6.The Greatest Invention(1728)

Passage Six

Lord Dunsany, born in 1878, was a writer from a noble family in London. He took over the Dunsany estate and was a soldier, athlete, and chess champion. He wrote many stories, plays, and poems, and is famous for his magical tales and language. He also inspired writers like W. B. Yeats and Francis Ledwidge. This story is about a scientist who loves learning but is pressured by the government to use his knowledge for politics.

邓塞尼勋爵生于1878年，是伦敦一个贵族家庭的作家。他继承了邓塞尼家族的财产，是一名军人、运动员和国际象棋冠军。他写了许多故事、戏剧和诗歌，并以他的神奇故事和语言而闻名。他也启发了像W. B.叶芝和弗朗西斯·莱德威奇这样的作家。这个故事讲的是一位热爱学习的科学家，但迫于政府的压力，他不得不将自己的知识用于政治。

The Greatest Invention

Lord Dunsany

【1】"What do you think is going to happen, Jorkens?" one of us asked one day at the club. "Happen?" Jorkens said. "That is hard to say. In the old days one had a rough idea of what other countries wanted to do and their ability to do it. But it is all different now." "How is it different?" asked the man.

【2】"There are so many inventions," Jorkens said, "of which we know nothing. Now that a man can carry in a bag a bomb that is more powerful than several battleships, it is hard to find out what any country can do or will do next. I will give you an example."

【3】I was on a ship in the tropics (Jorkens told us), and we put into a port. I was tired of looking at the tropical sea, so I went ashore and walked into a tavern to see if they had any decent wines in that country. As it turned out, they hadn't. But there was a man there with a black mustache and a certain look in his eyes that made me wonder if he might not have something interesting to tell.

【4】So I asked him if I might offer him a glass of wine. Well, he was good enough to accept, and I called for a bottle of the queer local wine. When the bottle had been uncorked and the wine poured out, like liquid tropical sunlight, I watched it go down under that black mustache. And when a certain amount had gone down, he began to talk.

【5】"We aimed at the mastery of the whole Caribbean," he said, "and don't think that because we are a little country we could not have succeeded. War is no longer a matter of armies; it depends on the intelligence of scientists. And we had a scientist who, as I have since seen proved, had no rival west of the Atlantic."

【6】"You proved it?" I could not help saying.

"Yes," he said. "You shall hear."

I had another bottle of wine set before him, and I did hear.

"You may not have thought it," he said, "but I was in our Ministry of Warfare."

And I had not thought it, for he was not at all what one would regard as the figure of a soldier. But warfare, as he explained to me, has altered.

【7】"Our Minister," he said, "was a cavalry officer and could not adapt his ideas to modern science. He thought of war simply as an opportunity for cavalry charges and fine uniforms and glory. We had to get rid of him in order to fulfill our just aspirations."

【8】"And what are they?" I asked.

"Why, the domination of the whole Caribbean," he said. "And it is just that we should have it. We are the people who have been born to it."

"Of course," I said soothingly, though I did not know for which country he spoke.

【9】"Once the Minister of Warfare was gone," he went on, "we turned our minds to modern warfare, and we began to make great progress. Modern warfare gives grand opportunities to little countries. Once, if a nation had twelve battleships it was a Great Power, and we could only obey. But what if we know how to let loose a plague capable of destroying whole nations? Must we be silent then about our just aspirations? No. We shall speak."

【10】"Certainly," I said.

"Other nations know something of germ warfare," the stranger said. "We looked for a new and deadlier germ. And we had the man who could not only give us that, but a more effective way to spread it—his name was Silvary Carasierra. We knew that we had marvelous powers within our grasp, if only Carasierra could be kept at his work."

【11】"Idle, was he?" I said, for I thought it very likely in a hot country like that.

"No," said the stranger. "Never idle. Always spurred on by a fierce ambition. His very life was devoted to making inventions. Yes, he worked and he was working for us on something wonderful. Ah, well. We relied, and rightly, on that man's wisdom; but we forgot his folly." The man was silent."What did Carasierra do?" I asked.

【12】"That ambition was driving him all the time," he said. "He knew that he was the greatest scientist in the world, and he was determined to show it. As long as the germ on which he was working seemed the most wonderful thing ever invented, he was more than content. But before he had completed it, another inspiration came to him and drove him away. I tried everything: threats, appeals to him to think of our ancient glory, even bribes. But nothing would turn him from his project. The splendor of his new inspiration gripped him, and he was like a man drugged."

【13】"And the splendor of our positions faded like dreams. We were so nearly one of the Great Powers but for a fancy that came to this man's mind."

"What was Carasierra's fancy?" I asked.

"I will tell you," he said. "Day after day I went to his laboratory and appealed to him, almost with tears, to return to his work for us. But no, he would not listen. I gave him every chance. But at last I had to threaten him with death. I told him that if he would not return to his proper work he would have to be shot. But there was a queer light in his eyes that day, and really I think he hardly heard me. He would only say, 'I have done it, have done it.'"

【14】"Done what?" I asked him, the stranger continued.

"The most wonderful invention," he said, "the most wonderful invention ever achieved by man."

"You will be shot," I repeated, "if you don't get on with your work."

"This is more wonderful," he said.

"Well, show it to me," I demanded. He took me out to his lawn.

【15】And there he pointed. I saw only a square yard of grass, marked off with a strip of white tape. "What is it?" I asked.

He took up his tape and marked off a smaller area, one of only a few inches. "Do you see anything wonderful there?" he asked.

"No," I said again.

"Then you have seen the most wonderful invention of all that man has made," he replied with a wild look in his eyes. "For one of those blades of grass I made myself."

【16】"But what is the use of that?" I asked.

"Use! Use!" he repeated, and laughed. "I do not work for use, but for wonder."

"It will be wonderful," I said, "when we dominate the Caribbean."

"It is far more wonderful," he said, "to have made a blade of grass."

That I had to admit. But I added, "You will return to your work now."

And at that he laughed more wildly. "No, now that I can do this," he exclaimed, "I am going on to make flowers."

【17】I examined his blade of grass, and he gave me every facility, showing me the entire process in his laboratory. The blade was perfect and was clearly alive, but he satisfied me that it was artificial. A marvelous man. It was a pity. But we responsible ministers cannot make threats that we do not carry out. I had threatened him with death, and he had to be executed...

【18】"Whether it was that the stranger's tale was told," Jorkens concluded, putting down his glass, "or that the influence of the queer wine was over, he fell then to silent brooding, gazing, as it seemed, into the past at the grip that his country had lost on the Caribbean, perhaps on the world."

第六课

最伟大的发明

【1】“你认为会发生什么，乔更斯?”一天在俱乐部里，我们中的一个人问道。“发生什么?”乔更斯说。“这很难说。在过去，人们对其他国家想要做什么以及他们的能力有一个粗略的概念。但现在一切都不一样了。”“有什么不同?”男人问。

【2】“有那么多的发明，”乔更斯说，“我们对此一无所知。既然一个人可以在包里装一枚威力比几艘战列舰还大的炸弹，就很难知道哪个国家能做什么，或者下一步会做什么。我给你们举个例子。”

【3】我在热带地区的一艘船上(乔更斯告诉我们)，我们进了一个港口。我看腻了热带的大海，于是我上岸，走进一家酒馆，看看那里有没有好酒。事实证明，他们没有。但是那里有一个留着黑胡子的男人，他的眼睛里有一种特殊的表情，这让我怀疑他是否有一些有趣的事情要讲。

【4】所以我问他是否可以请他喝杯酒。嗯，他很好地接受了，我要了一瓶奇怪的当地葡萄酒。当酒瓶被打开，酒像热带的液体阳光一样倒出来时，我看着它在那黑色的胡子下面淌了下去。喝了一些之后，他就开始说话了。

【5】“我们的目标是控制整个加勒比地区，”他说，“不要以为我们是一个小国家就不能成功。战争不再是军队的问题;这取决于科学家的智慧。我们还有一位科学家，正如我后来看到的那样，他在大西洋以西没有对手。”

【6】“你证明了?”我忍不住说。

“是的，”他说。“你会听到的。”

我在他面前放了另一瓶酒，我确实听到了。

“你可能没有想到，”他说，“但我在我们的陆军部工作。”

我并没有想到这一点，因为他根本不是人们所认为的军人的样子。但正如他向我解释的那样，战争已经改变了。

【7】他说:“我们的大臣是个骑兵军官，他的思想不能适应现代科学。他认为战争仅仅是骑兵冲锋、穿上漂亮制服和获得荣誉的机会。为了实现我们的理想，我们不得不摆脱他。”

【8】“它们是什么?”我问。

“为什么，要统治整个加勒比海，”他说。“我们应该拥有它。我们是天生的人。”

“当然，”我安慰地说，虽然我不知道他代表哪个国家说话。

【9】“战争大臣一走，”他接着说，“我们就把注意力转向现代战争，并开始取得巨大进展。现代战争给小国带来了巨大的机遇。曾经，如果一个国家有12艘战舰，那就是一个大国，我们只能服从。但如果我们知道如何释放一种能够毁灭整个国家的瘟疫呢?那么，我们必须对我们的正义愿望保持沉默吗?不。我们会说话的。”

【10】“当然可以，”我说。

“其他国家对细菌战略知一二，”陌生人说。“我们寻找一种新的、更致命的细菌。我们有了这样一个人，他不仅能给我们带来这些，还能更有效地传播这些，他的名字叫西尔法利·卡拉塞拉。我们知道，只要卡拉西拉能继续干下去，我们就有了不可思议的力量。”

【11】“他很闲，是吗?”我说，因为我认为在这样一个炎热的国家很可能发生这种事。

“不，”陌生人说。“从不闲着。总是被强烈的野心驱使着。他的一生都致力于发明创造。是的，他工作了，他在为我们做一些很棒的事情。啊,好。我们依靠那个人的智慧，这是理所当然的;但我们忘记了他的愚蠢。”那人沉默了。“卡拉塞拉做了什么?”我问。

【12】他说:“那种雄心一直驱使着他。”“他知道自己是世界上最伟大的科学家，他决心证明这一点。只要他所研究的细菌是有史以来最奇妙的发明，他就心满意足了。但还没等他完成，另一个灵感又来了，把他赶走了。我用尽了一切办法:威胁他，恳求他想起我们古老的光荣，甚至贿赂他。但没有什么能让他放弃他的计划。他的新灵感的光辉攫住了他，他就像一个下了药的人。”

【13】“我们地位的辉煌如梦般褪去。要不是这个人的一个幻想，我们就差一点成为一个强国了。”

“卡拉塞拉的幻想是什么?”我问。

他说:“我告诉你。”“我每天都去他的实验室，几乎是含着眼泪恳求他回来为我们工作。但是不，他不听。我给了他所有的机会。但最后我不得不以死来威胁他。我告诉他，如果他不回去做他该做的工作，他就得被枪毙。但是那天他的眼睛里有一种奇怪的光芒，我真的认为他几乎没有听见我的话。他只会说，‘我做到了，我做到了。’”

【14】“做了什么?”我问过他，陌生人接着说。

“最了不起的发明，”他说，“人类有史以来最了不起的发明。”

“你会被枪毙的，”我重复道，“如果你不继续工作的话。”

“这更奇妙，”他说。

“好吧，让我看看。”我要求道。他带我去他的草坪。

【15】他指着那里。我只看到一平方码的草地，用一条白色胶带划了出来。“什么事?”我问。

他拿起胶带，划出一块较小的区域，只有几英寸。“你在那里看到什么奇妙的东西了吗?”他问。

“不，”我又说了一遍。

“那么你看到的是人类创造的最奇妙的发明，”他回答道，眼中带着狂野的神情。“为了我亲手做的一片草叶。”

【16】“那有什么用呢?”我问。

“用!”用!”他重复了一遍，笑了。“我工作不是为了用处，而是为了奇迹。”

“那太好了，”我说，“当我们统治加勒比海的时候。”

他说:“做一片草叶要奇妙得多。”

我不得不承认。但我又说:“你现在可以回去工作了。”

听了这话，他笑得更厉害了。“不，既然我能做这个，”他大声说，“我要继续做花了。”

【17】我检查了他的草叶，他给了我所有的设备，向我展示了他实验室的整个过程。刀刃很完美，显然是活的，但他让我满意地说那是人造的。一个了不起的人。这是一个遗憾。但是，我们负责任的部长不能发出我们不执行的威胁。我曾以死亡威胁他，他不得不被处决……

【18】“也许是那个陌生人的故事讲完了，”乔更斯放下酒杯，总结道，“或者是那种奇怪的酒的影响已经过去了，他陷入了沉默的沉思，似乎是凝视着过去，看着他的国家失去了对加勒比海的控制，也许是对世界的控制。”