第1章　用望遠鏡俯瞰世界

大家從來都沒有見到過自己的臉。

這話可能會讓你們覺得驚訝，你們可能還會說不是這樣的；可事實就是這樣。

你們可以看到自己的鼻尖。

如果把嘴唇噘起來，你們甚至還看得見自己的嘴唇。

如果把舌頭伸出來，那你們可以看見自己的舌尖。

但是，你們卻沒法走到自己的對面，走到自己的身外，去看一看自己的臉。

你們自然知道自己的臉是個什么樣子，因為大家都在鏡子里看到過，可鏡中的樣子，卻并不是你們自己，只是你們自己的影像。

同樣，我們當中也沒有人能夠看到自己所生活的這個世界，沒有人能夠看到整個地球。

大家只能看到自己周圍的那一小部分世界。要是爬上一棟高樓，你們就能看到更大的范圍；要是爬到一座高山的山頂，那就能看到更大、更大的范圍；而要是坐在飛機里升到空中的話，你們就能看到更大、更大、更大的范圍了。

不過，要想看到整個世界，大家必須爬得更高，比任何人曾經能夠或者可以達到的高度更高才行。你們必須去得更遠，到云層之上很遠的地方，來到空中星星所在的遙遠之地才行，就算是坐飛機，也沒有人能夠做到這一點哩。

Now you cannot see the World in a mirror as you can see your face. So how do we know what the World looks like?

A fish in the sea might tell her little fish，“The World is all water—just a huge tub；I've been everywhere and I know.”Of course, she wouldn't know anything different.

A camel in the desert might tell her little camels，“The World is all sand—just a huge sand pile；I've been everywhere and I know.”

A polar bear on an iceberg might tell her little polar bears，“The World is all snow and ice—just a huge refrigerator；I've been everywhere and I know.”

A bear in the woods might tell her little bear cubs，“The World is all woods—just a huge forest；I've been everywhere and I know.”

In the same way, once upon a time, people used to tell their little children，“The World is just a big island like a huge mud pie with some water, some sand, some ice, and some trees on it, and with a cover we call the sky over us all；we've been everywhere and we know.”

When some inquisitive child asked，“What does the flat World like a mud pie rest on?”they really truly said，“It rests on the backs of four elephants.”

But when the inquisitive child asked，“And what do the elephants stand on?”they really truly said，“On a big turtle.”

Then when the inquisitive child asked，“What does the turtle stand on?”no one could say—for no one could even guess farther than that—so the turtle was left standing—on nothing.

注意，你們不能像在鏡子里看到自己的臉那樣，在鏡子里看到整個世界。那么，我們又是怎么知道世界長得是個什么樣子的呢？

大海里的一條魚兒，可能會對自己的小魚寶寶說：“世界全都是水，就是一個巨大的盆子，我哪里都去過，所以我知道。”這條魚兒，自然也不會知道別的什么東西。

沙漠里的一頭駱駝，可能會告訴自己的駱駝寶寶說：“世界全都是沙子，就是一個巨大的沙堆，我哪里都去過，因此我知道。”

冰山上的一頭北極熊，可能會對自己的北極熊寶寶說：“世界全都是冰雪，就是一個巨大的冰箱，我哪里都去過，所以我知道。”

森林里的一頭熊，可能會對自己的熊寶寶說：“世界全都是樹林，就是一片巨大的森林，我哪里都去過，所以我知道。”

同樣，在很久以前，人們也常常對自己的小寶寶說：“世界是一個巨大的島嶼，就像一塊巨大的泥餅，上面有點兒水、有點兒沙、有一些樹木，并且所有人上面，都有一個我們稱之為天空的罩子，我們哪里都去過，所以我們知道。”

如果有個喜歡刨根問底的孩子問道：“這個像是一塊泥餅、平平坦坦的世界，又是擱在什么東西上面呢？”那么，人們就會認認真真地回答說：“是在四頭大象的背上馱著呢。”

可是，如果這個喜歡刨根問底的孩子又問：“那些大象又是站在什么東西上面呢？”那么，人們仍會認認真真地回答說：“是站在一頭巨龜上面呀。”

然后，要是這個喜歡刨根問底的孩子再問：“那只巨龜，又是站在什么東西

That's the old story that parents long ago used to tell their children as to what the World was like. But just suppose you could go way, way off above the clouds；way, way off in the sky, sit on a corner of nothing at all, dangle your feet over the edge and look down at the World far, far below.What do you suppose it would really look like?I know—and yet I have never been there.

The World from way off in the sky and through a spy-glass would look just like a full moon—round and white；not round like a plate, but round like a huge snowball. Not exactly white, either, but bright—for the sun shines on this big ball, the World, and makes it light just as the headlight on an automobile shines on the road at night and makes the road light.Of course, the sun can shine on only one side of this big ball at a time；the other side of the World is dark，

上面呢？”那就沒人能夠回答了，因為無人能夠更加深入地去思考這個問題，于是，他們便任由這只巨龜腳下什么也沒有地站在那里了。

這就是很久以前，在對自己的孩子介紹世界是個什么樣子時，父母們經常講述的那個古老故事。不過，假定你們可以來到云層之上很遠、很遠的地方，來到天空之上很遠、很遠的地方，坐在一個什么也沒有的角上，雙腳從邊上垂下來晃呀晃，并且俯瞰著相距很遠、很遠的這個世界。那么，你們覺得，這個世界真正的模樣會是怎樣的呢？盡管從來都沒有到過那個地方，可我知道。

從天空中很遠以外的地方，用一架望遠鏡俯瞰起來的世界樣子就是像是一輪滿月，又圓又白，當然，它并不是像盤子那樣既圓又平，而是像一個巨型雪球似的那么圓滾。它也并不是真正的白色，而是很明亮，因為太陽照耀著這個巨大的球體，使整個地球變得很亮，就像夜間馬路上一輛汽車開著前燈，照亮了馬路一樣。當然，太陽每次都只能照亮這個巨型球體的一面，因而地球的另一面是暗的，不過，地球一直在陽光中不停地轉動著。

要是用一副單筒望遠鏡來看一看地球，就像人們用望遠鏡去觀察月亮一般，那你們就會看到，地球的一面上有兩片形狀非常古怪的陰影，而在地球另一面，

but the World keeps turning round and round in the sunlight.

If you looked at the World through a telescope—you know what a telescope is：one of those long spy-glasses that make things seem closer and bigger—as men look at the moon, you would see on one side of the World two big patches that look like queerly shaped shadows and on the other side of the World twice as many big patches, four queerly shaped shadows. These patches which look like shadows are really land and are called by a long name：continents.These continents have names, and if their names were printed across them in letters a thousand miles high—which they are not—so that the man with a spy-glass could read them, he would read on one side of the World

NORTH AMERICA

SOUTH AMERICA

and if he waited until the World turned round, until the other side showed in the sunlight, as I've seen the World

這些斑紋的數量則有前者的兩倍，即有四片形狀古怪的陰影。大家都知道單筒望遠鏡是個什么東西吧，那就是一副使得物體看起來更近、更大的長望遠鏡中的一支。那些看起來就像是陰影的斑紋，其實都是陸地，叫作“大陸”。這些大陸各有名稱，如果用高達一千英里的字體，將各自的名稱打印出來貼在那些大陸之上（這一點當然是做不到的），從而讓那個用單筒望遠鏡來觀察的人能夠看清的話，那他就會看到，地球的一面上有：

北美洲

南美洲

而等到地球轉過去，它的另一面出現在陽光之下，就像我在《電影夢工廠》里看到的地球那樣，我們又會看到歐洲、亞洲、非洲，以及面積最小、名稱卻最長的大洋洲。這一面的最底下，就是南極洲了。

我們把一枚硬幣的一面稱為“頭像面”（或者“正面”），因為這一面上通

do in“the movies，”he would read on this continent EUROPE and on that continent ASIA and on the other continent AFRICA, and the smallest one would have the longest name, AUSTRALIA. At the very bottom would be ANTARCTICA.

We call one side of a piece of money“the head，”because there is usually the head of some one on that side, and the other side we call“the tail，”as that is opposite from the head. It would be easy to tell which side of the World was which if we could call one side heads and the other tails.But there are no heads or tails on the World—only these queer shadows—so we use two big words instead of“heads”and“tails”to tell which side of the World is which.We call one side the“Western Hemisphere”and the other side we call the“Eastern Hemisphere.”Whew！Why don't they call it something easy?—well, let's call it“Half-a-Ball，”for that is what Hemisphere means.The Western Half-Ball has two continents and the Eastern Half-Ball has four continents.

The tip top and the very bottom of the World are called the Poles, although there are no poles. Around the top and bottom Pole it would be all white—snow and ice—for the Poles are so cold there is snow and ice there all the time.

The part of the World that isn't patches of shadow or snow is water. The water all around the continents is the ocean, and though of course there are no walls nor fences dividing it into different parts, its different parts are called by different names.

Do you know your right hand from your left?Of course you do if you're over six years old. But do you know the west side from the east side?If you are over nine years old you

常都印有某個人物的頭像；而另一面，我們則稱之為“背面”，因為它與“正面”相對。要是把地球的一面也稱為“正面”、而另一面也稱為“背面”的話，那我們就能輕而易舉地區分出地球的兩面了。不過，地球上其實并沒有什么“正面”或者“背面”，只有那些形狀古怪的陰影，因此我們便用兩個大詞，取代了“正面”和“背面”，來區分地球的兩面。我們把其中的一面稱為“西半球”，而將另一面稱為“東半球”。唷！為什么人們不用更簡單的詞來稱呼呢？好吧，我們不妨稱之為“半個圓球”，因為“半球”一詞，指的就是這個意思。所以，西半球有兩個大洲，東半球則有四個大洲。

地球的最頂端和最底部稱為“兩極”，但其實那里并沒有什么柱子。頂端的北極地區和底端的南極地區，全都是白茫茫的冰雪，因為極地非常寒冷，冰雪長年不化。

地球上不屬于陰影斑片和冰雪的部分，全都是水。包圍在各洲大陸周圍的水體，就是大洋了，盡管自然界里并沒有什么墻壁、籬笆將大洋分隔成不同的部分，可大洋中的各個部分，也有各自不同的名稱。

大家分得清自己的左手和右手嗎？只要過了六歲，你們自然分得清。不過，你們分不分得清東、西呢？要是超過了九歲，那你們也應該分得清了。東方就是太陽

should. The east is where the sun rises, the west is where it sets.And if your right hand is east, your left hand is west, your face is north and your back is south.

The Atlantic Ocean is on the east side of North and South America. The Pacific Ocean is on the west.The ocean entirely in the Eastern Hemisphere is called“Indian.”No, it is not named for our Indians.At the top of the World is the Arctic Ocean.At the bottom, all around Antarctica, is the Antarctic Ocean.The Arctic and Antarctic Oceans are mostly ice, for it is so cold there the water freezes and stays frozen.If we wanted to put names on the oceans so that a man off in the sky could read them, we would have to stick huge signs in the water, as we can't paint letters on the ocean.

There is no reason why I show you the World turned this way with North America on top. I might just as well show it upside down or sideways, for there is no upside nor downside on the World.I suppose the reason that the north side is always shown on top is because the people who made maps and geographies all lived in the north part of the World and they wanted their part of the World on top.

So this is our World. You may wonder，“Are there any other Worlds besides ours?”Some have guessed that there may be—that some of those sparks in the sky that look like stars at night may be other Worlds like ours with people living on them.But no one knows, for the strongest telescope is not strong enough for us to see what is on those far off sparks, so we can only guess about them.

升起的方向，而西方則是太陽落下的方向。要是讓右手朝著東方，左手朝著西方的話，那么你們面對的就是北方，而背后就是南方了。

大西洋位于南、北美洲的東方，太平洋位于南、北美洲的西方。完全位于東半球的那個大洋，叫作“印度洋”。注意，這個大洋可不是用美國的印第安人來命名的。地球的頂端，是北冰洋。而位于地球底部、環繞著南極洲的，則是南極海。北冰洋和南極海的絕大部分都被冰雪覆蓋著，因為那里非常寒冷，海水都結成了冰，并且一直封凍著。假如大家想要給各個大洋標上名稱，以便位于空中遠處的人看得清的話，那就必須在水中插上巨型的標志才行，因為我們可沒法在大洋的水面上描出字母來呢。

我為什么要給你們看這樣一個將北美洲放在上方并轉動著的地球，可沒有什么理由好說。我也可以將地球顛倒過來，或者側著給你們看，因為地球上本來并沒有什么上下之分。我覺得，地球的北部之所以總是放在上方，是因為制作地圖、進行地理研究的人全都住在地球的北部，并且希望將他們所住的這個地區放在上方吧。

這就是我們的地球。你們可能會想知道：“除了我們的地球，還有別的地球嗎？”有些人猜想，可能還存在著別的地球，認為那些在天空中閃爍著、夜晚看上去就像是星星的天體，可能會是其他與我們的相似的地球，也有人們居住。不過，這一點還沒人知道，因為即便是最強大的望遠鏡，也不足以讓我們看到如此遙遠的那些星球上都有些什么，所以人們只能靠猜想了。