（外文电子版资料）Knight, Damon - Four in one.pdf

file:///F|/rah/Damon%20Knight/Knight,%20Damon%20-%20Four%20In%20One.txt Four In One By Damon Knight (1953) George Meister had once seen the nervous system of a man--a display specimen, achieved by coating the smallest of the fibers until they were coarse enough to be seen, then dissolving all the unwanted tissue and replacing it with clear plastic. A marvelous job; that fellow on Torkas III had done it--what was his name? At any rate: having seen the specimen, Meister knew approximately what he himself must look like at the present moment. Of course, there were distortions: for example, he was almost certain that the neurons between his visual center and his eyes had produced themselves by at least thirty centimeters. Also, no doubt, the system as a whole was curled up and spread out rather oddly, since the musculature it had originally controlled was gone; and he had noticed certain other changes which might or might not be reflected by gross structural differences. The fact remained that he--all that he could still call _himself_--was nothing more than a brain, a pair of eyes, a spinal cord, and a spray of neurons. George closed his eyes for a second. It was a thing he had learned to do only recently, and he was proud of it. That first long period, when he had had no control whatever, had been very bad, He had decided later that the paralysis had been due to the lingering effects of some anaesthetic-- the agent, whatever it was, that had kept him unconscious while his body was being--Well. Either that, or the neuron branches had simply not yet knitted firmly in their new positions. perhaps he could verify one or the other supposition at some future time. But at first, when he had only been able to see and not to move, knowing nothing beyond the moment when he had fallen face first into that mottled green and brown puddle of gelatin... that had been upsetting. He wondered how the others were taking it. There were