Ulysses - Chapter 3
尤利西斯 - 第三章
Stephen walked alone along Sandymount Strand, the tide retreating before him. He closed his eyes, testing his perception of reality. Could he navigate the world through sound and touch alone? His boots crunched on shells and pebbles, each step a small adventure into darkness.
斯蒂芬独自沿着桑德蒙特海滩行走,潮水在他面前退去。他闭上眼睛,测试他对现实的感知。他能仅通过声音和触觉来导航世界吗?他的靴子踩在贝壳和鹅卵石上发出嘎吱声,每一步都是进入黑暗的小冒险。
Opening his eyes again, he saw the vast expanse of beach stretching endlessly. The sea whispered its eternal secrets, indifferent to human concerns. Stephen thought of philosophy, of Berkeley's theories about perception and existence. If no one observed the world, would it cease to exist?
再次睁开眼睛,他看到海滩的广阔延伸无穷无尽。大海低语着它永恒的秘密,对人类的关切漠不关心。斯蒂芬想到哲学,想到贝克莱关于感知和存在的理论。如果没有人观察世界,它会停止存在吗?
A dead dog lay on the sand, bloated and rotting. Stephen examined it with morbid curiosity, thinking of death and decay. Everything returns to the earth eventually. His mother's body, now cold in the grave, was becoming part of the soil, part of the endless cycle.
一只死狗躺在沙滩上,肿胀腐烂。斯蒂芬带着病态的好奇心检查它,思考死亡和腐朽。一切最终都会回归大地。他母亲的身体,现在在坟墓中冰冷,正在成为土壤的一部分,成为无尽循环的一部分。
He picked up a piece of driftwood and wrote words in the sand, knowing the tide would erase them. All human endeavors were similarly temporary, he reflected. Art, literature, philosophy—all would be forgotten eventually, swallowed by time's relentless advance.
他捡起一块浮木,在沙滩上写字,知道潮水会抹去它们。所有人类的努力都同样是暂时的,他反思道。艺术、文学、哲学——最终都会被遗忘,被时间无情的推进所吞没。
A couple walked past in the distance, and Stephen felt his isolation keenly. He was always alone, always separate from others. His thoughts were too complex, too dark for ordinary conversation. Who could understand his grief, his guilt, his desperate search for meaning?
远处有一对夫妇走过,斯蒂芬敏锐地感到自己的孤独。他总是孤独的,总是与他人分离。他的思想太复杂,太黑暗,无法进行普通对话。谁能理解他的悲伤,他的内疚,他对意义的绝望寻找?
The waves continued their rhythmic assault on the shore, each one erasing a bit more of the beach. Stephen watched them, hypnotized by their repetition. Nature cared nothing for human suffering. The sea would continue long after he was gone, long after everyone was forgotten.
海浪继续对海岸进行有节奏的冲击,每一次都抹去更多的海滩。斯蒂芬看着它们,被它们的重复催眠。大自然不关心人类的苦难。在他离去很久之后,在每个人都被遗忘很久之后,大海将继续存在。