双语畅销书《艾伦图灵传》第3章:思考什么是思考(6)

Mrs Turing had also written:

图灵夫人也写信说：

Dear Mrs Morcom,

亲爱的默卡夫人，

Alan got home last night looking so well and happy – He loved his time with you but specially precious to him was the visit to the Clockhouse: he went off to Town today to see someone but he said he would tell me of that part another day – and I knew he meant that it was an experience quite apart. We've had no real talk yet but I am sure it has helped him to exchange memories with you and he is treasuring with the tenderness of a woman the pencils and the beautiful star map and other souvenirs you gave him.…

艾伦昨晚回到家，看上去精神很好，很高兴他喜欢和你在一起的时间，参观钟屋对他来说是特别珍贵的经历。他今天去城里看望别人，说改天再给我讲钟屋的故事，我知道，这意味着那肯定是很难忘的故事。我们还没好好聊过，但我敢肯定，和你在一起，会慰籍他的记忆。他很珍惜那些铅笔和星图，还有你给他的其它东西……

I hope you won't think it an impertinence – but after our talk and your telling me how true to his name Chris was – and I believe is – in helping the weak – I thought how beautiful it would be to have a panel in his memory of S. Christopher in the School Chapel – a panel of your doing, and what an inspiration it would be for the boys who are so reminded that there are the followers of S. Christopher today and that genius and humble service can go hand in hand as in Chris.…

希望我这样说不会唐突：在我们聊天之后，我知道克里斯是一个非常乐于助人的人。我想，如果在学校教堂捐一块纪念牌“圣·克里斯朵夫”，摆上“圣·克里斯朵夫”的鲜花，激励以后的男孩们，鼓舞他们努力前行，这将是最好的对克里斯的怀念。他那些卓越而谦逊的故事，会不断地传承下去……

Mrs Morcom had already put into effect a similar idea. She had commissioned a stained-glass window of St Christopher – not however for Sherborne, but for their parish church at Catshill. Nor was it the 'humble service' of Mrs Turing that it was to express, but the life that went on. Back at school, Alan wrote to Mrs Morcom:

默卡夫人也有类似的想法。她捐了一个彩色窗户“圣·克里斯朵夫”，但不是给舍尔伯尼，而是给凯特西尔的教区教堂。她不是为了传递“卓越而谦逊的故事”，她是想借此表达，生命仍在延续。回到学校，艾伦写作给默卡夫人：

… I am hoping to do as well as Chris in the Higher Certificate this term. I often think about how like I am to Chris in a few ways through which we became real friends, and wonder if I am left to do something that he has been called away from.

这学期有高等认证考试，我希望我能考得像克里斯一样好。我经常想念他，想念我有多么喜欢他，我们是真正的好朋友。他走了，而我却留在世上，我必须得做些什么。

Mrs Morcom had also called upon Alan to help choose books for the school prizes that Christopher was posthumously to receive:

默卡夫人还看望艾伦，让他帮忙推荐一些克里斯喜欢的书。她将为舍尔伯尼捐助一个奖励基金，她想知道，克里斯喜欢什么书：

I think Chris would almost certainly have got The Nature of the Physical World (Eddington) and The Universe around us (Jeans) for the Digby prize and possibly one of The Internal Constitution of the Stars (Eddington), Astronomy and Cosmogony (Jeans). I think you would like The Nature of the Physical World.

我想，克里斯应该从迪比奖中得到了《物理世界的本质》（爱丁顿）和《我们身边的宇宙》（简）两本书，可能还有《恒星的内部结构》（爱丁顿）和《天文学与天体演化学》（简）中的一本。我推荐《物理世界的本质》。

The Morcom family endowed a new prize at Sherborne, a science prize to be awarded for work which included an element of originality. Alan had plodded on with the iodate experiment, and now he undertook to write it up for the prize. Christopher it was, even from the grave, who induced him to communicate and to compete. He wrote to his mother:

默卡资助的基金，将奖励给富有创造性的工作。艾伦一直孜孜不倦地研究碘实验，现在他开始着手把它们写下来，准备申请这个奖项。冥冥之中，他觉得克里斯朵夫仿佛在通过心灵感应在与他竞争。他给他母亲写道：

… I have just written to a Mellor the author of a Chemistry book to see if he can give me a reference about the experiment I was doing in the summer last year. Rupert said he would look it up in Zurich if I could get him a reference. It's annoying I couldn't get hold of anything before.

……我刚给一本化学书的作者米勒写了一封信，想问他能否给我一些关于我去年夏天做的实验的资料。拉普特说，如果米勒肯给，他可以帮我去苏黎世拿。我也不知道他肯不肯给，唉真烦。