生活就像一個(gè)長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的“油漆未干”標(biāo)志：只有當(dāng)你親手觸摸之后，你才會(huì)相信上面寫(xiě)的是真的。
?。牐?br> ?。牐燙ertainly, Dave Scott, of Apollo 15, thought so. Standing on the Moon, he voiced his thoughts to Houston: “I realise there’s a fundamental truth to our nature: man must explore.” Home is never far from our thoughts, though. How many times have you looked forward for months to a holiday, only to find that on day three you’re already dreaming of your own bed? But when you return, the process starts all over again. This idea of life as a perpetual cycle seems particularly comforting in a recession. Even though we’ve overreached (and overborrowed), and been reminded of some home truths, we know that one day we’ll reach out once more.
?。牐牣?dāng)然，阿波羅 15 號(hào)的宇航員大衛(wèi)•斯科特也這么認(rèn)為。站在月球上，他對(duì)休斯敦地面指揮中心道出了他的心聲：“我認(rèn)識(shí)到自然界有一個(gè)基本真理：人類必須探索。”盡管故鄉(xiāng)永遠(yuǎn)棲息在我們心靈深處。有多少次你連續(xù)數(shù)月期待假期，到頭來(lái)只是發(fā)現(xiàn)在假期的第三天你就已經(jīng)開(kāi)始渴望躺在自己的床上？可是，當(dāng)你回家之后，這種想法又開(kāi)始縈繞在你心頭、揮之不去。生活就像一個(gè)永無(wú)休止的循環(huán)，這種想法在經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退期似乎特別能安慰人心。即使我們已經(jīng)走得太遠(yuǎn)（借債過(guò)多），有人給我們提醒一些有關(guān)家園的真理，但是我們知道，總有一天，我們將再一次踏上征程。
?。牐燱hen Bean retired from Nasa he became an artist. His paintings of the lunar landscape, which fetch tens of thousands of dollars, bear the lessons of his time as an astronaut. Just as he worked hard to reach the Moon, now he works hard to perfect his painting. “That’s what I tell myself when the colours don’t come out right or it hasn’t worked like I thought it would: ‘That’s why they call it art’.”
?。牐牣?dāng)比恩從 NASA 退休之后，他成了一名畫(huà)家。他的月球風(fēng)景畫(huà)，售價(jià)數(shù)萬(wàn)美元一幅，承載著他當(dāng)宇航員時(shí)的經(jīng)歷。如同他過(guò)去為登月而發(fā)奮拼搏一樣，現(xiàn)在他為提高他的繪畫(huà)技藝而努力拼搏。“當(dāng)色彩不對(duì)或者跟我當(dāng)初的設(shè)想不一樣時(shí)，我就會(huì)對(duì)自己說(shuō)：‘那就是他們?yōu)槭裁磿?huì)稱之為藝術(shù)的原因’。”
?。牐?br> Another of Bean’s thoughts sums up the very essence of the Apollo missions, indeed of all human travel: that it isn’t about where you’re going, it’s about who you are. “Everybody came back just more like I knew them. I think maybe success doesn’t change you as much as reveal you.”
?。牐牨榷鞯牧硗庖粋€(gè)想法恰如其分地總結(jié)出了阿波羅任務(wù)（其實(shí)是所有人類旅行）的真諦：它與你的目的地?zé)o關(guān)，而是在于你是誰(shuí)。“每個(gè)人返回之后，我就覺(jué)得他們更像我的老相識(shí)了。我認(rèn)為可能成功對(duì)一個(gè)人的改變遠(yuǎn)不如其所展示的本性。”
?。牐?br> Which is why the greatest reason to celebrate this 40th anniversary isn’t scientific or environmental or political; it’s personal. The next time you go down a footpath just to see where it leads, or when the only thing that will stop your baby crying is taking it for a drive, remember the 12 men who stood on the Moon and looked at Earth. As T. S. Eliot put it:
?。牐燱e shall not cease from exploration
?。牐燗nd the end of all our exploring
?。牐燱ill be to arrive where we started
?。牐燗nd know the place for the first time.
?。牐?br> 這就是為什么慶祝登月 40 周年的最大理由不是科學(xué)、環(huán)境或政治，而在于人性。下一次，當(dāng)您只是為了弄清楚某條小路的走向而沿著它前行，或者只有當(dāng)駕車出游才能讓您的嬰兒止哭時(shí)，請(qǐng)記住那 12 個(gè)站在月球上眺望地球的人。正如托馬斯•斯特恩斯•艾略特所寫(xiě)的詩(shī)句：
?。牐犖覀儾粦?yīng)停止探索
?。牐犖覀円磺刑剿鞯慕K點(diǎn)
?。牐爩⑹堑诌_(dá)我們的起點(diǎn)
?。牐牰沂桥c此地首次謀面
