2026年8月：細雨將至

by Ray Bradbury烏蕪 譯

2026年8月：細雨將至

August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains

by Ray Bradbury烏蕪 譯

雷·布拉德伯里(Ray Bradbury，1920—2012)，世界公認的科幻大師，曾獲世界奇幻文學協(xié)會終生成就獎、美國科幻小說作家協(xié)會大師獎等眾多獎項。布拉德伯里一生創(chuàng)作了數(shù)百篇短篇小說，出版近五十本書，還寫了大量的詩歌、隨筆、歌劇、戲劇、影視劇本。

《2026年8月：細雨將至》是布拉德伯里的經(jīng)典短篇科幻故事集《火星紀事》（The Martian Chronicles）的其中一篇，講述了在2026年8月的一天，一座自動化房子從井然有序走向滅亡的故事。房子里空無一人，房子卻如常發(fā)出指令，按照固定程序為早已不復存在的主人服務，而房子最后也消亡在一場大火中。通過故事的各種細節(jié)描寫，讀者會發(fā)現(xiàn)一個可怕的事實：人類已經(jīng)在一場核戰(zhàn)爭中滅亡了。該故事寫于1950年，當時二戰(zhàn)才結(jié)束不久，美國在日本投放的兩顆原子彈的威力給世人留下了可怕的印象。作者通過這個故事告誡人類要警惕核戰(zhàn)爭，并諷刺了人類對于科技的過度依賴。本期節(jié)選了該故事的前半部分，讓我們一起來細細品讀。

In the living room the voice-clock sang, Tick-tock, seven o’clock, time to get up, time to get up, seven o’clock! as if it were afraid that nobody would. The morning house lay empty. The clock ticked on, repeating and repeating its sounds into the emptiness. Seven-nine, breakfast time, seven-nine!

In the kitchen the breakfast stove gave a hissing sigh and1)ejected from its warm interior eight pieces of perfectly browned toast, eight eggs sunnyside up, sixteen slices of bacon, two coffees, and two cool glasses of milk.

“Today is August 4, 2026,” said a second voice from the kitchen ceiling, “in the city of Allendale, California.”It repeated the date three times for memory’s sake. “Today is Mr. Featherstone’s birthday. Today is the anniversary of Tilita’s marriage. Insurance is payable, as are the water, gas, and light bills.”

客廳里，人聲鬧鐘高聲響起，滴答，七點了，該起床了，該起床了，七點了！仿佛害怕沒人會起床似的。早上，房子里空無一人。鬧鐘繼續(xù)滴答滴答地行走，在空蕩蕩的房間里一遍遍回響著。七點九分了，早餐時間到了，七點九分了！

廚房里，早餐機響起了嘶的一聲，接著，熱烘烘的機器里便彈出八塊火候正好的棕色面包，八個單煎一面的荷包蛋，16片培根，兩杯咖啡和兩杯常溫牛奶。

“今天是2026年8月4日，”廚房的天花板上傳來第二個聲音，“加利福尼亞州艾倫代爾市。”為了讓人記住，這個聲音把日期重復了三遍?！敖裉焓琴M瑟斯通先生的生日。今天是提莉塔的結(jié)婚周年紀念日。今天該交保險費了，還有水費、煤氣費和電費?！?/p>

1) eject [?'d?ekt] v. 彈射出

2) relay ['ri?le?] n. 繼電器，對細小的電流或者電壓起反應，在電路中起動開關或其他裝置的裝置

3) tread [tred] n. 行走，踏步

4) chime [t?a?m] v. 鳴， 敲出和諧的聲音

5) shrivel ['?r?vl] v. （使）起皺紋，（使）枯萎

6) scrape [skre?p] n. 刮，擦

7) warren ['w?r?n] n. 擁擠的地方

8) dart [dɑ?t] v. 突然快速地移動

9) acrawl [?'kr??l] adj. 爬行的，擁擠的

10) thud [θ?d] v. 發(fā)出砰聲

11) knead [ni?d] v. 揉，捏

12) nap [n?p] n. 絨毛

13) burrow ['b?r??] n. 洞穴

Somewhere in the walls,2)relays clicked, memory tapes glided under electric eyes.

Eight-one, tick-tock, eight-one o’clock, off to school, off to work, run, run, eight-one! But no doors slammed, no carpets took the soft3)tread of rubber heels. It was raining outside. The weather box on the front door sang quietly:“Rain, rain, go away; rubbers, raincoats for today…”And the rain tapped on the empty house, echoing. Outside, the garage4)chimed and lifted its door to reveal the waiting car. After a long while the door swung down again.

At eight-thirty the eggs were5)shriveled and the toast was like stone. An aluminum wedge6)scraped them into the sink, where hot water whirled them down a metal throat which digested and fushed them away to the distant sea. The dirty dishes were dropped into a hot washer and emerged twinkling dry.

Nine-ffteen, sang the clock, time to clean.

Out of7)warrens in the wall, tiny robot mice8)darted. The rooms were9)acrawl with the small cleaning animals, all rubber and metal. They10)thudded against chairs, whirling their mustached runners,11)kneading the rug12)nap, sucking gently at hidden dust. Then, like mysterious invaders, they popped into their13)burrows. Their pink electric eyes faded. The house was clean.

在墻上的某個地方，繼電器啟動了，記憶磁帶在電子眼的監(jiān)控下開始滑動。

八點一分了，滴答，八點一分了，上學了，上班了，趕快，趕快，八點一分了！但屋里沒有聽到關門聲，也沒有聽到橡膠鞋在地毯上走動的聲音。現(xiàn)在外面在下雨。門前的天氣預報機靜靜地唱著：“雨啊，雨啊，快走吧；今天別忘了帶橡膠鞋和雨衣……”雨滴打在空房子上，發(fā)出回聲。外面，車庫轟然開啟，露出了在等待的車輛。等了好一會兒，車庫的門再次緩緩落下。

八點三十分，煎蛋干癟了，面包變得像石頭一樣硬。一塊楔型鋁刮把它們刮入水槽，接著它們被熱水沖入金屬管道內(nèi)，被消化，被沖向遙遠的大海。臟盤子被放到熱乎乎的洗碗機內(nèi)，出來后變得潔亮如新，沒有水跡。

九點十五分，鬧鐘響起，該打掃房間了。

許多小機器鼠從墻上的小洞里竄出來。房間里爬滿了這種負責打掃的小動物，都是橡膠和金屬制的。它們砰砰地敲擊椅子，轉(zhuǎn)動機械觸須，把地毯脫落的絨毛揉捏成團，輕輕吸去藏在縫中的灰塵。然后，如神秘的入侵者一般，它們跳回了自己的洞里。它們那閃著粉光的電子眼也暗了下來。房子被打掃得干干凈凈。

Ten o’clock. The sun came out from behind the rain. The house stood alone in a city of rubble and ashes. This was the one house left standing. All night the ruined city gave off a radioactive glow which could be seen for miles.

Ten-fifteen. The garden14)sprinklers whirled up in golden founts, filling the soft morning air with scatterings of brightness. The water15)pelted windowpanes, running down the16)charred west side where the house had been burned evenly free of its white paint. The entire west face of the house was black, save for fve places. Here the17)silhouette in paint of a man mowing a lawn. Here, as in a photograph, a woman bent to pick flowers. Still farther over, their images burned in wood in one titanic instant, a small boy, hands fung into the air; higher up, the image of a thrown ball, and opposite him a girl, hands raised to catch a ball which never came down. The five spots of paint—the man, the woman, the children, the ball—remained. The rest was a thin charcoaled layer.

The gentle sprinkler rain filled the garden with falling light.

Until this day however, how well the house had kept its peace. How carefully it had inquired, “Who goes there? What’s the password?” and, getting no answer from lonely foxes and whining cats, it had shut up its windows and drawn18)shades in an old maidenly preoccupation with self-protection which bordered on a mechanical19)paranoia.

It quivered at each sound, the house did. If a sparrow brushed a window, the shade snapped up. The bird, startled, few off! No, not even a bird must touch the house!

The house was an20)altar with ten thousand attendants, big, small, servicing, attending, in choirs. But the gods had gone away, and the ritual of the religion continued senselessly, uselessly.

14) sprinkler ['spr??kl?] n. 灑水車，灑水裝置

15) pelt [pelt] v. 重擊，用力打

16) char [t?ɑ?] v. 燒焦

17) silhouette [,s?lu?'et] n. 側(cè)面影象，剪影，輪廓

18) shade [?e?d] n. 簾，罩

19) paranoia [,p?r?'n???] n. 妄想狂，偏執(zhí)狂

20) altar ['??lt?] n. 祭壇，圣壇

21) sore [s?] n. 傷口

22) incinerator [?n's?n?re?t?] n. 焚化裝置，焚化爐

23) Baal ['be??l] n. 巴爾神，古代閃米特人所信奉的當?shù)氐呢S饒之神和自然之神，希伯來人認為是邪神

十點。雨中，太陽出來了。這所房子獨自佇立在這座已成廢墟的荒城中。這是唯一僅存的房子。整夜，這座荒城發(fā)出一道放射性亮光，數(shù)英里內(nèi)的地方都可看到。

十點十五分。灑水器在金色的儲水缸里緩緩旋起，為清晨柔和的空氣注入亮白的水花。水流打向窗戶的玻璃，沿著房子的西墻流下，那里的白漆都已被大火燒毀了。除了五個地方，房子西墻的其他地方都是一片焦黑。這里，有一個正在修剪草坪的男人的黑色剪影。這里，像是在一張照片里，一個女人正彎腰摘花。遠一點的地方，一個小男孩雙手伸向空中；高一點的地方，有一個被扔出的球，男孩對面是一個女孩，她正抬起雙手準備去接那顆永遠也不會落下的球，他們的剪影在那巨大威力襲來的一瞬被燒蝕在木墻上了。那五處地方的油漆——男人、女人、孩子、球的影像所在之處——還沒掉落。墻上的其他地方都已經(jīng)成了一層厚厚的黑炭。

灑水器噴灑出的細細水花閃著磷光淅瀝而下，溢滿了整個花園。

然而，直至今日，這座房子依然安然無恙。它總會對來訪者細細詢問：“誰在門外？密碼是什么？”孤單的狐貍與嘶叫的貓沒有給出答案，房子就關上窗戶，拉上窗簾，像個得了機器妄想癥的老處女一樣，把自己保護得滴水不漏。

任何動靜都能讓這座房子顫抖。如果麻雀停在窗戶旁，窗簾就會馬上拉起。鳥兒就被嚇走了！就連一只鳥都無法接近這座房子！

這座房子宛如一個神壇，里面有成千上萬個大大小小的侍者在為神服務，唱奏圣歌。然而神已經(jīng)離去，但宗教儀式卻依然如常地進行著，即使這毫無意義。

小鏈接

廣島墻上的影子

Shadows in Hiroshima

在原子彈爆炸后，廣島的一些地方留下了永不褪去的人影，據(jù)說是因為高能核輻射令墻身融化，留下燒灼過的痕跡；而擋在墻身前的人體會吸收掉一部分輻射能量，所以穿過人體的輻射能量會相對減弱，在墻上形成較輕的灼燒痕跡，故留下人影。而在本篇故事中，房子西墻上留下的五個影子正是由這個現(xiàn)象造成的，從這里也可以推斷出，故事里的人們經(jīng)歷了一場核爆炸。

Twelve noon.

A dog whined, shivering, on the front porch. The front door recognized the dog voice and opened. The dog, once huge and fleshy, but now gone to bone and covered with21)sores, moved in and through the house, tracking mud. Behind it whirred angry mice, angry at having to pick up mud, angry at inconvenience.

For not a leaf fragment blew under the door but what the wall panels flipped open and the copper scrap rats flashed swiftly out. The offending dust, hair, or paper, seized in miniature steel jaws, was raced back into the burrows. There, down tubes which fed into the cellar, it was dropped into the sighing vent of an22)incinerator which sat like evil23)Baal in a dark corner. The dog ran upstairs, hysterically yelping to each door, at last realizing, as the house realized, that only silence was there.

It sniffed the air and scratched the kitchen door. Behind the door, the stove was making pancakes which flled the house with a rich baked odor and the scent of maple syrup.

The dog frothed at the mouth, lying at the door, sniffing, its eyes turned to fire. It ran wildly in circles, biting at its tail, spun in a frenzy, and died. It lay in the parlor for an hour.

Two o’clock, sang a voice.

Delicately sensing decay at last, the regiments of mice hummed out as softly as blown gray leaves in an electrical wind.

中午十二點。

一只狗在門前的走廊處哀嚎，顫抖。大門認出了狗的聲音，給它開了門。曾經(jīng)高大強壯的狗現(xiàn)在變得瘦骨嶙峋，傷痕累累。它走了進來，留下泥腳印。它身后是生氣的機器鼠，它們在嗡嗡地打掃著，為了不得不拾起泥土而生氣，為了麻煩而生氣。

就連一片殘葉都沒有留在門口的機會，因為墻上的嵌板會馬上打開，那些銅屑般的小鼠便呼嘯而出，用它們那小小的鋼鉗夾起那些礙眼的灰塵、毛發(fā)或紙屑，并迅速銜回洞中。這些垃圾會經(jīng)由一些管道進入地下室，落到燃燒的焚化爐里，焚化爐像邪惡的巴爾神，躲在陰暗的角落里。狗上了樓，朝著每道門狂吠，最后，和房子一樣，意識到這里只剩下沉寂。

它聞了聞空氣中的味道，便徑直跑去刨廚房的門。門后，爐子上正烤著薄餅，整個房子滿溢著烘烤和楓糖的香氣。

這只狗口吐白沫，躺在門邊，嗅著空氣中的味道。它雙眼冒火，瘋狂地繞圈跑，咬自己的尾巴。它不停地繞圈，直到死去。它的尸體就在門廊那里躺了一個小時。

兩點鐘，一個聲音響起。

終于察覺到了腐爛的氣息，成群的老鼠輕輕地溜出來，如同被電風卷起的枯葉般輕盈。

Two-ffteen.

The dog was gone.

In the cellar, the incinerator glowed suddenly and a whirl of sparks leaped up the chimney.

Two thirty-fve.

Bridge tables sprouted from24)patio walls. Playing cards futtered onto pads in a shower of pips. Martinis manifested on an oaken bench with egg-salad sandwiches. Music played. But the tables were silent and the cards untouched.

At four-fve the tables folded like great butterfies back through the paneled walls.

Four-thirty. The nursery walls glowed. Animals took shape: yellow giraffes, blue lions, pink antelopes, lilac panthers25)cavorting in crystal substance. The walls were glass. They looked upon every color and fantasy. Hidden flms docked through well-oiled26)sprockets, and the walls lived. The nursery foor was woven to resemble a crisp, cereal meadow. Over this ran aluminum roaches and iron crickets, and in the hot still air butterflies of delicate red tissue wavered among the sharp aroma of animal27)spoors! There was the sound like a great matted yellow hive of bees within a dark28)bellows, the lazy bumble of a purring lion. And there was the patter of okapi feet and the murmur of a fresh jungle rain, like hoofs, falling upon the summer-starched grass. Now the walls dissolved into a distance of parched weed, mile on mile, and warm endless sky. The animals drew away into thorn29)brakes and water holes.

It was the children’s hour.

兩點十五分。

那只狗不見了。

地下室內(nèi)，焚化爐里的火猛然變大，一道火光從煙囪中冒出。

兩點三十五分。

橋牌桌從院子的墻上伸出來。牌一下子就自動洗好了，疊在墊子上。馬提尼酒和雞蛋沙拉三明治出現(xiàn)在櫟木椅上。音樂響起，但桌子上沒有任何動靜，洗好的牌也沒有人碰過。

四點零五分，桌子折疊好，像只巨大的蝴蝶一樣飛回墻里。

四點三十分。兒童房的墻亮了起來，顯現(xiàn)出許多發(fā)光的動物：黃色的長頸鹿、藍色的獅子、粉色的羚羊、淡紫色的豹都在水晶狀的物質(zhì)上蹦蹦跳跳的。墻面是玻璃質(zhì)的，所以透出的顏色五彩斑斕、如夢如幻。潤滑良好的齒輪帶動隱藏的膠片，墻上便出現(xiàn)了影像。兒童房的地板做得像一片蔥郁青翠的草地，上面跳著一些鋁制的蟑螂和鐵制的蟋蟀，而在炎熱靜止的空氣中，精美的紅色紙蝴蝶則在動物散發(fā)出的撲鼻香氣中翩翩飛舞！一個聲音響起，像是大黃蜂窩被放進了黑暗的風箱所發(fā)出的聲音，是懶洋洋的獅子所發(fā)出的咕嚕聲。還有歐卡皮鹿的踏步聲，以及叢林細雨飄落在夏日堅挺的草兒上的聲音，猶如馬蹄輕踏。現(xiàn)在，墻變成了延綿千里的炙熱草地以及無邊無際的溫暖天空。動物們躲進了荊棘叢生的灌木叢和小水坑里。

現(xiàn)在是兒童時間。

Five o’clock. The bath flled with clear hot water.

Six, seven, eight o’clock. The dinner dishes manipulated like magic tricks, and in the study a click. In the metal stand outside the hearth where a fire now blazed up warmly, a cigar popped out, half an inch of soft gray ash on it, smoking, waiting.

Nine o’clock. The beds warmed their hidden circuits, for nights were cool here.

Nine-fve. A voice spoke from the study ceiling:

“Mrs. McClellan, which poem would you like this evening?”

The house was silent.

The voice said at last, “Since you express no preference, I shall select a poem at random.”

Quiet music rose to back the voice. “Sara Teasdale. As I recall, your favorite…

There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,

And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;

And frogs in the pools singing at night,

And wild plum trees in tremulous white;

Robins will wear their feathery fre,

Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;

And not one will know of the war, not one

Will care at last when it is done.

Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree,

if mankind perished utterly;

And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn

Would scarcely know that we were gone.”

The fire burned on the stone hearth and the cigar fell away into a mound of quiet ash on its tray. The empty chairs faced each other between the silent walls, and the music played.

At ten o’clock the house began to die.

五點。浴缸里裝滿了干凈的熱水。

六點，七點，八點。晚餐像變魔術般出現(xiàn)了，書房里傳出“咔噠”一聲，一個金屬架內(nèi)彈出一根雪茄。金屬架旁邊是一個壁爐，現(xiàn)在爐內(nèi)的火燒得很旺，很暖。半英寸雪茄變成了灰燼，繼續(xù)燃燒著，等待著。

九點。床上隱藏的電路開始發(fā)熱，因為晚上這里會有點涼。

九點五分。書房的天花板上傳來一個聲音：

“麥克萊倫夫人，今晚您想聽哪首詩？”

房子里鴉雀無聲。

最后，這個聲音說：“既然你沒有表示，那我就隨便選一首了。”

輕柔的背景音樂響起，應和著這個聲音?！拔矣浀媚阕钕矚g的是莎拉·蒂斯黛爾……

細雨將至，泥土氣息漸濃，

燕子在空中盤旋，高聲啼鳴；

夜晚，池塘里的青蛙呱呱鳴唱，

野外的李樹白花嬌顫；

知更鳥將會披著火紅的羽裳，

停立在低矮的柵欄上婉轉(zhuǎn)低鳴；

沒有生靈會知道曾發(fā)生過這場戰(zhàn)爭，也沒有生靈

會關心它何時消停。

誰都不會在意，鳥兒不會在意，樹木亦然，

即使人類已全部覆滅；

而當春姑娘在黎明時分蘇醒時

她不會發(fā)現(xiàn)，我們?nèi)祟愐呀?jīng)消失于世?！?/p>

火焰在壁爐里燃燒著，雪茄已經(jīng)化為一堆灰燼，靜靜地躺在煙灰缸里?？帐幨幍囊巫颖舜讼鄬?，四周是無聲的墻壁，音樂繼續(xù)在播放。

晚上十點，房子開始走向毀滅。

24) patio ['pɑ?t???] n. 天井, 院子

25) cavort [k?'v??t] v. 跳躍，嬉鬧

26) sprocket ['spr?k?t] n. （放映機的）鏈齒; 輸片齒輪（影片）

27) spoor [sp??] n. （野獸的）足跡，臭跡

28) bellows ['bel??z] n. 風箱

29) brake [bre?k] n. 灌木叢