[6, C, Carbon, 碳, 12.0115]
“They’re made of carbon.”
“他们是碳做的。”
“Ew!”
“噁！”
“Linked to hydrogen and oxygen atoms, mostly.”
“还和氢原子以及氧原子一起，差不多这样。”
“Yuk.”
“哕。”
“Look, Seraph, it’s not our job to pass judgment. Our job is to seek out all intelligent races and welcome them into the Galactic Ekumen, thus bringing them the benefits of peace, prosperity, immortality, blah blah blah. I can read your thoughts and, quite frankly, they’re not worthy of you.”
“听着，撒拉弗，做裁定可不是我们的工作。我们的工作是找出所有有智慧的人种然后欢迎他们来到银河伊库盟里，给他们带来和平啦繁荣啦永远的发展和延续啦不啦不啦不啦一堆好处。我能读取你的思想而且，坦白说，他们不值得你这么干。”
“Yes, but? Physical matter! If it were merely one of the lower spiritual levels, I’d understand, but they’re completely embedded in mundane reality. It’s just too much to ask.”
“对，可是……他们是物质欸！如果他们只是一种低级的精神生命，我还能理解，可他们完全陷入了宇宙的现实这面了，要问起来，这里头的问题可就太大了。”
“What do you suggest we do?”
“你觉得我们该怎么干？”
“Let’s give them a miss. There’s a lovely little group mind in ?
“咱们假装没看到他们。那边正有个低级的生命群，咱们去那边吧？”
“Not a chance.”
“想都别想。”
“Look at this place! There must be millions of souls here! Billions! How can they live so close together? They’re hardly worth the trouble.”
“看看这地方！这肯定有几十万灵魂！或者几十亿！他们怎么能这么挤？他们基本上不值得麻烦。”
“Ours not to question why, Seraph. Ours but to do or fall into spiritual error.”
“我们的任务可不是问问题，撒拉弗。我们的任务是避免在精神上犯错。”
“But – very well, sir.”
“可是……好吧，长官。”
“Good. Now, establish contact with them. I’m anxious to get this over and done with.”
“好。现在和他们建立联系。我想快点把事情搞定，早点了结。”
“I’ve been trying, sir. Since we first arrived here. I foresaw my lapse into near-disobedience, and began the communications process as an act of contrition.”
“我一直在试，长官。从我们到这时起就在试。我当时看到了我近未来会犯的错，出于愧疚就开始进行通讯。”
“Good lad. What do they say?”
“好小伙。他们说什么了？”
“Nothing, sir. I don’t think they can hear me.”
“什么都没说，长官。我觉得他们听不到我们。”
“What?! How long have you been trying?”
“什么？！你试了多长时间？”
“Since we arrived here. Three thousand years.”
“我们一到这就开始试。三千年。”
“And they haven’t responded?”
“可是他们没回？”
“They’re made out of carbon. They don’t appear to pick up ethereal vibrations very well.”
“他们是碳做的。他们看起来还不大会用以太振动。”
“What have you been broadcasting?”
“你都用了什么传播通道？”
“The Eschatological Universalis. It’s very popular among emergent spiritual civilizations. Then I tried the Milky Way Sutra. No response.”
“末日公共频道。在能量精神文明中这个非常普遍。然后我试了银河经文。还是没回应。”
“Too elevated. Try something less highbrow.”
“太高级了。试一下不那么先进的。”
“I’ve also been broadcasting a few self-evident ethical systems, ‘Life is Sacred,’ ‘The Ecstacy of Existence,’ baby stuff like that. They don’t seem able to pick up on them either.”
“我还试了几个主流的道德体系，像是‘神圣人生’，‘存在之迷’，诸如此类的低级玩意。他们似乎也没办法收到这个。‘
“Simplify, simplify! Reduce the Message to its least common denominator, and push it with everything you’ve got. Once we’ve made contact, we can build on that.”
“再简单点，再简单点！把信息缩减到最短，然后用各种方式把它发过去。只要我们建立了链接，之后就能用这种方式通信了。”
“All right, chief. Hey—you there! Have a nice day! Have a nice day!”
“好的，长官。喂——你们！你们好！你们好！”
(with apologies to Terry Bisson)
（向特里·比松致歉）
注：本书模仿特里·比松的《他们是肉做的》一文。