近日，中国著名科幻小说家刘慈欣在美国华盛顿被授予克拉克想象力服务社会奖。刘慈欣曾获得过雨果奖、全球华语科幻星云奖等重量级奖项，但这次的克拉克奖，对他来说意义非凡。因为阿瑟·克拉克是刘慈欣非常崇拜的科幻小说家，在颁奖礼上致答谢词时，刘慈欣用诗意和深沉的文字表达了自己对于“想象力”的理解，以及对宇宙和星辰大海的向往。
　　This award is a reward for imagination. Imagination is a capability that should have exclusive belonged to God， but we， as human beings， luckily have this too.
　　这个奖项是对想象力的奖励，而想象力是人类所拥有的一种似乎只应属于神的能力。
　　Science fiction is a literary genre based on imagination. And the first sci-fi works that impressed me were those by Arthur C. Clarke.At midnight when I finished reading 2001： A Space Odyssey， I walked out of the house and stared at the starry sky. I was able to see the galaxy. For the first time in my life， I was awed by the magnitude and mystery of our universe， the feeling which you only get facing religion. It was Arthur Clarke who opened up this world of feelings to me， and who paved my way to become a sci-fi writer.
　　科幻小說是基于想象力的文学，而最早给我留下深刻印象的是阿瑟·克拉克的作品。读完《2001：太空漫游》的那天深夜，我走出家门仰望星空，能够看到银河。我第一次对宇宙的宏大与神秘产生了敬畏感，这是一种宗教般的感觉。正是克拉克带给我的这些感受，让我后来成为一名科幻作家。
　　I started writing sci-fi because I looked for a way to escape the dull life， and to reach out. But then I realized that the world around me became more and more like science fiction.As a sci-fi author， I think my job is to write things down before they get really boring.
　　我最初创作科幻小说的目的，是为了逃离平淡的生活。但后来我发现，周围的世界变得越来越像科幻小说了。作为一名科幻作家，我想我们的责任就是在事情变得平淡之前把它们写出来。
　　I believe that the boundless space is still the best direction and destination for human imagination.I have always written about the magnitude and mysteries of the universe， interstellar expeditions， and the lives and civilizations happening in distant worlds. It says on Arthur Clarke’s epitaph， “He never grew up， but he never stopped growing.”
　　我相信，无垠的太空仍然是人类想象力最好的去向和归宿，我一直在描写宇宙的宏大神奇，描写星际探险，描写遥远世界中的生命和文明。正如克拉克的墓志铭所说：“他从未长大，但从未停止成长。”
　　（墨晗摘自中国日报双语新闻微信号）