一堂“自由”实验课：自由建立于真相之上

一堂“自由”实验课

(By Pedro Pablo Sacristan)

(裴德罗﹒帕布罗﹒萨克里斯坦)

That weekend Miss Ellis handed out another of her famous experiment assignments. Her pupils loved that form of teaching, in which they themselves had to think up experiments that would aid in understanding. Many had to do with science, chemistry, but others - the most famous experiments - had to do with people and their behavior. And on that occasion the subject was really difficult: freedom. How can one conduct an experiment on freedom? What could you show about freedom through experiments?

埃利斯小姐的实验作业很有名，那个周末，她又给学生布置了一个。在她的课上，每个人都必须设计出能够帮助理解的实验，她的学生很喜欢这种教学形式。她的许多实验都与科学、化学有关，而其他实验——那些最出名的实验——则与人及其行为有关。这次实验作业就有个很难的主题：自由。你怎样才能做一场关于“自由”的实验呢？ 通过实验，你又如何展示“自由”的内涵呢？

On their way home, the students discussed these and other similar questions. However, they had already done a good job on other experiments, and this time was no exception. On Monday, the students returned with their ideas for an experiment, and they explained them one by one. All the ideas were very interesting but, to cut a long story short, Miss Ellis has asked me to tell you only about Amanda, Charlie, and Andrea's experiments - which she liked the most.

回家的路上，学生们讨论着这些问题和其他类似的问题。不过，他们在以前的其他实验课上都表现得很出色，这次也不例外。到了周一，大家带着各自的实验构思返校，并逐一进行了阐述。所有构思都趣味盎然，但为了避免故事太过冗长，埃利斯小姐只让我给大家讲讲她最喜欢的三个实验，真相之上’。它告诉我们，只有了解整个实情，你才能够自由选择。虽然第一组和第二组有权随意挑选他们想选的人，可由于他们不知道内幕，所以选择的时候并非真正的自由。他们要是早知道的话，就会选别的了。”

Andrea's experiment was very different. She had come to class with Laylow, her hamster, and some pieces of cheese and bread, to prepare a few different tests. In the first she covered a piece of cheese with a glass. And at its side she placed a piece of bread, without covering it. When she set Laylow free, the hamster went straight for the cheese, banging his nose against the glass. Laylow tried to get to the cheese for a good while, but having no success he settled for the bread.

安德烈娅的实验与众不同。她来上课时，带来了她的小仓鼠雷洛以及几片奶酪和面包，准备做几个各不相同的实验。在第一个实验中，她用玻璃杯罩住一块奶酪，并在旁边放了一片没被罩住的面包。等她放出雷洛，小仓鼠便直奔奶酪而去，鼻头“砰”的一声撞在玻璃杯上。雷洛折腾了好半天试图吃到奶酪，但都没有成功，只得将就吃面包。

Andrea carried on with some similar experiments, a little cruel, but amusing, in which poor Laylow could never get to the cheese and had to choose the bread. Finally, Andrea put a lump of cheese and a lump of bread on the table, both uncovered. This time, Laylow, bored, went straight over and ate the bread.

安德烈娅继续做了几个类似的实验，虽然有点残忍，但很有意思。在这些实验里，可怜的雷洛永远够不着奶酪，只得选面包。最后，安德烈娅在桌上放了一大块奶酪和一大片面包，两样都没用玻璃杯罩住。这回，对此厌烦的雷洛直接冲过去吃掉了面包。

Everyone enjoyed the experiment, and while Miss Ellis rewarded Laylow with the cheese, Andrea explained: "The experiment is called 'Limits'. It shows that, whether we know it or not, our freedom always has limits, and that these limits are not always outside ourselves. They can be inside us too, as with Laylow, who thought he would never be able to get the cheese."

大家都非常喜欢这场实验。当埃利斯小姐拿奶酪慰劳雷洛的时候，安德烈娅在一旁解释说：“这场实验名叫‘限制’。它告诉我们，无论我们是否察觉，我们的自由总是受限制的。而且这些限制并不总是都来自外界，也可能存在于我们的内心，比如雷洛，它以为自己永远得不到奶酪了。”

Many more interesting experiments were performed that day, and maybe sometime we'll get to talk about them, but what is clear is that Miss Ellis's students ended up knowing a lot more about freedom than do many much older people.

那天还进行了许多妙趣横生的实验，可能的话，今后我们再慢慢聊。但显而易见的是，上完这堂课，埃利斯小姐的学生们对自由的理解比许多大人都多了很多。