0｜序幕
中文原文 / English Translation
森林里，老虎、猴子、乌鸦、狐狸，和一个叫小石头的人类男孩坐在一起聊天。
In the forest, a tiger, a monkey, a crow, a clever fox, and a human boy named Little Stone sat together, talking.
老虎说：“人类太弱了。没有尖牙，没有利爪，跑得也不快。”
The tiger said, “Humans are weak. No sharp teeth, no claws. You cannot run fast.”
猴子笑着说：“你也不会爬树！不会摘果子！不会捉虫子！”
The monkey laughed. “You cannot climb trees! You cannot pick fruit or catch insects!”
乌鸦喊：“你也不会飞！像我一样飞在天空中看世界。”
The crow shouted, “You cannot fly! You cannot see the world from the sky like I do.”
狐狸眯着眼睛，笑了：“小石头，你来说说吧。人到底哪里比我们这些动物高级呢？”
The fox smiled and said, “So, Little Stone, tell us. Why do you think humans are better than us animals?”
小石头笑了：“也许我不会飞，不会爬，也不会跑。但是，我有一样你们没有的东西——我有‘我’。”
Little Stone smiled. “Maybe I cannot fly or climb or run fast. But I have something you don’t have — I have myself.”
“什么是‘我’？”狐狸歪着头问。
“What do you mean ‘yourself’?” asked the fox, tilting its head.
“我能想‘我是谁？’，能问‘我为什么在这里？’你们问过这样的问题吗？”
“I can think, ‘Who am I?’ and ask ‘Why am I here?’ Have you ever asked such questions?”
老虎哼了一声：“没用。能吃吗？不能。饿了就要吃。”
The tiger grunted. “Useless. Can you eat that? No. When hungry, eat. Simple.”
小石头摇摇头：“能想，不想；能做，不做，这就是自由。选择不选择，就是自由。
而你们，只能顺着本能。”
Little Stone shook his head. “To be able to think but not think; to be able to act but not act — that is freedom.
To choose not to choose — this is freedom.
But you only follow your instincts.”
狐狸不服气：“你怎么知道我们不会想？你又不是动物！”
The fox argued, “How do you know we don’t think? You are not an animal!”
小石头笑了：“因为我小时候就是。小时候的我，只知道饿了哭，冷了闹。没有‘我是谁’。那时，我就是动物。
人并不是天生就是人，而是后来才变成人。”
Little Stone laughed. “Because I was like that when I was a baby.
I only knew hunger and comfort. I never thought ‘Who am I?’
Humans are not born as humans. They become human later.”
这时他突然想起了和自己儿子曾经的对话。
Then he remembered a talk with his own son.
“我曾问我儿子：‘天是蓝的吗？’
他回答：‘晚上是黑色的。’
那如果是一个能看红外线或紫外线的超人呢？他看到的天是什么颜色？
对天来说，自己真的有颜色吗？”
“I once asked my son: ‘Is the sky blue?’
He answered: ‘It is black at night.’
But what about a super-being who can see infrared or ultraviolet?
What color is the sky for him?
And for the sky itself — does it have a color at all?”
森林安静了。
The forest became silent.
小石头继续说：
Little Stone continued,
“光与色，只有在眼睛里才存在。没有能看的眼，光本不存在。
没有能听的耳，声音只是空气波。
太阳再亮，没有生命去看，也是黑暗。
银河再美，没有心灵去感，也是空虚。”
“Light and color exist only in the eye. Without an eye to see, light is nothing.
Without an ear to hear, sound is only air moving.
The sun may shine, but without life, there is only darkness.
The galaxy may be beautiful, but without a mind, it is only empty.”
“我们知道‘我’与‘非我’，就产生了距离。
距离让我们可以欣赏，可以怀疑，可以创造。距离生美。
镜子中的倒影也是‘我’，却和真实的‘我’不一样。
正是这种不一样，这种对立，这种距离，才让‘美’出现。”
“We know ‘me’ and ‘not me’. This makes distance.
Distance lets us enjoy, wonder, and create. Distance makes beauty.
The face in the mirror is also ‘me’, but not the real ‘me’.
This difference, this space — that is where beauty is born.”
小石头看着他们，问了最后一个问题：
Little Stone looked at them and asked one last question:
“如果宇宙中没有生命的眼，光与色有什么意义？
如果没有人的眼，宏伟与美丽有什么意义？
如果只有设谜人，没有解谜人，谜语的意义何在？”
“If the universe has no living eye, what is the meaning of light and color?
If there is no human eye, what is the meaning of greatness and beauty?
If there is only someone to set puzzles, but no one to solve them — what is the meaning of the puzzle?”
狐狸沉思，老虎低头，乌鸦沉默。
The fox thought deeply. The tiger looked down. The crow stayed silent.
小石头轻轻地笑了：
Little Stone smiled softly:
“这就是人——能思考，能怀疑，能发现意义。
这也是痛苦，孤独，困惑的根源。
可没有这些，我们就只是动物。”
“This is what makes humans — to think, to doubt, to find meaning.
This is also why we feel pain, loneliness, and confusion.
But without these, we are only animals.”
太阳落山了。森林里，所有生灵都静静地想着：光，色，美，自我，距离……还有人。
The sun went down. In the forest, all creatures sat quietly, thinking of light, color, beauty, self, distance… and humanity.
