小墨的第一滴：从混沌到秩序的呼唤

在很久很久以前，久到连爷爷奶奶的爷爷奶奶的爷爷奶奶都不知道那是多久以前的时候，这个世界上还没有纸，没有笔，也没有我们今天用的字。那时候的世界啊，是一片真正的混沌——不是那种教室乱糟糟的混沌，而是真正的、什么秩序都没有的混沌。

In the very, very beginning—way back before even the great-great-great-grandparents of your grandparents knew when that was—there were no paper, no pens, and no letters like we use today. The world was true chaos. Not the messy-desk kind of chaos, but real, total chaos with no order at all.

想象一下，如果你生活在那时候——你会遇到一只超级大超级大的野兽，它看起来能把整个部落都吃掉！你想跑回山洞告诉大家"快跑！危险！"可是你要怎么告诉他们呢？你可以大声喊叫，声音能传多远？一百步？两百步？可是如果你的部落住在山的另一边呢？如果你想把这个消息留给明天的人呢？你只能张大嘴巴，发出一串没人能听懂的声音，祈祷别人能猜到你想说什么。

Imagine if you lived back then—you might encounter a gigantic beast that could eat your whole tribe! You wanted to run back to the cave and tell everyone "Run! Danger!" But how would you tell them? You could shout loudly, but how far would your voice carry? One hundred steps? Two hundred steps? What if your tribe lived on the other side of the mountain? What if you wanted to leave this message for people tomorrow? You could only open your mouth wide, make some sounds nobody could understand, and hope others would guess what you meant.

这就是小墨——我们故事的主角——降临时看到的情景。小墨不是普通的墨水，它是一滴有魔法的墨滴，从很高很高的天上滴落下来，闪闪发光，就像一颗小小的星星落在了人间。小墨一直在天上的云朵间飘荡，它见过冰川形成又融化，看过火山喷发又平息，闻过第一朵花开放时的香气。它一直在等待一个特别的时刻——一个它能真正帮助别人的时刻。

This is what Little Ink—our story's hero—saw when it fell from the sky. Little Ink wasn't ordinary ink; it was a magical droplet, falling from way up high in the heavens, sparkling and shining like a tiny star that had come down to visit the human world. Little Ink had been drifting among the clouds, watching glaciers form and melt, witnessing volcanoes erupt and calm down, smelling the fragrance of the very first flower that ever bloomed. It had been waiting for a special moment—a moment when it could truly help someone.

那一天终于来了。

That day finally came.

小墨穿过云层，穿过蓝天，穿过鸟儿的歌声，慢慢地、轻轻地落向大地。它落啊落啊，穿过树梢，看到小松鼠在捡松果；穿过最高的山峰，看到老鹰在天空盘旋；最后，它落进了一个黑漆漆的山洞里。

Little Ink fell through the clouds, through the blue sky, through the songs of birds, slowly and gently toward the earth. It fell and fell, passing through treetops where little squirrels gathered acorns, passing over the tallest mountains where old eagles circled in the sky, and finally, it landed in a dark, dark cave.

山洞里很暗很暗，但是小墨能发光——它全身散发着淡淡的蓝色光芒，就像一盏小夜灯。小墨眨眨眼睛（如果墨水有眼睛的话），向四周看去——哇！

The cave was very, very dark, but Little Ink could glow—it had a soft blue light all over its body, like a little night-light. Little Ink blinked its eyes (if ink could have eyes, that is), and looked around—wow!

墙上画满了画！

There were paintings all over the walls!

小墨看到了一只野牛，肚子圆滚滚的，好像刚刚吃饱了青草；它看到了一匹马，鬃毛飘扬，好像正在草原上奔跑；它看到了猛犸象，巨大的身躯比三头大象加起来还要大，长长的象牙弯弯的，像两道白色的月亮；它还看到了猎人，拿着长矛，勇敢地站在野兽面前。

Little Ink saw a wild bull with a round, round belly, as if it had just eaten its fill of fresh grass. It saw a horse with flowing mane, as if galloping across the plains. It saw a mammoth, with a massive body bigger than three elephants put together, and long, curved tusks like two white moons. And it saw hunters, holding spears, bravely standing before the beasts.

小墨惊呆了。它从来没见过这么多画，从来没见过这么漂亮的颜色——红色、黄色、棕色、黑色……这些颜色是怎么画上去的？用什么东西画的？更重要的是——为什么？

Little Ink was astonished. It had never seen so many paintings, never seen such beautiful colors—red, yellow, brown, black... How were these colors painted? With what tools? And more importantly—why?

就在这个时候，小墨听到洞口传来一阵脚步声。"嗒嗒嗒，嗒嗒嗒"——很多人走过来了！小墨连忙把自己藏到一块大石头后面，屏住呼吸（虽然墨水并不需要呼吸）。

Right then, Little Ink heard footsteps approaching the cave entrance. "Tap tap tap, tap tap tap"—many people were coming! Little Ink quickly hid behind a big rock and held its breath (though ink doesn't really need to breathe).

一群人走进了山洞。小墨偷偷地探出脑袋观察——他们穿着兽皮做的衣服，用骨头和石头做成的工具挂在腰间。他们的皮肤被太阳晒得黝黑黝黑的，手指上有很多很多的茧子，看起来做过很多很多事情。这些人围着山洞里的火堆坐下，开始叽叽喳喳地说话。

A group of people walked into the cave. Little Ink peeked out from behind the rock and watched—they wore clothes made from animal skins, with tools made from bones and stones hanging from their belts. Their skin was tanned dark by the sun, and their fingers had lots of calluses, looking like they'd done many, many things. These people sat around a fire pit in the cave and started chattering away.

小墨仔细听啊听，努力想听懂他们在说什么。可是他们的语言和现在的语言完全不一样，声音怪怪的，有的时候像鸟叫，有的时候像风吹过树叶。可是小墨发现了一件很神奇的事情——每当有人说话的时候，另一些人就会指着墙上的画，好像在说："对！对！就是这样！"

Little Ink listened very carefully, trying to understand what they were saying. But their language was completely different from modern languages, with strange sounds—sometimes like bird calls, sometimes like wind rustling through leaves. But Little Ink discovered something magical—Whenever someone spoke, others would point to the pictures on the wall, as if saying: "Yes! Yes! That's it! That's exactly it!"

小墨恍然大悟！原来这些画就是"话"啊！那个指着野牛的人，可能在说"我今天打猎打到了一只野牛"；那个指着猛犸象的人，可能在说"明天我们要去猎猛犸象，大家要小心"；那个指着猎人的画的人，可能在说"这个猎人好勇敢，他是我们部落最棒的"！

Little Ink suddenly understood! These pictures were "words"! The person pointing at the wild bull might be saying "I hunted a wild bull today." The person pointing at the mammoth might be saying "Tomorrow we're going to hunt mammoths, everyone be careful." The person pointing at the hunter's picture might be saying "This hunter is so brave, he's the best in our tribe!"

这就是最早的"字"——用画来说话！

These were the earliest "words"—using pictures to speak!

小墨激动得全身都在发光，它从石头后面蹦了出来，大喊一声："我懂了！我懂了！"

Little Ink was so excited that its whole body glowed, and it jumped out from behind the rock, shouting: "I understand! I understand!"

山洞里的人被这突然出现的光吓了一跳，纷纷站起来，拿起长矛，准备对付"入侵者"。一个看起来最强壮的人站到最前面，他的头发乱蓬蓬的，胡子长长的，眼睛里闪着警惕的光。

The people in the cave were startled by this sudden light. They stood up quickly, grabbed their spears, ready to deal with the "invader." The strongest-looking person stepped forward, his hair messy, beard long, and a cautious gleam in his eyes.

小墨一点也不害怕。它慢慢地飘到那个人面前，发出柔和的蓝光，然后开始说话——虽然小墨没有嘴，但它说的话每个人都能听到，就像从心里直接传出来一样。

Little Ink wasn't afraid at all. It slowly floated in front of that person, radiating a soft blue glow, and began to speak—though Little Ink had no mouth, everyone could hear what it said, as if the words came directly from their hearts.

"你好！"小墨说，"我是从天上来的，我叫小墨。我看到了你们画的画——野牛、马、猛犸象、猎人……你们太厉害了！这些画就是你们的话，对不对？"

"Hello!" said Little Ink, "I came from the sky, my name is Little Ink. I saw your paintings—wild bulls, horses, mammoths, hunters... You're amazing! These paintings are your words, aren't they?"

那个强壮的人愣住了。他放下长矛，歪着脑袋看着这团蓝色的光。他的族人们也慢慢放松下来，围过来好奇地看着小墨。

The strong man froze. He lowered his spear, tilted his head, and stared at this blue light. His tribespeople also slowly relaxed, gathering around to curiously look at Little Ink.

"这些画……"小墨继续说，"可以帮助你们记住很多事情。但是有没有想过？如果能把'今天'、'明天'、'昨天'画出来？如果能把'很多'、'很少'画出来？如果能把人的名字画出来？那会多方便啊！"

"These paintings..." Little Ink continued, "can help you remember many things. But have you ever thought—if you could draw 'today,' 'tomorrow,' 'yesterday'? If you could draw 'many' or 'few'? If you could draw people's names? Wouldn't that be so much more convenient!"

山洞里安静极了，只有火堆发出"噼啪噼啪"的声音。人们互相看着，眼睛里闪烁着好奇和兴奋的光。那个最强壮的人——后来小墨才知道他叫"大石"——慢慢地说了一句话。

The cave was completely silent except for the "crackle crackle" of the fire. People looked at each other, their eyes sparkling with curiosity and excitement. The strongest man—Little Ink later learned his name was "Big Stone"—slowly spoke.

"你说的……我们从来没想过。"大石说，"如果真的有这种方法——那我们是不是可以告诉很远很远地方的人消息？我们的子孙是不是可以看到我们画的东西？"

"What you're saying... we've never thought of it before," said Big Stone. "If such a method really existed—could we send messages to people who live very far away? Could our grandchildren see the things we've drawn?"

"当然可以！"小墨激动地说，"这就是我要留下来的原因！我要帮你们把画变得越来越简单，越来越方便，越来越厉害！总有一天，你们画的'字'可以记录下任何东西——打猎的故事、部落的历史、人们的名字、天空的变化……你们的后代可以通过这些字，看到几百年前、几千年前发生的事情！"

"Of course!" Little Ink said excitedly, "That's exactly why I'm staying! I'm going to help you make your paintings simpler and simpler, more convenient, more and more powerful! Someday, the 'words' you draw will be able to record anything—the stories of hunts, the history of tribes, people's n