世界小史第4章:记忆之光（打印版）

　　But we only catch glimpses, because our light is now falling faster and faster: 1,000 years， 5,000 years， 10,000 years.

　　但是我们只在一瞬间看见了这情景，因为我们的火光越坠越快，越坠越快，1千年，5千年，1万年。

　　Even in those days there were children who liked good things to eat.

　　当时也曾有过喜欢吃好吃的东西的孩子。

　　But they couldn't yet write letters. 20,000 ... 50,000 ... and even then people said, as we do, "Once upon a time".

　　但是他们还不会写信。2万年，5万年...... 这些人当时也已经说过"从前"。

　　Now our memory-light is getting very small ... and now it's gone.

　　我们的记忆之光现在已经很微弱，然后我们就看不见它了。

　　And yet we know that it goes on much further, to a time long, long ago,

　　但是我们知道，它还在继续闪亮，照进一个极古老的史前时代,

　　before there were any people and when our mountains didn't look as they do today.

　　那时还没有人类，那时的山看上去还不像今天这个样子。

　　Some of them were bigger, but as the rain poured down it slowly turned them into hills.

　　有些山更高，雨水长期冲刷它们，把它们冲刷成小山。

　　Others weren't there at all.

　　有些山本来还根本不存在，

　　They grew up gradually, out of the sea, over millions and millions of years.

　　它们是在好几百万年间，渐渐从大海里长出来的。

　　But even before the mountains there were animals, quite different from those of today.

　　但是还在这些山脉存在之前，这里就已经有过动物，跟今天完全不一样的动物。

　　They were huge and looked rather like dragons.

　　他们巨大无比，看上去非常像龙。