星际动物园.docx

星际动物园.docx

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星际动物园

1Youmustmarryme

　　NothingeverhappensonJustLikeHome—that'sthenameoftheplanetIliveon．Igetsobored！

　　ButtonightwasRememberingNightandthat'sexciting．There'sthebigfirewhereeverybodymustputonsomethingthattheyloveandwatchitburn．Thenthere'sthedancingroundthefire．

　　ButwhatIlikebestaboutRememberingNightaretheclothes．WeusuallywearwhatwelikeonJustLikeHome—buttheclothesmusthavethenameofourname-animalonthem．Forexample，Ialwayshavetheword'Hummingbird'onmyclothes，whichmeansmynameisHummingbird—Hummyforshort．

　　Nobodyknowswhatahummingbirdlookslike，butweknowwhatbirdsare．Birdsareanimalsthatfly．TheBookofRememberingtellsusthat．

　　Idon'talwaysbelievewhattheBookofRememberingsays．

　　NobodyknowswhoyouareonRememberingNightbecauseyouwearblackclothesthatcoveryoufromheadtofoot，andthereisnonameofyourname-animal．Youcanonlyseepeople'seyeslookingoutoftheeye-holesintheclothes．

　　Itwasdarkoutside．Theonlylightcamefromthebigfire．Ibeldmyfather'shandatfirstandwedancedtogether．MymotherdancedawayandIcouldn'tseeher．SoonIlostmyfather．Ididn'tknowwheretheywere．

　　Itdidn'tmatter．Iwasdancinginthemiddleofthecrowd．Ourfamilywouldmeettogetherintherobotplaneafterwards．

　　Therewereaboutathousandpeopleroundthefire．Toomanypeopletocount．NearlyeverybodyonJustLikeHomewasthere．

　　Everybody，onplanetsallovertheGalaxy，wasdancingroundfiresatthesametime．Whatawonderfulthing！

　　Thelastdancebegan．Youholdhandsinabigcircleroundthefire—everybodytogether．Youdanceroundandroundinacircleuntil…

　　Well，everybodyknowswhathappensintheend．

　　Iwasholdinghandswithsomeoneonmyrightandsomeoneonmyleft．Wewereallshouting，'BURNBURNBURNBURNBURNBURNBURN…'

　　Thelastdancewentonforalongtime．Intheendsomebodyfelldown．Hepulleddownthepeopleonbothsidesofhim．Thenpeopleonbothsidesofthemfelldown．Everybodywastootiredtostayontheirfeet．

　　Peoplefelldownallroundthecircle．Falling．Dying．

　　Wewearblackclothestoremember．WeremembertheBurning．

　　WerememberthatwehaveaGalaxy，butwearealone．Weareemptyinourhearts．WearetheonlylivingthingsintheGalaxy．

　　Sad．Lonelyandsad．

　　Ilayontheground，very，verytired．Iwashappyandsadatthesametime．Happytobewitheverybody，sadthatwewerealone．

　　Thentheworstthinginmylifehappened．Somebodycameuptomeandsaid，'Hello．'Ididn'tknowwhoitwas．Icouldonlyseehiseyesshininginthelightofthefire．Butitwasthevoiceofamanwhowasmucholderthanme．

　　'Hello？

'Ianswered．Ididn'twanttotalktohim．

　　'Isawyouinthedance，'hesaid．'Iknowyou'reayounggirlbecauseyouweredancinglikeayounggirl．Ithinkyou'reseventeenyearsold．'

　　'No，I'monlysixteen，'Isaid．

　　'Wonderful．JustwhatIwant，'saidtheman．'Iwillmarryyou．Youmustmarryme．'

　　Icouldn'tbelievewhathewassaying．Thiswasterrible．Andverybadluck．

　　Yes，itwastrueawomanmustmarryanymanwhoasksheronRememberingNight—byorderoftheStarCouncil．I'msixteensoI'mawoman，notachild．Icouldn'tsaynotothisman．Iwassickinmyheart．

　　'Myname'sBuff，'themansaid．'What'syourname，sweetheart？

'

　　'Er，myname's，er…Caterpillar，'Ilied．'I'musuallycalledKate．'

　　'Well，Kate，'Buffsaid，'willyoumarryme？

'

　　'I'msorry，Buff．IknowI'msixteenandoldenoughtogetmarriedbutmyparentsdon'twantmetogetmarriedyet．I'mtheironlydaughter．'

　　Bufflaughed．ItwasahorribleIaugh．HeenjoyedknowingIdidn'twanthim．Whatamonster！

　　Oh，thankEarth－and－animalsIhadn'ttoldhimmyrealname！

　　Ijumpedupsuddenlyandranintothecrowdsofpeopleinthedark．Iwassafe．Hecouldn'tfindme．Iwenttoourrobotplaneandsatinsideuntilmyparentscame．

　　Ididn'ttellmyparentsanything．Iwasafraid．TheStarCouncilsaidBuffwasrightandIwaswrong，andIdidn'tknowwhatmyparentswoulddo．

　　NextmorningIforgotaboutit．HowcouldBufffindme？

Therewerehundredsofgirlsonourplanet．Hedidn'tknowmyname．Hehadonlyseenmyeyes．

　　Suddenlymyfathercameintomyroom．'Hummingbird，'hesaidsadly．

　　'What'sthematter？

'Iasked．'WhyareyoucallingmeHummingbird，notHummy？

'

　　'Hummingbird，askyourrobotforaweddingdress．'

　　'Why？

Why？

'ButIknewtheanswer．

　　'YouwillmarryagentlemancalledBuffalo．'

　　'No，father，Ican't．'Istartedcrying．'Idon'twantto．I'mtooyoung．Idon'twanttoleaveyou．Ihatehim！

'

　　Myfathershookhishead．'Please，Hummy，it'sonlyforoneyear．Youcan'tbeachildforever．Lotsofgirlsdon'twanttogetmarriedatfirst．TheStarCouncilsayswemustgetmarriedasoftenaspossibleandhavechildren．Youknowwhy．'

　　'Why？

'Ispokelikeasmallchild．

　　'Becausewearelonely．BecausethereisnothingintheGalaxyexceptus．Youknowallthat，Hummy．'

　　Thedressing-robotmademeaweddingdress—wehaverobotsforeverythinglikethat．Thedresswaswhiteandcoveredmealloverexceptformyeyes．

　　Myfathertookmyarm．

　　Buffwaswaitingwithmymother．Isawhiseyesthroughtheeye-holesofhisweddingsuit．Theyweresmallmeaneyes．

　　'Hello，Kate，'hesaid．

　　Myfathersaid，'HernameisHummingbird．'

　　'Iknow，Iknow，'Buffsaid．

　　'Howdidyoufindme？

'IaskedBuff．

　　'Ihadasmallcamera，'heanswered．'Itookaphotoofyoureyes．Didyouknowthateverybody'seyesaredifferent？

Nobodyhaseyeslikeyours．'

　　Iturnedtomyfather．'Listentohim！

Can'tyouseehowhorribleheis？

Pleasedon'tmakememarryhim．'

　　Myfatherdidn'tsayanything．Hecouldn'thelpme．

　　YoucansaynoifamanasksyoutomarryhimonRememberingNight．Butyoumusthaveaveryspecialreason．AreasonthattheStarCouncilwillaccept．IfyouaredoingworkthatisimportantfortheGalaxy，theCouncilwillusuallyacceptthatasagoodreason．

　　Icouldn'tthinkofanythinglikethat．Butitwassomethingtohopefor…ifIcouldescape．

　　Iwasafraid．Ididn'twanttorunawayandneverseemyfamilyagain．

　　Someneighboursarrived，andtheweddingbeganimmediately．

　　Buffstoodnexttomeandheldmyhand．Hishandwaslargeandalittlewet．HowIhatedhim！

　　MyfatherpickeduptheBookofRemembering．Heread，'InthebeginningthereweremillionsofplanetsintheGalaxybuttherewasonlylifeonone．ThatwastheplanetEarth．Peopleandanimalslivedtogether．ButpeoplepollutedEarth．Itbecametoohotforanimalstolive．Theydied．Alltheanimalsdied．SopeopleleftEarthandneverreturnedtothatplanet．TheirheartswereemptywhentheyleftEarth，emptytoday，emptyforever…'

　　Buffwasstillholdingmyhand．

　　Myfatherspokeagain．'Buffalo，willyoutakemydaughterHummingbirdtobeyourwifeforoneyear，inthenameofEarthandtheanimals？

'

　　Buffanswered，'Iwill．'

　　Myfatherturnedtome．'Hummingbird，willyoutakethismanBuffalotobeyourhusbandforoneyear，inthenameofEarthandtheanimals？

'

　　That'swhenIran．

　　Ilettheweddingdressfalloffme．Iranfast．TheyranaftermebutIcouldrunmuchfasterwithouttheweddingdress．Igottoourrobotspaceship，jumpedintoitandsaid，'Takeoff．'

　　'Whyarepeoplerunningtowardsus？

'thespaceshipasked．

　　'Takeoffnow！

'Ishouted．'It'slifeordeath！

'

　　Thespaceshipcouldn'targue．Ittookoff．

　　JustLikeHomewasgreenallover—fieldsofwheateverywhere．Iwasoutinspacelookingbackatmyplanet．Allaroundmewerestars．

　　ThemillionsofstarsintheGalaxy—that'swhereIcouldhide！

2Aspaceshipmadeofplastic

　　Icouldn'tbelievewhatI'ddone．I'drunaway—me！

　　I'mnotverybraveandIlovemyparentsverymuch．IneverthoughtIcouldeverdisobeythem．

　　Iwasafraid．AndIfeltsadformyparents．Poormotherandfather！

　　ButIhadtolivemyownlife．Icouldn'tgetmarriedtoahorribleoldmanlikeBuffalo！

　　IknewtheywouldfollowmequicklysoItoldthespaceshiptotakemetoaveryquietpartoftheGalaxy，alongwayfromanyplanetswithpeopleon．

　　Thespaceshipwent．

　　HowcanaspaceshiptravelacrosstheGalaxyinnotimeatall？

　　Well，Ilearnttheanswertothatinschool．Therearealotoflittleblackholesinspace．Theyareaboutasbigasapotato．AspaceshipgoesintooneblackholeandcomesoutofanotherblackholeontheothersideoftheGalaxy．

　　Don'taskmehowabigthinglikeaspaceshipcangointoathingassmallasapotato．Iwasprobablyasleepwhentherobotteachertoldmetheanswertothat！

　　Nobodycouldfindmenow．IwasinthemiddleoftheGalaxyinemptyspace．

　　Therewerestarsabovemyhead，starsbelowmyfeet，starsonmylefthand，starsonmyrighthand．

　　Strange．Iknewallthesestarswerealong，longwayawaybuttheydidn'tlookfaraway．Theylookedveryclose；Iwantedtoreachoutmyhandandtouchthem．

　　Andthesilence．Sovery，very，veryquiet．

　　TheBookofRememberingsayshowIfelt：

'Theirheartswereempty．'

　　Myheartwasempty．IsawmillionsofstarsbuttherewasnolifeintheGalaxyexceptushumans．Well，therearepotatoesandwheatandricebutyoucan'ttalktovegetables．

　　Wearealone．

　　TheBookofRememberingsayswedidit．WepollutedEarthandsokilledalltheanimals．WeranawayfromEarthandwe'restillrunning．Thatwastwentythousandyearsagoandwestillcan'tforget．

　　TheBookofRememberinggivesnamesforthousandsofanimals．Fantastic！

Couldtherereallybethousandsofanimals？

Theideaofanimalsissostrange．Whatdidtheylooklike？

TheBookofRememberinghasnopictures，butsaystherearebirdsthatfly，andfishthatswim．Thereareanimalswithnolegs，andanimalswithlotsoflegs—ugh！

Whatahorribleidea！

　　Cananybodybelievestorieslikethat？

　　AndnowIwasrunningawaytoo．PerhapsIwaswrongtorun