One night, he said, a spaceship appeared in the sky of a planet which had never seen one before. The planet was Dalforsas, the ship was this one. It appeared as a brilliant new star moving silently across the heavens. Primitive tribesmen who were sitting huddled on the Cold Hillsides looked up from their steaming night-drinks and pointed with trembling fingers, swearing that they had seen a sign, a sign from their gods which meant that they must now arise at last and go and slay the evil Princes of the Plains. In the high turrets of their palaces, the Princes of the Plains looked up and saw the shining star, and received it unmistakably as a sign from their gods that they must now go and set about the accursed Tribesmen of the Cold Hillsides. And between them, the Dwellers in the Forest looked up into the sky and saw the sigh of the new star, and saw it with fear and apprehension, for though they had never seen anything like it before, they too knew precisely what it foreshadowed, and they bowed their heads in despair. They knew that when the rains came, it was a sign. When the rains departed, it was a sign. When the winds rose, it was a sign. When the winds fell, it was a sign. When in the land there was born at midnight of a full moon a goat with three heads, that was a sign. When in the land there was born at some time in the afternoon a perfectly normal cat or pig with no birth complications at all, or even just a child with a retrousse nose, that too would often be taken as a sign. So there was no doubt at all that a new star in the sky was a sign of a particularly spectacular order. And each new sign signified the same thing that the Princes of the Plains and the Tribesmen of the Cold Hillsides were about to beat the hell out of each other again. This in itself wouldn’t be so bad, except that the Princes of the Plains and the Tribesmen of the Cold Hillsides always elected to beat the hell out of each other in the Forest, and it was always the Dwellers in the Forest who came off worst in these exchanges, though as far as they could see it never had anything to do with them. And sometimes, after some of the worst of these outrages, the Dwellers in the Forest would send a messenger to either the leader of the Princes of the Plains or the leader of the Tribesmen of the Cold Hillsides and demand to know the reason for this intolerable behaviour. And the leader, whichever one it was, would take the messenger aside and explain the Reason to him, slowly and carefully and with great attention to the considerable detail involved. And the terrible thing was, it was a very good one. It was very clear, very rational, and tough. The messenger would hang his head and feel sad and foolish that he had not realized what a tough and complex place the real world was, and what difficulties and paradoxes had to be embraced if one was to live in it. Now do you understand? the leader would say. The messenger would nod dumbly. And you see these battles have to take place? Another dumb nod. 某一天夜裏，他講到，一艘太空飛船出現在一顆從未見過飛船的星球上。那顆星就是達爾伏拉斯，那飛船就是那艘飛船。它在天上緩緩移動，彷彿一顆燦爛的新星一般。 聚坐在寒坡上的原始部落人民，擡起了頭。他們透過夜宵那蒸騰的熱氣，看見這顆星，用顫抖的手指着它，他們肯定這是一個徵兆，一個來自神的徵兆，意味着他們必須立刻起兵，去攻打那邪惡的平原王子們。 平原王子們，從他們宮殿的塔樓上，擡頭看見那閃爍的新星，他們確信，這是一個神的徵兆，意味着他們必須立即出發，去解決那些可惡的寒坡部落民。 而在兩者之間，森林中的居民們擡頭望天，看見新星的徵兆，便感到了恐怖的又一次降臨。他們同樣也準確理解了這一徵兆，知道它預示着什麼，所以，他們絕望地低下了頭。 他們知道，如果下雨了，那就是個徵兆。 如果雨停了，那也是個徵兆。 如果起風了，那是個徵兆。 如果風停了，那是個徵兆。 如果月圓之夜，一隻三個頭的小山羊出生了，那是個徵兆。 如果下午的什麼時候，一隻完全正常的貓或雞出生了，什麼奇觀也沒有，甚至只是一個鼻子翹翹的小孩出生了，那也很可能是個徵兆。 所以，不用說，如果天空中出現一顆新星，那絕對是重大事變的徵兆。 並且，所有的新徵兆都預示着同一件事：平原王子們和寒坡部落民，又即將大戰一場。 這件事本身不算特別慘，只是每次平原王子和寒坡部落大戰的時候，都把戰場選定在森林裏。一仗下來，總是森林居民傷亡最慘重。儘管他們覺得自己與此事完全無關。 有時候，傷亡實在太過嚴重，森林居民就會派個使者，讓他到平原王子或者寒坡部落的首領那去，問清楚這種不可容忍的行爲的理由。 而那位首領，不管是哪邊的，都會把使者叫到身邊，跟他講理由。慢慢地、詳細地講理由，一些重要細節講得尤其詳盡。 不幸的是，那理由非常好，非常清晰，非常全面，非常有力。那位使者聽得低下了頭，心中充滿了自責和悲哀。自己竟然如此愚蠢，不曾意識到現實世界是多麼複雜，一個人活着，要面對那麼多的荊棘和坎坷。 “現在你明白了吧？”首領說。 使者無話可說，點點頭。 “明白這戰爭是必然的了？” 仍是無話可說，點點頭。
