2026年8月：细雨将至.docVIP

2026年8月：细雨将至雷?布拉德伯里（Ray Bradbury，1920―2012），世界公认的科幻大师，曾获世界奇幻文学协会终生成就奖、美国科幻小说作家协会大师奖等众多奖项。布拉德伯里一生创作了数百篇短篇小说，出版近五十本书，还写了大量的诗歌、随笔、歌剧、戏剧、影视剧本。《2026年8月：细雨将至》是布拉德伯里的经典短篇科幻故事集《火星纪事》（The Martian Chronicles）的其中一篇，讲述了在2026年8月的一天，一座自动化房子从井然有序走向灭亡的故事。房子里空无一人，房子却如常发出指令，按照固定程序为早已不复存在的主人服务，而房子最后也消亡在一场大火中。通过故事的各种细节描写，读者会发现一个可怕的事实：人类已经在一场核战争中灭亡了。该故事写于1950年，当时二战才结束不久，美国在日本投放的两颗原子弹的威力给世人留下了可怕的印象。作者通过这个故事告诫人类要警惕核战争，并讽刺了人类对于科技的过度依赖。本期节选了该故事的前半部分，让我们一起来细细品读。August 2026： There Will Come Soft RainsIn the living room the voice-clock sang， Tick-tock， seven o’clock， time to get up， time to get up， seven o’clock！ as if it were afraid that nobody would. The morning house lay empty. The clock ticked on， repeating and repeating its sounds into the emptiness. Seven-nine， breakfast time， seven-nine！In the kitchen the breakfast stove gave a hissing sigh and 1）ejected from its warm interior eight pieces of perfectly browned toast， eight eggs sunnyside up， sixteen slices of bacon， two coffees， and two cool glasses of milk.“Today is August 4， 2026，” said a second voice from the kitchen ceiling， “in the city of Allendale， California.”It repeated the date three times for memory’s sake. “Today is Mr. Featherstone’s birthday. Today is the anniversary of Tilita’s marriage. Insurance is payable， as are the water， gas， and light bills.”Somewhere in the walls， 2）relays clicked， memory tapes glided under electric eyes.Eight-one， tick-tock， eight-one o’clock， off to school， off to work， run， run， eight-one！ But no doors slammed， no carpets took the soft 3）tread of rubber heels. It was raining outside. The weather box on the front door sang quietly：“Rain， rain， go away； rubbers， raincoats for today…”And the rain tapped on the empty house， echoing. Outside， the garage 4）chimed and lifted its door to reveal the waiting car. After a long while the door swung down again.At eight-thirty the eggs were 5）shriveled and the toast was like stone. An aluminum wedge 6）scraped them into the sink， where hot water whirled them