Jonathan Seagull spent the rest of his days alone, but he flew way out beyond the Far Cliffs. His one sorrow was not solitude, it was that other gulls refused to believe the glory of flight that awaited them; they refused to open their eyes and see. He learned more each day. He learned that a streamlined high-speed dive could bring him to find the rare and tasty fish that schooled ten feet below the surface of the ocean: he no longer needed Fishing boats and stale bread for survival. He learned to sleep in the air, setting a course at night across the offshore wind, covering a hundred miles from sunset to sunrise. With the same inner control, he flew through heavy sea-fogs and climbed above them into dazzling clear skies... in the very times when every other gull stood on the ground, knowing nothing but mist and rain. He learned to ride the high winds far inland, to dine there on delicate insects.
乔纳森飞到远崖的尽头，独自度过了以后的几天。使他痛苦的倒不是孤独，而是其他海鸥不肯相信飞行的光荣在等待他们。他们不肯好好地听一听，看一看。他每天学到更多的东西。他发现，流线型高速疾降，可以找到在海面十英尺以下游来游去的稀有的美味鱼群。这样他就不需要靠渔船和陈面包过活了。他学会在空中睡觉，乘着从海岸上吹来的风，作夜间飞行，从日出到日落飞行一百英里。他以同样的内在控制力，穿越海上的浓雾。冲向云霄，进入光辉耀眼的 晴空而在同一时刻，其他海鸥却都站在地上，只看到雾和雨。他学会乘着狂风深入内陆，以味美的昆虫为食。
What he had once hoped for the Flock, he now gained for himself alone; he learned to fly, and was not sorry for the price that he had paid. Jonathan Seagull discovered that boredom and fear and anger are the reasons that a gull’s life is so short, and with these gone from his thought, he lived a long fine life indeed.
本来他希望鸥群共享的一切，现在他只好单独享受了。他学习飞行，丝毫不为自己付出的巨大代价感到惋惜。乔纳森发现，烦躁、恐惧和愤怒是使海鸥们短命的原因，一旦把这些从思想中驱走，就能真正活得长，活得好。
They came in the evening, then, and found Jonathan gliding peaceful and alone through his beloved sky. The two gulls that appeared at his wings were pure as starlight, and the glow from them was gentle and friendly in the high night air. But most lovely of all was the skill with which they flew, their wingtips moving a precise and constant inch from his own.
他们是在黄昏时分来到的，看见乔纳森正安安静静地独自在他热爱的天空中滑翔。他们在乔纳森两侧出现，是两只羽翼像星光一样灿烂的海鸥，从他们身上发出的光辉在高高的夜空中显得十分柔和、亲切。但是最可爱的还是他们的飞行技术，他们的翼梢始终极精确地与乔纳森的翼梢保持着一英寸距离。
Without a word, Jonathan put them to his test, a test that no gull had ever passed. He twisted his wings, slowed to a single mile per hour above stall. The two radiant birds slowed with him, smoothly, locked in position. They knew about slow flying.
乔纳森不动声色地考了他们一下。从来没有一只海鸥考及格过。他弯曲双翅，速度慢到每小时一英里，只差一点就要失去平衡。这两只晶莹的鸟儿与他一同放慢速度，飞得很平稳，始终保持着原来的位置。他们懂得如何慢飞。
He folded his wings, rolled and dropped in a dive to a hundred ninety miles per hour. They dropped with him, streaking down in flawless formation.
紧翅膀，翻滚着，以一百九十英里的时速疾降。他们紧跟着他下降，没有改变一点点队形。
At last he turned that speed straight up into a long vertical slow-roll. They rolled with him, smiling.
最后他改变速度，来一个长时间的垂直慢滚。他们跟着他滚，脸上露出笑容。
He recovered to level flight and was quiet for a time before he spoke. “Very well,” he said, “who are you?”
他恢复水平飞行，沉默片刻后才开口。“很好，”他说，“你们是谁？”
“We’re from your Flock, Jonathan. We are your brothers.” The words were strong and calm. “We’ve come to take you higher, to take you Home.”
“我们来自你的鸥群，乔纳森。我们是你的兄弟”这些话说得既平静又有力。“我们要带你到更高的地方去，带你回家。”
“Home I have none. Flock I have none. I am Outcast. And we fly now at the peak of the Great Mountain Wind. Beyond a few hundred feet, I can lift this old body no higher.”
“家，我没有家。我也没有群，我是个弃儿，我们现在是在大山风之顶飞行。我这身老骨头只能再飞几百英尺，就不能飞得更高了……”
“But you can Jonathan. For you have learned. One school is finished, and the time has come for another to begin.”
“乔纳森，你能飞得更高，你已经进行了学习。一个阶段学完了，现在该开始另一阶段了。”
As it had shined across him all his life, so understanding lighted that moment for Jonathan Seagull. They were right. He could fly higher, and it was time to go Home.
一生照耀着乔纳森的智慧之光，这时马上放出光芒。他们说得对，他能够飞得更高，现在是回家的时候了。
He gave one last look across the sky, across that magnificent silver land where he had learned so much.
他朝天空望了最后一眼，在这个壮丽的银色世界里，他学到了多少东西啊。
“I’m ready “ he said at last.
“我准备好了。”他终于说。
And Jonathan Livingston Seagull rose with the two starbright gulls to disappear into a perfect dark sky.
于是乔纳森?利文斯顿与这两只晶莹的海鸥一同上升，消失在另一个漆黑的天空里。
Part Two
第二部
So this is heaven, he thought, and he had to smile at himself. It was hardly respectful to analyze heaven in the very moment that one flies up to enter it.
原来这就是天堂，他心里想，不禁暗自好笑。一飞过天堂，马上就对它进行猜度，似乎太不尊敬了
As he came from Earth now, above the clouds and in close formation with the two brilliant gulls, he saw that his own body was growing as bright as theirs. True, the same young Jonathan Seagull was there that had always lived behind his golden eyes, but the outer form had changed.
他从尘世飞升来到这里，与这两只光辉的海鸥紧紧排成行列。一同穿过云层。这会儿他发现自己的身体也和他们一样变成晶莹的了。的确，他的生活一向比他的金色眼睛看到的要更丰富，但还是这个年轻的乔纳森，现在连外貌也改变啦。
It felt like a seagull body, but alreadv it flew far better than his old one had ever flown. Why, with half the effort, he thought, I’ll get twice the speed, twice the performance of my best days on Earth!
身上的感觉还像只海鸥，但飞起来已和过去大不相同。他想：真怪，只要费一半力气，我的速度就比过去快了一倍。我的成就比在尘世最美好的日子翻了一番。
]
His feathers glowed brilliant white now, and his wings were smooth and perfect as sheets of polished silver. He began, delightedly, to learn about them, to press power into these new wings.
现在他的羽毛闪着灿烂的白光，双翅像磨光的银片那样平滑、完美。他满心喜悦，开始揣摩自己翅膀的功能，要把力量使到这一对新的翅膀上去。
At two hundred fifty miles per hour he felt that he was nearing his level-flight maximum speed. At two hundred seventy-three he thought that he was flying as fast as he could fly, and he was ever so faintly disappointed. There was a limit to how much the new body could do, and though it was much faster than his old level-flight record, it was still a limit that would take great effort to crack. In heaven, he thought, there should be no limits.
到了时速二百五十英里，他觉得已经接近水平飞行的最高速度。到了时速二百七十三英里，他认为已经决得不能再快了。他不免略微有点失望。想不到这个新躯体也会有力所不能及。尽管已经远远超过了过去的水平飞行纪录，但毕竟还是有限的速度，要超出过限度，还得再花一番功夫。他想，在天堂，应当什么都是无限的。
The clouds broke apart, his escorts called, “Happy landings, Jonathan,” and vanished into thin air.
云散了，他的向导们喊了声“祝你顺利着陆，乔纳森！”就消失在稀薄的大气中
He was flying over a sea, toward a jagged shoreline. A very few seagulls were working the updrafts on the cliffs. Away off to the north, at the horizon itself, flew a few others. New sights, new thoughts, new questions. Why so few gulls? Heaven should be flocked with gulls! And why am I so tired, all at once? Gulls in heaven are never supposed to be tired, or to sleep.
他越过一片大海，向弯弯曲曲的海岸线飞去。海边峭壁上，寥寥几只海鸥正在向上奋飞。北方远处，在地平线上，另有几只海鸥在翱翔。新的景象，新的思想，新的问题。为什么只有这么几只海鸥？天堂里应该到处是鸥群才是！我怎么一下子感到这样累？天堂里的海鸥应该永远不感到累，也永远不睡觉才是。
Where had he heard that? The memory of his life on Earth was falling away. Earth had been a place where he had learned much, of course, but the details were blurred - something about fighting for food, and being Outcast.
他从哪儿听到过这一切的？他对尘世生活的记忆已经开始淡薄了。当然，在尘世那个地方，他学会了不少东西，不过一切细节已经很模糊了——又仿佛记得为觅食而飞行，自己成了弃儿。
The dozen gulls by the shoreline came to meet him, none saying a word. He felt only that he was welcome and that this was Home. It had been a big day for him, a day whose sunrise he no longer remembered.
岸边有十几只海鸥飞过来迎接他，但谁都没吭声。他只觉得自己受到了欢迎，这儿是他的家。这天是他的一个重要日子，不过他已经记不得这天的黎明是什么时候开始的了。
He turned to land on the beach, beating his wings to stop an inch in the air, then dropping lightly to the sand, The other gulls landed too, but not one of them so much as flapped a feather. They swung into the wind, bright wings outstretched, then somehow they changed the curve of their feathers until they had stopped in the same instant their feet touched the ground. It was beautiful control, but now Jonathan was just too tired to try it. Standing there on the beach, still without a word spoken, he was asleep.
他转身准备在海滩上着陆，先挥动两翼，在空中停口片刻，然后轻轻落在沙滩上。其他海鸥也降落下来，但他们中间谁也没有挥动一根羽毛。他们迎风飞翔，展开亮晶晶的翅膀，后来不知怎的把羽毛的弯曲度一变，就降落下来，同时两脚着地。掌握得真是太棒了。但乔纳森这时实在太累，一点也不想跟着学了。他站在沙滩上，依旧一声不吭，一会儿就睡着了。
In the days that followed, Jonathan saw that there was as much to learn about flight in this place as there had been in the life behind him. But with a difference. Here were gulls who thought as he thought, for each of them, the most important thing in living was to reach out and touch perfection in that which they most loved to do, and that was to fly. They were magnificent birds, all of them, and they spent hour after hour every day practicing flight, testing advanced aeronautics.
以后几天，乔纳森发现，这里也和他过去那段生活一样，在飞行方面有不少东西要学。所不同的是，这里的海鸥与他有共同的思想。对他们每一个来说，生活中最重要的一点，就是尽量发挥自己的潜能，把最喜欢的事做得尽善尽美，那就是飞行。他们全是了不起的鸟儿，每天无时无刻不在练习飞行，试验各种高级特技。
For a long time Jonathan forgot about the world that he had come from, that place where the Flock lived with its eyes tightly shut to the joy of flight, using its wings as means to the end of finding and fighting for food. But now and then, just for a moment, he remembered.
有很长的一段时间，乔纳森忘掉了他来自的那个世界，忘掉了那个鸥群栖居的地方，忘掉了他的那些同胞，他们看不到飞行的乐趣，只知道把双翅当作寻找和争夺食物的工具。但偶尔他也想起过去，虽然只是片刻工夫。
He remembered it one morning when he was out with his instructor, while they rested on the beach after a session of folded-wing snap rolls.
一天早晨，他与他的导师们一同外出，练习完一连串收翼快滚之后，在海滩上歇息，他忽然想起了过去。
“Where is everybody, Sullivan?” he asked silently, quite at Home now with the easy telepathy that these gulls used instead of screes and gracks. “Why aren’t there more of us here? Why, where I came from there were.. “
“他们都在哪儿呢，苏利万？”他不出声地问。现在他已经习惯了这些海鸥以心传心的简便交谈方式，用不着尖声嚎叫了。“为什么没有我们更多的同胞在这儿？呃，在我的家乡，有……”
“... thousands and thousands of gulls. I know. “ Sullivan shook his head. “The only answer I can see, Jonathan, is that you are pretty well a one-in-a-million bird. Most of us came along ever so slowly. We went from one world into another that was almost exactly like it, forgetting right away where we had come from, not caring where we were headed, living for the moment. Do you have any idea how many lives we must have gone through before we even got the first idea that there is more to life than eating, or fighting, or power in the Flock? A thousand lives, Jon, ten thousand! And then another hundred lives until we began to learn that there is such a thing as perfection, and another hundred again to get the idea that our purpose for living is to find that perfection and show it forth. The same rule holds for us now, of course: we choose our next world through what we learn in this one. Learn nothing, and the next world is the same as this one, all the same limitations and lead weights to overcome.”
“……有成千上万只海鸥。我知道。”苏利万摇了摇头。“我能想到的唯一答案，乔纳森，就是你是万里挑一的好鸟儿。我们中间大多数都学得太慢。我们从一个世界进入另一个几乎完全相同的世界，马上就忘了我们是从哪儿来的，也不在乎我们要往哪儿去，只想到现在活着的这一刻。你知道不知道，要领悟生活中有比吃喝、打架、争夺权势更重要的事，我们得经历多少世吗？乔，要经过千世、万世呢！然后再经过百世，才能领悟世上有所谓“尽善尽美”。然后，再经过百世，才能认识到我们生活的目的是去寻找尽善尽美并使之实现。当然啦，这个规律现在还对我们适用：我们是根据这个世界上学到的东西去选择另一个世界的。如果学不到什么，那么另一个世界也会像这个世界一样，你会遇到同样的局限和困难。”
He stretched his wings and turned to face the wind. “But you, Jon,” he said, “learned so much at one time that you didn’t have to go through a thousand lives to reach this one.”
他展开翅膀，转身迎着海风。“可是你，乔，”他说，“一下子就学了这么多，你用不着经历千世就到达了这个世界。”
In a moment they were airborne again, practicing. The formation point-roils were difficult, for through the inverted half Jonathan had to think upside down, reversing the curve of his wing, and reversing it exactly in harmony with his instructor’s.
一会儿，他们又在天空练习飞行了。列队定点翻滚是很难学的，因为在倒转时，乔纳森得头朝下、脚朝上倒过身子思考问题，同时还要把翅膀倒弯过来，而且要弯得恰到好处，倒好与他的导师一致。
“Let’s try it again.” Sullivan said over and over: “Let’s try it again.” Then, finally, “Good.” And they began practicing outside loops.
“咱们再练一遍，”苏利万说，说了一遍支一遍，“咱们再练一遍。”最后说了声“好”。随后他们又开始练习外圈翻飞了。
One evening the gulls that were not night-flying stood together on the sand, thinking. Jonathan took all his courage in hand and walked to the Elder Gull, who, it was said, was soon to be moving beyond this world. “Chiang...” he said a little nervously.
一天傍晚，那些没去夜间飞行的海鸥都一起站在沙滩上默默沉思。乔纳森鼓起勇气，走到海鸥长者跟前，据说这只海鸥不久就要离开这个世界了。“江……”他开口了，有点紧张。
The old seagull looked at him kindly. “Yes, my son?” Instead of being enfeebled by age, the Elder had been empowered by it; he could outfly any gull in the Flock, and he had learned skills that the others were only gradually coming to know.
这只老海鸥慈祥地望着他。“嗯，我的孩子！”年龄并没使长者衰弱，反而使他更有力量了，他能比鸥群中任何一个都飞得快，他学会的本领，其他海鸥还只能一点一滴地慢慢理解呢。
“Chiang, this world isn’t heaven at all, is it?”
“江，这个世界根本不是天堂，对不对？”
The Elder smiled in the moonlight. “You are learning again, Jonathan Seagull,” he said.
长者在月光下微微一笑。“你又学到了一点，乔纳森，”他说。
“Well, what happens from here? Where are we going? Is there no such place as heaven?”
“那么，离开了这里，又会怎么样呢？我们要到哪儿去？难道没有天堂这么个地方吗？”
“No, Jonathan, there is no such place. Heaven is not a place, and it is not a time. Heaven is being perfect.” He was silent for a moment. “You are a very fast flier, aren’t you?”
“对，乔纳森，没有这么个地方。天堂不是空间，也不是时间。天堂就是尽善尽美。”他沉默了片刻。“你飞得很快，对不对？”
“I... I enjoy speed,” Jonathan said, taken aback but proud that the Elder had noticed.
我…我对速度感兴趣。”乔纳森说，吃了一惊，但又感到骄傲，因为长者已经注意到他。
“You will begin to touch heaven, Jonathan, in the moment that you touch perfect speed. And that isn’t flying a thousand miles an hour, or a million, or flying at the speed of light. Because any number is a limit, and perfection doesn’t have limits. Perfect speed, my son, is being there.”
“乔纳森，你一达到尽善尽美的速度，也就开始到达了天堂。那并不是说飞行的速度要达到一千英里，或者一百万英里，或者达到光速。因为任何数字都是有限的、而尽善尽美是无限的。尽善尽美的速度，孩子，就是要那样。”
Without warning, Chiang vanished and appeared at the water’s edge fifty feet away, all in the flicker of an instant. Then he vanished again and stood, in the same millisecond, at Jonathan’s shoulder. “It’s kind of fun,” he said.
江一点不露声色，一闪身就不见了，跟着就在五十英尺以外的水边出现，就那么一刹那工夫。跟着他又不见了，不到千分之一秒，他又站在乔纳森肩旁。“这是闹着玩儿。”他说。
Jonathan was dazzled. He forgot to ask about heaven. “How do you do that? What does it feel like? How far can you go?”
乔纳森有点晕头转向了。他都忘了打听天堂。“你怎么作的？有什么感觉？你能飞多远？”
“You can go to any place and to any time that you wish to go,” the Elder said. “I’ve gone everywhere and everywhen I can think of.” He looked across the sea. “It’s strange. The gulls who scorn perfection for the sake of travel go nowhere, slowly. Those who put aside travel for the sake of perfection go anywhere, instantly. Remember, Jonathan, heaven isn’t a place or a time, because place and time are so very meaningless. Heaven is...”
“你想飞多远、多快，都随你的便。”长者说，“我想去哪儿，想飞多快，只要一转念就成。”他向大海彼岸望去。“真奇怪。那些藐视尽善尽美，光想旅行的海鸥，速度极慢，哪儿也去不成。而那些把旅行置之度外，只求达到尽善尽美的海鸥，却速度极快，想去哪儿就去哪儿。记住，乔纳森，天堂不是时间也不是空间，因为时间和空间都是那么没有意义。天堂是……”
“Can you teach me to fly like that?” Jonathan Seagull trembled to conquer another unknown.
“你能教我那样飞吗？”海鸥乔纳森浑身发抖，急于征服另一个未知世界。
“Of course if you wish to learn.”
“当然可以，只要你想学。”
“I wish. When can we start?”.
“我想学。咱们什么时候开始？”
“We could start now if you’d like.”
“你要是愿意，现在就可以开始。”
“I want to learn to fly like that,” Jonathan said and a strange light glowed in his eyes. “Tell me what to do.”
“我想学会那样飞行。”乔纳森说，眼睛里闪耀一股奇异的光彩。“告诉我怎么做吧。”
Chiang spoke slowly and watched the younger gull ever so carefully. “To fly as fast as thought, to anywhere that is,” he said, “you must begin by knowing that you have already arrived ...”
江讲得很慢，眼睛盯着这只年轻的海鸥细细观察。“要飞得像思想一样快，要飞到任何想去的地方，”他说，“那你必须首先觉得自己已经到了那儿……”
The trick, according to Chiang, was for Jonathan to stop seeing himself as trapped inside a limited body that had a forty-two inch wingspan and performance that could be plotted on a chart. The trick was to know that his true nature lived, as perfect as an unwritten number, everywhere at once across space and time.
照江的说法，秘诀是：乔纳森别再把自己局限在一个有限的躯体之中，这个躯体有一对四十二英寸长的翅膀，它的活动可以在航海地图上标出来。秘诀在于懂得自己的本性，尽善尽美得像一个没有写出来的数字，它超越时间和空间，无处不在。
Jonathan kept at it, fiercely, day after day, from before sunrise till past midnight. And for all his effort he moved not a feather width from his spot.
乔纳森天天照着这个嘱咐拼命做去，从黎明前直到深夜后。但尽管他尽了最大的努力，却依旧留在原地，没有移动丝毫。
“Forget about faith!” Chiang said it time and again. “You didn’t need faith to fly, you needed to understand flying. This is just the same. Now try again ...”
“把信心丢在脑后！”江一再说。“飞行用不着信心，只需要领悟什么是飞行。它们完全是一码事。再试试看……”
Then one day Jonathan, standing on the shore, closing his eyes, concentrating, all in a flash knew what Chiang had been telling him. “Why, that’s true! I am a perfect, unlimited gull!” He felt a great shock of joy.
有一天，乔纳森站在岸上，闭着眼睛，集中精力，一瞬间领悟了江一向说的道理。“噢，说得对呀！我是一只尽善尽美的、没有局限的海鸥！”他真是欣喜若狂了。
“Good!” said Chiang and there was victory in his voice.
“对！”江说，声音里充满了胜利的喜
Jonathan opened his eyes. He stood alone with the Elder on a totally different seashore - trees down to the water’s edge, twin yellow suns turning overhead.
乔纳森睁眼一看。原来他单独和长者站在一个全然不同的岸上，这里树木一直长到水边，两个金色的太阳在头顶上空转动。
“At last you’ve got the idea,” Chiang said, “but your control needs a little work... “
“你到底领悟了，”江说，“可你想要控制得好，还得下番功夫…
Jonathan was stunned. “Where are we?”
乔纳森愣住了。“咱们是在哪儿？”。
Utterly unimpressed with the strange surroundings, the Elder brushed the question aside. “We’re on some planet, obviously, with a green sky and a double star for a sun.”
长者对于周围这片奇异的景象无动于衷，轻描淡写神地把这问题撇在一边。“显然我们是在某个星球上，有绿色的天空和两颗星星代替太阳。”
Jonathan made a scree of delight, the first sound he had made since he had left Earth. “IT WORKS!”
乔纳森高兴得叫了一声，这是他离开尘世以后发出的第一个声音。“成功了！”
“Well, of course, it works, Jon.” said Chiang. “It always works, when you know what you’re doing. Now about your control...”
“唔，乔，当然会成功。”江说，“只要你懂得自己在做什么，就一定会成功。再谈谈怎么控制吧…”
By the time they returned, it was dark. The other gulls looked at Jonathan with awe in their golden eyes, for they had seen him disappear from where he had been rooted for so long.
他们回来的时候，天已黑了。其他的海鸥盯着乔纳森，金色的眼睛里流露出敬畏的神情，因为他们都亲眼看见他先是生根似地在那个地方呆了那么久，又突然一下子不见影踪的。
He stood their congratulations for less than a minute. “I’m the newcomer here! I’m just beginning! It is I who must learn from you!”
他们的祝贺他勉强听了不到一分钟。“我是新来的！我才刚刚开始学！是我应该向你们学习！”
“I wonder about that, Jon,” said Sullivan standing near. “You have less fear of learning than any gull I’ve seen in ten thousand years. “The Flock fell silent, and Jonathan fidgeted in embarrassment.
“乔，不见得吧，”站在近旁的苏利万说，“一万年里，我都没见过你这样不怕学习的海鸥。”鸥群安静下来，乔纳森感到很窘，不知所措。
“We can start working with time if you wish,” Chiang said, “till you can fly the past and the future. And then you will be ready to begin the most difficult, the most powerful, the most fun of all. You will be ready to begin to fly up and know the meaning of kindness and of love.”
“你要是愿意，我们可以先在时间上下功夫。”江说，“先学飞向过去和未来。然后你可以开始最困难、最有威力、也是最有趣的一课。你就可以开始往上飞，理解仁慈和爱的意义。”
A month went by, or something that felt about like a month, and Jonathan learned at a tremendous rate. He always had learned quickly from ordinary experience, and now, the special student of the Elder Himself, he took in new ideas like a streamlined feathered computer.
一个月过去了，或者说好像觉得一个月过去了，乔纳森进步神速。过去从一般经验学，他的进步一向很快，现在作为长者的得意学生，他接受新思想的能力，就像一架羽毛做的流线型计算机。
