現實的另一面

The Flip Side of Reality

潛水艇在她的橙色靴子裡蹣跚而行，幾乎跟不上其他人，仍然保持著她卡通般的外貌。

Submarine tottered along in her orange boots barely keeping up with the rest still donning her cartoon-like appearance.

「等等我，我走不快！」

“Wait for me, I can’t go that fast!”

朋友們衝過學院建築的長走廊，試圖記住通往出口的路。電影像以前一樣停下來，只是這次有些不同。空中懸浮著微小、閃閃發光的斑點，看起來像突然停止飄落的雪花。彷彿不僅現實，連空間本身都凝固了。他們周圍的所有物體看起來都有些不自然，彷彿不再屬於這個世界。

The friends dashed down the long corridors of the Academy building trying to remember the way to the exit. The movie stopped in the same manner as before only this time something was different. In the air hung tiny, shimmering specks that looked like snowflakes that had suddenly stopped falling. It was as if not only reality but space itself had frozen. All the objects around them looked somehow unnatural as if they no longer belonged to this world.

當團隊終於跑到街上時，他們迎來了一場真正宏偉的幻景。整個地球表面變得透明，顯露出腳下的黑色深淵。在深淵的底部是無數平行的發光道路，似乎延伸到無限遠。這些道路看起來像是由單獨的畫面組成，就像電影膠片。直接在腳下的那條膠片比其他所有的都更明亮。

When the team finally ran outside onto the street, they were greeted with a truly grandiose phantasmagoria. The entire surface of the earth had become transparent, revealing a black abyss underfoot. At the bottom of the depths were myriad, parallel luminous paths that seemed to go on for infinity. The paths looked like they were made up of separate frames like filmstrips. The filmstrip located directly underfoot shone brighter than all the others.

朋友們驚訝地叫出聲來，失去平衡，四肢著地。潛水艇嚇得立刻變回金髮女孩。被現實中發生的變化以及她自己外貌的變化震驚，潛水艇發出了一聲足以匹敵普西拉詞彙的喊叫。

The friends cried out in surprise and losing their balance, fell down on all fours. Submarine was so frightened, she transformed back into a blonde girl instantly. Stunned by the transformations taking place in reality as well as in her own appearance, Submarine let out a shout worthy of Puscilla’s lexicon.

「天啊！完全天啊！完全徹底的天啊！」 「不管是不是完全，我不知道，但這絕對是貓咪宇宙的！」普西拉回應道。

“Capooey! Complete Capooey! Completely and utterly Capooey!” “Complete or not, I don’t know, but it’s definitely catty-osmic!” Puscilla responded.

「宇宙的！」奶牛補充道。「宇宙學的！」傻瓜說。

“Cosmic!” added Cow. “Cosmological!” said Eejit.

野獸和女王保持冷靜，環顧四周，什麼也沒說。他們是第一個站起來的。

Beast and the queen remained unperturbed looking about them without saying anything. They were the first to get to their feet.

「看！這是怎麼回事？」普西拉喊道。「你們都有貓咪辮子！我有嗎？我也有嗎？」

“Look! What’s going on?” shouted Puscilla. “You’ve all got pussy-plaits! Have I got one? Have I got one, too?”

他們互相看著。每個人的後腦勺現在都延伸出一條發光的辮子狀結構，類似於他們在凝固的模特上看到的突出物，只是沒有藍色光線。

They all looked at each other. A luminous, plait-like plexus now extended outwards from the back of the head of each, similar to the protrusion they had seen on the frozen mannequins only without the blue rays.

「也許不完全是，普西拉，」傻瓜說，「但那裡確實有些奇怪的東西。你也有一條。」

“Perhaps not entirely, Puscilla,” said Eejit, “but there is something strange there. You have one too for that matter.”

「我感覺不到任何東西！」潛水艇說，手從她的後腦勺滑下。

“I can’t feel anything!” said Submarine, running her hands down the back of her head.

「我也沒有，」奶牛說。

“Me neither,” said Cow.

「現在看看模特的辮子！」普西拉驚呼。

“Now look at the mannequins’ plaits!” Puscilla exclaimed.

朋友們這才注意到不遠處有一個行人凍結在半步之中。他的辮子變成了一道長長的藍色光線，向下延伸到下面的發光道路。他們環顧四周，看到另一個模特和另一個模特身上也有同樣的現象，直到他們確信這是廣場上所有人的共同特徵。這些光線似乎將靜止的人物連接到下面暫停的膠片上。

Only now did the friends notice a passerby a short distance away who had frozen mid-step. His plait had transformed into a long blue ray, which extended downward right into the luminous path below. They looked around and witnessed the same phenomenon in another mannequin and another, until they had convinced themselves that it was an attribute common to all those in the square. The rays appeared to be attaching the motionless figures to the paused filmstrip below.

「這是什麼？！」潛水艇喊道，「這就像是在向我們展示現實的結構。」

“What is this?!” shouted Submarine, “it is like we are being shown the structure of reality.”

「我有種感覺，現實正試圖以真實的形式向我們展示自己，」傻瓜說。

“I get the feeling that reality is trying to show itself to us in its true form,” said Eejit.

「普西拉，這完美地說明了你的想法，這裡的人就像木偶劇院裡的木偶，」奶牛說。

“Puscilla, this is the perfect illustration of your idea that the people here are like puppets in a puppet theater,” said Cow.

「更像是電影中的角色，」女王說。

“More like characters in a movie,” said the queen.

「但我們不是！」普西拉說。「我們的貓咪辮子是自由的！它們是我們自己的！」

“But not us!” said Puscilla. “Our pussy-plaits are free! They’re our own!”

「我們選擇暫停了電影。我們在這部電影中現場漫遊，」傻瓜解釋。

“We chose to stop the movie. We’re wandering around this movie live,” Eejit explained.

「是的！我們在一部已經暫停的電影中活著！」潛水艇驚呼。「太驚人了！」

“Yes! We’re alive in a movie that’s been paused!” exclaimed Submarine. “Colossal!”

「這意味著，我們只是在這裡散步，而他們是永久生活在電影中？」野獸沉思道。「是的，他們住在這裡，而我們在散步。有趣……」

“So that means, we’re just taking a stroll here, whereas they live in the movie permanently?” mused Beast. “Yes, they live here while we’re taking a stroll. Interesting…”

「另一個有趣的問題是，整個世界是否停止運動，還是只有我們所在的電影，」奶牛說。

“The other interesting thing is whether the whole world stopped moving or just the movie we’re in,” said Cow.

「我們幾乎不可能停止整個世界，」女王回答。

“We would hardly be capable of stopping the entire world,” the queen replied.

「正如我們所見，電影可以是局部的，也可以是嵌套的，」傻瓜說。「記得我們在咖啡館裡暫停現實，然後看到現實的另一部分和那個瘋狂的作家及其弟子繼續活動。」

“As we’ve seen, the movie can be local and nested at the same time,” said Eejit. “Remember how we stopped reality in the cafe and then saw the other part of reality along with the crazy writer and his disciples continuing to move about.”

「從懸浮在我們周圍空間的雪花來看，似乎所有的局部膠片都已暫停。它們之前不在這裡，」普西拉指出。

“Judging by the flakes that are hanging in the space around us, it looks as if all the local filmstrips have been paused. They weren’t here before,” Puscilla pointed out.

「不僅僅是從雪花來看，」傻瓜說。「看看那些發光的道路。那些一定就像膠片，而圍繞我們的現實就是投影的畫面。它們都沒有在移動。」

“And not just judging by the flakes,” said Eejit. “Look at those luminous paths. Those must be like filmstrips and the reality that surrounds us is the picture projection. None of them are moving.”

「這些辮子到底是什麼？」潛水艇困惑地問。「為什麼它們現在出現了，而之前沒有？」

“Just what are these plait things?” asked Submarine looking puzzled. “And why have they appeared now when they weren’t there before?”

「我的女王，」野獸轉向布倫希爾達說，「只有你的頭髮梳成辮子，但它與發光的不同。發光的辮子以一個角度垂下，結束在距離你肩胛骨大約一手寬的地方。」

“My queen,” said Beast turning to Brunhilda, “you alone have your hair dressed in a plait but it is different to the luminous one. The luminous plait falls at an angle to your back and ends roughly one handspan’s width from your shoulder blades.”

「不管它是什麼，我們現在沒有時間停下來弄清楚我們和現實發生了什麼，」布倫希爾達回答。「我們應該在膠片重新開始移動之前趕緊跑。」

“Whatever it is, we don’t have time to stop and work out what’s happening to us and reality right now,” Brunhilda replied. “We should make a run for it before the filmstrip starts moving again.”

「但也許我們不應該跑，」傻瓜建議。「如果我們跑了，科學學家醒來時會看到什麼？只是我們突然消失了。我們在那裡，然後『呼』的一聲，我們不見了。」

“But maybe we shouldn’t run,” suggested Eejit. “What will the sciendologists see when they wake up if we do? Just that we suddenly disappeared. We were there and then ‘whoosh’, we were gone.”

「是的，從他們的角度來看，那將是不科學的！」奶牛說。

“Yes, from their point of view that would be unsciendific!” said Cow.

「如果是不科學的，那就是不可能的！」潛水艇總結道。「這意味著，我們從未在那裡！」

“And if it is unsciendific, it is impossible!” concluded Submarine. “Which means, we were never there!”

「事情沒那麼簡單，」女王說。「最重要的是，他們會看到他們的科學裝置崩潰，想知道是誰發動了清除。只能是我們，因為我們之後消失了。與其去找麻煩，我們最好遠離『犯罪現場』。」

“Nothing is quite that simple,” said the queen. “The most important thing is that they’ll see the collapse of their sciendific gizmo and want to know who could have launched the liquidation. It could only be us because we disappeared afterwards. Rather than going looking for trouble, we’d be better off getting as far away as we can from the ‘scene of the crime’.”

「你說得對，陛下，」普西拉說。「我們需要立刻離開這裡。」 「是的，但去哪裡？」潛水艇問。「回我們的好老別墅卡拉米拉怎麼樣？」

“You’re right, Your Majesty,” said Puscilla. “We need to cat-it right out of here.” “Yes, but where to?” asked Submarine. “What about heading back to our good old Villa Caramilla?”

「我們不能回去那裡，」女王回答。「如果我們被抓，卡拉米拉會受到懷疑。我們需要在城市裡找個地方藏起來，觀察會發生什麼。」

“We can’t go back there,” the queen replied. “If we get caught Caramilla will come under suspicion. We need to hide out in the city somewhere and observe what happens.”

「沒錯。畢竟，我們不知道接下來會發生什麼，」傻瓜說。「看，那是市政廳的塔樓。那將是一個很好的觀景平台。我們去塔樓怎麼樣？」野獸說。

“That’s right. After all, we don’t know what might happen next,” said Eejit. “Look, that’s the tower of the city hall. That would make a great viewing platform. Shall we head for the tower?” said Beast.

「我們怎麼進去？」潛水艇問。

“How will we get in?” asked Submarine.

「簡單！」奶牛回答。「當膠片暫停時，這些人都像模特一樣，我們可以去任何我們想去的地方。」

“Easy!” replied Cow. “While the filmstrip is on pause and all these people are like mannequins, we can go wherever we want.”

「好吧，是時候走了，」女王說。

“Right, time to go,” said the queen.

他們穿過廣場，從內部樓梯爬上市政廳的塔樓。塔頂有一個觀景平台，配有鐘和鐘聲，可以俯瞰整個城市的全景。更準確地說，這個全景不僅是一個城市，而是許多城市影像的重複，向四個方位的遠處延伸。

They ran across the square and climbed the tower of the town hall via the internal staircase. At the top there was a viewing platform with a clock and a bell that opened up onto a panoramic view of the entire city. More precisely, the panorama consisted not of one city but of many copies of the city’s image repeated over and over again extending far into the distance in the direction of all four of the cardinal points.

整個可見的景觀被劃分成像棋盤一樣的線條。當朋友們朝一個方向看時，在一個方格內有兩三個相鄰的街區。這些在下一個方格中重複出現，而在它們之間的空隙中延伸著同樣的黑色結構，這種結構向下延伸，重疊在下面的發光道路的同一空隙上，朋友們對此已經很熟悉。

The entire, visible landscape was marked with lines like a chessboard. When the friends looked in one direction, there were two or three nearby blocks in one square. These were repeated in the next square, and in the gap between stretched the same kind of yawning emptiness, with which our friends were already familiar — a kind of black construct which descended downwards and overlapped the same gap on the luminous path far below.

在更遠的方格中，很難分辨內容是這些相同街區的另一個副本還是下一組街區，但總體來說，就像一種光學幻覺，其中一切都在重複，每個影像嵌套在下一個中。整體畫面像是一系列鏡像反射，無限延伸，比例逐漸縮小，以至於在遠處他們可以看到整個城市的無數個體副本。整個場景就像一個複雜的全息圖，同樣代表了下面膠片中的畫面投影。然而，天空仍然被蓋子的黑暗實體表面遮蔽。

In the more distance squares, it was hard to tell whether the contents were another copy of these same blocks or the next set of blocks, but overall, it was like an optical illusion in which everything was repeating itself, each image embedded in the next. The overall picture resembled a series of mirror reflections that went on into infinity with decreasing scale, so that in the distance they could see endless individual copies of the entire city. The whole scene was like a complex hologram, which equally represented a projection of the frames in the filmstrips below. The sky, however, was still obscured by the lid’s dark, solid surface.

朋友們努力辨認哪個物體在哪裡反射，但幻覺不斷從他們眼前溜走，揭示出一個又一個的面向。最終，他們放棄了試圖理解不可理解的努力，因為挫折而疲憊，不知道該說什麼。

The friends tried ardently to make out which object was being reflected where, but the illusion constantly slipped away from them, revealing one facet after another. Eventually, they abandoned their attempts to comprehend the incomprehensible, exhausted with frustration, not knowing what to say.

此外，周圍的現實畫面顯得神話般的，某種程度上不真實，彷彿他們自己被從另一個現實中剪下來，插入到這個現實中，就像活生生的人物被放置在靜止的照片中。

Moreover, the surrounding picture of reality appeared mythical, somehow unreal as if they themselves had been cut out of a different reality and inserted into this one, like living figures placed inside a still photograph.

暫停似乎持續了很長時間，然後突然間，一切又開始移動。微風開始吹拂，背景噪音開始響起，下面的膠片開始移動，先是中央的，然後是其他的，速度逐漸加快。閃亮的雪花溶解到大氣中，地球表面失去透明度而閉合。棋盤顫動，方格融合，整個全息圖順暢地轉化為一個單一的、熟悉的現實畫面。廣場上的模特們猛然動起來，繼續沿著他們的路徑，好像什麼都沒發生過。電影又開始播放。

The pause seemed to last for an eternity and then suddenly, everything began to move again. A light breeze began to blow, background noise began to sound, and the filmstrips below began to shift, first the central one, and then the others all with increasing speed. The shiny flakes dissolved into the atmosphere and the earth’s surface closed over losing its transparency. The chess board quivered, the squares merged, and the entire hologram ran smoothly into a single, familiar picture of reality. The mannequins in the square jolted into action and continued along their path as if nothing had happened. The movie was playing again.

片刻之後，從學院的方向傳來一聲爆裂聲，伴隨著一陣短暫的光芒，然後整個空間被異常明亮的陽光籠罩。天空中的蓋子消失得無影無蹤。

A moment later, a cracking noise came from the direction of the Academy, accompanied by a brief flash of light, and then the entire space became bathed in unusually bright sunshine. The lid in the sky dissolved as if it never was.

現實的另一面

The Flip Side of Reality

Submarine穿著橙色靴子蹣跚前行，勉強跟上其他人，而她仍保留著那副卡通式的外貌。

Submarine tottered along in her orange boots barely keeping up with the rest still donning her cartoon-like appearance.

「等等我，我走不快啊！」

“Wait for me, I can’t go that fast!”

眾友沿著學院大樓那冗長的走廊狂奔，努力回想通往出口的路。電影依舊像之前那樣戛然而止，但這一次卻有了變化——空中漂浮著細小閃爍的微粒，猶如剛剛停歇了的雪花。彷彿不僅現實，連空間本身也都凝固了，周遭的一切看來都變得異常，宛如不再真正屬於這個世界。

The friends dashed down the long corridors of the Academy building trying to remember the way to the exit. The movie stopped in the same manner as before only this time something was different. In the air hung tiny, shimmering specks that looked like snowflakes that had suddenly stopped falling. It was as if not only reality but space itself had frozen. All the objects around them looked somehow unnatural as if they no longer belonged to this world.

當隊伍最終衝出大樓踏上街道時，映入眼簾的是一場真正壯觀的幻景。整個地表竟變得透明，露出腳下的黑暗深淵。在那深淵的底層，無數條平行發光的通道延綿無限，這些通道猶如由分離的影格構成的膠卷，而正位於腳下的那一條更是光芒四射，熠熠生輝。

When the team finally ran outside onto the street, they were greeted with a truly grandiose phantasmagoria. The entire surface of the earth had become transparent, revealing a black abyss underfoot. At the bottom of the depths were myriad, parallel luminous paths that seemed to go on for infinity. The paths looked like they were made up of separate frames like filmstrips. The filmstrip located directly underfoot shone brighter than all the others.

眾友驚呼連連，失去平衡後匍匐倒在地上。Submarine嚇得立刻變回一位金髮女孩。面對現實以及她自身外貌的劇烈變化，Submarine發出了一聲足以媲美Puscilla辭藻的驚叫。

The friends cried out in surprise and losing their balance, fell down on all fours. Submarine was so frightened, she transformed back into a blonde girl instantly. Stunned by the transformations taking place in reality as well as in her own appearance, Submarine let out a shout worthy of Puscilla’s lexicon.

「Capooey！完全的Capooey！徹底、徹底的Capooey！」

“Capooey! Complete Capooey! Completely and utterly Capooey!” “Complete or not, I don’t know, but it’s definitely catty-osmic!” Puscilla responded.

「宇宙的！」Cow補充道。「宇宙論的！」Eejit說道。

“Cosmic!” added Cow. “Cosmological!” said Eejit.

Beast和女王泰然自若，默默打量著四周，他們是第一批站起來的人。

Beast and the queen remained unperturbed looking about them without saying anything. They were the first to get to their feet.

「快看！發生什麼事了？」Puscilla大聲喊道，「你們都長出了貓辮！我也有了嗎？我也有嗎？」

“Look! What’s going on?” shouted Puscilla. “You’ve all got pussy-plaits! Have I got one? Have I got one, too?”

他們彼此對視，只見每個人後腦勺正伸展出一道明亮如辮的網狀結構，類似那些凍結假人上所見的隆起，但卻沒有藍色光芒。

They all looked at each other. A luminous, plait-like plexus now extended outwards from the back of the head of each, similar to the protrusion they had seen on the frozen mannequins only without the blue rays.

「或許不完全是這樣，Puscilla，」Eejit說道，「但那裡確實有點奇怪。就拿你來說，你也有～」

“Perhaps not entirely, Puscilla,” said Eejit, “but there is something strange there. You have one too for that matter.”

「我什麼都感覺不到！」Submarine說著，雙手沿著後腦勺梳理。

“I can’t feel anything!” said Submarine, running her hands down the back of her head.

「我也是，」Cow答道。

“Me neither,” said Cow.

「快看看那假人的辮子！」Puscilla驚呼。

“Now look at the mannequins’ plaits!” Puscilla exclaimed.

這時，眾人才注意到不遠處一位行人已凍在邁步之中。他的辮子竟化作一道長長的藍色光線，直延到下方那道發光通道中。他們四處觀望，發現其他假人也出現了同樣現象，直到自覺這是廣場上所有人共有的特徵。那些光線彷彿正把靜止的身影固定在下方停頓的影格上。

Only now did the friends notice a passerby a short distance away who had frozen mid-step. His plait had transformed into a long blue ray, which extended downward right into the luminous path below. They looked around and witnessed the same phenomenon in another mannequin and another, until they had convinced themselves that it was an attribute common to all those in the square. The rays appeared to be attaching the motionless figures to the paused filmstrip below.

「這是什麼？！」Submarine喊道，「就像有人在向我們展現現實的結構！」

“What is this?!” shouted Submarine, “it is like we are being shown the structure of reality.”

「我感覺現實正試圖以它真正的面貌向我們顯現，」Eejit說道。

“I get the feeling that reality is trying to show itself to us in its true form,” said Eejit.

「Puscilla，這正是你所說的——這裡的人就像木偶劇中的傀儡——的最佳例證，」Cow說道。

“Puscilla, this is the perfect illustration of your idea that the people here are like puppets in a puppet theater,” said Cow.

「更像是電影中的角色，」女王說道。

“More like characters in a movie,” said the queen.

「但我們可不一樣！」Puscilla堅決說道，「我們的貓辮是自由的！那是屬於我們自己的！」

“But not us!” said Puscilla. “Our pussy-plaits are free! They’re our own!”

「我們選擇了停止那部電影，我們正活生生地在這部電影中漫遊，」Eejit解釋道。

“We chose to stop the movie. We’re wandering around this movie live,” Eejit explained.

「是的！我們活在一部已暫停的電影中！」Submarine驚呼道，「真是龐大極了！」

“Yes! We’re alive in a movie that’s been paused!” exclaimed Submarine. “Colossal!”

「這是否意味著，我們只是在這裡閒逛，而他們卻永遠生活在這部電影中？」Beast沉思著說道。「正是，他們就在那裡生活，而我們只是走走看看，真有趣……」

“So that means, we’re just taking a stroll here, whereas they live in the movie permanently?” mused Beast. “Yes, they live here while we’re taking a stroll. Interesting…”

「另一個有趣的問題是：到底是整個世界都停止了運動，還只是我們所在的這部電影被暫停了呢？」Cow說道。

“The other interesting thing is whether the whole world stopped moving or just the movie we’re in,” said Cow.

女王回答說：「我們根本無法讓整個世界停止。」

“We would hardly be capable of stopping the entire world,” the queen replied.

「正如我們所見，電影既可以是局部的又可以是嵌套的，」Eejit說道，「記得我們在咖啡館裡讓現實停滯，然後看到了現實的另一邊，以及那個瘋狂作家和他的追隨者依然在動嗎？」

“As we’ve seen, the movie can be local and nested at the same time,” said Eejit. “Remember how we stopped reality in the cafe and then saw the other part of reality along with the crazy writer and his disciples continuing to move about.”

「從環繞我們空間中懸掛的那些微粒來看，似乎所有局部的膠卷都已被停止，而以前這裡是沒有這些的，」Puscilla指出。

“Judging by the flakes that are hanging in the space around us, it looks as if all the local filmstrips have been paused. They weren’t here before,” Puscilla pointed out.

「而且不僅僅從那些微粒來看，」Eejit說道，「你看看那些發光的通道。它們就像膠卷，而包圍我們的現實正是那影像投射，所有這些都靜止不動。」

“And not just judging by the flakes,” said Eejit. “Look at those luminous paths. Those must be like filmstrips and the reality that surrounds us is the picture projection. None of them are moving.”

「這些編織般的辮子究竟是什麼？」Submarine疑惑地問道，「為什麼它們現在出現了，而以前卻不存在？」

“Just what are these plait things?” asked Submarine looking puzzled. “And why have they appeared now when they weren’t there before?”

「女王陛下，」Beast轉向Brunhilda說道，「唯獨您的頭髮梳成了辮子，但那與那道發光的辮子不同。那道發光的辮子斜掛在您的背部，約在您肩胛處離開一個手掌寬的距離。」

“My queen,” said Beast turning to Brunhilda, “you alone have your hair dressed in a plait but it is different to the luminous one. The luminous plait falls at an angle to your back and ends roughly one handspan’s width from your shoulder blades.”

「無論那是什麼，我們現在根本沒時間停下來研究我們和現實究竟發生了什麼變化，」Brunhilda回答道，「我們必須趕快逃走，免得膠卷再次開始運動。」

“Whatever it is, we don’t have time to stop and work out what’s happening to us and reality right now,” Brunhilda replied. “We should make a run for it before the filmstrip starts moving again.”

「但也許我們不該跑，」Eejit建議道，「如果我們跑了，當sciendologists醒來時只會發現我們突然消失了。我們當時還在那裡，可轉瞬‘嗖’地一聲，我們就不見了。」

“But maybe we shouldn’t run,” suggested Eejit. “What will the sciendologists see when they wake up if we do? Just that we suddenly disappeared. We were there and then ‘whoosh’, we were gone.”

「是的，在他們看來，那將是不sciendific的！」Cow說道。

“Yes, from their point of view that would be unsciendific!” said Cow.

「如果那是不sciendific的，那就不可能了！」Submarine總結道，「也就是說，我們從未真正存在過！」

“And if it is unsciendific, it is impossible!” concluded Submarine. “Which means, we were never there!”

女王說道：「事情遠不是那麼簡單。最重要的是，他們將看到他們那sciendific玩意兒的崩潰，並尋問究竟是誰發起了這場清算。只有我們能做到，因為之後我們就消失了。與其多惹麻煩，不如盡可能遠離‘罪案現場’。」

“Nothing is quite that simple,” said the queen. “The most important thing is that they’ll see the collapse of their sciendific gizmo and want to know who could have launched the liquidation. It could only be us because we disappeared afterwards. Rather than going looking for trouble, we’d be better off getting as far away as we can from the ‘scene of the crime’.”

「您說得對，陛下，」Puscilla說道，「我們必須 cat-it 立刻離開這裡。」

“You’re right, Your Majesty,” said Puscilla. “We need to cat-it right out of here.” “Yes, but where to?” asked Submarine. “What about heading back to our good old Villa Caramilla?”

「我們不能再回去了，」女王回答說，「要是被抓住，Caramilla 就會引起懷疑。我們必須在城裡找個隱蔽處，悄悄地觀察接下來的變化。」

“We can’t go back there,” the queen replied. “If we get caught Caramilla will come under suspicion. We need to hide out in the city somewhere and observe what happens.”

「沒錯，畢竟我們誰也不知道接下來會發生什麼，」Eejit 說道。「看，那邊是市政廳的塔樓，那裡是絕佳的觀景台。走，我們去塔樓那邊吧！」Beast 補充道。

“That’s right. After all, we don’t know what might happen next,” said Eejit. “Look, that’s the tower of the city hall. That would make a great viewing platform. Shall we head for the tower?” said Beast.

「我們要怎麼進去呢？」Submarine 詢問。

“How will we get in?” asked Submarine.

「很簡單！」Cow 回答說，「只要膠卷暫停，這些人就像假人一樣，我們想去哪兒就去哪兒。」

“Easy!” replied Cow. “While the filmstrip is on pause and all these people are like mannequins, we can go wherever we want.”

「好，該出發了，」女王說。

“Right, time to go,” said the queen.

他們穿過廣場，沿著內部樓梯攀上市政廳的塔樓。塔頂設有一個觀景台，上面掛著時鐘和一口鐘，俯瞰整座城市的全景。更精確地說，全景並非只有一座城市，而是不斷重複出現許多城市影像的複製品，向四個正東、西、南、北方向無限延伸。

They ran across the square and climbed the tower of the town hall via the internal staircase. At the top there was a viewing platform with a clock and a bell that opened up onto a panoramic view of the entire city. More precisely, the panorama consisted not of one city but of many copies of the city’s image repeated over and over again extending far into the distance in the direction of all four of the cardinal points.

整個可見的風景充滿了宛如棋盤般的線條。當眾友望向某個方向時，眼前的一格中出現了兩到三個鄰近的區塊；接下來的格子中重複出現同樣的排列，並且在它們之間，延伸出一片同樣讓人感到空蕩蕩的寂寥——那是一種類似黑色結構的空虛，向下延伸並覆蓋了下方發光通道中的同一空隙，這種空虛眾友已經很熟悉。

The entire, visible landscape was marked with lines like a chessboard. When the friends looked in one direction, there were two or three nearby blocks in one square. These were repeated in the next square, and in the gap between stretched the same kind of yawning emptiness, with which our friends were already familiar — a kind of black construct which descended downwards and overlapped the same gap on the luminous path far below.

在更遠的格子中，很難分辨那些內容究竟是同樣區塊的重複，還是一組新的區塊，但整體看來，就像一幅光學錯覺，每一幅圖像都在下一幅中重疊。整體畫面猶如一系列無限延伸、規模漸縮的鏡面映像，遠處能見到無數個獨立的城市複製品。整個場景就像一個複雜的全息圖，等同於下方膠卷中影格的投影；然而天空依然被那黑暗堅實的蓋子遮蔽。

In the more distance squares, it was hard to tell whether the contents were another copy of these same blocks or the next set of blocks, but overall, it was like an optical illusion in which everything was repeating itself, each image embedded in the next. The overall picture resembled a series of mirror reflections that went on into infinity with decreasing scale, so that in the distance they could see endless individual copies of the entire city. The whole scene was like a complex hologram, which equally represented a projection of the frames in the filmstrips below. The sky, however, was still obscured by the lid’s dark, solid surface.

眾友努力辨別究竟哪個物體在何處被反射，但那幻象不停地在他們眼前消散，層層展現著不同的面向。最終，他們放棄了試圖理解那無法解釋的現象，挫敗至極，竟無語凝噎。

The friends tried ardently to make out which object was being reflected where, but the illusion constantly slipped away from them, revealing one facet after another. Eventually, they abandoned their attempts to comprehend the incomprehensible, exhausted with frustration, not knowing what to say.

此外，周遭的現實畫面顯得充滿神話色彩，彷彿完全不屬於這個世界，就像他們自己被從另一個現實中剪下並嵌入了這裡，宛如活生生的身影被放進了一張靜態的照片中。

Moreover, the surrounding picture of reality appeared mythical, somehow unreal as if they themselves had been cut out of a different reality and inserted into this one, like living figures placed inside a still photograph.

那場停頓似乎持續了好像永恆一般，然後突然間，所有事物又開始運動。微風吹起，背景聲音逐漸響起，而下方的膠卷先從中央開始轉動，隨後其他部分也以越來越快的速度運動。閃閃發亮的微粒漸漸溶入空氣中，地表失去了透明度，再度覆蓋上去。棋盤般的圖案顫動了，各格逐漸合併，整個全息圖順暢地變換成一幅熟悉的現實畫面。廣場上的假人突然活躍起來，繼續沿著既定的路徑前行，彷彿剛才的停頓從未發生過，電影又恢復播放了。

The pause seemed to last for an eternity and then suddenly, everything began to move again. A light breeze began to blow, background noise began to sound, and the filmstrips below began to shift, first the central one, and then the others all with increasing speed. The shiny flakes dissolved into the atmosphere and the earth’s surface closed over losing its transparency. The chess board quivered, the squares merged, and the entire hologram ran smoothly into a single, familiar picture of reality. The mannequins in the square jolted into action and continued along their path as if nothing had happened. The movie was playing again.

過了一會兒，從學院方向傳來一陣破裂聲，伴隨著一瞬間的閃光，整個空間頓時被異常明亮的陽光所籠罩。天空中的那片蓋子彷彿從未存在過般，徹底消融了。

A moment later, a cracking noise came from the direction of the Academy, accompanied by a brief flash of light, and then the entire space became bathed in unusually bright sunshine. The lid in the sky dissolved as if it never was.