TRISOLARIS: SOPHON
Eighty-five thousand Trisolaran hours (about 8.6 Earth years) later
八萬五千三體時（約8.6個地球年）後
The princeps had ordered an emergency meeting of all Trisolaran consuls. This was very unusual. Something important must have happened.
元首下令召開三體世界全體執政官緊急會議，這很不尋常，一定有什麼重大的事件發生。
Twenty thousand Trisolaran hours ago. the Trisolaran Fleet had launched. The ships knew the approximate directions of their target but not its distance. It was possible tha the target was millions of light-hours away, or even at the other end of the galaxy. Faced with the endless sea of stars, the expedition had little hope.
兩萬三體時前，三體艦隊啟航了，它們只知道目標的大致方向，卻不知道它的距離。也許，目標處於千萬光時之外，甚至在銀河系的另一端，面時著前方茫茫的星海，這是一次希望渺茫的遠徵。
The meeting of consuls occurred under the Pendulum Monument. [As Wang Miao read about this episode, he couldn't help but recall the session at the UN Building in the Three Body game. In reality, the Pendulum Monument was one of the few objects in the game that really did exist on Trisolaris.
執政官會議在巨擺紀念碑下舉行。（汪淼在閱讀這一段信息時，不由聯想到《三體》遊戲中的聯合國大會，事實上，巨擺紀念碑是遊戲中少數在三體世界中真實存在的事物之一。）
The princeps's choice of meeting site confused most of the attendees. The Chaotic Era wasn't over yet, and a small sun had just risen over the horizen, though it could also set at any moment. The temperature was cold, and all the attendees were forced to wear fully enclosed electric-heating suits. The massive metal pendulum swung magnificenlty, pounding the friged air. The small sun cast a long shadow against the ground, as if a giant whose head touched the sky were striding there. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the princeps ascended onto the base of the pendulum and flipped a red switch.
元首選定這個會址，令大多數與會者迷惑不解。亂紀元還沒有結束，天邊剛剛升起了一輪很小的太陽，隨時都可能落下，天氣異常寒冷，以至於與會者不得不穿上全封閉的電熱服。巨大的金屬擺氣勢磅礴地擺動著，衝擊著寒冷的空氣，天邊的小太陽把它的影子長長地投射到大地上，像一個頂天立地的巨人在行走。眾目睽睽之下，元首走上巨擺的基座，扳動了一個紅色的開關，轉身對執政官們說：
He turned to the consuls and said, "I have just shut off power to the pendulum. It will gradually stop under the influence of air resistance."
「我剛剛關閉了巨擺的動力電源，它將在空氣阻力下慢慢地停下來。」
"Princeps, why?" a consul asked.
「元首，為什麼這樣？」一位執政官問。
"We all understand the historical significance of the pendulum. It's intended to hypnotize God. But now we know it's better for Trisolaran civilization to have God awake, becuase God is now blessing us."
「我們都清楚巨擺的歷史涵義，它是用來對上帝進行催眠的。現在我們知道，上帝醒著對三體文明更有利，它開始保佑我們了。」
Everyone was silent, pondering the meaning of the princeps's words. After three more swings from the pendulum, someone asked, "Has the Earth responded?"
眾人沉默了，思索著元首這話的含義。在巨擺擺動了三次之後，有人問：「地球文明回電了？」
The princeps nodded. "Yes. Half an hour ago I received the report. It was a response to the warning that was sent."
元首點點頭，「是的，半個三體時前我得到的報告，是回答那條警告信息的。」
"So soon! Only eighty thousand hours have passed since then, which means...which means..."
「這麼快？！現在距警告信息發出僅八萬多時，這就是說，這就是說……」
"Which means that the Earth is only forty thousand light-hours from us."
「這就是說，地球文明距我們僅四萬光時。」
"Isn't that the closest star from here."
「那不就是距離我們最近的那顆恆星嗎？！」
"Yes. That is why I said God is blessing Trisolaran civilization."
「是的，所以我說：上帝在保佑三體文明。」
The attendees grew ecstatic, but they couldn't express the feeling, so the crowd seemed like a pent-up volcano. The princeps knew that allowing such weak emotions to explode would be dangerous. So he poured cold water on their sentiments. "I have already ordered the Trisolaran Fleet to turn toward this star. But things are not quite as optimistic as you think. Given what we know, right now the fleet is sailing toward certain death."
狂喜在會場上蔓延開來，但又不能充分表現，像被壓抑的火山。元首知道，讓這種脆弱的情緒爆發出來是有害的，於是，他立刻對「火山」潑了盆冷水：「我已經命令三體艦隊航向這顆恆星，但事情並不如你們想像的那樣樂觀，照目前的情況看，艦隊是在航向自己的墳墓。」
The consuls calmed down.
元首這話使執政官們立刻冷靜下來。
"Does anyone understand my conclusion?"
「有人明白我的意思嗎？」元首問。
"I do," said the science consul. "We've all studied the first messages from Earth carefully. The sections most worthy of attention is their history. Let's observe the facts: Humans took more than a hundred thousand Earth years to pregress from the Hunter-Gatherer Age to the Agricultural Age. To get from the Agricultural Age to the Industrili Age took a few thousand Earth years. But to go from the Industril Age to the Atomic Age took only two hundred Earth years. Thereafter, in only a few Earth decades, they entered the Information Age. The civilization possesses the terrifying ability to accelerate their progress.
「我明白。」科學執政官說，「我們都仔細研究過第一批收到的地球信息，其中最值得注意的是他們的文明史。請看以下事實：人類從狩獵時代到農業時代，用了十幾萬地球年時間；從農業時代到工業時代用了幾千地球年；而由工業時代到原子時代，只用了二百地球年；之後，僅用了幾十個地球年，他們就進入了資訊時代。這個文明，其有可怕的加速進化能力！
"On Trisolaris, of the more than two hundred civilizations, including our own,none has ever experenced such accelerating development. The progress of science and technology in all Trisolaran civilizations has been at a constant or decelerating pace. In our world, each technology age requires approximately the same amount of time for steady, slow development."
而在三體世界，已經存在過的包括我們在內的二百個文明中，沒有一個經歷過這種加速發展，所有的三體文明的科學和技術的進步都是勻速甚至減速的。我們世界的各個技術時代，都需要基本相同的漫長的發展時間。」
The princeps nodded. "The fact is that four million and five hundred thousand hours from now, when the Trisolaran Fleet has reached the Earth, that civilization's technology level will have long surpassed ours, due to their accelerating development. The journey of the Trisolaran Fleet is long and arduous, and the fleet must pass through two interstellar dust belts. It's very likely that only half of ships wil reach the Earth's solar system, while the rest perish along the way. And then, the Trisolaran Fleet will be at the mercy of a much more powerful Earth civilization. This is not an expdetion, but a funeral procession!"
元首接著說：「現實是，在四百五十萬時後，當三體艦隊到達地球所在的行星系時，那個文明的技術水平已在加速發展中遠超過我們！三體艦隊經過那麼漫長的航行，中間還要穿越兩條星際塵埃帶，很可能只有一半的飛船到達太陽系，其餘的將損失在漫長的航程中。到那時，三體艦隊在地球文明面前將不堪一擊——我們不是去遠徵，是去送死！」
"But if this is true, Princeps, then there are even more frightening consequences..." the ilitary consul said.
「如果真是這樣，元首，還有更可怕的……」軍事執政官說。
"Yes. It's easy to imagine. The location of Trisolaris has been exposed. To eliminate future threats, an interstellar fleet from Earth will launche a counterattack against us. It's very possible that long before an expanded sun swallows this planet, Trisolaran civilization will have already been extinguished by humans."
「是的，這很容易想到。三體文明的位置已經暴露，為了消除未來的威脅，地球的星際艦隊將反攻我們的星系。很可能，在膨脹的太陽把這顆行星吞沒之前，三體文明已經被地球人消滅了。」
The bright future had suddenly turned impossibly grim. The attendees fell silent.
光明燦爛的前景突然變得如此黯淡，使會場沉默了好久。
The princeps said, "What we must do next is contain the progress of science on Earth. Luckily, as soon as we received the first messages from Earth, we began to develop plans to do so. As of now, we've discovered a favorable condition fro realizing these plans: The response we just received was sent by an Earth traitor. Thus, we have reason to believe tha there are many alienated forces within Earth civilization, and we must exploit such forces to the fullest."
元首說：「我們下一步要做的，就是遏制地球文明的科學發展。早在收到第一批信息時，我們就開始制定這方面的計劃。現在，實現這些計劃出現了一個很有利的條件：我們這次收到的回答信息，是由地球文明的一個背叛者發出的，那麼我們有理由猜測，地球文明的內部存在著相當多的異己力量，我們要充分利用這種力量。」
"Princeps, that is not at all easy. We have but a thin thread of conmmunication with the Earth. It takes more than eighty thousand hours to complete an exchange."
「元首，談何容易，我們與地球的聯繫細若遊絲，八萬多時才能完成一次應答。」
"But remember that, like us, the knowledge that there are extrterrestrial civilizations will shock all of Earth society and leave profoud marks. We have reason to believe tha the alienated forces within Earth civilization will coalesce and grwo."
「也不盡然，同我們一樣，地球世界得知外星文明的存在對整個社會來說是一個巨大的衝擊，將對文明內部產生深遠影響。我們有理由預測，地球文明內部的異己力量將匯集和增長。」
"What can they do? Sabotage?"
「那他們能做什麼呢？進行破壞嗎?」
"Given a time gap of forty thousand hours, the strategic value of any traditional tactics of war or terror is insignificant, and they can recover from them. To effectivley contain a civilization's develpment and disarm it across such a long span of time, there is only one way: kill its science."
「在長達四萬時的時間跨度上，任何傳統的戰爭和恐怖活動的戰略意義都不大，都可以得到恢復。在這樣長的時間跨度上，要想有效遏制一個文明的發展，解除其武裝，辦法只有一個，殺死它們的科學。
The science consul said, "The plan focused on emphasizing the negative environmental effects of scientific development and showing signs of supernatural power to the population of Earth. In addition to highlighting the negative effects of progress, we'll also attempt to use a series of 'miracles' to constcut an illusory universe that cannot be explained by the logic of science. After these illusions have been maintained for some time, it's possible that Trisolaran civilization may become a target of religious worship there. Then, unscientific ways of thinking will dominate scientific thinking among human intellectuals, and lead to the collapse of the entire scientific system of thought."
「第一個計劃代號『染色』。」科學執政官說，「利用科學和技術產生的副作用，使公眾對科學產生恐懼和厭惡，比如我們世界中技術發展導致的環境問題，想必在地球上也存在，染色計劃將充分利用這此因素。第二個計劃代號『神跡』。即對地球人進行的超自然力量的展示，這個計劃力圖通過一系列的『神跡』，建造一個科學邏輯無法解釋的虛假宇宙。當這種假象持續一定時間後，將有可能使三體文明在那個世界成為宗教信徒的崇拜對象，在地球的思想界，非科學的思維方式就會壓倒科學思維，進而導致整個科學思想體系的崩潰。」
"How do we create miracles?"
「如何產生神跡呢？」
"The key to miracles is that they cannot be seen as tricks. This may require that we tranfer certain technologies far above current human technology level to the alienated forces on Earth."
「神跡之所以成為神跡，關鍵在於它是地球人絕對無法識破的。這可能需要我們向地球異己力量輸入一些高於他們現有水平的技術。」
"That's too risky! Who knows who will ultimately control such technologies? That's playing with fire."
「這太冒險了，最後誰會得到這些技術？簡直是玩火！」
"Of course, which specific technologies should be transferred to produce miracles requires further study..."
「當然，輸入什麼層次的技術來產生神跡，還有待於我們進一步研究……」
"Pleas hold on for a moment, Science Consul," said the military consul as he stood up. "Princeps, I am of the opinion that this plan will be almost useless in terms of stopping human science."
「請科學執政官停一下！」軍事執政官站起來說，「元首，我想表明自己的看法：這兩個計劃對殺死人類的科學，幾乎起不到什麼作用。」
"But it's better than nothing," the science consul argued.
「但做總比不做強。」科學執政官搶在元首回答前爭辯道。
"Barely," the military consul said contemptuously.
「也僅此而已。」軍事執政官不屑地說。
"I agree with your view," the princeps said. "This plan will only interfere slightly with human scientific development. We need a decisive act that will completely suffocate science on Earth and freeze it at its current level. Let's focus on the key here: Overall technological development depends on the advancement of basic science, and the foundation of basic science lies in the exploration of the deep structure of matter. If there's no progress in this field, there can be no major breakthrough in science and technology as a whole. Of course, this is not specific to civilization on Earth. It is applicable to all targets that Trisolaran civilization intends to conquer. We had begun work in this area even before receiving the first extra-Trisolaran communication. But we've recenlty stepped up the effort. "Now, everyone, look up. What's that?"
「我同意你的看法,『染色』和『神跡』兩個計劃，只能對地球科學發展產生一些幹擾。」元首對軍事執政官說，然後轉向所有與會者，「我們需要一個決定性的行動，徹底窒息地球的科學，使其鎖死在現有水平。在這裡，我們需要抓住重點：科學技術的全面發展取決於基礎科學的發展，而基礎科學的基礎又在於對物質深層結構的探索，如果這個領域沒有進展，科學技術整體上就不可能產生重大突破。其實，這並非只是針對地球文明，也是針對三體文明要徵服的所有目標，早在首次收到外星信息之前，我們就在做著這方面的努力，近期的步伐大大加快了。各位請看，那是什麼？」
The princeps pointed at the sky. The consuls lifted their heads to gaze in that direction. They saw a ring in space giving off a metallic glow in the sunlight.
元首指指天空，執政官們向那個方向抬頭仰望，看到太空中的一個圓環，在陽光中發出金屬的光澤。
"Is that the dock for building the second space fleet?"
「那不是用於建造第二支太空艦隊的船塢嗎？」
"No. That's a large particle accelerator still under construction. The plans for bulding a second space fleet have been scrapped. All resources are now devoted to Project Sophon."
「不是，那是一臺正在建造的巨型粒子加速器。建造第二支太空艦隊的計劃取消了，其資源全部用於智子工程。」
"Project Sophon?"
「智子工程？！」
"Yes. We've kept this plan secret from most of you present. I now ask the science consul to give an introduction."
「是的，在場的人至少有一半不知道這個計劃，我現在請科學執政官把它介紹給大家。」
"I know about this plan, but didn't know it had progressed so far." The speaker was the industry consul.
「我知道這個計劃，但沒想到已經進行到這個程度。」工業執政官說。
The culture and education consul said, "I knew about this plan as well, but thought it was like a fairy tale."
文教執政官：「我也知道，但感覺那像個神話。」
The science consul said, "Project Sophon, to put it simply, aims to tranform a proton into a superintelligent computer."
「智子工程，簡而言之就是把一個質子改造成一臺超級智能計算機。」科學執政官說。
"This is a science fantasy that most of us have heard about," the agricultural consul said. "But can it be realized? I know that physicists can already manipulate nine of the eleven dimensions of the micro-scale world, but we still can't imagine how they could stick a pair a of tiny tweezers into a proton to build large-scale integrated circuits."
「作為一個廣為流傳的科學幻想，這大家都聽說過。」農業執政官說，「但要成為現實，還是太突然了些。我知道，物理學家們已經能夠操控微觀世界十一維結構中的九維，但我們還是無法想像，他們能把一把小鑷子伸進質子，在裡面搭建大規模集成電路嗎？」
"Of course that's impossible. The etching o fmicro integrated circuits can only occur at the macro scale, and only on a macroscopic two-dimensional plane. Thus, we must unfold a proton into two dimensions."
「當然不行，對微觀集成電路的蝕刻，只能在宏觀中進行，而且只能在宏觀的二維平面上進行。所以，我們需要將一個質子進行二維展開。」
"Unfold a nine-dimensional structure into two dimensions? How big would the area be?"
「把九維結構展開成二維？面積有多大？」
"Very big, as you will see." The science consul smiled.
「很大，您會看到的。」科學執政官微笑著說。
Another sixty thousand Trisolaran hours went by. Twenty thousand Trisolaran hours after the completion of the huge particle accelerator in sapce, the unfolding of the proton into two dimensions was about to begin in a synchronous orbit around Trisolaris.
時光飛逝，六萬個三體時又過去了。在太空中的巨型加速器完全建成後的兩萬個三體時，對質子的二維展開將要在三體行星的同步軌道上進行。
It was a beautiful and mild Stable Era day. The sky was particularly clear. Like the day when the fleet had set sail eighty thousand Trisolaran hours ago, the entire population of Trisolaris looked up into the sky, gazing at that giant ring. The princeps and all the consuls again came and stood under the Pendulum Monument. The Pendulum had long stopped, and the weight hung still like a solid rock between the tall pillars. Looking at it, it was hard to believe that it onece moved.
這是一個恆紀元風和日麗的日子，天空十分純淨。同八萬個三體時前艦隊啟航的時候一樣，三體世界的人們都在仰望著太空，看著那巨大的圓環。元首和全體執政官再次來到了巨擺紀念碑下，巨擺早已靜止，擺錘如一塊穩定的磐石凝固在高大的支架間，看上去很難相信它曾經運動過。
The science sonsul gave the order to unfold into two dimensions. In space, three cubes drifted around the ring-the fusion generators that powered the accelerator. Their winglike heat sinks gradually began to glow with a dim reddish light. The crowd anxiously stared at the accelerator, but nothing seemed to happen.
科學執政官發出了二維展開的啟動命令。太空中，圓環周圍有三個立方體，那是為加速器提供能量的聚變發電站，現在，它們那形狀像長翅的散熱片漸漸發出暗紅色的光。科學執政官向元首報告展開正在進行，人們緊張地仰望著太空中的加速器，什麼都沒有發生。
節選內容介紹與賞析：
《三體》第三十二章《智子》的前半部分不僅敘述了三體人正在製造智子的情節，可能更令非科幻迷感興趣的是三體世界的政治結構，畢竟對三體世界社會運行的段落並不算多。最令人困惑（興許似曾相識）的是元首召開了一個緊急會議，所有執政官列席，這個會議不常發生，可見全會在這一政體沒有形成定製，元首對各部門實行單線指導，或者還有一個相對較小的內閣或常務會議討論核心問題。
會議的情況同樣令人印象深刻。元首是無所不知的，各執政官卻顯得相當白痴，他們的驚訝和景仰中更襯託出元首的睿智，許多段落讓人產生唐國強飾演的某角色的即視感，領袖拋出一句沒說完的話，似笑非笑地斜眼看著參會人員。大家就像炸開了鍋，熱烈討論著這個新奇大膽的想法，有一些異議，但異議的宗旨似乎並不是構成某種挑戰，而是為接下來領袖的高論做反面的鋪墊，以增強領袖之高屋建瓴和高瞻遠矚。
這貌似眾人有意為之，但考慮到三體人並不真的使用語言交流，據說他們被設定為依靠心靈感應傳遞信息，所以偽裝的可能性被排除掉了，結論智能是眾人真的不知道領袖的計劃。這一點領袖自己也承認了，有一半的執政官不知道三體國正在進行的事關生存的計劃，而會議的目的並不旨在於對公眾關心的問題進行實質性討論，更多的似乎是要「學習報告」「領會精神」「落實精神」。
即便知道這一計劃執政官，如工業部長，也表示只是聽說過，詳情卻一無所知。可以推測，所有內閣官員中，只有科學執政官是元首的真正心腹。
更值得注意的是軍事執政官的角色。他不但不知道智子計劃，連軍事計劃似乎也不知道。元首前面說「我已經命令三體艦隊航向這顆恆星，但事情並不如你們想像的那樣樂觀，照目前的情況看，艦隊是在航向自己的墳墓。」後面軍事執政官的反應是「如果真是這樣，元首，還有更可怕的……」這可能暗示了軍事執政官甚至不知道三體艦隊被調遣這件事，也說明三體國的軍事力量並不由名義上的「軍事執政官」指揮。
元首一個人完成「智子計劃」似乎是不可能的，這說明在三體世界中還有一系列隸屬於元首的領導小組及其執行機構。由於三體人大部分處於脫水狀態，只有一小部分人在殘酷的環境下尋找適合生存的新環境，元首領導的只是這一小部分人，擁有的權力也只是這一小部分人的統治權以及全體三體人的喚醒權。在如此環境中，作者將獨裁制設定為良好社會的最優解，元首也就是柏拉圖式的「哲學王」。
在一個喚醒與被喚醒的世界中，對信息的控制就相當於對資源的控制，於是一個據說絕不會騙人的種族的哲學王和軍事執政官之間的關係倒更令人感興趣了。
（來源：英文聯播 編輯：丁一）