One, Three, Two! (c) 1993 by Jim Henry III Unu, Tri, Du! elangligis la auxtoro traduko komencis 17a Marto, 1998 "Yes, three wishes, that's right, only," and here the djinn paused, as if embarrassed, "it has to be wishes nobody has ever wished before." "Jes, tri dezirumoj, vere, sed," kaj la gxenio pauxzis, kvazaux honteme, "estu dezirumoj neniam antauxe volita." "Oh," said Thomas. A bit disappointing, but... "I suppose wishing yourself off an island where you've been shipwrecked has been wished before?" "Hum," diris Tomaso. Malsxatinda, sed... "Mi supozas ke oni jam dezirumis eliron el dezerta insulo de sxip-perdo?" "Yes, I'm afraid it has; and so has wishing for a ship to come and rescue you, and wishing you could swim all across the ocean without tiring out and drowning, and every other way out of the situation that I know of. Sorry," said the djinn. "Bedauxrinde jes; kaj oni ankaux dezirumis sxipon por savi onin, kaj povon transmarnagxi, kaj cxion metodo eliri el insulo kion mi scias. Mi bedauxras," diris la gxenio. Thomas thought long and hard. Maybe he could wish to turn into a fish or whale or some other sea creature, and wish to be a man again when he got home to England, or at least somewhere nearer to it. But he didn't particularly want to be eaten by a larger fish, or harpooned by a whaler. Maybe he could use his third wish to keep himself safe during the journey; but he wanted, if possible, to have a wish or two left when he got home. Tomaso pensadis strebe. Eble li povus dezirumi unue sxangxi en fisxon, balenon, aux alian marbeston; kaj dezirumi due esti denove homo kiam li estos nagxinta hejmen al Anglujo, aux ie ajn proksime. Sed li ne volis esti mangxota de pli granda fisxo, aux lancita de balencxasisto. Eble li povus dezirumi trie dumvojagxan maldangxeron; sed li volis havi unu aux du dezirumojn post hejmeniro. Maybe, to cover all three, he could wish for the power to turn himself into various kinds of creatures and back into a man again. Then he could become a fish, a whale, maybe even a kraken, at various points of his journey -- whatever was necessary to escape any predators he might meet on the way. And that power would come in handy when he got home, too. Eble, por tuta tri volindajxojn, li dezirumus povon sxangxi en variajn bestojn kaj denove en homon. Tiel li povus estigxi fisxeto, baleno, eble levjatono, dum la longdauxra vojagxo; kio ajn necesus por eviti iajn bestojn kaj homojn kiujn li renkontos dum vojagxo. Kaj tiu povo ja utilegus post hejmeniro. So he tried that, but the djinn said, "Sorry, but that's been wished before." Do, li dezirumis tiun, sed la gxenio diris: "Bedauxre, oni jam dezirumis tiel." Thomas thought again. Wishing for the power to swim all that way had been done; but, hmm, maybe he could wish to be able to fly over the ocean? Eble transmarflugan povon? "Flying's been done, too," said the djinn. "You'll have to try something a lot less obvious." "Oni jam tiel faris," diris gxenio. "Vi dezirumu ion multe malpli evidenta." What could he do? He tried wishing to be able to walk across the water, though he had misgivings both religious and practical, and was a bit relieved when the djinn said, with a sigh, "It's been done before. Think, mortal!" Kion fari? Li dezirumis povon marsxi trans la akvo, kvankam li dubis religie kaj praktike, kaj estis iom maltimigata kiam la gxenio diris, suspire, "Jam farita. Pensu, mortonto!" He thought. Men would come here again eventually; the whole world was being explored more and more thoroughly, and one day, he supposed, every little island would be as busy and densely populated as England. Suppose he wished that time would stop for him until white men came to the island again, and they could rescue him? But that didn't appeal to him much, for several reasons; one, all his family and friends would probably be dead by then; two, the Last Trump might sound before then, and he'd have thrown away the rest of his earthly life; three, if the Spaniards came first, they might not be particularly partial to Englishmen. He set that idea aside; maybe if he could think of nothing better... Li pensis. Homoj estis eventuale ironta al tiu insulo; la tutan mondon oni esploris pli kaj pli plene, kaj iam, li supozis, cxiu insuleto estos aferokupata kaj homplena kiel Anglujo. Cxu li dezirumis cxeson de tempo por li gxis ke aliaj homoj iris al la insulo, kaj povus elsavi lin? Sed tiu cxiel ne placxis al li; unue, liaj familianoj kaj amikoj probable mortos antauxe; due, la Jugxo-Trumpeto eble sonus antauxe, kaj li tiam estus forjxetinta lian mondan vivon; trie, cxu la Hispanoj unue venus al la insulo, ili ne estus amema je Anglo. Li flankmetis la ideon; se li povus pripensi nenion pli bone, revenu... He tried to study all the possibilities carefully. He wanted off the island, and back to civilization, preferably England. And he wanted to get there in a reasonable time, while his wife was still young and his friends still lived! There seemed to be two basic ways he could get off: wishing for a way for himself to travel, and wishing for men to come rescue him. The latter had apparently been largely pre-empted, probably by some sailor millennia ago in a similar plight. Cxion eblon li strebis zorge studi. Li volis eliro el la insulo, kaj reen al Euxropo, preferinde Anglujo. Kaj tien bontempe, kiam lia edzino plue estis juna kaj amikoj vivis! Jen du simplaj metodoj de eliro: dezirumi metodon vojagxi, kaj dezirumi iun por savi lin. La lasta estis jam foruzita, probable jam miljaroj antauxe de sxipisto en sama kondicxo. Hmm, the djinn had said wishing for a *ship* to come and rescue him was already done. Could some other kind of vessel, not like our ships, do it? But how could he wish for a kind of vessel he had never heard of before? And if so, might he have to wait many years till someone built it? He wanted to be rescued soon. Immediately, if possible; by a vessel no-one had ever heard of before, so that nobody could have wished for it to rescue them before. And a vessel that could rescue him now, not hundreds of years hence. Maybe it is impossible, he thought, but -- La gxenio diris ke oni jam dezirumis *sxipon* por veni kaj elsavi onin. Cxu eble alian veturilon, ne kiel la nunaj sxipoj? Sed kiel dezirumi veturilon pri kion li nenion sciis? Kaj cxu li atendu gxin dum multegaj jaroj? Sed nepre, cxu la veturilo estus nova, neniu iam dezirumis gxin por sinsavo. Oni do penu. "I wish to be rescued within one day, by a vessel of a sort no one has heard of before, and taken home to England within a year." "Mi dezirumas esti elsavota dum la sekva tago, per veturilo de neniam sciita speco, kaj revenigota al Anglujo dum jaro." "That's a new one on me!" exclaimed the djinn. "I'll get to work on it; your rescue will be here shortly!" The djinn vanished. "Jen novajxo!" ekkriis la gxenio. "Mi eklaboros subite; via elsavo alvenos baldaux!" Tiam li malaperis. It took a long time to arrange the rescue, but the djinn was patient. He hied him to England and travelled there and in Europe, always trying to drop ideas about that could, in course of time, blossom into reality. Later he travelled in America as well. It took a long time, but finally, in the late nineteenth century, a couple of storytellers took his hints seriously; seriously enough to write stories about them, anyway. La elsavo okupis longan tempon, sed la gxenio paciencis. Li iris al Anglujo kaj vojagxis tra Europon, cxiam semante ideojn en homajn mensojn kiuj povis, dauxre, deveni realon. Post iom da tempo li travojagxis Ameriko ankaux. Post multaj jarcentoj, dum la jarcento 19a, kelkaj romanistoj uzis liajn proponojn en romanoj. After that it was easier. The idea had become accepted, and though men still thought it was impossible to accomplish, they had fun playing with it. It was only a matter of time before they realized it *was* possible, but the djinn hurried them along anyway. He was patient, but not *that* patient. Poste liaj laboroj faciligxis. La ideoj estis akceptitaj. Tamen la homoj opiniis ke la faro estus neebla, ili multe amuzis pri ludpensi gxin. Iam oni ekscius ke la faro estus vere ebla, sed la gxenio tamen hastigis la pensulojn. Li paciencis, sed havis iom de malpacienco en si. It was the early twenty-second century before they were near to making some real breakthroughs. They were sure they could do it, but they were afraid of the possible dangers; so they chose a small, uninhabited island to try it out. The djinn arranged to be there as a lowly technician when they were ready to make their first try. They planned to jump back to a time when the island was uninhabited. They could have gone back to almost any point in the island's history, but, on the evening before the test, a lot of fine, historic dates were being tossed around; which of course would mean nothing to the little desolate island, but why not? The djinn suggested 1620. How he got that accepted instead of 1492 or 1776 or 1066 is not known. Frue dum la jarcento 22a oni preskaux eksciis kiel fari la vojagxo. Oni sendube povis fari tion, sed timis pro la dangxeroj. Do, oni elektis etan, nehomlogxatan insulo por la provo. La gxenio estis tie kiel malalta tehxnikisto jxus antaux la unua provo. Ili planis antauxvojagxi al tempo kiam la insulo estis nehomlogxata. Povus vojagxi al preskaux iu ajn tago de historio, sed, vespere antaux la provo, oni pribabiladis grandajn, gravajn datojn de historio; kiuj nepre signifus nenio en la dezerta insulo, sed kial ne? Tiam la gxenio sugestis 1620, kaj arangxis ke oni akceptus tion. A few moments after the djinn vanished, Thomas saw the time bathyscaphe, like a great cannon-ball of silver, appear a few yards inland from him. Rescue! And he still had two more wishes! Nur momentojn post la malapero de la gxenio, aperis antaux Tomaso la temp-veturilo, kiel granda argxenta kuglego. Elsavo! Kaj plue restis du dezirumojn! Inside the great silvery sphere, two temporal physicists were in great consternation. "So much for not changing the past!" said one. "Looks like a shipwrecked sailor. He might die on this island and never be rescued, but if he is rescued, what kind of changes will there be if he reports seeing us?" En la temp-veturilo, du temp-fizikistojn suferis temp-kolero. "Eks pri nesxangxo de la pasintejo!" diris la unua. "Jen perdita sxipisto. Eble li mortos sen elsavo, sed se oni elsavos lin, kiaj histori-sxangxoj sekvos pro lia vido de ni? "Not much, I imagine; they might lock him up for a madman, but probably not even that." "Ne multe, laux mia opinio," respondis la dua; "eble oni ensxlosos lin kiel frenezulo, sed probable nenio okazos malsame." "On the other hand, if we rescue him, he certainly won't be rescued by a ship of his own time; but was he rescued? He won't get home again, unless we take him home -- moving all the apparatus to Europe and jumping back to 1620 again, -- say, here he comes." "Alie, se ni elsavos lin, li nepre ne estos elsavita per nuna sxipo. Sed cxu li estus elsavita? Se ni elsavos lin, li neniam hejmeniros, krom ke ni hejmigos lin - movante la tutan masxinaron en Euxropon kaj revenante 1620-en. Sed pauxzu, jen li." Thomas knocked on the hatch, trying to be patient. Ekstere Tomaso frapis la pordeton de la temp-veturilo; pacience, sed ekperdante paciencon. "Shall we speak to him, or return home immediately?" "If we speak with him, we'd best take him home with us." "No more change is likely from him vanishing than from him reporting us. I say we take him home; leaving aside the danger of changing the past for the moment, we ought to rescue him, as we would any fellow human being. And if we take him with us, we can get some useful interviews out of him, then put a hypno block on him and drop him in Europe a little while later; he won't be able to tell folks about us." "That sounds good." They opened the hatch and got out. "Cxu ni parolu al li, aux tuj revenu hejmen?" "Se ni parolus al li, ne devus preni lin estontejen kun ni." "Probable ne pli da sxangxoj okazos pro lia malapero ol pro lia raporto pri ni. Laux mi, ni elsavu lin. Flankmetu la dangxero pro histori-sxangxo, kaj pensu morale: ni elsavu ia ajn homo kiun ni facile povas savi. Kaj, se ni prenos lin hejmen kun ni, la historiistoj gxojos intervjui lin, kaj poste oni povus hipnotigi lin antaux ol hejmigo; do li ne raportos pri ni, kaj neniu 1620-ano lernos temp-sxangxemajxon." "Bonan planon." Kaj ili malfermis la pordeton kaj eliris. "Say, fellows, am I glad to be rescued! This island's as lonely as the back side of the moon, and no mistake!" "Ah, how long have you been here?" "I came ashore three days ago; the shipwreck was two days before that." "I suppose you want us to rescue you?" "Yes, please! To England, if it's not too much trouble; but if you can take me anywhere in Europe I would be most grateful." "I think we can arrange that," said one. "Have you anything here on the island you would like to take with you?" "No; I escaped the ship with naught but my clothes." "All right, then; we have some things to do here, though, before we leave, so you'll have to be patient awhile." So they took samples of the air and seawater, and made some other tests. At last all their testing was finished, and the two scientists and Thomas climbed into the time bathyscaphe. There was not much room for Thomas, but the journey took no time and they weren't cramped long. "Saluton!" diris Tomaso. "Kian gxojon mi sentas, esti elsavata el tia senhoma insulo!" "Dum kiom da tempo vi estas cxi tie?" "Mi nagxis en la insulon antaux tri tagoj, unu tago post la sxip-perdo." "Do, cxu vi volas elsavon? Kien vi volas iri?" "Anglujen, se konvenas al vi; sed ie ajn en Euxropo estus dankenda." "Fareble. Cxu vi havas iun ajn prenindan?" "Nenio krom vestajxojn." "Bone. Sed paciencu dum minutoj, cxar ni havas farendajxojn." Paciencis Tomaso, kutime, dum la temp-esploristoj kaptis ekzemplerojn de aero, akvo, ktp, kaj faris aliajn provojn. Poste, cxiuj tri eniris la temp-veturilon kaj fermis la pordeton. Ne plenas en la veturilo multe da spaco, sed la vojagxo okazis sentempe kaj oni ne estis kunpremiata longtempe. There was consternation at the unscheduled passenger when the bathyscaphe returned; but it didn't take them too long to locate a few historians specializing in the seventeenth century to interview Thomas, and get a connection for them to talk to him. Before they did this, however, the djinn managed to get a word with him. Okazis kolero kiam la tri revenis 22a-jarcenten, sed oni rapide vekigis historiistojn fakanta pri la 17a-jarcento, kaj arangxis intervjuojn. Sed antauxe la gxenio paroletis kun Tomaso. "Hello again, and thank you much!" said Thomas. "All part of the wish," said the djinn. "They will return you to England in 1621, about a year after they rescued you from the island. They want to keep you here awhile first, though, and study you a lot. I'm not sure what they'll want to do to you, but they'll try to avoid any permanent damage. However, they will want to block your mind so that you don't remember any of this, and substitute false memories of being rescued by an ordinary ship and returning to England that way." "Ankoraux saluton, kaj multe dankon!" diris Tomaso. "Ne dankinde, entute parto de la dezirumo," la gxenio respondis. "Oni revenigos vin hejmen dum 1621, proksimume jaro post kiam ili elsavis vin el insulo. Oni volas studi vin kaj demandi multajn demandojn de vi. Mi ne scias precize kion ili faros je vi, sed ili penos ne difekti viann korpon. Tamen, ili volos sxlosi vian memoron por ke vi ne memoru io ajn ekde ilia apero sur insulo, kaj enmeti malverajxojn pri neokazinta elsavo per nerimarkinda sxipo kaj ordinara reveno al Anglujo." "Oh!" Did he want to use his second wish to prevent them from tampering with his memory? Yes, he did -- he'd had other plans for his other wishes, but keeping one's mind intact was pretty important. "Ah -- I wish," he said, "that when they try to erase my memory of the twenty-second century, they will be unsuccessful." "As it happens," said the djinn, with a smile, "that has been wished before. And another thing: you have only one wish left, for you wished the second wish in 1621, a short time after they returned you to England." "Ho ve!" Cxu li volas uzi la duan dezirumon por malpermesi ke ili difektu lian memoron? Jes ja - li estas pensinte planojn pri aliaj duaj dezirumojn, sed gravas gardi onian menson. Do: "Mi dezirumas, ke kiam oni penas sxlosi mian memoron pri io ajn, oni neniel sukcesos." "Okazas, ke oni jam dezirumas tion. Aliajxon: restas al vi nur unu dezirumon, cxar vi dezirumis la duan dum 1621, jxus post reveno el estontejo en Anglujon." This puzzled Thomas a lot. How could he wish his third wish before his second? He didn't remember any of that -- no, for it hadn't happened yet -- or had it? "Well, then. One wish left? I wish that Ruth and I shall live a long time, both of us in good health, and see our great- grandchildren." "That's been wished before; but if you revise it a bit, I can do it." "Revise it how?" "`Great-great-grandchildren.'" Delighted, Thomas wished it so. Jen konfuzajxo. Kiel li povus dezirumi sian trian dezirumon antaux la dua? Li ne memoris tion - kompreneble, cxar gxi ne jam okazis - aux cxu gxi okazis? "Do... cxu nur unu? Mi dezirumas, ke mia edzino Ruth kaj mi vivos longedauxre, ambaux sane, kaj vidi niajn pra-nepojn." "Tio estas jam dezirumita, sed se vi iom sxangxas gxin, mi povas plenumi gxin." "Precize kiel?" "Diru: 'Pra-pra-nepojn'." Gxoje, Tomaso tiel dezirumis. Three years had passed, three years of interminable interviews, psychological tests, and medical examinations, and they told Thomas they were ready to take him home again. "We can't let you remember all this, of course," they said. "No hard feelings, but if you remembered what you've seen you might change history by your actions." "I understand," said Thomas. They put him under... Tri jaroj pasis, plenaj de necxesaj intervjuoj, psikologaj eksperimentoj, kaj medicinaj enketoj. Finfine la sciencistoj diris al Tomaso ke li estis hejmenironta. "Ne tauxgus se vi memorus cxiujn okazojn, kompreneble," ili diris. "Ni ne malamas vin, sed, se vi memorus tion, eble vi povus sxangxi historion per malsamaj agoj ol vi alie farus." "Mi komprenas," respondis Tomaso. Tiam ili dormigis lin... ...and he woke up. He sat up and looked around him. It was night, and he was lying on a field under the stars. He was wearing his old clothes again, not the clothes they'd given him to wear in the twenty-second century -- wait, they said they were going to erase his memory of all that! So why did he remember it now? Oh, well. He wasn't going to tell anyone about it -- he'd not be believed, and besides, he didn't want to change history, for that might interfere with his rescue. ...kaj li vekigxis. Li cxirkauxrigardis. Noktis, kaj li kusxis sur kampo sub steloj. Li vestis per siaj malnovaj vestajxoj, ne per la vestajxoj kiujn oni donis al vi dum la 22a jarcento - sed ho, kiel li memoris tion? Ili diris ke la memoro estos sxlosita... nu, ne plendu pri tia bonsxanco. Li ne volus diri ion pri tio; neniu kredus lin, kaj se iu iel kredus, tio povus sxangxi historion, kaj tiel gxeni la fonto de lia elsavo. He got up and walked across the field. There was a little light from the moon, and he could see a village; evidently they had left him on the village common. The sheep were all at the other end of the field; probably they'd been frightened by the time bathyscaphe and were still avoiding this part of the common. Suddenly the djinn appeared before Thomas, and he wondered no longer about the failed memory-wipe. Li starigxis kaj marsxis tra kampo al vilagxo kiun li vidis per lunlumo. Evidente oni lasis lin sur komuna pasxt-kampo. La sxafoj restis fore, cxe la plej malproksimaj bariloj; ilin nepre timis la temp-veturilo. Subite aperis la gxenio, kaj Tomaso ne plu miris pri la fusxita memorsxloso. "I wish," he said, "that when they try to erase my memory of the twenty-second century, they will be unsuccessful." "Done," said the djinn, "and that's your second wish. Your third?" "Oh... I thought I had already wished the third... in the future, you know." "Mi dezirumas," li diris, "ke, kiam oni penas sxlosi mian memoron dum la 22a jarcento, oni neniel sukcesos." "Farita estas la dua," respondis gxenio. "Cxu vi pretas dezirumi la trian?" "Ho! Sed mi pensis ke mi jam dezirumis la tria... en estontejo, kompreneble." "Hah! Let's see: if you wish your third wish now, you can't wish it in the future time after you're rescued; that would change your personal past -- wouldn't it? Or it might make a paradox, and I don't know what would happen then. So I think you had better not wish that third wish now -- for I'd have to grant it, as you have still got one more, and paradoxes make me nervous." "That's quite all right," replied Thomas, "for I'm satisfied with my third wish." "Ho, kiel mia pensilo doloras! Lasu min pensi. Se vi dezirumas la trian nun, vi ne povas dezirumi gxin en estontejo, post elsavo. Tio sxangxus vian pasinteco, cxu ne? Aux povus fari paradokson, kaj me ne scias kio okazus. Do, mi opinias ke vi ne dezirumi la trian nun; cxar mi plenumi gxin, kaj paradoksoj min timegas." "Ne maltrankviligxu," respondis Tomaso, "cxar mi plene sxatas la trian jam faritan. "In that case, I'll take my leave of you now, for I've much work to do in the years to come." "Thank-you," said Thomas. "Come visit Ruth and I sometime if you're not too busy." "Maybe I will. Good-bye." The djinn vanished. Thomas climbed over the fence and walked into the village to seek shelter for the night. "Tiuokaze mi devas foriri, cxar mi plue havas multe da laboro por pretigi vian elsavon." "Multan dankon," adiauxis Tomaso. "Vizitu Ruth kaj min iam, kiam vi ne tro okupigxos." "Mi eble faros tiel. Adiaux." Tiam la gxenio denove malaperis. Tomaso transis barilojn kaj marsxis en vilagxon por trovi dumnoktan sxirmon. ====== Neologismoj: gxenio: araba feo, kiu lauxlegende plenumas tri dezirojn/petojn. dezirumi: peti ion de gxenio.