This is by far my favorite story of all those I have written.
After all, I undertook to tell several trillion years of human history in the space of a short story and I leave it to you as to how well I succeeded. I also undertook another task, but I won*t tell you what that was lest l spoil the story for you.
这是目前我在所写过所有的故事中最喜爱的一篇。
总之，我试图在这篇短短的文字中讲述几万亿年的人类历史。我是否成功地做到了这一点将留给你们去判断。同时我还有另外一个目标，但为了避免剧透我不能告诉你们。
It is a curious fact that innumerable readers have asked me if I wrote this story. They seem never to remember the title of the story or (for sure) the author, except for the vague thought it might be me. But, of course, they never forget the story itself especially the ending. The idea seems to drown out everything -- and I*m satisfied that it should.

很奇怪的是有无数的读者问我这个故事是不是我写的。他们似乎从来记不住这个故事的标题，更记不住作者，而只是模糊地认为可能是我。不过当然了，他们从来不会忘记故事本身，特别是它的结尾——它似乎掩盖了所有其他的东西——这一点令我十分满意。

瞬间觉得我的生命在这一刻和艺术相关了

The last question was asked for the first time, half in jest, on May 21, 2061, at a time when humanity first stepped into the light. The question came about as a result of a five-dollar bet over highballs, and it happened this way:
最后的问题第一次被半开玩笑地提出是在2061年的5月21日。那时人类文明刚刚步入曙光中。这个问题源起于酒酣之中一个五美元的赌，它是这么发生的：

Alexander Adell and Bertram Lupov were two of the faithful attendants of Multivac. As well as any human beings could, they knew what lay behind the cold, clicking, flashing face -- miles and miles of face -- of that giant computer. They had at least a vague notion of the general plan of relays and circuits that had long since grown past the point where any single human could possibly have a firm grasp of the whole.
亚历山大·阿代尔与贝特伦·卢泊夫是Multivac的两个忠实的管理员。像任何其他人一样，他们知道在那台巨大的计算机数英里冰冷、闪烁、滴答作响的面庞后藏着什么。那些电子回路早已发展到任何个别的人都无法完全掌握的地步，但他们至少对它的大致蓝图有个基本的概念。
Multivac was self-adjusting and self-correcting. It had to be, for nothing human could adjust and correct it quickly enough or even adequately enough. So Adell and Lupov attended the monstrous giant only lightly and superficially, yet as well as any men could. They fed it data, adjusted questions to its needs and translated the answers that were issued. Certainly they, and all others like them, were fully entitled to share in the glory that was Multivac*s.
Multivac能自我调节和自我修正。这对它是必要的，因为人类当中没有谁能够快甚至够好地对它进行调节和修正。所以实际上阿代尔与卢泊夫对这个庞然大物只进行一些非常轻松和肤浅的管理，任何其他人也都只能做到这个程度。他们给它输送数据，根据它所需的格式修改问题，然后翻译给出的答案。当然，他们以及其他管理员们完全有资格分享属于Multivac的荣誉。
For decades, Multivac had helped design the ships and plot the trajectories that enabled man to reach the Moon, Mars, and Venus, but past that, Earth*s poor resources could not support the ships. Too much energy was needed for the long trips. Earth exploited its coal and uranium with increasing efficiency, but there was only so much of both.
几十年中，在Multivac的帮助下人类建造了宇宙飞船，计算出航行路径，从而得以登陆月球、火星和金星。但是更远的航行需要大量的能量，地球上可怜的资源不足以支持这些飞船。尽管人类不断地提高煤炭和核能的利用效率，但煤和铀都是有限的。
But slowly Multivac learned enough to answer deeper questions more fundamentally, and on May 14, 2061, what had been theory, became fact.
但是慢慢地Multivac学会了如何从根本上解决某些深层次问题。2061年5月14日，理论成为了现实。
The energy of the sun was stored, converted, and utilized directly on a planet-wide scale. All Earth turned off its burning coal, its fissioning uranium, and flipped the switch that connected all of it to a small station, one mile in diameter, circling the Earth at half the distance of the Moon. All Earth ran by invisible beams of sunpower.
太阳的能量被储存和转化，得以被全球规模地直接利用。整个地球熄灭了燃烧的煤炭，关闭了核反应炉，打开了连接到那个小小的太阳能空间站的开关。这个空间站直径一英里，在到月球的距离一半处环绕着地球。看不见的太阳的光束支撑着整个地球社会的运行。

Seven days had not sufficed to dim the glory of it and Adell and Lupov finally managed to escape from the public functions, and to meet in quiet where no one would think of looking for them, in the deserted underground chambers, where portions of the mighty buried body of Multivac showed. Unattended, idling, sorting data with contented lazy clickings, Multivac, too, had earned its vacation and the boys appreciated that. They had no intention, originally, of disturbing it.
七天的庆祝还不足以暗淡这创举的光辉。阿代尔与卢泊夫总算逃脱了公众事务，悄悄地相聚在这个谁也想不到的荒僻的地下室。在这里Multivac埋藏着的庞大身躯露出了一部分。它正独自闲暇地整理着数据，发出满足的、慵懒的滴答声——它也得到了假期。他们了解这一点，一开始他们并没打算打扰它。
They had brought a bottle with them, and their only concern at the moment was to relax in the company of each other and the bottle.
他们带来了一瓶酒。这会儿他们想做的只是在一起，喝喝酒，放松放松。

"Well, it will last our time, won*t it?"
“但对我们来说是够了，不是吗？”
"So would the coal and uranium."
“煤和铀对我们来说也够了。”
"All right, but now we can hook up each individual spaceship to the Solar Station, and it can go to Pluto and back a million times without ever worrying about fuel. You can*t do that on coal and uranium. Ask Multivac, if you don*t believe me.
“好好好，但是现在我们能把宇宙飞船连接到太阳能电站，然后飞到冥王星又飞回来一百万次而不用担心燃料。靠煤和铀你就做不到。不信去问问Multivac。”
"I don*t have to ask Multivac. I know that."
“我不用问它。我知道。”
"Then stop running down what Multivac*s done for us," said Adell, blazing up, "It did all right."
“那就不要小看Multivac为我们做的事，”阿代尔怒道，“它做得很好。”
"Who says it didn*t? What I say is that a sun won*t last forever. That*s all I*m saying. We*re safe for ten billion years, but then what?" Lupow pointed a slightly shaky finger at the other. "And don*t say we*ll switch to another sun."
“谁说它做得不好？我是说太阳不能永远燃烧下去，我只是这个意思。我们在一百亿年内可以高枕无忧，但是然后呢？”卢泊夫用略微颤抖的手指指着对方，“不要说我们换另外一个太阳。”
There was silence for a while. Adell put his glass to his lips only occasionally, and Lupov*s eyes slowly closed. They rested.
片刻的沉默。阿代尔偶尔将酒杯放到唇边，而卢泊夫慢慢地闭上了眼睛。两人都在休息。
Then Lupov*s eyes snapped open. "You*re thinking we*ll switch to another sun when ours is done, aren*t you?"
然后卢泊夫突然睁开眼，“你在想当我们的太阳没了就换另外一个太阳，是吧？”
"I*m not thinking."
“我没这么想。”
"Sure you are. You*re weak on logic, that*s the trouble with you. You*re like the guy in the story who was caught in a sudden shower and who ran to a grove of trees and got under one. He wasn*t worried, you see, because he figured when one tree got wet through, he would just get under another one."
“你就是这么想的。你的逻辑不行，这就是你的问题。你就像故事里说的那个人一样，碰上了雨就跑到树林里躲在一棵树下。他可不担心，是吧，因为他以为当这棵树淋得太湿的时候他只要跑到另一棵树下就行。”
"I get it," said Adell. "Don*t shout. When the sun is done, the other stars will be gone, too."
“我明白了，”阿代尔说，“别嚷嚷。太阳完蛋了，其他的也都会完蛋。”
"Darn right they will," muttered Lupov. "It all had a beginning in the original cosmic explosion, whatever that was, and it*ll all have an end when all the stars run down. Some run down faster than others. Hell, the giants won*t last a hundred million years. The sun will last ten billion years and maybe the dwarfs will last two hundred billion for all the good they are. But just give us a trillion years and everything will be dark. Entropy has to increase to maximum, that*s all."
“完全正确，”卢泊夫嘟哝道，“一切都在起初那个宇宙大爆炸中有个开始，不管那到底是怎么回事。当所有的恒星都熄灭了，一切也都会有个结束。有的星星熄灭得比别的早。像那些该死的巨星维持不了一亿年。我们的太阳能持续一百亿年，矮星再怎么样最多也只有两千亿年。一万亿年后一切都是一片漆黑。熵必须增加到最大值，就是这样。”
"I know all about entropy," said Adell, standing on his dignity.
“我非常明白什么是熵，”阿代尔维护着他的自尊。
"The hell you do."
“你明白个屁。”
"I know as much as you do."
“我跟你知道的一样多。”
"Then you know everything*s got to run down someday."
“那你该知道某一天所有的东西都会耗光。”
"All right. Who says they won*t?"
“是是是。谁说它们不会呢？”
"You did, you poor sap. You said we had all the energy we needed, forever. You said *forever.*
“你说的，你这个糊涂虫。你说我们有永远用不完的能量。你说的‘永远’。”
It was Adell*s turn to be contrary. "Maybe we can build things up again someday," he said.
现在轮到阿代尔反驳了。他说：“也许有一天我们能让一切从头开始。”
"Never."
“绝不可能。”
"Why not? Someday."
“为什么？总有那么一天的。”
"Never."
“没有。”
"Ask Multivac."
“问问Multivac。”
"You ask Multivac. I dare you. Five dollars says it can*t be done."
“你去问Multivac。你敢吗？我赌五美元它说这不可能。”
Adell was just drunk enough to try, just sober enough to be able to phrase the necessary symbols and operations into a question which, in words, might have corresponded to this: Will mankind one day without the net expenditure of energy be able to restore the sun to its full youthfulness even after it had died of old age?
阿代尔刚刚醉到愿意一试，又刚刚足够清醒到能拼写出问问题需要的符号和算式。这个问题用文字来表达就是：人类是否有一天能不需要净损耗能量而在恒星衰竭之后将其恢复到全盛时期？
Or maybe it could be put more simply like this: How can the net amount of entropy of the universe be massively decreased?
或者更简明地这样说：怎样使宇宙的总熵大幅度地降低？
Multivac fell dead and silent. The slow flashing of lights ceased, the distant sounds of clicking relays ended.
Multivac陷入了静止和沉默。缓慢闪烁的灯光熄灭了，深处传来的电路的滴答声停止了。
Then, just as the frightened technicians felt they could hold their breath no longer, there was a sudden springing to life of the teletype attached to that portion of Multivac. Five words were printed: INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR MEANINGFUL ANSWER.
正当这两位被吓坏的技术员感到他们无法再屏住呼吸时，忽然间与Multivac相连的打字机开始运作起来。它打出几个字：数据不足，无法作答。
"No bet," whispered Lupov. They left hurriedly.
“赌不成了。”卢泊夫悄声道。他们匆忙离开了。
By next morning, the two, plagued with throbbing head and cottony mouth, had forgotten the incident.
到了第二天早晨，两人头晕脑胀，口干舌燥，把这件事给忘了。

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"Ask the Microvac," wailed Jerrodette I. "Ask him how to turn the stars on again."
“问问Microvac，”贾诺蒂I哭叫道。“问它怎么把星星重新点亮。”
"Go ahead," said Jerrodine. "It will quiet them down." (Jerrodette II was beginning to cry, also.)
“问吧，”贾诺汀说。“这会让她们安静点的。”（贾诺蒂II也开始哭了。）
Jerrodd shrugged. "Now, now, honeys. I*ll ask Microvac. Don*t worry, he*ll tell us."
贾诺德耸耸肩。“好了，好了，亲爱的。我去问Microvac。别着急，它会告诉我们的。”
He asked the Microvac, adding quickly, "Print the answer."
他向Microvac提出问题，并赶紧加上“把答案打印出来。”
Jerrodd cupped the strip of thin cellufilm and said cheerfully, "See now, the Microvac says it will take care of everything when the time comes so don*t worry."
贾诺德将薄薄的纤维纸带握在手心，高兴地说：“看吧，Microvac说到时候它会料理这一切，所以别担心啦。”
Jerrodine said, "And now, children, it*s time for bed. We*ll be in our new home soon."
贾诺汀说：“那么现在孩子们，该睡觉了。我们马上就要到我们的新家了。”
Jerrodd read the words on the cellufilm again before destroying it: INSUFICIENT DATA FOR MEANINGFUL ANSWER.
在销毁纸带之前贾诺德又读了一遍上面的文字：数据不足，无法作答。
He shrugged and looked at the visiplate. X-23 was just ahead.
他耸了耸肩，看向视屏。X-23就在前方。
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继续啊

Man considered with himself, for in a way, Man, mentally, was one. He consisted of a trillion, trillion, trillion ageless bodies, each in its place, each resting quiet and incorruptible, each cared for by perfect automatons, equally incorruptible, while the minds of all the bodies freely melted one into the other, indistinguishable.
人，独自地思考着。在某种意义上——精神上——“人”，是一个整体。千万亿永恒的不朽的躯体静静地躺在各自的地方，被完美的同样不朽的机器照料着。而所有这些身体的灵魂自由地融合在彼此之中，再也没有界限。
Man said, "The Universe is dying."
人说：“宇宙正在死去。”
Man looked about at the dimming Galaxies. The giant stars, spendthrifts, were gone long ago, back in the dimmest of the dim far past. Almost all stars were white dwarfs, fading to the end.
人看着周围黯淡的星系。那些挥霍无度的巨星早已消失在了遥远的昏暗的过去。几乎所有的星都变成了白矮星，渐渐地凋零、熄灭。
New stars had been built of the dust between the stars, some by natural processes, some by Man himself, and those were going, too. White dwarfs might yet be crashed together and of the mighty forces so released, new stars built, but only one star for every thousand white dwarfs destroyed, and those would come to an end, too.
有些新的星从星际的尘埃中产生出来，有的是自然形成，有的是人所造的——它们也在逝去。白矮星有时会相撞而释放出大量能量，新星因而产生，但是每一千颗白矮星才有可能出现一颗新星——它们最终也会消失。
Man said, "Carefully husbanded, as directed by the Cosmic AC, the energy that is even yet left in all the Universe will last for billions of years."
人说道：“如果在Cosmic AC[注]的管理之下小心地节约能源，整个宇宙所剩下的能量还能用十亿年。”
[注] 不知道怎么翻译Cosmic，Cosmic也是指宇宙，但和Universal相比有一层“和谐的统一的整体”的意思。
"But even so," said Man, "eventually it will all come to an end. However it may be husbanded, however stretched out, the energy once expended is gone and cannot be restored. Entropy must increase forever to the maximum."
“但即使是这样，”人说，“最终都会耗尽。无论怎样节约，无论怎样利用，用掉的能量就是用掉了，不能回复。熵必定永远地增加，直到最大值。”
Man said, "Can entropy not be reversed? Let us ask the Cosmic AC."
人又说：“熵有没有可能逆转呢？我们问问Cosmic AC吧。”
The Cosmic AC surrounded them but not in space. Not a fragment of it was in space. It was in hyperspace and made of something that was neither matter nor energy. The question of its size and nature no longer had meaning in any terms that Man could comprehend.
Cosmic AC在他们的周围，但不是在太空中。它不再有一丝一毫存在于太空中。它存在于超时空，由既非物质又非能量的东西构成。它的大小与性质已无法用任何人类能理解的语言描述。
"Cosmic AC," said Man, "how may entropy be reversed?"
“Cosmic AC，”人问道，“怎样才能逆转熵？”
The Cosmic AC said, "THERE IS AS YET INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR A MEANINGFUL ANSWER."
Cosmic AC说：“数据仍然不足，无法作答。”
Man said, "Collect additional data."
人说：“搜集更多的数据。”
The Cosmic AC said, "I WILL DO SO. I HAVE BEEN DOING SO FOR A HUNDRED BILLION YEARS. MY PREDECESORS AND I HAVE BEEN ASKED THIS QUESTION MANY TlMES. ALL THE DATA I HAVE REMAINS INSUFFICIENT. "
Cosmic AC说：“好的。一千亿年来我一直都在搜集。我和我的前辈们被多次问过这个问题。但我拥有的所有数据还是不够。”
"Will there come a time," said Man, "when data will be sufficient or is the problem insoluble in all conceivable circumstances?"
“会有一天有足够的数据吗？”人问，“还是说这个问题在任何可能的情况下都是无解的？”
The Cosmic AC said, "NO PROBLEM IS INSOLUBLE IN ALL CONCEIVABLE CIRCUMSTANCES."
Cosmic AC说：“没有任何问题在任何可能的情况下都无解。”
Man said, "When will you have enough data to answer the question?"
人问道：“你什么时候会有足够的数据来问答这个问题呢？”
The Cosmic AC said, "THERE IS AS YET INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR A MEANINGFUL ANSWER."
Cosmic AC说：“数据不足，无法作答。”
"Will you keep working on it?" asked Man.
“你会继续下去解决这个问题吗？”人问。
The Cosmic AC said, "I WILL."
Cosmic AC说：“是的。”
Man said, "We shall wait."
人说：“我们会等着。”
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