The Songs of Distant Earth - Apr 17, 2008
刚看完一本名叫The songs of distant earth的科幻小说,作者是Arthur C. Clarke (亚瑟·克拉克, 16 December 1917–19 March 2008)。这本书属于牛津书虫系列,所以很缩简和简略。在这个版本里面有五个短篇小说:
1. The Nice Billion Names of God
We know what the lamas are trying to do. But we didn’t know why. It’s the craziest thing but old Sam’s just told me the reason. He’s getting a bit excited now that we’re getting close to the end of the list. You see, they believe that when they have listed all His names - and they think that there are nine billion of them - God’s purpose in making the world will be finished. There will be nothing more for human beings to do, and indeed, no further reason for humans to go on living. When the list’s completed, God steps in and simply closes everything down … bang!
喇嘛借助电脑在短短的三个月内将上帝的九十亿个可能的名字列出来后,人类也就失去了存在的意义,一切又回归混沌。 Read the rest of this entry »