可卡默伦只是在门开的那会儿略一抬头，皱了皱眉头。 “有什么事吗，伙计？”他边说边用手拍着税单，显然正忙着呢。
15 One of the two stepped forward. He said, \long time.\ 那两人中的一个走上前说道：“我们对你们的人已经观察很久了。”他说话时小心翼翼一字一顿的。
16 Cameron said, \ 卡默伦说：“我们的人？我只有老婆一个人。她干什么来着？”
17 The fellow in the suit said, \isolated and peaceful. We know that you are the leader here.\ 穿西装的那人说：“我们选择此地作为第一接触点，因为这里偏僻安静。我们知道您是这里的首领。”
18 \
“我是治安官，这是你要说的吧，有什么话就直说, 你们遇到什么麻烦了？”
19 \We have also learned your language.\
“我们非常谨慎，沿用了你们的衣着模式，甚至采用了你们的外貌。我们还学习了你们的语言。”
20 You could see the light break in on Cameron. He said, \didn't go much for foreigners, never having met many outside the army, but generally he tried to be fair.
你可以看到卡默伦脸上开始现出领悟的神情。他说：“你俩是外国人？”卡默伦不怎么喜欢外国人，退伍后就没怎么见过外国人，不过总的来说他尽力做到为人公正。
21 The man from the saucer said, \your people call Venus.\ 飞碟来人说：“外国人？正是如此。我们来自你们称之为金星的水乡。”
22 Cameron never blinked an eye. He said, \right. This is the U.S.A. We all got equal rights regardless of race, color, or nationality. I'm at your service. What can I do for you?\ 卡默伦连眼也没眨一下便说：“好吧。这里是美国。我们这儿不论种族、肤色、国籍，一律平等。我为你们效劳。你们有何贵干？”
23 \U.S.A., as you call it, to be brought here for discussions leading to your people joining our great organization.\
“我们希望您马上与贵国，即你们所说的美国的要人联系，前来此地商讨加入我们组织的事宜。”
24 Slowly, Cameron got red. \people join your organization. We're already part of the U.N. and God knows what else. And I suppose I'm to get the President here, eh? Right now? In Twin Gulch? Send a hurry-up message?\my face, but I couldn't as much as fall down if someone had pushed the chair out from under me. 卡默伦的脸色渐渐涨红。“我们加入你们的组织。我们已经是联合国的成员了，天知道还有别的什么。我想是让我把总统找来，呃？就现在？前来特温加尔奇？要我送去一封加快信？”他看了看我，似乎想在我脸上看到一丝笑意，可此刻若有人从我身后把椅子抽开，我也不会摔倒在地。
25 The saucer man said, \ 飞碟来人说：“事不宜迟。”
26 \ “你们想不想要国会也来？还有最高法院？”
27 \ “那也无妨，治安官。”
28 And Cameron really went to pieces. He banged his income tax form and yelled, \you're not helping me, and I have no time for wise guys who come around, especially foreigners. If you don't get the hell out of here straight away, I'll lock you up for disturbing the peace and I'll never let you out.\
这下卡默伦真的气坏了。他把税单向桌上重重地一摔，叫道：“好啊，你们跟我添乱，我可没时间跟你们这些自作聪明的人纠缠，尤其是外国人。要是你们不马上从这里滚出去，我就以扰乱治安罪把你们关起来，永远不放你们出来。”
29 \ “您是要我们离开？”金星人问。
30 \back. I don't want to see you and no one else around here does.\
“这就走！滚出去，滚回你们老家去，别再回来。我不想见到你们，这儿谁都不想见到你们。”
31 The two men looked at each other. 那两人对望了一眼。
32 Then the one who had done all the talking said, \mind that you really wish, with great intensity, to be left alone. It is not our way to force ourselves or our organization on people who do not wish us or it. We will respect your privacy and leave. We will not return. We will put a warning around your world and none will enter.\ 一直作为发言人的那人于是说：“看得出您确实极其不愿受到打搅。我们从不愿将我们自己或我们组织的意见强加于无意接受者。我们尊重您的私人自由，马上离开。我们将不
再返回。我们会在你们地球周围发布警告，不再会有人前来。”
33 Cameron said, \ 卡默伦说：“先生，够了，别再胡说八道了，我要开始数3――”
34 They turned and left, and I just knew that everything they said was so. I was listening to them, you see, which Cameron wasn't, because he was busy thinking of his income tax, and it was as though I could hear their minds, know what I mean? I knew that there would be a kind of fence around earth, keeping others out.
那两人转身离去，我当然知道他们说的句句是实话。你知道，我一直在听他们说，卡默伦可没有，他一心只想着他的税单，而且我似乎知道了他们脑子里在想什么，你明白我的意思吗？我知道地球周围会竖起一道屏障，使他人无法进入。
35 And when they left, I got my voice back -- too late. I screamed, \they're from space. Why'd you send them away?\
他们走了之后，我才能又开口说话――已经太迟了。我高声叫起来：“天哪，卡默伦，他们是从太空来的。你为什么要赶他们走？”
36 \ “从太空来的！”他两眼瞪着我。
37 I yelled, \I heaved him to the window by his shirt collar. 我大喝一声：“你看！”我到现在都不明白是怎么一回事，他比我重了25英磅，可我竟然扯着他的衣领把他拽到了窗前。
38 He was too surprised to resist and when he recovered his wits enough to make like he was going to knock me down, he caught sight of what was going on outside the window and the breath went out of him.
他震惊之下都没有反抗，等他回过神来想要把我击倒时，正好看见窗外的情景，顿时气都喘不出来了。
39 They were getting into the flying saucer, those two men, and the saucer sat there, large, round, shiny and kind of powerful, you know. Then it took off. It went up easy as a feather and a red-orange glow showed up on one side and got brighter as the ship got smaller till it was a shooting star again, slowly fading out.
他们正在进入飞碟，就是那两人，飞碟就在那儿，知道吗，大大的， 圆圆的，亮晶晶的，挺有气势的。接着飞碟起飞了。它轻轻巧巧地上升，像根羽毛似的，一侧发出一道桔红色的光芒，那光越来越强烈，飞碟变得越来越小，最后重新变成一颗流星渐渐消失。
40 And I said, \why'd you send them away? They had to see the President. Now they'll never come back.\ 我说：“治安官，你什么要赶他们走？他们要见总统。这下他们再也不会回来了。”
41 Cameron said, \
And they talked funny.\ 卡默伦说：“我当他们是外国人。他们说的，要学我们的语言。而且他们说的话莫名其妙。”
42 \
“哼，得了，还外国人呢。”
43 \ “他们说自己是外国人，两人看上去像是意大利人。我以为他们是意大利人。”
44 \could they be Italian? They said they were from the planet Venus. I heard them. They said so.\
“他们怎么会是意大利人呢？他们说他们是从金星来的。我听见的。他们是这么说的。”
45 \ “金星。”他的眼睛瞪得越发圆了。
46 \water on it.\
“他们是这么说的。他们把它叫做水乡什么的。要知道，金星上多的是水。”
47 But you see, it was just an error, a stupid error, the kind anyone could make. Only now Earth is never going to have another Venusian visit us. That dope, Cameron, and his income tax! 所以你瞧，这仅仅是个错误，一个愚蠢的错误，那种人人都可能犯的错误。只是从今往后地球上再也不会有任何金星人来访了。卡默伦这个笨蛋，还有他那该死的税单！
48 Because he whispered, \meant Venice!\
只听他嘀咕道：“金星！他们说水乡的时候，我还以为他们指的是威尼斯呢！”
Is there life on other planets? Not on those surrounding our sun, it seems. But what of other stars? Do they have planets capable of supporting life? This article sets out to explore the possibilities.
其他行星上是否有生命存在？太阳周围的那些行星上似乎没有。但在其他星系呢？它们是否拥有能维持生命的行星？本文试图探索这种可能性。
Is There Life on Planets Circling Other Stars?
Isaac Asimov
1 There is probably no life of our type in the solar system outside Earth itself. But is there life on planets circling other stars?
绕其他恒星运行的行星上有生命吗？
伊萨克·阿西莫夫
除了地球，在太阳系或许没有类似我们这样的生命的存在。可是，环绕其他恒星运行的星球上有生命吗？
2 Before we can really try to answer that, we have to ask if there are planets circling other stars. Over five hundred years ago, Nicholas of Cusa took it for granted that there were. Modern astronomers think he is likely to have been right, for if our solar system was formed from a cloud of dust and gas that automatically formed planets, that should be true of many other stars as well, and even, perhaps, of nearly all stars. 在试图回答这个问题之前，我们得问一下是否有行星环绕其他恒星运行。五百多年前，库萨的尼古拉斯想当然地认为是有的。现代天文学家认为他很可能是对的，因为如果我们的太阳系在由尘埃和气体组成的云团生成的同时也自动生成了若干行星的话，那么其它许多恒星，甚至可能几乎所有恒星，也应该如此。
3 But that is risky reasoning. It would be much better if one star, aside from our own sun, were actually found to have a planetary system. Unfortunately, even with our present-day instruments, we can't see any planets circling other stars. Such a planet would be 4.4 light-years away, even if it were circling the very nearest star, and it would be shining only by the reflected light of that star, so that it would not deliver enough light to be seen at that distance. There is an answer, however. Sirius B was discovered by Bessel because its gravitational pull was forcing Sirius A to move in a wavy line, not because it was seen through a telescope. Might a planet, or group of planets, do the same for the stars they circle? 但这只是大胆的推理。如果能在太阳系以外真的发现一颗有行星系统的恒星，那这一推理就有根据多了。很遗憾，即使借助于当今的先进仪器，我们还是没法看到任何行星环绕其他恒星运行。哪怕环绕着距离我们最近的恒星运行，这种行星也将会远在4.4光年以外，而且由于行星仅仅依靠恒星的反射而发光，因此它发出的光在如此之远处是不可能被看见的。不过，答案还是有的。贝塞尔发现天狼B星不是通过望远镜看见的，而是由于其引力作用使得天狼A星呈波浪形运行。会不会有一颗行星，或一组行星，对它们所环行的恒星产生同样的作用呢？
4 In theory, yes, though the effect would be extremely small. (1) The best chance for detecting a planet outside our solar system is to choose a star that is very close to us so that we can measure any deviation from its path most accurately. It should also be small, so that a planet could affect its motion sufficiently, and the planet itself would have to be very large to produce a sizable effect. 这在理论上是成立的，尽管其作用将是极其微小的。探测太阳系外行星最有可能的机会是选择一颗离我们相当近的恒星，这样我们就能非常精确地测量其运行轨道的任何偏离。这颗恒星要小，这样行星就能明显地影响其运行，而那颗行星一定要相当之大，足以对其产生相当的影响。
5 The Dutch-American astronomer Peter Van de Kamp investigated nearby small stars for just that purpose. He felt that he had detected tiny irregularities in the motion of nearby stars such as 61 Cygni, Lalande 21185, and, in particular, Barnard's Star. In addition to being very near us, Barnard's Star is quite small and Van de Kamp thought that from its motion he had detected a Jupiter-sized planet circling it. He found similar large planets in connection with the other stars he