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【短文】The Orchard Keeper's Last Experiment
【短文】果园守护者的最后实验
Eli was a corporal in nobody's army.
伊莱是个光杆司令，手下没兵。
He lived alone in a habitable valley where the border between forest and farm was always vague.
他独自住在一个宜居的山谷里，那里森林与农田的边界总是模糊不清。
His contemporaries called him odd.
同时代的人都说他古怪。
He did not mind.
他并不在意。
He had a theory, and it would not let him rest.
他有一个理论，这个理论让他无法安歇。
On Monday, he began digging.
星期一，他开始挖掘。
The soil was primitive and full of stuff no one could name.
土壤原始，满是无人能叫出名字的东西。
He had to excavate carefully.
他不得不小心翼翼地挖掘。
A tiny iris grew near the fence.
篱笆附近长着一株小鸢尾。
He did not want to victimise it.
他不想伤害它。
Beneath the ground, he hoped to find the core of an old idea.
在地底下，他希望能找到某个古老想法的核心。
"Every plant is sentient in its own way," he said.
“每种植物都以自己的方式有知觉，”他说，“我们只是缺乏注意到的能力。
"We just lack the ability to notice." He had no warrant for this claim.
”他对这一说法并无依据。
But it was a promising basis.
但这是一个有希望的基础。
He planted three seeds.
他种下三颗种子。
He gave them water, not too much.
他给它们浇水，不多不少。
He did not resort to chemicals.
他没有使用化学药剂。
He wanted to ascertain whether a molecule could carry memory.
他想弄清一个分子能否携带记忆。
The work was tedious.
这项工作很乏味。
Yet a spontaneous joy would germinate in him each morning.
然而每天早晨，一种自发的喜悦会在他心中萌发。
He felt a strange impetus to continue.
他感到一股奇怪的动力促使他继续。
His neighbour, Mara, watched from her window.
他的邻居玛拉从窗户里看着。
She was skeptical.
她持怀疑态度。
"You rely on imagination, not evidence," she said.
“你依赖的是想象，不是证据，”她说，“这种解释会让你误入歧途。
"That interpretation will lead you astray." Eli smiled.
”伊莱笑了。
He was conscious of his own limits.
他意识到自己的局限。
Still, he could not forfeit this chance.
但他仍然不能放弃这个机会。
A month passed.
一个月过去了。
One seed failed.
一颗种子失败了。
One grew into a typical weed.
一颗长成了普通的杂草。
The third, however, did something conspicuous.
然而第三颗却做出了引人注目的举动。
Its leaves turned toward the sun with an almost conscious flexibility.
它的叶子以几乎有意识的柔韧性转向太阳。
The change was noticeable.
这一变化很明显。
It seemed to mimic an animal.
它似乎在模仿动物。
Eli called Mara.
伊莱叫来了玛拉。
She came, reluctantly.
她勉强来了。
"This is not a substitution for real science," she said.
“这不能替代真正的科学，”她说，“但我承认它很独特。
"But I admit it is distinct.
我无法解释它。
I cannot elucidate it." She paused.
”她停顿了一下。
"You have contrived something odd here."
“你在这里搞出了些古怪的东西。”
Then came the turn.
接着转折来了。
A storm rolled in.
一场风暴袭来。
It was a major, world-wide weather event.
这是一场重大的、全球性的天气事件。
Rain churned the soil.
雨水搅动着土壤。
The plant was torn apart.
那株植物被撕碎了。
Eli was desperate.
伊莱绝望了。
He knelt in the mud.
他跪在泥里。
He did not weep.
他没有哭泣。
He simply said, "The experiment is over." But the next spring, small shoots appeared.
他只是说：“实验结束了。
Not one.
”但第二年春天，小小的嫩芽出现了。
Not two.
不是一株。
They had tripled.
不是两株。
The plant had survived.
它们变成了三倍。
It had integrated itself into the ecological sphere.
那株植物活了下来。
The old man was triumphant.
它已经将自己融入了生态圈。
"So," he said, "what is essential is not the result.
老人胜利了。
It is the question we keep asking."
“所以，”他说，“重要的不是结果。而是我们不断提出的问题。”
He did not become eminent.
他没有变得杰出。
He did not achieve notoriety.
他没有获得恶名。
But his small discovery had a lasting effect.
但他的小发现产生了持久的影响。
Students came to study the soil.
学生们来研究土壤。
They tried to distill its secrets.
他们试图提炼其中的秘密。
They asked him for advice.
他们向他请教。
"Be patient," he told them.
“要有耐心，”他告诉他们，“并且小心你对智慧的定义。
"And be careful with your definition of intelligence." The valley stayed quiet.
”山谷依旧安静。
The forest and the farm still blurred at the edge.
森林和农田的边缘依然模糊。
Eli kept digging until the end.
伊莱一直挖掘到最后。
He never finished the work.
他从未完成这项工作。
That, he said, was the point.
他说，这正是关键所在。
Reference note
参考外刊特稿的短篇叙事体例，以人物故事串联抽象词汇，内容原创。