【英文文学】Solaris 星球梭那里斯_索拉利斯星.docx

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1、【英文文学】Solaris 星球梭那里斯_索拉利斯星1 THE ARRIVALAt 19.00 hours, ships time, I made my way to the launching bay. The men around the shaftstood aside to let me pass, and I climbed down into the capsule.Inside the narrow cockpit, there was scarcely room to move. I attached the hose to the valve onmy spacesuit a

2、nd it inflated rapidly. From then on, I was incapable of making the smallestmovement. There I stood, or rather hung suspended, enveloped in my pneumatic suit and yoketo the metal hull.I looked up; through the transparent canopy I could see a smooth, polished wall and, far above,Moddards head leaning

3、 over the top of the shaft. He vanished, and suddenly I was plunged indarkness: the heavy protective cone had been lowered into place. Eight times I heard the humof the electric motors which turned the screws, followed by the hiss of the shock-absorbers. Asmy eyes grew accustomed to the dark, I coul

4、d see the luminous circle of the solitary dial.A voice echoed in my headphones:Ready Kelvin?Ready, Moddard, I answered.Dont worry about a thing. The Station will pick you up in flight. Have a good trip!There was a grinding noise and the capsule swayed. My muscles tensed in spite of myself, butthere

5、was no further noise or movement.When is lift-off? As I asked, I noticed a rustling outside, like a shower of fine sand.Youre on your way, Kelvin. Good luck! Moddards voice sounded as close as before.A wide slit opened at eye-level, and I could see the stars. The Prometheus was orbiting in theregion

6、 of Alpha in Aquarius and I tried in vain to orient myself; a glittering dust filled myporthole. I could not recognize a single constellation; in this region of the galaxy the sky wasunfamiliar to me. I waited for the moment when I would pass near the first distinct star, but Iwas unable to isolate

7、any one of them. Their brightness was fading; they receded, merging intoa vague, purplish glimmer, the sole indication of the distance I had already travelled. My bodyrigid, sealed in its pneumatic envelope, I was knifing through space with the impression ofstanding still in the void, my only distra

8、ction the steadily mounting heat.Suddenly, there was a shrill, grating sound, like a steel blade being drawn across a sheet of wetglass. This was it, the descent. If I had not seen the figures racing across the dial, I would nothave noticed the change in direction. The stars having vanished long sin

9、ce, my gaze wasswallowed up on the pale reddish glow of infinity. I could hear my heart thudding heavily. Icould feel the coolness from the air-conditioning on my neck, although my face seemed to beon fire. I regretted not having caught a glimpse of the Prometheus, but the ship must have beenout of

10、sight by the time the automatic controls had raised the shutter of my porthole.The capsule was shaken by a sudden jolt, then another. The whole vehicle began to vibrate.Filtered through the insulating layers of the outer skins, penetrating my pneumatic cocoon, thevibration reached me, and ran throug

11、h my entire body. The image of the dial shivered andmultiplied, and its phosphorescence spread out in all directions. I felt no fear. I had notundertaken this long voyage only to overshoot my target!I called into the microphone:Station Solaris! Station Solaris! Station Solaris! I think I am leaving

12、the flight-path, correctmy course! Station Solaris, this is the Prometheus capsule. Over.I had missed the precious moment when the planet first came into view. Now it was spread outbefore my eyes; flat, and already immense. Nevertheless, from the appearance of its surface, Ijudged that I was still a

13、t a great height above it, since I had passed that imperceptible frontierafter which we measure the distance that separates us from a celestial body in terms of altitude.I was falling. Now I had the sensation of falling, even with my eyes closed. (I quickly reopenedthem: I did not want to miss anyth

14、ing there was to be seen.)I waited a moment in silence before trying once more to make contact. No response.Successive bursts of static came through the headphones, against a background of deep, low-pitched murmuring, which seemed to me the very voice of the planet itself. A veil of mistcovered the

15、orange-colored sky, obscuring the porthole. Instinctively, I hunched myself up asmuch as my inflated suit would allow, but almost at once I realized that I was passing throughcloud. Then, as though sucked upwards, the cloud-mass lifted; I was gliding, half in light, halfin shadow, the capsule revolv

16、ing upon its own vertical axis. At last, through the porthole, thegigantic ball of the sun appeared, looming up on the left and disappearing to the right.A distant voice reached me through the murmuring and crackling.Station Solaris calling! Station Solaris calling! The capsule will land at zero-hou

17、r. I repeat, thecapsule will land at zero-hour. Stand by for count-down. Two hundred and fifty, two hundredand forty-nine, two hundred and forty-eightThe words were punctuated by sharp screeching sounds; automatic equipment was intoning thephrases of the reception-drill. This was surprising, to say

18、the least. As a rule, men on spacestations were eager to greet a newcomer, especially if he was arriving direct from Earth. I didnot have long to ponder this, for the suns orbit, which had so far encircled me, shiftedunexpectedly, and the incandescent disc appeared now to the right, now to the left,

19、 seeming todance on the planets horizon. I was swinging like a giant pendulum while the planet, itssurface wrinkled with purplish-blue and black furrows, rose up in front of me like a wall. Asmy head began to spin, I caught sight of a tiny pattern of green and white dots; it was thestations position

20、ing-marker. Something detached itself with a snap from the cone of thecapsule; with a fierce jerk, the long parachute collar released its hoops, and the noise whichfollowed reminded me irresistibly of Earth: for the first time after so many months, themoaning of the wind.Everything went quickly afte

21、r this. So far, I had known that I must be falling; now I could seeit for myself. The green and white checker-board grew rapidly larger and I could see that it waspainted on an elongated silvery body, shaped like a whale, its flanks bristling with radarantennae. This metal colossus, which was pierce

22、d with several rows of shadowy apertures, wasnot resting on the planet itself but suspended above it, casting upon the inky surface beneath anellipsoidal shadow of even deeper blackness. I could make out the slate-colored ripples of theocean, stirring with a faint motion. Suddenly, the clouds rose t

23、o a great height, rimmed with ablinding crimson glare; the lurid sky became grey, distant and flat; everything was blotted out;I was falling in a spin.A sharp jolt, and the capsule righted itself. Through the porthole, I could see the ocean oncemore, the waves like crests of glittering quicksilver.

24、The hoops of the parachute, their cordssnapped, flapped furiously over the waves, carried on the wind. The capsule gently descended,swaying with a peculiar slow-motion rhythm imposed on it by the artificial magnetic field;there was just time to glimpse the launchingpads and the parabolic reflectors

25、of two radio-telescopes on top of their pierced-steel towers.With the clang of steel rebounding against steel, the capsule came to a stop. A hatch opened,and with a long, harsh sigh, the metal shell which imprisoned me reached the end of its voyage.I heard the mechanical voice from the control cente

26、r:Station Solaris. Zero and zero. The capsule has landed. Out.Feeling a vague pressure on my chest and a disagreeable heaviness in the pit of my stomach, Iseized the control levers with both hands and cut the contacts. A green indicator lit up:ARRIVAL. The capsule opened, and the pneumatic padding s

27、hoved me gently from behind,so that, in order to keep my balance, I had to take a step forward.With a muffled sigh of resignation, the spacesuit expelled its air. I was free.I found myself inside a vast, silver funnel, as high as a cathedral nave. A cluster of coloredpipes ran down the sloping walls

28、 and disappeared into rounded orifices. I turned round. Theventilation shafts were roaring, sucking in the poisonous gases from the planets atmospherewhich had infiltrated when my capsule had landed inside the Station. Empty, resembling aburst cocoon, the cigar-shaped capsule stood upright, enfolded

29、 by a calyx mounted on a steelbase. The outer casing, scorched during flight, had turned a dirty brown.I went down a small stairway. The metal floor below had been coated with a heavy-dutyplastic. In places, the wheels of trolleys carrying rockets had worn through this plastic coveringto expose the

30、bare steel beneath.The throbbing of the ventilators ceased abruptly and there was total silence. I looked aroundme, a little uncertain, waiting for someone to appear; but there was no sign of life. Only a neonarrow glowed, pointing towards a moving walkway which was silently unreeling. I allowedmyse

31、lf to be carried forward.The ceiling of the hall descended in a fine parabolic arc until it reached the entrance to agallery, in whose recesses gas cylinders, gauges, parachutes, crates and a quantity of otherobjects were scattered about in untidy heaps.The moving walkway set me down at the far end

32、of the gallery, on the threshold of a dome.Here there was an even greater disorder. A pool of oily liquid spread out from beneath a pile ofoil-drams; a nauseating smell hung in the air; footprints, in a series of glutinous smears, wentoff in all directions. The oil-drums were covered with a tangle o

33、f tickertape, torn paper andother waste.Another green arrow directed me to the central door. Behind this stretched a narrow corridor,hardly wide enough for two men to walk side by side, lit by slabs of glass let into the ceiling.Then another door, painted in green and white squares, which was ajar;

34、I went in.The cabin had concave walls and a big panoramic window, which a glowing mist had tingedwith purple. Outside the murky waves slid silently past. Open cupboards lined the walls, filledwith instruments, books, dirty glasses, vacuum flasksall covered with dust. Five or six smalltrolleys and so

35、me collapsible chairs cluttered up the stained floor. One chair alone was inflated,its back raised. In this armchair there was a little thin man, his face burnt by the sun, the skinon his nose and cheeks coming away in large flakes. I recognized him as Snow, a cyberneticsexpert and Gibarians deputy.

36、 In his time he had published articles of great originality in theSolarist Annual. It so happened that I had never had the opportunity of meeting him. He waswearing a mesh shirt which allowed the grey hairs of his sunken chest to poke through here andthere, and canvas trousers with a great many pock

37、ets, mechanics trousers, which had oncebeen white but now were stained at the knees and covered with holes from chemical burns. Hewas holding one of those pear-shaped plastic flasks which are used in spaceships not equippedwith internal gravitational systems. Snows eyes widened in amazement as he lo

38、oked up andsaw me. The flask dropped from his fingers and bounced several times, spilling a few drops oftransparent liquid. Blood drained from his face. I was too astonished to speak, and thisdumbshow continued for so long that Snows terror gradually communicated itself to me. Itook a step forward.

39、He cringed in his chair.Snow?He quivered as though I had struck him. Gazing at me in indescribable horror, he gasped out:I dont know His voice croaked. I dont know youWhat do you want?The spilt liquid was quickly evaporating; I caught a whiff of alcohol. Had he been drinking?Was he drunk? What was h

40、e so terrified of? I stood in the middle of the room; my legs weretrembling; my ears roared, as though they were stuffed with cotton wool. I had the impressionthat the ground was giving way beneath my feet. Beyond the curved window, the ocean roseand fell with regularity. Snows blood-shot eyes never

41、 left me. His terror seemed to haveabated, but his expression of invincible disgust remained.Whats the matter? Are you ill? I whispered.You seem worried, he said, his voice hollow. You actually seem worriedSo its like thatnow, is it? But why concern yourself about me? I dont know you.Wheres Gibarian

42、? I asked.He gave a gasp and his glassy eyes lit up for an instant.GiGibaNo! No!His whole frame shook with stifled, hysterical laughter; then he seemed to calm down a little.So its Gibarian youve come for, is it? Poor old Gibarian. What do you want with him? Hiswords, or rather his tone of voice, ex

43、pressed hatred and defiance; it was as though I hadsuddenly ceased to represent a threat to him.Bewildered, I mumbled: WhatWhere is he?Dont you know?Obviously he was drunk and raving. My anger rose. I should have controlled myself and leftthe room, but I had lost patience. I shouted:Thats enough! Ho

44、w could I know where he is since Ive only just arrived? Snow! Whatsgoing on here? His jaw dropped. Once again he caught his breath and his eyes gleamed with adifferent light. He seized the arms of his chair with both hands and stood up with difficulty. Hisknees were trembling.What? Youve just arrive

45、dWhere have you come from? he asked, almost sober.From Earth! I retorted angrily. Maybe youve heard of it? Not that anyone would ever guessit.From Earth? Good God! Then you must be Kelvin.Of course. Why are you looking at me like that? Whats so startling about me?He blinked rapidly.Nothing, he said,

46、 wiping his forehead, nothing, Forgive me, Kelvin, its nothing, I assureyou. I was simply surprised, I didnt expect to see you.What do you mean, you didnt expect to see me? You were notified months ago, and Moddardradioed only today from the Prometheus.Yes; yes, indeed. Only, you see, were a bit dis

47、organized at the moment.So I see, I answered dryly.Snow walked around me, inspecting my atmosphere suit, which was standard issue with theusual harness of wires and cables attached to the chest. He coughed, and rubbed his bony nose:Perhaps you would like a bath? It would do you good. Its the blue do

48、or, on the other side.ThanksI know the Station lay-out.You must be hungry.No. Wheres Gibarian?Without answering, he went over to the window. From behind he looked considerably older.His close-cropped hair was grey, and deep wrinkles creased his sunburnt neck.The wave-crests glinted through the window, the colossal rollers rising and falling in slow-motion. Watching the ocean like this one had the illusionit was surely an illusionthat theStation was moving imperceptibly, as though teetering on an invisible base; then it would seemto recover its equilibrium, only t