Last Question 原文.docx

Last Question 原文.docx

《Last Question 原文.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《Last Question 原文.docx（15页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

LastQuestion原文

TheLastQuestion

ByIsaacAsimov

IsaacAsimovwasthemostprolificsciencefictionauthorofalltime.Infiftyyearsheaveragedanewmagazinearticle,shortstory,orbookeverytwoweeks,andmostofthatonamanualtypewriter.AsimovthoughtthatTheLastQuestion,firstcopyrightedin1956,washisbestshortstoryever.Evenifyoudonothavethebackgroundinsciencetobefamiliarwithalloftheconceptspresentedhere,theendingpacksmoreimpactthananyotherbookthatI'veeverread.Don'treadtheendofthestoryfirst!

ThisisbyfarmyfavoritestoryofallthoseIhavewritten.

Afterall,IundertooktotellseveraltrillionyearsofhumanhistoryinthespaceofashortstoryandIleaveittoyouastohowwellIsucceeded.Ialsoundertookanothertask,butIwon'ttellyouwhatthatwaslestlspoilthestoryforyou.

ItisacuriousfactthatinnumerablereadershaveaskedmeifIwrotethisstory.Theyseemnevertorememberthetitleofthestoryor（forsure）theauthor,exceptforthevaguethoughtitmightbeme.But,ofcourse,theyneverforgetthestoryitselfespeciallytheending.Theideaseemstodrownouteverything--andI'msatisfiedthatitshould.

Thelastquestionwasaskedforthefirsttime,halfinjest,onMay21,2061,atatimewhenhumanityfirststeppedintothelight.Thequestioncameaboutasaresultofafive-dollarbetoverhighballs,andithappenedthisway:

AlexanderAdellandBertramLupovweretwoofthefaithfulattendantsofMultivac.Aswellasanyhumanbeingscould,theyknewwhatlaybehindthecold,clicking,flashingface--milesandmilesofface--ofthatgiantcomputer.Theyhadatleastavaguenotionofthegeneralplanofrelaysandcircuitsthathadlongsincegrownpastthepointwhereanysinglehumancouldpossiblyhaveafirmgraspofthewhole.

Multivacwasself-adjustingandself-correcting.Ithadtobe,fornothinghumancouldadjustandcorrectitquicklyenoughorevenadequatelyenough.SoAdellandLupovattendedthemonstrousgiantonlylightlyandsuperficially,yetaswellasanymencould.Theyfeditdata,adjustedquestionstoitsneedsandtranslatedtheanswersthatwereissued.Certainlythey,andallotherslikethem,werefullyentitledtoshareintheglorythatwasMultivac's.

Fordecades,MultivachadhelpeddesigntheshipsandplotthetrajectoriesthatenabledmantoreachtheMoon,Mars,andVenus,butpastthat,Earth'spoorresourcescouldnotsupporttheships.Toomuchenergywasneededforthelongtrips.Earthexploiteditscoalanduraniumwithincreasingefficiency,buttherewasonlysomuchofboth.

ButslowlyMultivaclearnedenoughtoanswerdeeperquestionsmorefundamentally,andonMay14,2061,whathadbeentheory,becamefact.

Theenergyofthesunwasstored,converted,andutilizeddirectlyonaplanet-widescale.AllEarthturnedoffitsburningcoal,itsfissioninguranium,andflippedtheswitchthatconnectedallofittoasmallstation,onemileindiameter,circlingtheEarthathalfthedistanceoftheMoon.AllEarthranbyinvisiblebeamsofsunpower.

SevendayshadnotsufficedtodimthegloryofitandAdellandLupovfinallymanagedtoescapefromthepublicfunctions,andtomeetinquietwherenoonewouldthinkoflookingforthem,inthedesertedundergroundchambers,whereportionsofthemightyburiedbodyofMultivacshowed.Unattended,idling,sortingdatawithcontentedlazyclickings,Multivac,too,hadearneditsvacationandtheboysappreciatedthat.Theyhadnointention,originally,ofdisturbingit.

Theyhadbroughtabottlewiththem,andtheironlyconcernatthemomentwastorelaxinthecompanyofeachotherandthebottle.

"It'samazingwhenyouthinkofit,"saidAdell.Hisbroadfacehadlinesofwearinessinit,andhestirredhisdrinkslowlywithaglassrod,watchingthecubesoficeslurclumsilyabout."Alltheenergywecanpossiblyeveruseforfree.Enoughenergy,ifwewantedtodrawonit,tomeltallEarthintoabigdropofimpureliquidiron,andstillnevermisstheenergysoused.Alltheenergywecouldeveruse,foreverandforeverandforever."

Lupovcockedhisheadsideways.Hehadatrickofdoingthatwhenhewantedtobecontrary,andhewantedtobecontrarynow,partlybecausehehadhadtocarrytheiceandglassware."Notforever,"hesaid.

"Oh,hell,justaboutforever.Tillthesunrunsdown,Bert."

"That'snotforever."

"Allright,then.Billionsandbillionsofyears.Tenbillion,maybe.Areyousatisfied?

"

Lupovputhisfingersthroughhisthinninghairasthoughtoreassurehimselfthatsomewasstillleftandsippedgentlyathisowndrink."Tenbillionyearsisn'tforever."

"Well,itwilllastourtime,won'tit?

"

"Sowouldthecoalanduranium."

"Allright,butnowwecanhookupeachindividualspaceshiptotheSolarStation,anditcangotoPlutoandbackamilliontimeswithouteverworryingaboutfuel.Youcan'tdothatoncoalanduranium.AskMultivac,ifyoudon'tbelieveme.

"Idon'thavetoaskMultivac.Iknowthat."

"ThenstoprunningdownwhatMultivac'sdoneforus,"saidAdell,blazingup,"Itdidallright."

"Whosaysitdidn't?

WhatIsayisthatasunwon'tlastforever.That'sallI'msaying.We'resafefortenbillionyears,butthenwhat?

"Lupowpointedaslightlyshakyfingerattheother."Anddon'tsaywe'llswitchtoanothersun."

Therewassilenceforawhile.Adellputhisglasstohislipsonlyoccasionally,andLupov'seyesslowlyclosed.Theyrested.

ThenLupov'seyessnappedopen."You'rethinkingwe'llswitchtoanothersunwhenoursisdone,aren'tyou?

"

"I'mnotthinking."

"Sureyouare.You'reweakonlogic,that'sthetroublewithyou.You'reliketheguyinthestorywhowascaughtinasuddenshowerandwhorantoagroveoftreesandgotunderone.Hewasn'tworried,yousee,becausehefiguredwhenonetreegotwetthrough,hewouldjustgetunderanotherone."

"Igetit,"saidAdell."Don'tshout.Whenthesunisdone,theotherstarswillbegone,too."

"Darnrighttheywill,"mutteredLupov."Itallhadabeginningintheoriginalcosmicexplosion,whateverthatwas,andit'llallhaveanendwhenallthestarsrundown.Somerundownfasterthanothers.Hell,thegiantswon'tlastahundredmillionyears.Thesunwilllasttenbillionyearsandmaybethedwarfswilllasttwohundredbillionforallthegoodtheyare.Butjustgiveusatrillionyearsandeverythingwillbedark.Entropyhastoincreasetomaximum,that'sall."

"Iknowallaboutentropy,"saidAdell,standingonhisdignity.

"Thehellyoudo."

"Iknowasmuchasyoudo."

"Thenyouknoweverything'sgottorundownsomeday."

"Allright.Whosaystheywon't?

"

"Youdid,youpoorsap.Yousaidwehadalltheenergyweneeded,forever.Yousaid'forever.'

ItwasAdell'sturntobecontrary."Maybewecanbuildthingsupagainsomeday,"hesaid.

"Never."

"Whynot?

Someday."

"Never."

"AskMultiday."

"YouaskMultivac.Idareyou.Fivedollarssaysitcan'tbedone."

Adellwasjustdrunkenoughtotry,justsoberenoughtobeabletophrasethenecessarysymbolsandoperationsintoaquestionwhich,inwords,mighthavecorrespondedtothis:

Willmankindonedaywithoutthenetexpenditureofenergybeabletorestorethesuntoitsfullyouthfulnessevenafterithaddiedofoldage?

Ormaybeitcouldbeputmoresimplylikethis:

Howcanthenetamountofentropyoftheuniversebemassivelydecreased?

Multivacfelldeadandsilent.Theslowflashingoflightsceased,thedistantsoundsofclickingrelaysended.

Then,justasthefrightenedtechniciansfelttheycouldholdtheirbreathnolonger,therewasasuddenspringingtolifeoftheteletypeattachedtothatportionofMultivac.Fivewordswereprinted:

INSUFFICIENTDATAFORMEANINGFULANSWER.

"Nobet,"whisperedLupov.Theylefthurriedly.

Bynextmorning,thetwo,plaguedwiththrobbingheadandcottonymouth,hadforgottentheincident.

Jerrodd,Jerrodine,andJerrodetteIandIIwatchedthestarrypictureinthevisiplatechangeasthepassagethroughhyperspacewascompletedinitsnon-timelapse.Atonce,theevenpowderingofstarsgavewaytothepredominanceofasinglebrightshiningdisk,thesizeofamarble,centeredontheviewing-screen.

"That'sX-23,"saidJerroddconfidently.Histhinhandsclampedtightlybehindhisbackandtheknuckleswhitened.

ThelittleJerrodettes,bothgirls,hadexperiencedthehyperspacepassageforthefirsttimeintheirlivesandwereself-consciousoverthemomentarysensationofinsideoutness.Theyburiedtheirgigglesandchasedoneanotherwildlyabouttheirmother,screaming,"We'vereachedX-23--we'vereachedX-23--we've--"

"Quiet,children."saidJerrodinesharply."Areyousure,Jerrodd?

"

"Whatistheretobebutsure?

"askedJerrodd,glancingupatthebulgeoffeaturelessmetaljustundertheceiling.Itranthelengthoftheroom,disappearingthroughthewallateitherend.Itwasaslongastheship.

JerroddscarcelyknewathingaboutthethickrodofmetalexceptthatitwascalledaMicrovac,thatoneaskeditquestionsifonewished;thatifonedidnotitstillhaditstaskofguidingtheshiptoapreordereddestination;offeedingonenergiesfromthevariousSub-galacticPowerStations;ofcomputingtheequationsforthehyperspatialjumps.

Jerroddandhisfamilyhadonlytowaitandliveinthecomfortableresidencequartersoftheship.SomeonehadoncetoldJerroddthatthe"ac"attheendof"Microvac"stoodfor''automaticcomputer"inancientEnglish,buthewasontheedgeofforgettingeventhat.

Jerrodine'seyesweremoistasshewatchedthevisiplate."Ican'thelpit.IfeelfunnyaboutleavingEarth."

"Why,forPete'ssake?

"demand