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第24章

flatland-第24章

小说: flatland 字数: 每页4000字

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ouncil。 Young though he was; my Grandson  who was unusually intelligent for his age; and bred up in perfect reverence for the authority of the Circles  took in the situation with an acuteness for which I was quite unprepared。  He remained silent till the last words of the Proclamation had died away; and then; bursting into tears; 〃Dear Grandpapa;〃 he said; 〃that was only my fun; and of course I meant nothing at all by it; and we did not know anything then about the new Law; and I don't think I said anything about the Third Dimension; and I am sure I did not say one word about 'Upward; not Northward'; for that would be such nonsense; you know。  How could a thing move Upward; and not Northward? Upward and not Northward!  Even if I were a baby; I could not be so absurd as that。  How silly it is!  Ha! ha! ha!〃

〃Not at all silly;〃 said I; losing my temper; 〃here for example; I take this Square;〃 and; at the word; I grasped a moveable Square; which was lying at hand  〃and I move it; you see; not Northward but  yes; I move it Upward  that is to say; not Northward; but I move it somewhere  not exactly like this; but somehow 〃 Here I brought my sentence to an inane conclusion; shaking the Square about in a purposeless manner; much to the amusement of my Grandson; who burst out laughing louder than ever; and declared that I was not teaching him; but joking with him; and so saying he unlocked the door and ran out of the room。  Thus ended my first attempt to convert a pupil to the Gospel of Three Dimensions。




Section 22。  How I then tried to diffuse the Theory                of Three Dimensions by other means; and of the result



My failure with my Grandson did not encourage me to communicate my secret to others of my household; yet neither was I led by it to despair of success。  Only I saw that I must not wholly rely on the catch…phrase; 〃Upward; not Northward〃; but must rather endeavour to seek a demonstration by setting before the public a clear view of the whole subject; and for this purpose it seemed necessary to resort to writing。

So I devoted several months in privacy to the composition of a treatise on the mysteries of Three Dimensions。  Only; with the view of evading the Law; if possible; I spoke not of a physical Dimension; but of a Thoughtland whence; in theory; a Figure could look down upon Flatland and see simultaneously the insides of all things; and where it was possible that there might be supposed to exist a Figure environed; as it were; with six Squares; and containing eight terminal Points。  But in writing this book I found myself sadly hampered by the impossibility of drawing such diagrams as were necessary for my purpose; for of course; in our country of Flatland; there are no tablets but Lines; and no diagrams but Lines; all in one straight Line and only distinguishable by difference of size and brightness; so that; when I had finished my treatise (which I entitled; 〃Through Flatland to Thoughtland〃) I could not feel certain that many would understand my meaning。

Meanwhile my life was under a cloud。  All pleasures palled upon me; all sights tantalized and tempted me to outspoken treason; because I could not but compare what I saw in Two Dimensions with what it really was if seen in Three; and could hardly refrain from making my comparisons aloud。  I neglected my clients and my own business to give myself to the contemplation of the mysteries which I had once beheld; yet which I could impart to no one; and found daily more difficult to reproduce even before my own mental vision。

One day; about eleven months after my return from Spaceland; I tried to see a Cube with my eye closed; but failed; and though I succeeded afterwards; I was not then quite certain (nor have I been ever afterwards) that I had exactly realized the original。  This made me more melancholy than before; and determined me to take some step; yet what; I knew not。 I felt that I would have been willing to sacrifice my life for the Cause; if thereby I could have produced conviction。 But if I could not convince my Grandson; how could I convince the highest and most developed Circles in the land?

And yet at times my spirit was too strong for me; and I gave vent to dangerous utterances。  Already I was considered heterodox if not treasonable; and I was keenly alive to the danger of my position; nevertheless I could not at times refrain from bursting out into suspicious or half…seditious utterances; even among the highest Polygonal and Circular society。  When; for example; the question arose about the treatment of those lunatics who said that they had received the power of seeing the insides of things; I would quote the saying of an ancient Circle; who declared that prophets and inspired people are always considered by the majority to be mad; and I could not help occasionally dropping such expressions as 〃the eye that discerns the interiors of things〃; and 〃the all…seeing land〃; once or twice I even let fall the forbidden terms 〃the Third and Fourth Dimensions〃。  At last; to complete a series of minor indiscretions; at a meeting of our Local Speculative Society held at the palace of the Prefect himself;  some extremely silly person having read an elaborate paper exhibiting the precise reasons why Providence has limited the number of Dimensions to Two; and why the attribute of omnividence is assigned to the Supreme alone  I so far forgot myself as to give an exact account of the whole of my voyage with the Sphere into Space; and to the Assembly Hall in our Metropolis; and then to Space again; and of my return home; and of everything that I had seen and heard in fact or vision。  At first; indeed; I pretended that I was describing the imaginary experiences of a fictitious person; but my enthusiasm soon forced me to throw off all disguise; and finally; in a fervent peroration; I exhorted all my hearers to divest themselves of prejudice and to become believers in the Third Dimension。

Need I say that I was at once arrested and taken before the Council?

Next morning; standing in the very place where but a very few months ago the Sphere had stood in my company; I was allowed to begin and to continue my narration unquestioned and uninterrupted。 But from the first I foresaw my fate; for the President; noting that a guard of the better sort of Policemen was in attendance; of angularity little; if at all; under 55 degrees; ordered them to be relieved before I began my defence; by an inferior class of 2 or 3 degrees。  I knew only too well what that meant。 I was to be executed or imprisoned; and my story was to be kept secret from the world by the simultaneous destruction of the officials who had heard it; and; this being the case; the President desired to substitute the cheaper for the more expensive victims。

After I had concluded my defence; the President; perhaps perceiving that some of the junior Circles had been moved by my evident earnestness; asked me two questions: 

1。  Whether I could indicate the direction which I meant when I used the words 〃Upward; not Northward〃?

2。  Whether I could by any diagrams or descriptions (other than the enumeration of imaginary sides and angles) indicate the Figure I was pleased to call a Cube?

I declared that I could say nothing more; and that I must commit myself to the Truth; whose cause would surely prevail in the end。

The President replied that he quite concurred in my sentiment; and that I could not do better。  I must be sentenced to perpetual imprisonment; but if the Truth intended that I should emerge from prison and evangelize the world; the Truth might be trusted to bring that result to pass。  Meanwhile I should be subjected to no discomfort that was not necessary to preclude escape; and; unless I forfeited the privilege by misconduct; I should be occasionally permitted to see my brother who had preceded me to my prison。

Seven years have elapsed and I am still a prisoner; and  if I except the occasional visits of my brother  debarred from all companionship save that of my jailers。 My brother is one of the best of Squares; just; sensible; cheerful; and not without fraternal affection; yet I confess that my weekly interviews; at least in one respect; cause me the bitterest pain。  He 

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