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Still, some boundaries are larger than others.
然而，有些领域的边界更为宽广
So a human encountering the divine, as Muslims believe Muhammad did,
所以当人类遇到了神性时，正如伊斯兰教徒相信穆罕默德一样
to the rationalist, this is a matter not of fact but of wishful fiction,
对于理性主义者来说，这并不是事实，而是一厢情愿的想像
and like all of us, I like to think of myself as rational.
就像在座各位一样，我认为我是理性的
Which might be why when I looked at the earliest accounts we have of that night,
这或许就是当我查看有关那夜最早的记录时
what struck me even more than what happened was what did not happen.
为什么那夜发生的事情较没有发生的事情更令我吃惊的
Muhammad did not come floating off the mountain as though walking on air.
穆罕穆德未曾如同在空中行走，从山上冲下来
He did not run down shouting, "Hallelujah!" and "Bless the Lord!"
他没有边跑边大喊：“哈利路亚！”和“上帝保佑你！”
He did not radiate light and joy.
他没有散发着耀眼的光芒和喜悦
There were no choirs of angels, no music of the spheres, no elation, no ecstasy,
没有天使的合唱，没有余音绕梁，没有洋洋得意，没有欣喜若狂
no golden aura surrounding him, no sense of an absolute, fore-ordained role as the messenger of God.
周围没有出现金色光环，没有一点这样的感觉，他正是上帝所差遣的使者
That is, he did none of the things that might make it easy to cry foul,
他也没做过任何让大家觉得很邪恶的事情
to put down the whole story as a pious fable. Quite the contrary.
把所有故事看成不可能实现的神话。刚好相反
In his own reported words, he was convinced at first that what had happened couldn't have been real.
根据他自己的描述，他最初以为所发生的事并不是真实的
At best, he thought, it had to have been a hallucination --
顶多也只是幻觉
a trick of the eye or the ear, perhaps, or his own mind working against him.
也许被一对眼睛或耳朵戏弄，或是脑袋跟他作对
