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第十七章

For a long period of time there was much speculation and controversy about where the so-called ‘missing matter’ of the Universe had got to. All over the Galaxy the science departments of all the major universities were acquiring more and more elaborate equipment to probe and search the hearts of distant galaxies, and then the very centre and the very edges of the whole Universe, but when eventually it was tracked down it turned out in fact to be all the stuff which the equipment had been packed in.

很长时间以来，对于宇宙中所谓的“失落的物质”究竟哪儿去了，大家都有很多很多种猜测和争论。整个银河系里，所有主要大学的科学院都不断买进越来越先进的设备，调查，探测远方各个银河系的核心，接着又瞄准了整个宇宙的中心与边缘，可当大家终于找到它的时候，却发现它原来是打包装仪器时垫箱子的某些东西。

There was quite a large quantity of missing matter in the box, little soft round white pellets of missing matter, which Random discarded for future generations of physicists to track down and discover all over again once the findings of the current generation of physicists had been lost and forgotten about.

兰登的盒子里就有大量失落物质形成的白色小球，软软的，圆圆的，兰登随手把它们丢掉。等这一代科学家发现被遗忘之后，未来的物理学家就可以重新探索并且发现它们。

Out of the pellets of missing matter she lifted the featureless black disk. She put it down on a rock beside her and sifted amongst all the missing matter to see if there was anything else, a manual or some attachments or something, but there was nothing else at all. Just the black disk.

她从无数个失落物质形成的小球里拿起那个毫无特征的黑色圆盘。她把它放在身旁的一块石头上，又在所有那些失落物质里筛了半天，看还有没有别的什么东西，比方说一本手册或者几个附件什么的，结果什么也没找到。只有那个黑色的碟子。

She shone the torch on it.

她拿手电筒照上去。

As she did so, cracks began to appear along its apparently featureless surface. Random backed away nervously, but then saw that the thing, whatever it was, was merely unfolding itself.

随着灯光的照射，圆盘本来仿佛漆黑一片的表面上出现了裂缝。兰登紧张地后退几步，但很快就看出不管那是什么东西，反正它只不过是在做伸展体操而已。

The process was wonderfully beautiful. It was extraordinarily elaborate but also simple and elegant. It was like a piece of self-opening origami, or a rosebud blooming into a rose in just a few seconds.

那过程真是美不胜收。它精致极了，同时又简洁，优雅。它仿佛是一张自己打开的折纸，又或者一朵在寥寥数秒内绽放的玫瑰花苞。

Where just a few moments earlier there had been a smoothly curved black disk there was now a bird. A bird, hovering there.

片刻之前它还是一个线条光洁的黑色圆盘，现在已经化作一只鸟，一只鸟，悬在半空。

Random continued to back away from it, carefully and watchfully.

兰登继续退后，小心翼翼，一脸戒备。