文◎Rachel Carson 译◎姚乃强 绘◎秋林夕

“A Fable for Tomorrow”选自美国海洋地理学家Rachel Carson的环保启蒙之书Silent Spring（《寂静的春天》），通过对农药危害的分析，为人类的自然保护意识点亮明灯。《三体》一书中，在叶文洁的最后时刻，她回忆起《寂静的春天》对自己一生的影响，是这本书使她对人类之恶第一次进行了理性的思考。

There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony①harmony 英 ['hɑːmənɪ] 美 ['hɑrməni]n. 协调；和睦；融洽；调和with its surroundings.The town lay in the midst of a checkerboard②checkerboard 英 ['tʃekəbɔːd] 美 ['tʃɛkɚbɔrd] n. 棋盘；西洋跳棋棋盘vt. 在……上面纵横交错地排列of prosperous farms, with fields of grain and hillsides of orchards where, in spring, white clouds of bloom drifted above the green fields. In autumn, oak and maple and birch set up a blaze of color that flamed and flickered③f l icker 英 ['f l ɪkə] 美 ['f l ɪkɚ] vi. 闪烁；摇曳；颤动；扑动翅膀；假装昏倒vt. 使闪烁；使摇曳n. 闪烁；闪光；电影across a backdrop of pines. Then foxes barked in the hills and deer silently crossed the fields, half hidden in the mists of the fall mornings.

Then a strange blight crept over the area and everything began to change. Some evil spell had settled on the community: mysterious maladies④malady 英 ['mælədɪ] 美 ['mælədi] n. 弊病；疾病；腐败swept the flocks of chickens; the cattle and sheep sickened and died. Everywhere was a shadow of death. In the town the doctors had become more and more puzzled by new kinds of sickness appearing among their patients. There had been several sudden and unexplained deaths, not only among adults but even among children, who would be stricken⑤stricken 英 ['strɪk(ə)n] 美 ['strɪkən]adj. 患病的；受挫折的；受……侵袭的；遭殃的suddenly while at play and die within a few hours.

在美国的心脏地区从前有一座小镇，那里的生活跟周围的环境相处得十分融洽。小镇坐落在星罗棋布的农场中央。平地上的庄稼和山坡上的果园呈现出一片欣欣向荣的景象。春天，果树绽开白花，像片片白云在绿色的田野上飘荡。秋天，橡树、枫树和白桦树散射出彩色的火焰，在松树织成的绿色帷幕上闪烁跳跃。狐狸在小丘上嘶嚎，野鹿隐蔽在秋天的晨雾里悄悄地越过田野。

后来，一个奇怪的祸害潜入了这个地区，一切都开始变了。一个邪魔降临在这个地区，神秘的瘟疫先是在雏鸡中流传，然后蔓延到牛群羊群中去，病的病，死的死。死亡的阴影笼罩着每一个角落。镇上的医生对病人中不断出现的各种怪病感到困惑。好些人不明不白地突然死去，其中不仅有成年人，还有小孩。有的孩子在玩耍时突然发病，不出几个小时便撒手人寰。

这里变得寂静异常。就说鸟吧，它们到哪里去了？