It was almost eleven o’clock. She had been reading for over two hours. From time to time she had raised her eyes from the text and laughed aloud, but she had also turned over on her side and gasped . It was a good thing she was alone in the house.
And what she had been through these last two hours! It started with Sophie trying to attract the major’s attention on the way home from the cabin in the woods. She had finally climbed a tree and been rescued by Morten Goose, who had arrived like a guardian angel from Lebanon.
Although it was a long, long time ago, Hilde had never forgotten how her father had read The Wonderful Adventures of Nils to her. For many years after that, she and her father had had a secret language together that was connected with the book. Now he had dragged the old goose out again.
Then Sophie had her first experience as a lone customer in a cafe. Hilde had been especially taken with what Alberto said about Sartre and existentialism. He had almost managed to convert her--although he had done that many times before in the ring binder too.
Once, about a year ago, Hilde had bought a book on astrology. Another time she had come home with a set of tarot cards. Next time it was a book on spiritualism. Each time, her father had lectured her about " superstition " and her "critical faculty," but he had waited until now for the final blow. His counterattack was deadly accurate. Clearly, his daughter would not be allowed to grow up without a thorough warning against that kind of thing. To be absolutely sure, he had waved to her from a TV screen in a radio store. He could have saved himself the trouble ...
What she wondered about most of all was Sophie. Sophie--who are you? Where do you come from? Why have you come into my life?
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*********
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Finally Sophie had been given a book about herself. Was it the same book that Hilde now had in her hands? This was only a ring binder. But even so--how could one find a book about oneself in a book about oneself? What would happen if Sophie began to read that book?
What was going to happen now? What could happen now? There were only a few pages left in her ring binder.
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“嗨,苏菲!我们居然坐同一辆公车!真好!”
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Sophie met her mother on the bus on her way home from town. Oh, no! What would her mother say when she saw the book in Sophie’s hand?
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“嗨,妈!”
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Sophie tried to put it in the bag with all the streamers and balloons she had bought for the party but she didn’t quite make it.
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“你买了一本书呀?”
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"Hi, Sophie! We caught the same bus! How nice!"
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14
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“没有,不是买的。”
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"Hi, Mom!"
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15
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“《苏菲的世界》……多奇怪呀。”
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15
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"You bought a book?"
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苏菲知道这时她是骗不了妈妈的。
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"No, not exactly."
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17
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“是艾伯特给我的。”“嗯,我想一定是的。我说过了,我一直在等着见这个人呢。我可以看看吗?”
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"Sophie’s World ... how curious."
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“可不可以等到我们回家以后?妈,这是我的书耶!”
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Sophie knew she didn’t have the slightest chance of lying to her mother.
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“这当然是你的书啦。我只想看看第一页。好吗?
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"I got it from Alberto."
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“……苏菲放学回家了。有一段路她和乔安同行,她们谈着有关机器人的问题……”
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"Yes, I’m sure you did. As I said, I’m looking forward to meeting this man. May I see?"
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“书里真的这么写吗?”
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"Would you mind very much waiting till we get home, at least. It is my book, Mom."
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“没错。是一个名叫艾勃特的人写的。他一定是刚出道的。喔,对了,你那位哲学家叫什么名字?”
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"Of course it’s your book. I just want to take a peek at the first page, okay? ... ’Sophie Amundsen was on her way home from school. She had walked the first part of the way with Joanna. They had been discussing robots . . .’"
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“艾伯特。”
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"Does it really say that?"
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“也许这个怪人写了一本关于你的书呢,苏菲。他用的可能是笔名。”
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"Yes, it does, Sophie. It’s written by someone called Albert Knag. He must be a newcomer. What’s your Al-berto’s name, by the way?"
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“那不是他。妈,你就别再说了吧。反正你什么都不懂。”
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"Knox."
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“是呀,我是不懂。明天我们就举行花园宴会了,然后一切又会恢复正常。”
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"It’ll probably turn out that this extraordinary person has written a whole book about you, Sophie. It’s called using a pseudonym ."
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“艾伯特活在一个完全不同的世界里,所以这本书是一只白乌鸦。”
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"It’s not him, Mom. Why don’t you just give up. You don’t understand anything anyway."
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“你真的不能再这样下去了!以前你说的不是白兔吗?”
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"No, I don’t suppose I do. The garden party is tomorrow, then everything will be all right again."
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“好了,别说了。”
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"Albert Knag lives in a completely different reality. That’s why this book is a white crow."
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她们说到这里,苜蓿巷就到了。她们刚下车就遇上了一次示威游行。
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"You really must stop all this! Wasn’t it a white rabbit?"
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“天哪!”苏菲的妈妈喊,“我还以为我们这个社区不会发生这样的事呢!”
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"You stop it!"
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示威的人顶多只有十到十二个。他们手里拿的布条上写着:“少校快来了!”
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That was as far as they got before they reached their stop at the end of Clover Close. They ran straight into a demonstration .
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“支持美味的仲夏节大餐!”
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"My God!" exclaimed Helene Amundsen, "I really thought we would be spared street politics in this neighborhood."
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“加强联合国!”
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There were no more than about ten or twelve people. Their banners read: THE MAJOR IS AT HAND YES TO YUMMY MIDSUMMER EATS MORE POWER TO THE UN Sophie almost felt sorry for her mother.
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苏菲几乎替妈妈感到难过。
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"Never mind," she said.
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“别理他们。”她说。
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"But it was a peculiar demonstration, Sophie. Quite absurd, really."
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“可是这个示威好奇怪呀,挺荒谬的。”
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"It was a mere bagatelle
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“只不过是个小把戏罢了!”
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."
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“世界改变得愈来愈快了。其实,我一点也不感到惊讶。”
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"The world changes more and more rapidly all the time. Actually, I’m not in the least surprised."
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“不管怎样,你应该对你不感到惊讶这件事感到惊讶。”
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"You should be surprised that you’re not surprised, at any rate."
They spent the afternoon and evening preparing. They continued the next morning, setting and decorating the table. Joanna came over to give them a hand.
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“这下可好了!”她说,“我爸妈也打算要来。都是你,苏菲!”
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"Good grief!" she said, "Mom and Dad are coming too. It’s your fault, Sophie!"
[p1]"After a thorough philosophical study--which has led from the first Greek philosophers to the present day--we have discovered that we are living our lives in the mind of a major who is at this moment serving as a UN observer in Lebanon. He has also written a book about us for his daughter back in Lillesand. Her name is Hilde
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桌旁的众人脸上开始出现一种忧虑的神色。
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[p2]">Mailer Knag, and she was fifteen years old on the same day as Sophie. The book about us lay on her bedside table when she woke up early on the morning of June 15. To be more precise, it was in the form of a ring binder. Even as we speak, she can feel the final pages of the ring binder under her index finger."
[p2]">Mailer Knag. We have all been invented as a framework for the major’s philosophical education of his daughter. This means, for example, that the white Mercedes at the gate is not worth a cent. It’s just a bagatelle. It’s worth no more than the white Mercedes that drives around and around inside the head of a poor UN major, who has just this minute sat down in the shade of a palm tree to avoid getting sunstroke. The days are hot in Lebanon, my friends."