《三體》給美國科幻小說迷換口味
With a state-owned power plant in nearby Shanxi Province temporarily shut down to reduce air pollution, one of its engineers, Liu Cixin, is using the free time to work on his hobby: reigning as China’s best-selling science-fiction author.
北京——工程師劉慈欣在山西附近的一座發電站工作（爲減少空氣污染，該站已經暫時關閉），他用業餘時間經營自己的愛好，當上了中國最暢銷的科幻小說作家。
Along with working on a new novel and advising on screenplay adaptations of his earlier fiction, Mr. Liu, 51, has been promoting the English translation of “The Three-Body Problem,” the first book in his best-selling apocalyptic space opera trilogy. Translated by Ken Liu, an award-winning science-fiction writer in his own right who is based in the United States (the men are not related), it is one of the few Chinese science-fiction novels to be translated into English. It will be released in the United States on Tuesday by Tor Books.
51歲的劉慈欣目前在創作一部新小說，也在給自己之前小說的電影改編劇本提建議。此外他還在宣傳自己的小說《三體》的英譯本，這是他的暢銷天啓太空歌劇三部曲中的第一部。該書由劉宇昆翻譯，他同樣是一位獲獎科幻小說作家，現居美國（兩人沒有親屬關係）。目前被譯爲英文的中文科幻小說非常少見，本書將於週二由托爾圖書出版社(Tor Books)在美國發行。The success of the “Three-Body” series, as it is called in China, has gained a following beyond the small but flourishing science-fiction world here. Since the third book was published in 2010, each entry in the series has sold about 500,000 copies in the original Chinese, making Mr. Liu the best-selling Chinese science-fiction author in decades.
《三體》系列的成功令它的影響力超越了小而繁榮的科幻界。自第三部於2010年出版後，該系列每一部的中文版都賣出了約50萬冊，令劉慈欣成爲幾十年來最暢銷的中國科幻小說作家。
In addition to the usual high school and college-age fans of science fiction, China’s aerospace and Internet industries have embraced the books. Many interpret the battle of civilizations depicted in the series as an allegory for the ruthless competition in the nation’s Internet industry.
除了科幻小說界常見的中學生與大學生擁躉，中國的航空航天和互聯網業界人士也熱愛這套書。很多人把書中不同文明之間的戰爭解析爲中國互聯網業內的無情競爭。The series has also breathed new life into a genre that, here as elsewhere, the literary establishment often marginalizes.
這部系列也爲科幻小說這一類型賦予了新活力，和在世界其他地方一樣，在中國，科幻小說的文學價值經常被邊緣化。For decades, science fiction was subject to the whims of Communist Party rule. The genre went from being a vehicle for popularizing science for socialist purposes to drawing criticism in 1983 from party newspapers for “spreading pseudoscience and promoting decadent capitalist elements.” When the prestigious People’s Literature literary magazine published four of Mr. Liu’s short stories in 2012, it was a sign that the genre was back in official good graces.
在中國，幾十年來，科幻小說受到共產黨反覆無常的支配。這一類型曾經被當做社會主義科普的工具，也在1983年遭到黨報批評，稱其爲“傳播僞科學，宣揚腐朽的資本主義”。2012年，聲望很高的文學雜誌《人民文學》刊登了四篇劉慈欣的小說，這標誌着這一類型重新獲得當局垂青。At its core, science fiction capitalizes on uncertainty about the future to push the boundaries of the reader’s imagination. In fast-changing China, stories that lay out what coming years may hold in store have therefore found deeper resonance among readers.
本質上，科幻小說利用未來的不確定性，推動讀者想象的邊界。因此，在快速變革的中國，關於未來可能發生的事情便能在讀者當中找到更深的共鳴。“China is on the path of rapid modernization and progress, kind of like the U.S. during the golden age of science fiction in the ’30s to the ’60s,” Mr. Liu said. “The future in the people’s eyes is full of attractions, temptations and hope. But at the same time, it is also full of threats and challenges. That makes for very fertile soil.”
“中國正處在高速現代化與發展的過程中，有點像20世紀30年代到60年代的美國，那也是科幻小說發展的黃金時期，”劉慈欣說。“人們眼中的未來充滿魅力、誘惑與希望。同時也充滿威脅和挑戰。這爲科幻小說提供了肥沃的土壤。”Chinese science fiction serves another purpose in the eyes of Xia Jia, a science-fiction writer and professor at Xian Jiaotong University. “Chinese science fiction, in a way, has borne the weight of the ‘Chinese dream’ since the genre first appeared in China in the late Qing dynasty,” she said, referring to the turn of the 20th century.
在科幻小說作家與西安交通大學講師夏笳看來，中國科幻小說還有另一個目的。“科幻小說是從晚清開始在中國出現，自那以後，中國科幻小說便在某種程度上承載着‘中國夢’，”她指的是19世紀與20世紀之交的那段時期。“The dream is about wanting to overtake the Western countries and become a very powerful modern China while still preserving these old elements,” she added. “This is what we who write science fiction in China have to grapple with.”
“這個夢是關於追上西方國家，成爲強大的現代中國，同時又保存古老的元素，”她補充，“這是我們中國的科幻小說作者必須應對的問題。”The “Three-Body” tomes chronicle a march of the human race into the universe set against the recent past, the tumultuous years of the Cultural Revolution. It is a classic science-fiction story in the style of the British master Arthur C. Clarke, whose work Mr. Liu says he grew up reading. “Everything that I write is a clumsy imitation of Arthur C. Clarke,” he said.
《三體》三部曲按年代順序記載了人類進軍宇宙的征程，故事從不久的過去開始，即“文化大革命”動盪的歲月。這是經典的科幻小說故事，有着英國科幻小說大師阿瑟·C·克拉克(Arthur C. Clarke)的風格，劉慈欣說，自己從小就看克拉克的小說。“我寫作的一切都是對阿瑟·C·克拉克的笨拙模仿，”他說。The first book in the series explores the world of the Trisolarans, an alien civilization on the brink of destruction. When a secret military project in China attempts to make contact with aliens, the Trisolarans capture the signals and decide to invade Earth. Back in China, people split into two camps: those who welcome the aliens and those who want to fight them.
該系列的第一本探索了三體人的世界，這個外星文明正處於崩潰邊緣。中國的一個祕密軍事行動試圖和外星人取得聯繫，三體人收到信號，決定入侵地球。在中國，人們分裂成兩大陣營，一派歡迎外星人，另一派希望同他們開戰。The series is likely to be a change of pace for science-fiction fans in the United States, where many leading contemporary writers in the genre are rejecting classic alien-invasion plots in favor of those that take on real-world issues like climate change or shifting gender roles.
這個系列有可能改變美國科幻小說迷的口味，目前美國的很多頂尖科幻小說作家摒棄傳統的外星人入侵情節，更青睞反映現實世界的題材，諸如氣候變化和性別轉變之類。“I don’t think the demand for this kind of classical golden age science fiction has necessarily gone away,” Liz Gorinsky, an editor at Tor Books, said of the decision to introduce the series to American readers. “The ‘Three-Body’ series sort of scratches the same itch that harkens back to the kinds of books people read when they were kids.”
“我不認爲對這類黃金時代經典科幻小說的需求已經消失，”托爾出版社的編輯莉茲·格林斯基(Liz Gorinsky)在談起爲何將該系列引入美國時說。“《三體》系列正是人們小時候讀過的那種書。”Some experts link the popularity of the “Three-Body” series to a growing confidence among Chinese about their country’s growing role on the world stage.
有些專家把《三體》系列的流行同中國人對國家在世界舞臺上扮演的角色感到日益自信聯繫起來。“There have always been science-fiction stories that contemplated China as a leader in the world,” said Wu Yan, a science-fiction scholar and professor at Beijing Normal University. “People may have liked them, but, in their hearts, they didn’t truly believe them, or they thought it was really far off in the future. Now, with the ‘Three-Body’ series, people think, ‘Wow, it really could be possible that China might be given a say in the fate of humankind.’ ”
“總有一些科幻小說把中國描繪爲世界的領袖，”科幻小說作家、北京師範大學教授吳巖說。“人們或許喜歡它們，但在內心深處，他們並不相信，或者覺得這是遙遠未來的事。現在，看了《三體》，人們覺得，‘啊，中國真有可能在關於人類命運的問題上發言了。’”In the book, scientists attempt to solve the traditional three-body problem in physics, in which the otherwise stable gravitational interaction between two objects in space becomes random and unpredictable when a third object is introduced.
在這本書裏，科學家試圖揭開物理學中傳統的三體問題：在宇宙空間中，如果引入第三個物體，兩個物體之間穩定的引力作用會變爲隨機而不可預測。Mr. Liu’s revered status in the genre was evident this month at a book signing at the fifth annual Chinese Nebula Awards, one of the largest gatherings of science-fiction writers and fans in China. More than 2,000 people attended the events, held in an empty museum space on the western outskirts of Beijing.
一年一度的華語星雲獎是中國科幻作家和讀者最大的盛會之一，這個月的第五屆星雲獎充分顯示了劉慈欣在科幻界的崇高地位。2000多人出席了活動，北京西郊一家空蕩蕩的博物館頓時水泄不通。Mr. Liu stepped out of the elevator and made his way through the throngs to the table. Gasps and excited whispers were audible among the hundreds of fans who had lined up around the building. Two hours later, more than 100 fans, mostly college-age, were still waiting for a chance to meet him. One, Wu Liang, 27, trembled with excitement after her encounter with Mr. Liu.
劉慈欣走出電梯，穿過人流，來到桌前。室內有幾百個粉絲，興奮的吸氣聲和耳語清晰可聞。兩小時後，一百多個粉絲（其中大部分是大學生的年紀），仍在等着與他見面的機會。27歲的吳蓮（音譯）見到劉慈欣後，不禁激動得發抖。“You just bury your head in the ‘Three-Body’ books, and all of a sudden you feel so energized,” said Ms. Wu, who works at an Internet company in Beijing and attended the event in full Jedi attire. “It’s really a milestone in Chinese science fiction.”
“你埋頭讀着《三體》，突然就覺得那麼興奮，”吳說，她在北京一家互聯網公司工作，穿着絕地武士服裝來參加這次活動。“它的確是中國科幻小說的里程碑。”
