The Egg

欢迎来到✮Star✮频道，这个频道是一个不定期的分享接口。今天来这的是一篇科幻小说The Egg，敬请享用。

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The Egg

Andy Weir

You were on your way home when you died.

It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me.

And that’s when you met me.

“What… what happened?” You asked. “Where am I?”

“You died,” I said, matter-of-factly. No point in mincing words.

“There was a… a truck and it was skidding…”

“Yup,” I said.

“I… I died?”

“Yup. But don’t feel bad about it. Everyone dies,” I said.

You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me. “What is this place?” You asked. “Is this the afterlife?”

“More or less,” I said.

“Are you god?” You asked.

“Yup,” I replied. “I’m God.”

“My kids… my wife,” you said.

“What about them?”

“Will they be all right?”

“That’s what I like to see,” I said. “You just died and your main concern is for your family. That’s good stuff right there.”

You looked at me with fascination. To you, I didn’t look like God. I just looked like some man. Or possibly a woman. Some vague authority figure, maybe. More of a grammar school teacher than the almighty.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “They’ll be fine. Your kids will remember you as perfect in every way. They didn’t have time to grow contempt for you. Your wife will cry on the outside, but will be secretly relieved. To be fair, your marriage was falling apart. If it’s any consolation, she’ll feel very guilty for feeling relieved.”

“Oh,” you said. “So what happens now? Do I go to heaven or hell or something?”

“Neither,” I said. “You’ll be reincarnated.”

“Ah,” you said. “So the Hindus were right,”

“All religions are right in their own way,” I said. “Walk with me.”

You followed along as we strode through the void. “Where are we going?”

“Nowhere in particular,” I said. “It’s just nice to walk while we talk.”

“So what’s the point, then?” You asked. “When I get reborn, I’ll just be a blank slate, right? A baby. So all my experiences and everything I did in this life won’t matter.”

“Not so!” I said. “You have within you all the knowledge and experiences of all your past lives. You just don’t remember them right now.”

I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders. “Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic than you can possibly imagine. A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are. It’s like sticking your finger in a glass of water to see if it’s hot or cold. You put a tiny part of yourself into the vessel, and when you bring it back out, you’ve gained all the experiences it had.

“You’ve been in a human for the last 48 years, so you haven’t stretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness. If we hung out here for long enough, you’d start remembering everything. But there’s no point to doing that between each life.”

“How many times have I been reincarnated, then?”

“Oh lots. Lots and lots. An in to lots of different lives.” I said. “This time around, you’ll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD.”

“Wait, what?” You stammered. “You’re sending me back in time?”

“Well, I guess technically. Time, as you know it, only exists in your universe. Things are different where I come from.”

“Where you come from?” You said.

“Oh sure,” I explained “I come from somewhere. Somewhere else. And there are others like me. I know you’ll want to know what it’s like there, but honestly you wouldn’t understand.”

“Oh,” you said, a little let down. “But wait. If I get reincarnated to other places in time, I could have interacted with myself at some point.”

“Sure. Happens all the time. And with both lives only aware of their own lifespan you don’t even know it’s happening.”

“So what’s the point of it all?”

“Seriously?” I asked. “Seriously? You’re asking me for the meaning of life? Isn’t that a little stereotypical?”

“Well it’s a reasonable question,” you persisted.

I looked you in the eye. “The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.”

“You mean mankind? You want us to mature?”

“No, just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature and become a larger and greater intellect.”

“Just me? What about everyone else?”

“There is no one else,” I said. “In this universe, there’s just you and me.”

You stared blankly at me. “But all the people on earth…”

“All you. Different incarnations of you.”

“Wait. I’m everyone!?”

“Now you’re getting it,” I said, with a congratulatory slap on the back.

“I’m every human being who ever lived?”

“Or who will ever live, yes.”

“I’m Abraham Lincoln?”

“And you’re John Wilkes Booth, too,” I added.

“I’m Hitler?” You said, appalled.

“And you’re the millions he killed.”

“I’m Jesus?”

“And you’re everyone who followed him.”

You fell silent.

“Every time you victimized someone,” I said, “you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you.”

You thought for a long time.

“Why?” You asked me. “Why do all this?”

“Because someday, you will become like me. Because that’s what you are. You’re one of my kind. You’re my child.”

“Whoa,” you said, incredulous. “You mean I’m a god?”

“No. Not yet. You’re a fetus. You’re still growing. Once you’ve lived every human life throughout all time, you will have grown enough to be born.”

“So the whole universe,” you said, “it’s just…”

“An egg.” I answered. “Now it’s time for you to move on to your next life.”

And I sent you on your way.

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蛋

安迪·威尔

你在回家的路上，死了。

是车祸。没有很离奇，但仍然致命。你留下了妻子和两个孩子。你死得并不痛苦。救护员尽力去抢救，但没有成功。你的身体惨不忍睹，还不如死了，相信我。

这时候，你遇到了我。

“怎……怎么回事？”你问，“这是哪？”

“你死了。”我实话实说，没必要委婉。

“一辆……一辆卡车，它失控了……”

“没错。”我说。

“我……我死了？”

“是的。但别难过，每个人都会死。”我说。

你环顾四周，一片虚空，只有你和我。

“这是什么地方？”你问，“死后的世界？”

“可以这么说吧。”我说。

“你是上帝？”你问。

“对，”我回答，“我是上帝。”

“我的孩子们……还有我太太……”你说。

“怎么了？”

“他们没事吧？”

“这一点我喜欢，”我说，“你死了，还关心你的家人，在这里这是好事。”

你困惑地看着我。

对你而言，我看起来并不像神，更像一个普通男人，亦或一个女人。一个模糊又权威的形象。也许，比起万能的神，我更像是一位老师。

“别担心，”我说，“他们都会好起来的。你在孩子们的记忆中会是完美的，他们还没成长到叛逆你的年龄。你太太会在人前恸哭，但其实内心里却如释重负。平心而论，你们的婚姻早已破裂了。她会对自己松一口气的心情感到内疚，对你来说，这或许算是一点安慰。”

“哦，”你说，“那么，现在呢？我是上天堂还是下地狱，或者去别的什么地方？”

“都不是，”我说，“你会重新投胎。”

“啊，”你说，“原来轮回转世是真的？”

“所有宗教都以不同的方式合理着，”我说，“跟我走吧。”

你跟着我，在虚空中穿行，“我们去哪里？”

“不去哪里，”我说，“边走边聊就好。”

“那意义何在？”你问，“我转世后，又会变成一张白纸， 一个婴儿，对吧？此生中我经历的一切，我做的事，都不再有意义。”

“也并非如此！”我说，“所有你前世的知识和经验，都伴随着你。只是此刻你并不记得。”

我停下脚步，握住你的肩膀，“你的灵魂远比你想象的要壮观、美丽和宏大，人类的头脑只能承载你的很小很小一部分。这就像把手指插入一杯水中，看看它是热的还是冷的。你把自己的一小部分放入容器中，当你把它拿出来时，你已经获得了所有的经验。”

“你作为人类才四十八年，还没来得及拓展自己，去感悟你庞大意识的其他部分。如果我们在此逗留的时间足够长，你就会开始想起所有事。不过，我们没必要在每一世这么做。”

“那么，我转世了多少次？”

“噢，很多，很多很多，很多不同的人生。”我说，“接下来这一世，你会是公元540年的一个中国农家女孩。”

“等等，什么？”你结结巴巴地问，“你要把我送回过去？”

“嗯……理论上是吧。你理解的时间只存在于你的宇宙，而我来的地方，一切都不同。”

“那你从哪里来？”你问。

“嗯，当然，”我解释道，“我来自某处，另一个地方，那里也有像我这样的人存在。我知道，你想了解那里的情况，但老实说，你不会理解的。”

“哦，”你有点沮丧，“但是等等，如果我可以转世到其他时间，就说明某些情况下我可以遇到我自己，并与自己互动？”

“当然，这是一直都在发生的事。但每一世的你，都只拥有自己那一段生命的记忆，所以你们相遇的时候，你们自己是毫无察觉的。”

“那么这一切到底意义何在？”

“你是认真的吗？”我问，“不是在开玩笑？你在问我生命的意义？不觉得有点老套了吗？”

“但这是一个合理的问题，”你坚持道。

我看着你的眼睛，“生命的意义，也是我为你创造这整个宇宙的原因，在于为了让你成熟。”

“你是说全人类？你希望我们成熟？”

“不，只有你。我为你创造了整个宇宙。每一世你都在成长，变得更成熟，越来越有智慧。 ”

“只有我？那其他人呢？”

“没有其他人，”我说，“在这个宇宙中，只有你和我。”

你茫然地盯着我，“但这世界上所有其他人……”

“全是你！都是你不同的转世，不同的化身。”

“等等！我是所有人！？”

“现在你明白了，”我说，拍拍你的背表示祝贺。

“每一个曾经活在这个世界上的人都是我？”

“现在活着的也是你。”

“我是林肯？”

“你也是约翰·布斯，”我补充道。

“我是希特勒？”你骇然道。

“你也是他杀害的数百万人。”

“我是耶稣？”

“你也是他的所有信徒。”

你陷入沉默。

“每一次你伤害他人，”我说，“都是在伤害自己。每一次你行善举，都是在帮助自己。他人经历过或即将经历的一切快乐和痛苦，你都曾经或将会经历。”

你思索了很久。

“为什么？”你问我，“为什么你要做这些？”

“因为有一天，你会成为我。因为这就是本来的你，你是我的同类，你是我的孩子。”

“哇，”你难以置信，“你是说我是神？”

“不，现在还不是。你是一个胎儿，你还在成长。当你经历了所有时间里所有人的一生，你才会发育到足够成熟，成熟到可以出生。”

“所以这整个宇宙，”你说，“只是一个……”

“一个蛋，”我答。

“现在该是你去下一世的时候了。”

然后，我把你送上了路。