開圓教育
1
The Last Night of the World
世界的最後一晚
by 雷•布萊伯利
Ray Bradbury
閱讀時長：7分鐘
內容簡介：
布萊伯利最有名的是他的《華氏451度》（Fahrenheit 451），這本書是有關焚書的反烏托邦（dystopian）故事。但書迷們對他的短篇小說應該也很熟悉，比如《紋身人》（The Illustrated Man）和《火星紀事》（The Martian Chronicles）。
“The Last Night of the World” is a tender, simple story. The first line alone is universally intriguing: “What would you do if you knew this was the last night of the world?”
《世界的最後一晚》是個溫柔、簡單的故事。文章的第一句話就引人入勝：“如果這是世界的最後一晚，你會做些什麼？”
精彩選段
"Do you know, I won't miss anything but you and the girls. I never liked cities or autos or factories or my work or anything except you three. I won't miss a thing except my family and perhaps the change in the weather and a glass of cool water when the weather's hot, or the luxury of sleeping. Just little things, really."
“知道嗎？除了你和兩個女兒，我其實沒什麼好留戀的了。我從來不曾真正喜歡這座城市，或是汽車、工廠，我也不喜歡我的工作，或者任何你們三個以外的事。如果真要說有什麼捨不得的，恐怕只有四季的輪換、熱天裡一杯冰得透透涼涼的水、還有飽飽地睡一覺。都是些微不足道的小事，真的。”
They sat and read the papers and talked and listened to some radio music and then sat together by the fireplace looking at the charcoal embers as the clock struck ten-thirty and eleven and eleven-thirty. They thought of all the other people in the world who had spent their evening, each in their own special way.
他們坐著讀報紙、聊天、聽廣播裡的音樂，一起坐在爐火旁邊，看著火爐裡木炭發出的微光。時鐘走過了10點半，11點，11點半。他們想象著，世界上其他的人將如何度過這最後一晚，以自己特殊的方式。
2
Happy Endings
幸福結局
by 瑪格麗特•阿特伍德
Margaret Atwood
閱讀時長：5分鐘
內容簡介：
Atwood, the author of The Handmaid’s Tale, shows off her token snark in this very short story, which takes the reader through all of the different ways in which a fictional couple, John and Mary, could possibly end up. Hint: It’s not so happy.
阿特伍德，也就是最近大熱的《使女的故事》的作者，在這篇短小精悍的小說中盡情炫耀了一把自己標誌性的諷刺手法，帶領讀者體驗了一對虛構夫婦約翰和瑪麗可能經歷的各種不同結局。溫馨提示：這些結局並沒有那麼幸福。
精彩選段
You'll have to face it, the endings are the same however you slice it. Don't be deluded by any other endings, they're all fake, either deliberately fake, with malicious intent to deceive, or just motivated by excessive optimism if not by downright sentimentality.
你必須面對現實，無論你怎樣切分他們的故事，結局都是一樣的。不要被其他結局欺騙了，那些都是假的。要麼是居心叵測有意欺瞞造假，要麼就是樂觀過頭或太過多情而臆想出來的。
The only authentic ending is the one provided here:
以下才是唯一真實的結局：
John and Mary die. John and Mary die. John and Mary die.
約翰和瑪麗死了。約翰和瑪麗死了。約翰和瑪麗死了。
3
The School
學校
by 唐納德•巴塞爾姆
Donald Barthelme
閱讀時長：5分鐘
內容簡介：
The entire story is a dramatic monologue, and shows off Barthelme's token humor and excellent experiments with form.
這個故事就是一段充滿戲劇性的獨白，展現了巴塞爾姆標誌性的幽默和在文體形式上的出色嘗試。
在這個看似荒誕的故事裡，橘樹、小動物、收養的孩子都接二連三死了，學校裡的孩子們感到困惑，不停地追問老師，就此展開對死亡、對生活意義的討論……
精彩選段：
They asked me, where did they go? The trees, the salamander, the tropical fish, Edgar, the poppas and mommas, Matthew and Tony, where did they go? And I said, I don't know, I don't know. And they said, who knows? and I said, nobody knows. And they said, is death that which gives meaning to life? And I said no, life is that which gives meaning to life.
他們問我說，那些東西都去哪兒了？樹苗、火蜥蜴、熱帶魚、小狗埃德加、爸爸媽媽們、馬修和託尼，他們到底去哪兒了？我說，我不知道，我也不知道。他們問，那誰知道呢？我說，沒人知道。他們說，是死亡給生活帶來了意義嗎？我說，不是，是生命為生活賦予了意義。
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