1 The Time Traveler

CHAPTER 1 The Time Traveler I will call my friend the Time Traveler. It was Thursday, and I was on my way to his house. He had invited me to dinner, and it was such a lovely evening that I decided to walk. The streets of London were busy with people enjoying the night. Horse-drawn carriages rattled by. The flickering flames of streetlamps began to light

第一章时间旅行者我将称我的朋友为时间旅行者。 那是星期四，我在去他家的路上。 他邀请我共进晚餐，这是一个如此美好的夜晚，我决定散步。 伦敦的街道上挤满了享受夜晚的人们。 马车辚辚驶过。 街灯闪烁的火焰开始亮了起来

my way. As I crossed the River Thames, I saw the last rays of the setting sun reflected in the water. By the time I arrived at the Time Traveler's home, it was night. My friend Filby was there, along with the mayor, the doctor, and the artist. After a wonderful meal, we moved to the study. The fire in the fireplace and the burning lamps and candles made the room glow. The lights of the city shone through the windows. Our friend the Time Traveler was an inventor. Some of the odd devices he had made were scattered on the shelves and tables around us. Once we all sat down, he began to speak, his gray eyes twinkling and his face red with excitement. "Listen carefully," he said, moving his hands about as he talked. "What I'm going to describe will sound very strange to you. You will probably have a hard time believing me. The reason it will sound far-fetched is because it

我的方式。当我穿过泰晤士河时，我看见落日的最后一缕余晖映在水面上。 当我到达时间旅行者的家时，已经是晚上了。 我的朋友菲尔比也在那里，还有市长、医生和艺术家。 美餐一顿后，我们搬到了书房。 壁炉里的火和燃烧着的灯和蜡烛使房间灯火通明。 城市的灯光透过窗户照进来。 我们的时间旅行者朋友是个发明家。 他做的一些奇怪的装置散落在我们周围的架子和桌子上。 我们一坐下，他就开始说话了，他那灰色的眼睛闪闪发光，激动得满脸通红。 “仔细听着，”他一边说，一边挥动着双手。 “我将要描述的事情对你来说听起来会很奇怪。 你可能很难相信我。 听起来有些牵强的原因是

means that much of what you were taught in school was wrong." "That does sound strange," said Filby. "I know," said the Time Traveler. "But let me explain." He paused, took a breath, and continued. "Now, we've all been taught that every object has three dimensions—length, width, and height. For example, that box sitting on the table is about six inches long, four inches wide, and two inches high." "That's right," said the artist slowly, looking puzzled. "And you would say that the box has three dimensions and no more. After all, what is there besides length, width, and height? Correct?" The Time Traveler paused and looked around the room. "Well, you would be wrong. What they don't teach in you school is that everything also has afourth dimension. And without that fourth dimension, nothing would exist."

这意味着你在学校学到的很多东西都是错误的。” “听起来真奇怪，”菲尔比说。 “我知道，”时间旅行者说。 “但是让我解释一下。”他停顿了一下，吸了一口气，接着说。 “现在，我们都被告知，每个物体都有三个维度——长、宽、高。 例如，桌子上的那个盒子大约有6英寸长，4英寸宽，2英寸高。” “没错，”艺术家慢慢地说，看起来很困惑。 “你会说这个盒子只有三个维度，仅此而已。 毕竟，除了长、宽、高，还有什么呢？ 正确吗?”时间旅行者停了下来，环视了一下房间。 “好吧，你错了。 你们学校没有教的是所有东西都有四维空间。 没有第四维空间，什么都不存在。”

"I don't understand," Filby interrupted. "The box only has three dimensions—and there it is as plain as the nose on my face." "But wait," said our friend. "I built that box in my workshop a year ago. What if I threw it in the fireplace this very moment and it burned to ashes? We would say that the box existed for one year. And what if I had burned it after only a day? Then we would say that the box had existed for one day. Even if I destroyed the box after one second, we would say that the box existed—for that one second." "I think I follow," said the mayor. The Time Traveler leaned forward. "But what if the box didn't last for even a second? What if it didn't last for any time at all? Would we say that it was real, that it ever existed? "Clearly," said the Time Traveler, "the box must exist in four dimensions to be real. It must have length, width, height—and it must exist in time. Time is the fourth dimension. And there is

“我不明白，”菲尔比打断了他的话。 “盒子只有三个维度——在那里，它就像我脸上的鼻子一样简单。” “等等，”我们的朋友说。 “我一年前在我的工作室里做了那个盒子。 如果我现在就把它扔进壁炉，它就烧成灰烬了呢？ 我们会说这个盒子存在了一年。 如果我只在一天后就把它烧了呢？ 那么我们就说这个盒子已经存在了一天。 即使我在一秒钟后毁掉了这个盒子，我们也会说这个盒子在那一秒钟内存在。” “我想我明白了，”市长说。 时间旅行者向前倾身。 “但如果盒子连一秒钟都撑不住怎么办？” 如果它根本没有持续一段时间呢？ 我们会说这是真的吗，它曾经存在过吗？ “很明显，”时间旅行者说，“这个盒子必须存在于四维空间中才能是真实的。 它必须有长度、宽度和高度——而且它必须存在于时间中。 时间是第四个维度。 确实有

no difference between time and the other three dimensions." "But even if time is a dimension, there is a difference," said the doctor. "I can move to my left and right. I can move backward and forward. And I can move up and down. But I can't move through time." "But you can move through time," said our friend with great excitement. "For one thing, we are always moving forward through time—from the moment we are born to the day we die." "Yes, but with the other three dimensions, I can move in both directions," said the artist. "I can't move backward and forward in time." "But that is where you are wrong," said the Time Traveler. "We move left and right or back and forth with the help of our legs, or a boat, or a carriage. We can move up and down with the help of stairs, a ladder, or a hot-air balloon. "And, with the right means, I say we can go back and forth through time. I say we can go

时间和其他三维空间没有区别。” “但是，即使时间是一个维度，也是有区别的，”医生说。 “我可以左右移动。 我可以前后移动。 我可以上下移动。 但我不能穿越时间。” “但是你可以穿越时间，”我们的朋友非常兴奋地说。 “首先，我们总是在时间中前进——从我们出生的那一刻起，直到我们死去的那一天。” “是的，但是有了另外的三维空间，我可以在两个方向上移动，”艺术家说。 “我不能在时间上向前或向后移动。” “但是你错了。”时间旅行者说。 “我们靠腿、船或马车左右或前后移动。 我们可以借助楼梯、梯子或热气球上下移动。 “而且，通过正确的手段，我说我们可以在时间中来回穿梭。 我说我们可以走了