Sothere I was, a new gas giant just waking up. The disk of nebular dustsurrounded me like a fresh blanket of snow. Along with the rest of the planets,I marched around that dust cloud, absorbing everything I could, growing andloving every second.
我，一个气体的巨人，觉醒了。我的身边，围绕着星环的尘埃，像闪亮的雪花，覆盖在我身上。我和其他行星们一起，在尘埃中前进，吸收我所能吸收的一切，欣喜地体会着每一秒钟的成长。
Then I saw her.
然后，我看见了她。
A tiny, dainty thing. Rocky, hard, solid. Not at all like me, all swirls andionized storms. She was closer to the sun, and she shone so brightly in thatgolden light, like a spinning jewel.
娇小而精致，坚硬的石质固体，周身沐浴在太阳风中，一点也不像我。她离太阳很近，周身散发出灿烂的金色光芒，像一个旋转的宝石。
I was instantly smitten.
我的心立刻就被击中了。
She was young, fiery and hot-tempered (and in truth, I suppose I was then,too). Volcanoes erupted constantly all over her surface, and she spun so fast.Gliding along in our separate orbits, we flirted, argued, got to know eachother. For hundreds of millions of years, we danced our teasing dance: closer,farther apart, closer again.
她年轻，热火，活力四射（老实说，我希望我马上也会变成这样）。她的表面，火山正在四处不停地喷发，她的舞步飞快旋转。我们在各自的轨道上飞奔，嬉笑着，吵闹着，互相认识彼此。在接下来的几亿年里，我们跳着欢快的舞蹈：接近，远离，再接近。
I loved her for her fearless embrace of the Universe. Back then, the Oort cloudsent hailstorms of comets towards the heart of the solar system. She did notshrink from them, but laughed as the great balls of ice struck against her,singing all the while. She hummed as the ice melted, boiled against her skin,rained down and collected into rivers, lakes, seas.
我爱她，爱她敢于大胆地拥抱宇宙。就在那些日子里，从奥尔特星云发出的慧星风暴冲向太阳系的中心，她面对它们毫不退缩，而是微笑着看着这些巨大的冰球撞到自己身上，还一边哼唱着歌曲。在歌声中，这些冰块融化了，从她的皮肤上蒸发，又化成雨水落下，汇集成河流，湖泊，海洋。
Before I knew it, she had grown into a young planet of great beauty. Her blueoceans swelled and filled out gracefully, and the tan continents drifted overthem like sunspots. She was still tempestuous and moody: lightning flashed inher atmosphere, studded by speeding cumulonimbus clouds. At her poles, shiftingauroras lit up the darkness, dazzling even at my distance.
在我反应过来以前，她已经华丽转身，成为一个年轻美丽的星球。她的蓝色海洋充盈丰满，其间点缀的黄褐色陆地，好像太阳黑子。她的脾气仍旧火辣：电闪雷鸣，大气中充满了狂暴的云团。在她的两极，极光在黑暗中闪耀，即我身在远方也看得一清二楚。
Finally, I worked up the courage to ask her to join me in my orbit. I even madea ring out of the prettiest bits of drifting dust. “We have been dancing longenough,” I said. “Come, let us travel together, inseparable until the end oftime.”
终于，我鼓起勇气邀请她来到我的轨道。我甚至用星际尘埃为她制作了一条美丽的星环。“我们已经共舞了这么久，”我说，“来吧，让我们携手并肩，永不分离，直到天长地久。”
She glowed, brightened, but then tilted her axis ever so slightly. “Look,” shesaid, and opened her cloud-cover a sliver so that I could see.
她的脸红了，充满了光辉，可是接着，她斜过身体，轻轻地说：“你看，”然后把覆盖的云层打开一条恰容我一看的窄缝。
Her oceans were teeming with tiny things, creatures that moved on their own.They dove and swam, chased each other and leapt out of the waves, as fleetingas flashing meteors.
她的海洋中充满了微小的东西，那些生物正在凭借自己的力量努力移动。他们时而潜下，时而迅游，时而互相追逐，时而跃出水面，好像一闪而过的流星。
“Some time ago, lightning struck the sea just so and formed a chain of complexorganic molecules. At first, I didn't pay much attention to it, but it multipliedand grew. During the eon while you and I danced to the fixed measures ofgravity, that simple beginning has evolved into these beautiful and wondrousforms.”
“不知多久前以，闪电恰好击中了海洋，形成了一条复杂的有机分子链。起初，我并没在意，但是它以几何速率生长。就在你我共舞，分享稳定引力的那些年代，这些简单的小东西演化成了这些美丽奇妙的形式。”
“I don't understand,” I said. “What do these... things have to do with us?”
“我不能理解，”我说，“这些……小东西和我们有什么关系？”
“They're fragile,” she said, her surface brightening again with that lovely,gentle glow. “I have to stay where I am so that they'll be warm and safe.”
“他们很脆弱，”她说，她的表面充满了爱的光辉，温和红润。“我必须留在这里，只有在这里，它们才温暖，安全。”
我，一个气体的巨人，觉醒了。我的身边，围绕着星环的尘埃，像闪亮的雪花，覆盖在我身上。我和其他行星们一起，在尘埃中前进，吸收我所能吸收的一切，欣喜地体会着每一秒钟的成长。
Then I saw her.
然后，我看见了她。
A tiny, dainty thing. Rocky, hard, solid. Not at all like me, all swirls andionized storms. She was closer to the sun, and she shone so brightly in thatgolden light, like a spinning jewel.
娇小而精致，坚硬的石质固体，周身沐浴在太阳风中，一点也不像我。她离太阳很近，周身散发出灿烂的金色光芒，像一个旋转的宝石。
I was instantly smitten.
我的心立刻就被击中了。
She was young, fiery and hot-tempered (and in truth, I suppose I was then,too). Volcanoes erupted constantly all over her surface, and she spun so fast.Gliding along in our separate orbits, we flirted, argued, got to know eachother. For hundreds of millions of years, we danced our teasing dance: closer,farther apart, closer again.
她年轻，热火，活力四射（老实说，我希望我马上也会变成这样）。她的表面，火山正在四处不停地喷发，她的舞步飞快旋转。我们在各自的轨道上飞奔，嬉笑着，吵闹着，互相认识彼此。在接下来的几亿年里，我们跳着欢快的舞蹈：接近，远离，再接近。
I loved her for her fearless embrace of the Universe. Back then, the Oort cloudsent hailstorms of comets towards the heart of the solar system. She did notshrink from them, but laughed as the great balls of ice struck against her,singing all the while. She hummed as the ice melted, boiled against her skin,rained down and collected into rivers, lakes, seas.
我爱她，爱她敢于大胆地拥抱宇宙。就在那些日子里，从奥尔特星云发出的慧星风暴冲向太阳系的中心，她面对它们毫不退缩，而是微笑着看着这些巨大的冰球撞到自己身上，还一边哼唱着歌曲。在歌声中，这些冰块融化了，从她的皮肤上蒸发，又化成雨水落下，汇集成河流，湖泊，海洋。
Before I knew it, she had grown into a young planet of great beauty. Her blueoceans swelled and filled out gracefully, and the tan continents drifted overthem like sunspots. She was still tempestuous and moody: lightning flashed inher atmosphere, studded by speeding cumulonimbus clouds. At her poles, shiftingauroras lit up the darkness, dazzling even at my distance.
在我反应过来以前，她已经华丽转身，成为一个年轻美丽的星球。她的蓝色海洋充盈丰满，其间点缀的黄褐色陆地，好像太阳黑子。她的脾气仍旧火辣：电闪雷鸣，大气中充满了狂暴的云团。在她的两极，极光在黑暗中闪耀，即我身在远方也看得一清二楚。
Finally, I worked up the courage to ask her to join me in my orbit. I even madea ring out of the prettiest bits of drifting dust. “We have been dancing longenough,” I said. “Come, let us travel together, inseparable until the end oftime.”
终于，我鼓起勇气邀请她来到我的轨道。我甚至用星际尘埃为她制作了一条美丽的星环。“我们已经共舞了这么久，”我说，“来吧，让我们携手并肩，永不分离，直到天长地久。”
She glowed, brightened, but then tilted her axis ever so slightly. “Look,” shesaid, and opened her cloud-cover a sliver so that I could see.
她的脸红了，充满了光辉，可是接着，她斜过身体，轻轻地说：“你看，”然后把覆盖的云层打开一条恰容我一看的窄缝。
Her oceans were teeming with tiny things, creatures that moved on their own.They dove and swam, chased each other and leapt out of the waves, as fleetingas flashing meteors.
她的海洋中充满了微小的东西，那些生物正在凭借自己的力量努力移动。他们时而潜下，时而迅游，时而互相追逐，时而跃出水面，好像一闪而过的流星。
“Some time ago, lightning struck the sea just so and formed a chain of complexorganic molecules. At first, I didn't pay much attention to it, but it multipliedand grew. During the eon while you and I danced to the fixed measures ofgravity, that simple beginning has evolved into these beautiful and wondrousforms.”
“不知多久前以，闪电恰好击中了海洋，形成了一条复杂的有机分子链。起初，我并没在意，但是它以几何速率生长。就在你我共舞，分享稳定引力的那些年代，这些简单的小东西演化成了这些美丽奇妙的形式。”
“I don't understand,” I said. “What do these... things have to do with us?”
“我不能理解，”我说，“这些……小东西和我们有什么关系？”
“They're fragile,” she said, her surface brightening again with that lovely,gentle glow. “I have to stay where I am so that they'll be warm and safe.”
“他们很脆弱，”她说，她的表面充满了爱的光辉，温和红润。“我必须留在这里，只有在这里，它们才温暖，安全。”
