何去何从

北极光

Little Jeffrey always missed his friends and neighbors， missed the days they spent together， and even wondered where they had been.

小小的杰弗里常常想起他的朋友和邻居，怀念他们一起度过的日子，迫切地想知道他们到底去了哪里。

He missed Paul， his best friend in the kindergarten， who had plucked a large white feather from his wing for Jeffrey as a gift， because Jeffrey admired his wings. Paul promised that he would take Jeffrey to fly in the sky when he had learned how to fly. Yet， where had he gone now？

他想念保罗，他在幼儿园最好的朋友。杰弗里很羡慕他背上那双洁白的翅膀，保罗也曾从自己的翅膀上拔下一根巨大的白色羽毛送给杰弗里当作礼物。保罗曾经答应杰弗里，等他学会飞翔，他就带杰弗里遨游蓝天。但现在，保罗去哪里了呢？

And he missed George， the strongest boy in the kindergarten， who loved sunshine. Under the sun， the chloroplasts in his skin cells would work， which made him energetic. He needed only mineral water on sunny days， and took food only in rainy days.

他也想念乔治，幼儿园里最强壮的男孩。乔治喜欢晒太阳，他皮肤里的叶绿体可以在阳光下合成葡萄糖，供给他营养。只要能晒太阳，他就不用吃饭，只要喝水就行了，他只在阴雨天需要吃饭。

Jeffreys neighbor Grace was the most beautiful girl he had never seen. Her flowing pale blonde hair， ice-blue eyes， smooth skin， delicate features， and transparent wings made her look like a fairy. She sang like a nightingale and danced like a butterfly. There were so many boys wanting to date her， and thus so many flowers laid outside her door.

杰弗里家隔壁的格蕾丝是他见过的最漂亮的姑娘。她飘逸的淡金色秀发，冰蓝色的眼睛，光洁的皮肤，苗条的身材，还有她背上的透明翅膀，让她看起来像个仙女。她歌喉像夜莺一样悦耳，舞姿像彩蝶一样优雅。数不清的男孩想邀请她出去玩，她家门口总是摆满了各种鲜花。

All were so cool， so special， and so nice. But， where had they been now？

他们都那么有趣，那么与众不同，那么亲切。但现在，他们都到哪里去了？

“They had been to another world，” said Oliver， Jeffreys father， “because their genes were much easier to mutant than ours. Cancer and leukemia arose from rays of the massive solar flare. Our family are the only survivors here， maybe the only survivors in our country. Ive tried to contact other survivors by radio， hoping to find some.”

“他们都上天堂了，”杰弗里的爸爸奥利弗说，“因为他们的基因比我们的更容易受损伤。上次太阳耀斑爆发的时候，从太阳那边传来的宇宙射线让他们罹患癌症和白血病。我们一家是这里唯一的幸存者，也许是我们国家唯一的幸存者。我试试用无线电跟其他幸存者联络，希望可以找到其他的幸存者。”

Jeffrey couldnt tell why father valued natural human genes so much. Jeffreys parents were both biologists with genes unmodified. So did Jeffreys genes. Jeffrey used to admire his friends and neighbors， who had special appearances and skills， while he was so plain. He was always teased by other children in the kindergarten because of his mediocrity. He had complained that his parents hadnt modified his genes like other parents.

杰弗里一直不知道爸爸为什么这么重视天然的人类基因。他爸爸妈妈都是生物学家，从没做过基因改造。杰弗里也没做过。杰弗里一直很羡慕他的朋友和邻居，因为他们的外貌与众不同，身手非凡，跟他们相比，他是那么不起眼。因为他的平凡，他总是被幼儿园里的其他小孩嘲笑。他曾经跟父母抱怨，为什么他们不像其他父母那样，给他做基因改造。

“Most people had their genes modified nowadays， and pure natural human genes are very rare. We couldnt let natural human genes disappear. Maybe transgenic people are more intelligent， vigorous and beautiful than us， and they are more delicate than us.” It was Olivers reply. But Jeffrey hadnt understood him at all.

“现在大多数人都做基因改造了，未经改造的天然人类基因已经非常稀少了，我们不能让天然的人类基因彻底消失。也许转基因人类比我们更聪明，更强壮，更漂亮，但他们也比我们更加脆弱。”这就是奥利弗的回答，但杰弗里当时完全不理解他。

More than one century ago， when transgenic technology was just applied to human， only a small group of people had their genes modified slightly to root out their genetic diseases. These people were as well as normal human in essence， and these genetic modifications had no side effect for it didnt change natural genes much.

一百多年前，当转基因技术刚刚应用在人类身上时，只有一小部分人利用转基因技术改造少数几个基因，治疗他们的遗传病。这些人在本质上还是普通人，而且这个程度的基因改造也没有什么副作用。

When people found they could improve their constitutions， and have the features and characteristics they wanted by genetic modifying， genetic modifications were widely used to human. Many parents had their childrens genes modified when they were still fertilized eggs so that they wouldnt fall behind at the starting line.

但人们发现他们可以用基因改造技术改善他们的体质，让他们拥有他们想要的外貌和能力之后，基因改造技术开始广泛应用于人类。为了让孩子们不“输在起跑线上”，很多父母当自己的孩子还在母腹中的时候就让他们进行基因改造。

Large number of genetic modifications made people more diversified， but made their genes unstable and easy to mutant， and whats worse， the damage of their DNA couldnt be self-repaired. It often happened that transgenic people had cancer and leukemia caused by ultraviolet light in sunlight and chemical substances in cosmetics ever since decades ago.

大量的基因改造让人们变得更有特点，但也让他们的基因变得不稳定，容易突变，更糟的是，他们的DNA一旦损伤，就无法像普通人类那样自我修复。早在几十年前，就经常有转基因人类被阳光中的紫外线和日用品中的化学物质诱发癌症和白血病。

Whats more， reproductive isolation appeared in transgenic people led to their being prevented from having children with natural people for their genes had changed too much. Therefore， transgenic people had to clone themselves to have children， excepted that they could marry another transgenic person with similar genes， which was like looking for a needle in a haystack. And the rays of solar flare last year caused almost all transgenic people to die of cancer and leukemia.

而且，因为转基因人类已经改变了太多的基因，他们跟普通人类之间已经产生了物种隔阂，无法通婚生育。因此，转基因人类如果想要孩子，只能靠克隆，除非他们能找到跟他们基因相似的对象，但这种可能性比大海捞针还渺茫。去年太阳耀斑爆发产生的射线让几乎所有的转基因人类都死于癌症和白血病。

Thereafter， Jeffreys parents took to learn how to use solar generator， grow vegetables， gain and chickens， angle， and purify the river water for drinking. They began to prepare rations after harvest， load food and drinking water onto their solar motor home， and readied their guns for possible beast of prey.

在那之后，杰弗里的父母开始学习怎么使用太阳能发电机，怎么种蔬菜和粮食，怎么养鸡，怎么钓鱼，怎么把河水净化成饮用水。在收获季之后，他们开始准备行李，把食物和饮用水装上他们的太阳能房车，还带上了枪，以防遇到猛兽。

Oliver often regretted that he started too late to contact others， for internet and telephone system were paralyzed because theres no operator. He tried to broadcast the message about their address by ham radio， yet no reply， and nobody found back.

奥利弗常常后悔没有早点联系其他幸存者，现在网络和电话都不能用了，因为已经没有人在工作。他试着用自制的无线电把他们一家的地址广播出去，但是没有回复，也没有人找过来。

“Dad， where shall we leave home for？ Looking for our old friends and neighbors？”

“爸爸，我们要离家去哪里？去找我们以前的朋友和邻居吗？”

“No. They have left us forever. We are hoping to find some new friends， someone with natural genes like us.”

“不，他们已经永远离开我们了。我们希望可以找到新的朋友，找到一些跟我们一样，天然基因型的人。”

“Where are they？”

“他们在哪里？”

“I dont know. Actually， I dont even know whether there existent， but we must go searching. Maybe you would have grown up by that time. We cant let human extinct.”

“我不知道。其实，我也不知道世界上还有没有天然的人类，但我们必须去找。也许等找到的时候，你已经长大成人了。我们不能让人类灭绝。”

“Shall we go far away？”

“我们要走很远吗？”

“Yes， its a long way to go. We are like survivors drifting on the sea， with the hope of meeting our companions. I wish we could live to find them. Bring your Robinson Crusoe， which I could read you on the journey.”

“是的，这是一段漫长的旅程。我们像海难中的幸存者，在海上漂浮，希望可以遇上我们的同类。我希望我们能活到找到他们的那天。带上你的那本《鲁滨逊漂流记》，我可以在路上给你读。”