時(shí)間的相對(duì)性 The Relativity of Time

林巍

原 文

[1] 時(shí)間，可能是世界上最司空見(jiàn)慣也是最不可思議的事。試想，從無(wú)到有、從生到死，一切都在時(shí)間中演化、發(fā)生。然而，時(shí)間是從哪里來(lái)的，又到哪里去？時(shí)間的本質(zhì)是什么？

[2] 時(shí)間也同萬(wàn)物一樣，如老子所說(shuō)，“天下萬(wàn)物生于有，有生于無(wú)”；“道生一，一生二，二生三，三生萬(wàn)物”；“人法地，地法天，天法道，道法自然”。英國(guó)當(dāng)代科學(xué)家霍金認(rèn)為，時(shí)間是從“宇宙大爆炸”時(shí)才開(kāi)始的，而根據(jù)量子物理學(xué)的研究，時(shí)間最終也要消失。

[3] 在宇宙長(zhǎng)河中，時(shí)間又是匆匆而過(guò)的，對(duì)此古人早有感嘆：如“人生似白駒過(guò)隙”，“君不見(jiàn)，高堂明鏡悲白發(fā)，朝如青絲暮成雪”，“夫天地者，萬(wàn)物之逆旅。光陰者，百代之過(guò)客”，“逝者如斯夫”， “日子匆匆一去不復(fù)返”等等。在春節(jié)晚會(huì)上，一曲《時(shí)間都去哪兒了》更是唱得億萬(wàn)觀眾為之動(dòng)容，感慨萬(wàn)分。

[4] 對(duì)于時(shí)間的衡量，在古代一般是主觀估略的，到了伽利略、牛頓時(shí)代才有了精確的計(jì)算，有了科學(xué)的基礎(chǔ)。然而，二百多年后，愛(ài)因斯坦否定了牛頓，他認(rèn)為時(shí)間具有相對(duì)性，從而使我們對(duì)時(shí)間的本質(zhì)有了更深刻的認(rèn)識(shí)。

[5] “相對(duì)論”似乎很神秘，但愛(ài)因斯坦卻把它解釋得很通俗：當(dāng)你在夏天守著火爐子，待上一分鐘就像過(guò)了一小時(shí)；而在漂亮姑娘身邊，坐了一小時(shí)，卻如一分鐘。

[6] 愛(ài)因斯坦的著名公式E=mc2 ， 精辟地闡釋了物質(zhì)的能量、質(zhì)量和光速的關(guān)系。據(jù)此，時(shí)間與空間和速度是可以互換的，時(shí)間旅行（即生活在過(guò)去）在理論上也成為可能。他認(rèn)為純粹思維足以理解世界，因?yàn)樽匀唤绱嬖谥_的、邏輯上的必然一致性。所以，相對(duì)論使我們對(duì)時(shí)間的認(rèn)識(shí)達(dá)到了新的科學(xué)和人文的高度。

[7] 可見(jiàn)，時(shí)間既是客觀的，又是主觀的；既有共性，又有個(gè)性；既可逝去，也可“挽回”，取決于觀察和理解角度的不同。蘇軾當(dāng)年就感嘆：“蓋將自其變者而觀之，則天地曾不能以一瞬；自其不變者而觀之，則物與我皆無(wú)盡也，而又何羨乎？”。這樣看來(lái)，我們似可不必再感嘆“時(shí)間都去哪兒了？”而應(yīng)坦然道“讓逝去的逝去吧，只要我沒(méi)有后悔！”

譯 文

[1] Time is perhaps the most common and amazing thing in the universe. In the long river of time， everything happens and evolves from nothing to something， from birth to death. What then the nature of time？ Where does it come from and go to？

[2] Like everything else， time is designated. As Lao Zi pointed out， “All things in the cosmos are generated from being and being arises from non-being”； “The Dao produces one， one produces two， two produces three and the three yields everything on earth”； “Man follows the law of the Earth， which takes its law from Heaven. Heaven is begotten from the Dao and the law of Dao is mingled with the cosmos”. Stephen Hawking， the contemporary British scientist， believes that time began with the Big Bang， originating from nothing. However， quantum physics predicts that time will eventually disappear altogether.

[3] Time always flies in the infinite universe. As it is said in Chinese， “Life is as short as watching a ponys shadow passing by a crevice”； “Havent you seen the bright mirror in Center Hall / Grieving your transient hair， which turned grey from black within a day！” “Concerning heaven and earth， they are nothing more than a temporary inn accommodating all creatures； as regards passing time， it is nothing more than an ephemeral period during which a hundred generations passed”； “Our days leave us never to return”. Also， a song called “Where has time gone？” sung at last years Spring Festival Gala moved billions of listeners since it touched public emotion.

[4] Time was generally measured as a subjective evaluation and time measurement did not become rigid determinism until the age of Galileo and Newton， laying the foundation for science. Two hundred or so years later， however， Einstein revolutionized Newtons idea concerning time by theorizing relativity， and giving us a deeper insight into the essence of time.

[5] The seemingly complicated theory of relativity was once explained by Einstein in such a simple way： if you were taken to a furnace room in summer for a minute it may seem an hour； while seating with a pretty girl， an hour passes as a minute.

[6] Based on Einsteins famous formula E=mc2， which clearly elaborates the relations between energy， mass and speed of light， it is possible to exchange time with space and speed and， theoretically， travel in time （namely “l(fā)ive in the past”）. Einstein believed that pure thought is competent enough to comprehend the world， since there is after all mathematical and logical consistency in nature. Surely， the theory of relativity has culminated in our understanding to a new point where science and humanity are integrated.

[7] Time， therefore， can be understood as something that incorporates components which are simultaneously subjective and objective； general and personal； usable and redeemable， depending on the perspective from which the issue is being approached. Su Shi （1037—1101）， the well-known poet in the Song Dynasty， realized that “Perceived through the eyes of transformation， everything in the world changes in a transient period shorter than the blink of an eyelid； when seen through the eyes of consistency， however， everyone and everything is blessed with immortality. Why then should we be envious of things？” In this way， we may not have to sigh “where has time gone？” so long as there is nothing to be regretted as time goes by.

譯 注

在[3]中，“時(shí)間又是匆匆而過(guò)的”是指時(shí)間在各種文化中的重要性，如法國(guó)物理學(xué)家伯納德·德帕尼亞（DEspagnat， B）所說(shuō)，Time is at the heart of all that is important to human beings.（時(shí)間對(duì)于人類至關(guān)重要）；而就其中所引古文而言，“白駒過(guò)隙”這種中國(guó)式表達(dá)似乎不常用，但在不同的英文語(yǔ)境中仍會(huì)找到許多不同表述，如time flies / time has a fleeting appearance / all in the blink of an eye / life may happen so fast / the time will pass quickly / time such as fleeting / life is fleeting like the short / life like the flash of a jumping dolphin / time disappears in a flash / the world is like a fleeting show 等等，而對(duì)于該文的出處，“人生天地間，若白駒過(guò)隙，忽然而已”（莊子語(yǔ)），似可譯成 Life between heaven and earth， if fleeting， suddenly，但從更為客觀的角度，不妨更多些原汁原味：Life is as short as watching a ponys shadow passing by a crevice。對(duì)于李白的兩句名詩(shī)，歷來(lái)有著不同的解讀和翻譯，如Do you not see the mirrors bright in chambers high / Grieve oer your snow-white hair though once it was silk-black？（許淵沖）；You look into the mirror， bright / Finding to your surprise / In the morning your hair is silk black / But in the evening it turns snow-white？（張炳星）；Dont you see， in the hall the mirror is saddened / By the grey hair？ / Young and dark at dawn， but at dusk snowy！（朱純深）等。同時(shí)，“唱得億萬(wàn)觀眾為之動(dòng)容，感慨萬(wàn)分”，在此體現(xiàn)的是人們對(duì)于時(shí)間概念飽帶感情的主觀體驗(yàn)，是一種“意識(shí)時(shí)間”，因而用了touches public emotion。

在[4]中，“愛(ài)因斯坦否定了牛頓”，其中的“否定”不宜簡(jiǎn)單地為deny， refuse， reject， rebuff 等，而是用了 revolutionized，其意主要為fill with revolutionary ideas， inspirational breakthrough，如 Over the past 20 years or so the Internet has revolutionized the way we live. （在過(guò)去20多年里，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)完全改變了我們的生活方式）； Charles Darwins theories of evolution have revolutionized the way mankind understands its origin.（查爾斯·達(dá)爾文的進(jìn)化理論已經(jīng)徹底改變了人類對(duì)自身起源的理解）等。

在[7]中，涉及時(shí)間的主客觀性，澳大利亞物理學(xué)家保羅·戴維斯對(duì)此做過(guò)進(jìn)一步的探究：The flow of time： mind or matter？ In my opinion， the greatest outstanding riddle concerns the glaring mismatch between physical time and subjective， or psychological， time. Experiments on human time perception are in their infancy； we have much to learn about the way the brain represents time， and how that relates to our sense of free will. The overwhelming impression of a flowing， moving time， perhaps acquired through a mental “back door，” is a very deep mystery. Is it connected with quantum processes in the brain？ [時(shí)間的流逝，究竟是精神的，還是物質(zhì)的？我以為，最大的謎團(tuán)在于物理時(shí)間與主觀時(shí)間 （或“心理時(shí)間”）之間的錯(cuò)位，而我們對(duì)于人類感受時(shí)間的試驗(yàn)仍在初級(jí)階段，對(duì)于大腦如何反映時(shí)間，如何與我們的自由意愿相關(guān)聯(lián)，還須做大量研究。或許，需要在智力上“另辟蹊徑”方可應(yīng)對(duì)我們關(guān)于時(shí)間變化的強(qiáng)烈印象？然而，這仍是個(gè)偌大的謎；或許，時(shí)間之流與大腦的量子之流有關(guān)？]美國(guó)作家金·哈伯德（Kin Hubbard）也說(shuō)，Bees are not as busy as we think they are. They just cant buzz any slower.（蜜蜂并沒(méi)有我們想象得那么忙碌；它們不過(guò)是不能飛得慢些而已）。

然而，此文畢竟不是科學(xué)論著，故重點(diǎn)在于探討人對(duì)于時(shí)間的感受，而對(duì)此蘇軾的名句恰有吻合。對(duì)于“自其變者而觀之”的“變”，一般容易譯成change， 但如前所述，鑒于此處“漫長(zhǎng)演化”的語(yǔ)境，故以transformation 為宜；“曾不能以一瞬”，若譯成can hardly be the same for a moment / an instant moment 等未嘗不可，但考慮到該句的具體人文體驗(yàn)，故以in a transient period shorter than the blink of an eyelid更有實(shí)感；“自其不變者”，譯成 from the prospect of the unchanged / stability，便略顯呆滯，而考慮到宇宙之大、時(shí)間亙古，不妨用constancy / consistency 等；“物與我皆無(wú)盡”，可有多種譯法，如both physical and spiritual things are eternal / everything cannot be exhausted both materially and mentally / everything in this world， including humanity， will be lasting forever 等，然而，出于人的“意識(shí)時(shí)間”，此處不宜譯得過(guò)實(shí)，而不妨有幾分超脫，為everyone and everything is blessed with immortality。