0537翻译：童年的发现（瓦西里·弗奥多罗维奇·费奥多罗夫）
Translation: Discovery in Childhood (Vasily Fyodorovich Fyodorov)
(translated by: alexcwlin; edited by: Adam Lam)
我在九岁的时候就发现了有关胚胎发育的规律，
At nine years old, I discovered the regular pattern in the development of embryo.
这完全是我独立思考的结果。
Such a discovery was attributable to my independent thinking.
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听完这句话，你大概忍不住会哈哈大笑，
In hearing this statement, maybe you could not hold back in laughing out loud.
愿意笑你就笑吧，反正笑声不会给你招来祸患。
Go ahead and laugh if you want to since laughing would not get you into trouble.
我跟你可不同，
But my situation is different from yours.
事情过去了三年，
Three years have passed since the incident.
有一次我想起了自己的发现，情不自禁笑出了声音，竟使我当众受到了惩罚。
The time I thought about my discovery and uncontrollably broke out in laughter, I was punished in public.
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我的发现起始于梦中飞行。
My discovery started when I dreamed about flying.
每天夜里做梦我都飞，
Every night in my dream, I flew in the air.
我对飞行是那样迷恋，只要双脚一点，
I was so infatuated with flying that all I had to do was to spring softly on my feet.
轻轻跃起，就能离开地面飞向空中。
Then I could lift off the ground and flew towards the sky.
后来，我甚至学会了滑翔，
Later I even learned how to glide successfully.
在街道上空，在白桦林梢头，在青青的草地和澄澈的湖面上盘旋。
I could circle around above streets, birch treetops, green lawns and crystal-clear lakes.
我的身体是那样轻盈，可以随心所欲，运转自如，
My body was so light that I could maneuver in flying around at will.
凭着双臂舒展和双腿弹动，
All I had to do was to stretch my arms and kick my feet.
似乎想去哪里就能飞到那里。
Then it seemed I could fly to anywhere I wanted.
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我以为在同学中间只有我一个人具有飞行的天赋，
I thought I was the only person among all my classmates who had the gift to fly.
可是，有一天我终于弄明白了，每到夜晚，我的小伙伴们也都会在梦中飞腾。
But finally one day I found out every time when night fell, my little friends also flew in their dreams as well.
那天，我们几个人决定去见我们的老师，让他来解答这个奇妙的问题。
That day, the several of us decided to see our teacher and let him explain this intriguing question.
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“梦里飞行，说明你们是在长身体呀。”老师解释说。
“Flying in your dreams means your bodies are growing,” the teacher explained.
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“为什么只有晚上睡觉时才长？”
“Why does growth take place only at night when we are asleep?”
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“白天你们太淘气，妨碍细胞的生长。
“During daytime you are too mischievous and get in the way of cells’ growth.
到了晚上，细胞就不停地繁殖。”
At night, the cells continue to multiply nonstop.”
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“那么为什么人在生长的时候就要飞呢？
“Then why would people want to fly when they are growing?
这究竟是什么道理？”
What is the reason behind that?”
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“这是你们的细胞回想起了远古时代，
“It is because your cells remember ancient times.
那个时候，人还是飞鸟。”
At that time, humans were still birds.”
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“人怎么会是鸟？”
“How could humans be birds?”
我们万分惊讶。
We were very shocked.
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“岂止是鸟！
“Humans were not merely birds.
人是由简单生命进化来的。
They were evolved from simple life forms.
最开始是草履虫，
It started at the very beginning as paramecia.
后来是鱼，是青蛙，是猴子……
Then they became fish, then frogs, and then monkeys.
所有这些知识，等你们升入高年级，上课时老师都会给你们讲解。”
Wait until you go to higher grades, then your teachers will explain all such knowledge to you in class.”
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高年级，离我们是那样遥远，而飞行却仍在继续。
“Higher grade” sounded very distant to me but my flying still continued.
和老师的一次谈话，更加激发了我的想象力，我渴望弄明白，人究竟是怎么来的。
The conversation with our teacher stimulated my imagination even more and I was eager to find out the truth on where humans came from.
我想得是那样痴迷，以至于从河里抓到一条鱼，我都会翻来覆去地看个仔细，
I was so obsessed with thinking about the issue that when I caught a fish in the river, I would flip it around to look at it thoroughly.
恨不得从鱼身上发现将来的人应该具有的某些特征。
In the process, I pined to find some traits on it that would be inherent in human through which it was supposed to be evolved into human in the future.
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乡村的孩子从小就知道母亲怀胎九个月才生下婴儿。
Rural children knew since they were little that mother’s pregnancy took nine months before a baby would be born.
“为什么是九个月呢？”
“Why is it nine months?”
我绞尽脑汁思考这个问题的答案。
I wrecked my brain to find an answer to this question.
想啊想啊，嘿！终于想出了眉目：
I thought it over and finally was able to figure out a clue.
“哈！这就跟画地图差不多。
“Hey, it is similar to drawing a map.
地上的距离很远很远，在地图上画出来只不过几厘米。
On the ground the distance is immense, but on a map, it is only a few centimeters.
人是由细胞构成的……
Human is composed of cells.
从细胞变成小鱼，经过了很长时间。现在，这一段时间就折合成一个月。
From cells to fish it took a very long time, but now this period has been condensed into one month.
从小鱼变成青蛙又得经过很长时间，又折合成一个月。
Morphing from fish to frog would take another long period of time, but then it has been shrunk into a month.
这样推算下来，到变化成人，正好是九个月。”
A quick reckoning shows that when cells are fully developed into human, it would take exactly nine months.”
我的发现竞是如此简单明了，
My discovery turned out to be very simple and clear.
我为此感到格外高兴。我想大概还没有人发现这个道理。
I was thrilled in finding that out and thought likely other people had not discovered this stark truth.
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又过了三四年，我上了六年级。
Three to four years later I moved up to Grade 6.
老师开始给我们上生物课。
A teacher started to teach us biology lessons.
有一次，年轻的女教师一本正经板着面孔讲人的起源，讲人的发育和进化。
One day a young female teacher put on a solemn face to discuss human’s origin, growth and evolution.
这时候，我清清楚楚听见老师说，按照进化论的观点，母腹中的胎儿再现了从简单生命进化成人的过程。
I clearly heard the teacher say that from the perspective under the theory of evolution, the process of evolving from a simple life form to a human emerged again with an embryo inside a mother’s womb.
当时教室里安静得出奇，大家都默不作声。
The classroom was amazingly quiet and everyone was hushed.
我忽然想起了自己的发现，情不自禁地笑出了声音。
Suddenly I remembered my discovery and irrepressibly giggled.
老师狠狠地瞪了我一眼。
The teacher gave me a dirty look.
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“费奥多罗夫！……你笑什么？
“Fyodorov, what are you laughing about?
再笑就从教室里出去！”
If you laugh again I’ll toss you out of the classroom.”
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“奥尔加·伊万诺夫娜，我……我想起了自己的发现……”
“Miss Olga Ivanovna, I thought of my own discovery.”
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教室里一阵笑声。
The classroom broke out in laughter.
奥尔加·伊万诺夫娜气得脸色苍白，大步朝我走来。
Miss Ivanovna’s face turned pale with anger and walked forward towards me in big steps.
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“费奥多罗夫!……你立刻从教室里出出去……”
“Fyodorov, you get out of this classroom right away.”
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我的脸由于困窘和羞愧一下子涨得通红。
My face turned completely red from embarrassment and shame.
这时候我意识到，老师误解了我的笑声，以为我的笑不怀好意。
At that moment I realized the teacher misunderstood my laughter to be ill-intended.
幸亏她没有容我解释，
Fortuitously she did not give me a chance to explain.
不然的话，同学们听见我说自己三年前就发现了进化论，还不笑塌房顶！
Otherwise when my classmates heard my version of the theory of evolution which I discovered three years ago, they would be rolling on the floor in laughing their heads off.
不过，被轰出教室，站在外面，我倒想出了一条自我安慰的理由，
But then getting kicked out and standing outside of the classroom, I was able to think of a reason for self-consolation.
我明白了——世界上重大的发明与发现，有时还面临着受到驱逐和迫害的风险。
I understood important inventions and discoveries in this world sometimes would be subjected to risks of banishment and persecution.
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