没想到《自然》（Nature）上面也会登科幻小说，而且还起名叫作《有史以来最伟大的科幻小说》（The greatest science-fiction story ever written），很有意思的一个短篇。
这是Nature原文链接
下面是转载的一个翻译版本：
The greatest science-fiction story ever written
Eric James Stone
Nature 467 , 1146 (28 October 2010) doi:10.1038/4671146a
Published online 27 October 2010
Ent / 译
I tore open the self-addressed,
stamped envelope and unfolded the single sheet of paper inside. The
letter was signed by the editor of Analog Science Fiction and was
addressed to me, personally, which still gave me a warm feeling after
all those years of form rejections. But what I craved now was an
acceptance.
我撕开回邮信封，展开里面一页单薄的信纸。署名是科幻年选的编辑，起首语是我的名字——这开头依然能让我感到一丝温暖，哪怕经历了这么多年的退稿。可是我现在更渴望的是一封接受信。
And ... this wasn't it. Good luck placing this elsewhere, the letter read.
然而……这封不是。“祝此文能于他处另寻高就”，信里说。
I shoved the rejection in my overstuffed file with the rest of them.
Eyeing the four-inch-thick wad of paper, I felt a wave of despair. Maybe
I didn't have what it took to be a science-fiction writer. Maybe I
should just give it up — after all, I worked for a quantum-computing
start-up. That was almost science fiction, even if all I did was manage
the website. Maybe that was as close as I'd ever get.
我把信胡乱塞进
鼓鼓囊囊的文件夹，和别的退稿信一起。望着这沓足足十公分厚的信纸，我突然觉得一阵绝望。也许我真的就不是当科幻作家的料。也许我该干脆放弃——不管怎么
说，我还在给一家新兴的量子计算公司干活呢。这活儿本身就几乎是科幻了，虽然我实际做的只不过是管理网站。也许我离科幻最近也只能近到这地步了。
The next day, while having a mint Oreo shake at a restaurant near my
office, I told Caleb, one of the quantum-circuit experts I worked with,
that I doubted I'd ever see my name in print.
第二天，在办公室附近的一个餐馆，我一边吃着奥利奥薄荷冰激凌，一边对卡勒布说（他是和我共事的一位量子回路专家），我觉得这辈子甭想指望我的名字能上杂志了。
“Don't quit,” he said. “You're a great writer.” He'd read a few of my
stories to give me feedback on where I'd got the science wrong.
“别放弃，”他说，“你是个很棒的作家。” 他读过我的几篇小说，以便告诉我哪些地方的科学部分被我弄错了。
I shrugged. “Doesn't matter, if I'm not writing what editors want to buy.”
我耸耸肩，“如果我不写编辑想买的东西，再好也白搭。”
“Why don't you?”
“为啥不写呢？”
“Why don't I? It's not that easy,” I said. “There's no way of knowing
what an editor will like. I write the best story I can, but apparently
that's just not good enough.”
“为啥不写？说着容易啊，”我说，“可是我根本没法知道编辑喜欢什么。我已经竭尽全力写我最好的小说了，可是显然就是还不够好。”
“So it's subjective.” Caleb took a bite of his burger and chewed thoughtfully.
“这么说这是主观的了，”卡勒布咬了一口汉堡，若有所思地嚼着。
“Yeah,” I said, playing with the last spoonful of shake in my cup.
“What one editor thinks isn't worth publishing, another might think is
the greatest science-fiction story ever written. It's just my luck that
the editor who would love my stuff isn't actually an editor anywhere.”
“是啊，”我说，漫不经心地拨弄着杯子里最后一勺冰激凌。“一个编辑觉得根本不值得发表的东西，在另一个编辑看来可能是有史以来最伟大的科幻小说。只是就凭我的运气，喜欢我的文章的编辑大概根本不存在吧。”
“No, no,” Caleb said. “You're looking at it all wrong. What you need is a story that adapts itself perfectly to the editor.”
“不，不，”卡勒布说，“你的出发点全错了。你需要的是一篇能够自己适应编辑口味的小说。”
I dabbed my lips with a paper napkin. “I just told you I don't know how to write what they're looking for.”
我拿起一块纸巾在嘴唇上蘸了两下。“我刚告诉过你，我根本不知道怎么写他们想要的东西。”
“Right.” Caleb grabbed the napkin from my hand, flattened it out, took a
pen from his pocket and sketched a curve. “It's a probability function.
The right combination of words makes them buy the story, the wrong
combination means they don't.”
“没错。”卡勒布从我手中夺过纸巾，在桌上摊平，从口袋里掏出一支笔，随手画了条曲线。“这事是个概率函数。正确的文字组合让他们买下小说，错误的组合意味着他们不买。”
“I suppose,” I said dubiously.
“也许吧。”我不大相信地说。
“And if it's a probability function, then our quantum computer can
handle it.” He scribbled an equation, crossed part of it out, then added
something. “Oh, boy. This will revolutionize publishing.”
“而如果这是个概率函数的话，我们的量子计算机就可以处理它。”他草草写下一个方程，划掉了一部分，又加上了一些东西。“喔，伙计。这玩意会导致一场出版业的革命的。”
I stared at him. “What are you talking about?”
我茫然地盯着他。”你在说什么？“
He stopped scribbling. “Imagine you open a book, and from the very
first word, it's exactly what you want to read. Every word is perfect,
the characters fascinate you, the plot thrills you ...”
他放下笔，”想象一下你打开一本书，从第一个字开始，每一个都正是你希望读到的。每一个字都是完美的，人物让你着迷爱恋，情节让你热血沸腾……“
“That'd be cool,” I said.
”那很好啊。“我说。
“And someone else opens their copy of the same book, and it's perfect
for them. Only if you compare the two books, the words aren't the same.
The story and characters aren't even the same. The book has adapted
itself to be the perfect book for whoever first opened it.”
”然后另一个人打开他手中的同一本书，而这本书对他而言也是完美的。可是如果你比较两本书的话，二者的辞句是不一样的。连故事情节和人物都不一样。这本书已经自我适应了第一个打开它的人，对他而言成为了完美的书。“
I frowned. “You mean, it's like an e-book that changes based on personal preferences?”
我皱起了眉头。”你是说，弄一本电子书，根据个人喜好而自动改变内容？“
“No, this would be printed on paper. But the text itself would have
been composed using a quantum computer, like the one we have at the
office, using a program to create a quantum probability wave function
that doesn't collapse until someone actually observes what was printed.”
Caleb sat back with a satisfied grin.
”不，这本书是印在纸上的。但是它的文本却是用量子计算机写成的，就像我们办公室里那台计算机那种，利用程序制造一个量子概率波函数，但直到有人去观测书里的内容时，函数才会坍缩。“卡勒布身子往后一仰，面带满意的笑容。
“And when the wave collapses ...” I said, not quite sure that I understood the implications.
”而当波函数坍缩时……“我说，还不太明白这意味着什么。
“The book becomes the best book ever written for whoever collapses the
wave. It's brilliant.” Caleb leaned forward. “And we can use it to make
sure you get your name in print. How would you like to be the author of
the greatest science-fiction story ever written?”
”对于那个使之坍缩的人而言，书就会变成有史以来最好的书。这真是天才的主意。“卡勒布身体前趋，”而我们可以拿它来确保你的名字能上杂志。你愿意成为有史以来最伟大的科幻小说的作者吗？“
I stared at the sheets of paper lying facedown on the printer. “You're certain I can't take just a peek?”
我盯着打印机里面朝下搁着的一摞纸。”你确信我不能看一眼吗？就看一眼？“
“If you do,” Caleb said, “the wave function will collapse and the story
will become the best story for you, not for the editor of Analog. He
needs to be the one to see it first.”
”如果你看了的话，“卡勒布说，”波函数就会坍缩，故事就会变成你眼中最好的小说，而不是年选的编辑眼中。他必须第一个看到。“
“Can I at least know the title?” I felt kind of awkward submitting a
story that I knew nothing about, even though Caleb assured me that I
could still be considered the author, as the computer could not have
been programmed to create a probability wave function for
science-fiction stories without my help.
”连看看标题都不行吗？“我觉得有点尴尬，递一篇小说给编辑，自己却对它一无所知——虽然卡勒布向我保证，我依然算得上是作者，毕竟没有我的帮助，计算机自己不可能给自己编一个程序去生成科幻小说的概率波函数。
“Nope,” he said. “I've hard-coded your name and contact information
into the printout, but the rest remains undecided until the editor reads
it.”
”不行，“他说，”我已经在打印稿里硬编码了你的名字和联系方式，但是余下的部分都是未知的，直到编辑看到它为止。“
With a sigh, I slid the manuscript into the manila envelope and sealed it.
我叹了口气，把手稿塞进牛皮纸信封，封上口。
Sixty days later, my SASE returned. I took it unopened to the office the next day — I wanted to open it with Caleb.
两个月之后，我收到了回邮信封。我没立刻打开，而是第二天拿着它去了办公室——我想和卡勒布一起打开。
“Could be an acceptance or a rejection,” I said.
”可能是接受，也可能是退稿，“我说。
“Open it,” Caleb said, looking at the envelope. “You have to collapse the wave function. But I'm sure it's an acceptance.”
”打开吧，“卡勒布看着信封说，”你必须让波函数坍缩。但是我确信这是接受了。“
I opened it.
我打开了它。
“Read it out loud,” Caleb said.
”读出来，“卡勒布说。
I looked past my name and began reading. “In my opinion, this is the
greatest science-fiction story ever written.” My heart leapt within me,
and I continued. “It is undoubtedly the best story you have ever
submitted to me. But what on Earth made you think you could get away
with submitting a verbatim copy of 'Nightfall' by Isaac Asimov?”
我扫过我的姓名，念出声来：”在我看来，这是有史以来最伟大的科幻小说。“我的心脏要跳出嗓子眼了，”这无疑是你投递过的所有小说中最好的一篇。可是你到底发了什么昏，居然以为你能一字不动地把阿西莫夫的《日暮》照抄过来还不被发现吗？“
