22 Berkeley
22 柏克莱
……like a giddy planet round a burning sun……
……宛如燃烧的恒星旁一颗晕眩的行星……
Alberto walked over to the window facing the town. Sophie followed him. While they stood looking out at the old houses, a small plane flew in over the rooftops. Fixed to its tail was a long banner which Sophie guessed would be advertising some product or local event, a rock concert perhaps. But as it approached and turned, she saw quite a different message: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HILDE!
艾伯特走到面向市区的那一扇窗户旁。苏菲也过去站在他身边。当他们站在那儿看着外面那些古老的房子时，突然有一架小飞机飞到那些屋顶的上方，机尾挂了一块长布条。苏菲猜想那大概是某项产品、某种活动或某场摇滚音乐会的广告。但是当它飞近，机身转向时，她看到上面写的是：“席德，生日快乐!”
"Gate-crasher," was Alberto's only comment.
“不请自来。”艾伯特只说了一句。
Heavy black clouds from the hills to the south were now beginning to gather over the town. The little plane disappeared into the grayness.
这时，从南边山上下来的浓厚乌云已经开始聚集在市区上方了。小飞机逐渐隐没在灰色的云层中。
"I'm afraid there's going to be a storm," said Alberto.
“恐怕会有暴风雨呢。”艾伯特说。
"So I'll take the bus home."
“所以我回家时必须坐车才行。”
"I only hope the major isn't behind this, too."
“我只希望这不是少校的计谋之一。”
"He's not God Almighty, is he?"
“他又不是万能的上帝。”
Alberto did not reply. He walked across the room and sat down again by the coffee table.
艾伯特没有回答。他走到房间的另一头，再度坐在茶几旁。
"We have to talk about Berkeley," he said after a while.
过了一会，他说：“我们得谈谈柏克莱。”
Sophie had already resumed her place. She caught herself biting her nails.
此时苏菲已经坐回原位。她发现自己开始咬起指甲来。
柏克莱
"George Berkeley was an Irish bishop who lived from 1685 to 1753," Alberto began. There was a long silence.
“柏克莱(George Berkeley)是爱尔兰的一位天主教的主教，生于一六八五到一七五三年间。”艾伯特开始说，然后便沉默了很长一段时间。
"Berkeley was an Irish bishop ..." Sophie prompted.
“你刚才说到柏克莱是爱尔兰的一位主教……”苏菲提醒他。
"But he was a philosopher as well..."
“他也是一个哲学家……”
"Yes?"
“是吗？”
"He felt that current philosophies and science were a threat to the Christian way of life, that the all-pervading materialism, not least, represented a threat to the Christian faith in God as creator and preserver of all nature."
“他觉得当时的哲学与科学潮流可能会对基督徒的生活方式有不利的影响。他认为他那个时代无所不在的唯物主义，将会腐蚀基督徒对于上帝这位创造者与大自然保护者的信心。”
"He did?"
“是吗？”
"And yet Berkeley was the most consistent of the empiricists."
“然而他也是经验主义哲学家中理论最一贯的一位。”
"He believed we cannot know any more of the world than we can perceive through the senses?"
“他也认为我们对世界的知识只能经由感官的认知而获得吗？”
"More than that. Berkeley claimed that worldly things are indeed as we perceive them, but they are not 'things.' "
“不只是这样。柏克莱宣称世间的事物的确是像我们所感知的那样。但它们并非‘事物’。”
"You'll have to explain that."
“请你解释一下好吗？”
"You remember that Locke pointed out that we cannot make statements about the 'secondary qualities' of things. We cannot say an apple is green and sour. We can only say we perceive it as being so. But Locke also said that the 'primary qualities' like density, gravity, and weight really do belong to the external reality around us. External reality has, in fact, a material substance."
“你还记得洛克说我们无法陈述事物的‘次要性质’吗？例如，我们不能说一个苹果是绿的或酸的。我们只能说我们感觉到它是绿的或酸的。但洛克同时也说像密度、比重和重量等‘主要性质’确实是我们周遭的外在真实世界的特性。而外在的真实世界具有物质的实体。”
"I remember that, and I think Locke's division of things was important."
“我记得。而且我也认为洛克区分事物的方式是很重要的。”
"Yes, Sophie, if only that were all."
“是的，苏菲，但事实上并不只于此。”
"Goon."
“说下去。”
"Locke believed--just like Descartes and Spinoza-- that the material world is a reality."
“洛克和笛卡尔、史宾诺莎一样，认为物质世界是真实的。”
"Yes?"
“然后呢？”
"This is just what Berkeley questioned, and he did so by the logic of empiricism. He said the only things that exist are those we perceive. But we do not perceive 'material' or 'matter.' We do not perceive things as tangible objects. To assume that what we perceive has its own underlying 'substance' is jumping to conclusions. We have absolutely no experience on which to base such a claim."
“但柏克莱却对这点提出了疑问。他利用经验主义的逻辑提出这个疑问。他说，世间所存在的只有那些我们感受到的事情。但我们并未感受到‘物质’或‘质料’。我们无法察知我们所感受到的事物是否确实存在。他认为，如果我们认定自己所感知到的事物之下有‘实体’存在，我们就是妄下结论，因为我们绝对没有任何经验可以支持这样的说法。”
"How stupid. Look!" Sophie thumped her fist hard on the table. "Ouch," she said. "Doesn't that prove that this table is really a table, both of material and matter?"
“胡说八道!你看!” 苏菲用拳头重重地捶了一下桌子。 “好痛。”她说。“难道这不能证明这张桌子的确是一张桌子，既是物质，也是质料？”
"How did you feel it?"
“你觉得这张桌子怎么样呢？”
"I felt something hard."
“很硬。”
"You had a sensation of something hard, but you didn't feel the actual matter in the table. In the same way, you can dream you are hitting something hard, but there isn't anything hard in a dream, is there?"
“你感觉到一个硬的东西，可是你并没有感觉到实际存在于桌子里的物质，对不对？同样的，你可以梦见自己碰到一个硬物，可是梦里不会有硬的东西，对不对？”
"No, not in a dream."
“没错。”
"A person can also be hypnotized into 'feeling' things like warmth and cold, a caress or a punch."
“人也会在被催眠的状态下‘感觉’冷或热，感觉被人抚摸或被人打了一拳。”
"But if the table wasn't really hard, why did I feel it?"
“可是如果桌子实际上不是硬的，我又怎么会有这种感觉呢？”
"Berkeley believed in a 'spirit.' He thought all our ideas have a cause beyond our consciousness, but that this cause is not of a material nature. It is spiritual."
“柏克莱相信人有‘灵’。他认为我们所有的观念都有一个我们意识不到的成因。但这个成因不是物质的，而是精神性的。”
Sophie had started biting her nails again.
灵苏菲又开始咬指甲了。
Alberto continued: "According to Berkeley, my own soul can be the cause of my own ideas--just as when I dream--but only another will or spirit can be the cause of the ideas that make up the 'corporeal' world. Everything is due to that spirit which is the cause of 'everything in everything' and which 'all things consist in,' he said."
艾伯特继续说：“根据柏克莱的看法，我们的灵魂可能是形成我们本身各种概念的原因，就像我们在做梦时一般。但世间只有另外一个意志或灵可能形成造就这个‘形体’世界的诸般概念。他说，万物都是因为这个灵而存在，这个灵乃是‘万物中的万物’的成因，也是‘所有事物存在之处’” 。
"What 'spirit' was he talking about?"
“他说的这个‘灵’是怎样的一个东西？”
"Berkeley was of course thinking of God. He said that 'we can moreover claim that the existence of God is far more clearly perceived than the existence of man."'
“他指的当然是天主。他宣称：‘我们可以说天主的存在比人的存在要更能够让人清楚地感知到。’”
"Is it not even certain that we exist?"
“难道连我们是否存在都不确定吗？”
"Yes, and no. Everything we see and feel is 'an effect of God's power,' said Berkeley. For God is 'intimately present in our consciousness, causing to exist for us the profusion of ideas and perceptions that we are constantly subject to.' The whole world around us and our whole life exist in God. He is the one cause of everything that exists. We exist only in the mind of God."
“可以说是，也可以说不是。柏克莱说，我们所看见、所感觉到的每一件事物都是‘天主力量的作用’，因为天主‘密切存在于我们的意识中，造成那些我们不断体会到的丰富概念与感官体验’。他认为，我们周遭的世界与我们的生命全都存在于天主之中。他是万物唯一的成因，同时我们只存在于天主的心中。”
"I am amazed, to put it mildly."
“太让人惊讶了。”
"So 'to be or not to be' is not the whole question. The question is also who we are. Are we really human beings of flesh and blood? Does our world consist of real things--or are we encircled by the mind?"
“因此，to be or not to be并不是唯一的问题。问题在于我们是什么。我们真的是血肉之躯的人类吗？我们的世界是由真实的事物组成的吗？或者我们只是受到心灵的包围？”
Sophie continued to bite her nails.
苏菲再度咬起指甲来。
Alberto went on: "Material reality was not the only thing Berkeley was questioning. He was also questioning whether 'time' and 'space' had any absolute or independent existence. Our own perception of time and space can also be merely figments of the mind. A week or two for us need not be a week or two for God ..."
艾伯特继续说：“柏克莱不只质疑物质真实性的问题，他也提出了‘时间’和‘空间’是否绝对存在或独立存在的问题。他认为，我们对于时间与空间的认知可能也只是由我们的心灵所虚构的产物而已。我们的……两个星期并不一定等于上帝的……两个星期……”
"You said that for Berkeley this spirit that everything exists in is the Christian God."
“你刚才说柏克莱认为这个万物所存在于其中的灵乃是天主？”
"Yes, I suppose I did. But for us ..."
“是的。但对我们来说……”
"Us?"
“我们？”
"For us--for you and me--this 'will or spirit' that is the 'cause of everything in everything' could be Hilde's father."
“……对于你我来说，这个‘造成万物中之万物’的‘意志或灵’可能是席德的父亲。”
Sophie's eyes opened wide with incredulity. Yet at the same time a realization began to dawn on her.
苏菲震惊极了。她的眼睛睁得大大的，一副不可置信的样子。 但同时她也开始悟出一些道理来。
"Is that what you think?"
“你真的这么想吗？”
"I cannot see any other possibility. That is perhaps the only feasible explanation for everything that has happened to us. All those postcards and signs that have turned up here and there... Hermes beginning to talk ... my own involuntary slips of the tongue."
“除此之外，我看不出还有别的可能。只有这样，才能解释我们所经历的这些事情，包括那些到处出现的明信片和标语、汉密士开口说人话……还有我经常不由自主地叫错你的名字。”
"I..."
“我……”
"Imagine my calling you Sophie, Hilde! I knew all the time that your name wasn't Sophie."
“我居然叫你苏菲，席德。我一直都知道你的名字不叫苏菲。”
"What are you saying? Now you are definitely confused."
“你说什么？你这回是真的胡涂了。”
"Yes, my mind is going round and round, my child. Like a giddy planet round a burning sun."
“是的，我的脑子正转呀转的，像围绕燃烧的恒星旋转的一颗晕眩的星球。”
"And that sun is Hilde's father?"
“而那颗恒星就是席德的父亲吗？”
"You could say so."
“可以这么说。”
"Are you saying he's been a kind of God for us?"
“你是说他有点像是在扮演我们的上帝吗？”
"To be perfectly candid, yes. He should be ashamed of himself!"
“坦白说，是的。他应该觉得惭愧才对。”
"What about Hilde herself?"
“那席德呢？”
"She is an angel, Sophie."
“她是个天使，苏菲。”
"An angel?"
“天使？”
"Hilde is the one this 'spirit' turns to."
“因为她是这个‘灵’诉求的对象。”
"Are you saying that Albert Knag tells Hilde about us?"
“你是说艾勃特把关于我们的事告诉席德？”
"Or writes about us. For we cannot perceive the matter itself that our reality is made of, that much we have learned. We cannot know whether our external reality is made of sound waves or of paper and writing. According to Berkeley, all we can know is that we are spirit."
“也可能是写的。因为我们不能感知那组成我们的现实世界的物质，这是我们到目前为止所学到的东西。我们无法得知我们的外在现实世界是由声波组成还是由纸和书写的动作组成。根据柏克莱的说法，我们唯一能够知道的就是我们是灵。”
"And Hilde is an angel..."
“而席德是个天使……”
"Hilde is an angel, yes. Let that be the last word. Happy birthday, Hilde!"
“是的，席德是个天使。我们就说到这里为止吧。生日快乐，席德!”
Suddenly the room was filled with a bluish light. A few seconds later they heard the crash of thunder and the whole house shook.
突然间房里充满了一种红光。几秒钟后，他们听见雷电劈空声音，整栋房子都为之摇撼。
"I have to go," said Sophie. She got up and ran to the front door. As she let herself out, Hermes woke up from his nap in the hallway. She thought she heard him say, "See you later, Hilde."
“我得回家了。”苏菲说。她站起身，跑到前门。她刚走出来，原本在门廊上睡午觉的汉密士就醒过来了。她走时，仿佛听到它说“再见，席德。”
Sophie rushed down the stairs and ran out into the street. It was deserted. And now the rain came down in torrents.
苏菲冲下楼梯，跑到街上。整条街都空无一人。雨已经开始滂沱地下着。
One or two cars were plowing through the downpour, but there were no buses in sight. Sophie ran across Main Square and on through the town. As she ran, one thought kept going round and round in her mind: "Tomorrow is my birthday* Isn't it extra bitter to realize that life is only a dream on the day before your fifteenth birthday? It's like dreaming you won a million and then just as you're getting the money you wake up."
偶尔有一两辆车在雨中穿梭而过。但却连一辆公车的影踪也没有。苏菲跑过大广场，然后穿过市区。她一边跑时，脑中不断浮现一个念头。 明天就是我的生日了，苏菲心想。在十五岁生日前夕突然领悟到生命只不过是一场梦境而已，那种感觉真是分外苦涩啊！就好像是你中了一百万大奖，正要拿到钱时，却发现这只不过是南柯一梦。
Sophie ran across the squelching playing field. Minutes later she saw someone come running toward her. It was her mother. The sky was pierced again and again by angry darts of lightning.
苏菲啪哒啪哒地跑过泥泞的运动场。几分钟后，她看见有人跑，向她，原来是妈妈。此时闪电正发怒般一再劈过天际。
When they reached each other Sophie's mother put her arm around her.
当她们跑到彼此身边时，妈妈伸出手臂搂着苏菲。
"What's happening to us, little one?"
“孩子，我们到底发生什么事了？”
"I don't know," Sophie sobbed. "It's like a bad dream."
“我不知道，”苏菲啜泣。“好像一场噩梦一样。”