time enough for love-时间足够你爱(英文版)- 第2部分

　　
　　At　best；　history　is　hard　to　grasp；　at　worst；　it　is　a　lifeless　collection　of　questionable　records。　It　is　most　alive　through　the　words　of　eyewitnesses　。　。　and　we　have　but　one　witness　whose　life　spans　the　twenty…three　centuries　of　crisis　and　Diaspora。　The　next　oldest　human　being　whose　age　this　offIce　has　been　able　to　verify　is　only　a　little　over　a　thousand　years　old。　Probability　theory　makes　it　possible　that　there　is　somewhere　a　person　half　again　that　age…but　it　is　both　mathematically　and　historically　certain　that　there　is　no　other　human　alive　today　who　was　born　in　the　twentieth　century。*
　　
　　Some　may　question　whether　this　〃Senior〃　is　the　member　of　the　Howard　Families　born　in　1912　and　also　the　〃Lazarus　Long〃　who　led　the　Families　in　their　escape　from　Old　Home　in　2136；　etc。…pointhg　out　that　all　the　ancient　methods　of　identifica
　　
　　*　When　the　Howard　Families　seized　the　Starship　New　Frontiers'　only　a　few　were　more　than　a　century　and　a　quarter　old；　all　of　that　few…save　the　Senior…are　dead；　at　times　and　places　on　record。　（I　except　the　strange　and　possibly　mythical　case　of　life…in…death　of　Elder　Mary　Sperling。）　Despite　geic　advantage　and　access　to　the　longevity　therapies　known　colle？tively　as　〃the　immortality　option；〃　the　last　died　in　3003　Gregorian。　By　the　records　it　would　seem　that　most　of　them　died　through　refusing　further　rejuvenation…that　being　still　the　second　monest　cause　of　death　today。
　　
　　…JF。45th
　　
　　tion　（fingerprints；　retinal　patterns；　etc~）　van　now　be　bea~iea~True；　but　those　methods　e　and　the　Howard　Families　Foundation　had　special　reason　to　use　them　with　care；　the　〃Woodrow　Wilson　Smith〃　whose　birth　was　registered　with　the　Foundation　in　1912　is　certainly　the
　　
　　〃Lazarus　Long〃　of　2136　and　2210。　Before　those　tests　ceased　to　be　reliable；　they　were　supplemented　by　modern　unbeatable　tests　based　first　on　clone　transplants　and；　more　lately；　on　absolute　identification　of　geic　patterns。　（It　is　interesting　to　note　that　an　impostor　showed　up　about　three　centuries　ago~　here　on　Secundus；　and　was　given　a　new　heart　from　a　cloned　pseudobody　of　the　Senior。　It　killed　him。）　The　Senior　whose　words　are　quoted　herein　has　a　geic　pattern　identical　with　that　of　a　bit　of　muscle　tissue　removed　from　〃Lazarus　Long〃　by　Dr。　Gordon　Hardy　in　the　Starship　New　Frontiers　about　2145；　and　cultured　by　him　for　longevity　research。　Q。E。D
　　
　　But　what　sort　of　man　is　he？　You　must　judge　for　yourself。　In　condensing　this　memoir　to　manageable　length　I　have　omitted　many　verified　historical　incidents　（the　raw　data　are
　　
　　…　available　to　scholars　at　the　Archives）…but　I　have　left　in　lies　and　and　unlikely　stories　on　the　assumption　that　the　lies　a　man　tells　tell　more　truth　about　him…when　analyzed…than　does　〃truth。〃
　　
　　It　is　clear　that　this　man　is；　by　standards　usual　in　civilized　societies；　a　barbarian　and　a　rogue。
　　
　　But　it　is　not　for　children　to　judge　their　parents。　The　qualities　that　make　him　what　he　is　are　precisely　those　needed　to　stay　alive　in　a　jungle…or　on　a　raw　frontier。　Do　not　forget　your　debt　to　him　both　geic　and　historic。
　　
　　To　understand　our　historic　debt　to　him　it　is　necessary　to　riew　some　ancient　history…part　tradition　or　m~'th；　and　part　fact　as　firmly　established　as　the　assassination　of　Julius　Caesar。　The　Howard　Families　Foundation　was　established　by　the　will　of　Ira　Howard；　who　died　in　1873。　His　will　instructed　the　trustees　of　the　foundation　to　use　his　money　to　〃prolong　human　life。〃　This　is　fact。
　　
　　Tradition　says　that　he　willed　this　in　anger　at　hjs　own　fate；　for　he　found　himself　dying　of　old　age　in　his　forties…　dead　at　forty…eight；　a　bachelor　without　progeny。　So　none　of　us　carries　his　genes；　his　immortality　lies　only　in　a　name；　and　in　an　idea…that　death　could　be　thwarted。
　　
　　At　that　time　death　at　forty…eight　was　not　unusual。　Believe　it　or　not；　in　those　days　the　average　age　at　death　was　about　thirty…five！　But　not　from　senility。　Disease；　starvation；　…　acci
　　
　　dent；　murder；　war；　childbirth；　and　her　violens　cut　down　most　humans　long　before　senility　set　in。　But　a　human　who　passed　all　these　hurdles　still　could　expect　death　from　old　age　sometime　between　seventy…five　and　one　hundred。　Very　few　reached　one　hundred；　nevertheless　every　population　group　had　its　tiny　minority　of　〃centenarians。〃　There　is　a　legend　about　〃Old　Toni　Parr〃　who　is　supposed　to　have　died　in　1635'　aged　one　hundred　and　fifty…two　years。　Whether　or　not　the　legend　is　true；　probability　analysis　of　demographic　data　of　that　era　shows　that　some　individuals　must　have　lived　a　century　and　a　half。　But　they　were　few　indeed~
　　
　　The　Foundation　started　its　work　as　a　prescientific　breeding　experiment；　as　nothing　was　then　known　of　geics：　Adults　of　long…lived　stock　were　encouraged　to　mate　with　others　like　them；　money　being　the　inducement。
　　
　　Unsurprisingly　the　inducement　worked。　Equally　unsurprisingly　this　experiment　worked；　as　it　was　an　empirical　method　used　by　stockbreeders　for　centuries　before　the　science　of　geics　came　into　being：　Breed　to　reinforce　one　characteristic；　then　eliminate　the　culls。
　　
　　~The　Families'　Archives　do　not　show　how　the　earliest　culls　were　eliminated；　they　simply　show　that　some　were　eliminated　from　the　Families…root　and　branch；　all　descendants…for　the　unforgivable　sin　of　dying　of　old　age　too　young。
　　
　　By　the　Crisis　of　2136　all　members　？f　the　Howard　Families　had　life　expectancies　in　excess　of　one　hundred　and　fifty　years；　and　some　had　exceeded　that　age。　The　cause　of　that　crisis。　seems　unbelievable…yet　all　records　both　from　inside　and　from　outside　the　Families　agree　on　it。　The　Howard　Families　were　in　extreme　danger　from　all　other　humans　simply　because　they　lived　so　〃long。〃　Why　this　was　true　is　a　matter　for　group　psychologists；　not　for　a　record…keeper。　But　it　was　true。
　　
　　They　were　seized　and　concentrated　in　a　prison　camp；　and　were　about　to　be　tortured　to　death　in　an　attempt　to　wrest　from　them　their　〃secret〃　of　〃eternal　youth。〃　Fact…not　myth。
　　
　　Here　the　Senior　es　into　the　story。　Through　audacity；　a　talent　for　lying　convincingly；　and　what　would　seem　to　most　people　today　a　childish　delight　in　adventure　and　intrigue　for　its　own　sake；　the　Senior　brought　off　the　greatest　jailbrealk　of　all　time；　stealing　a　primitive　starship　and　escaping　right　out　of　the　Solar　System　with　all　of　the　Howard　Families　（then　numbering　about　100；000　men；　women；　and　childre*~）。
　　
　　If　this　seems　impossible…so　many　people　and　just　one　ship…remember　that　the　first　starships　were　enormously　big…
　　
　　ger　than　the　ones　we　now　use。　They　were　self…sustaining　axti~　ficial　plaoids　intended　to　remain　in　space　for　many　years　at　speeds　below　that　of　light；　they　had　to　be　huge。
　　
　　The　Senior　was　not　the　only　hero　of　that　Exodus。　But　in　all　the　varied　and　sometimes　conflicting　accounts　that　have　e　down　to　us；　he　was　always　the　driving　force。　He　was　our　Moses　who　led　his　people　out　~of　bondage。　…
　　
　　He　brought　them　home　again　three~quarters　of　a　century　later　（2210）…but　not　into　…　bondage。　For　that　date；　Year　One　of　the　Standard　Galactic　calendar；　marks　the　opening　of　the　Great　Diaspora　。　。　caused　by　extreme　population　pressure　on　Old　Home　Terra；　and　made　possibl