In the remote southern seas there is a cluster of islands. The weather is fair, the land is fertile and the ocean is rich with fish. Each island is inhabited by a different race of people. Although physically they look alike, you can tell them apart by their styles of dress, their distinctive dialects and even their most casual gestures. A cursory tour of the archipelago reveals that each island has its own unique form of architecture. If there is any similarity between them, it is that each race builds in a manner that is stubbornly at odds with the immediate environment. On rocky hillsides there are wooden huts and in wooded valleys, towns of brick. Arid uplands are irrigated and planted with leafy gardens, whereas, on fertile plains, the parks are paved with stone. On windswept outposts people live in tents but in the most sheltered regions they have stout, resilient cottages.
Despite their differences, the islanders coexist peacefully. There is rivalry over certain fishing waters and sporting prowess but it rarely amounts to more than a few heated exchanges. Distances between the islands are not great and the sea is calm but people prefer to stick with their own kind and mixed marriages are rare. For the most part, the only contact between the different races is for trading purposes.
At the centre of the archipelago, perhaps in the most favoured spot of all, lies an island that has been deserted for many generations. There is no obvious reason for its abandonment; it has good soil, plenty of freshwater, two natural ports and a climate no more or less suitable to the raising of crops than its neighbour‘s. But no birds circle overhead and no lights come on in the evenings.
翻译：
在遥远的南方海域上有一群岛屿。气候宜人，土地肥沃，海洋里盛产鱼类。每一个岛屿上都居住着一个不同的种族。尽管他们在身形外貌上非常相似，但是可以通过他们的着装风格、他们与众不同的方言、甚至他们最不经意的动作姿态把他们区别开。粗略地游览一下这个群岛就会发现，每一个岛屿都有它独特的建筑形式。如果说它们之间有什么类似之处的话，那就是每一个种族的建造方式都是与邻近环境不合情理地相悖。在多岩石的山坡上有木制的小屋，而在树木繁茂的山谷有砖建的城镇。在干旱的高地上引水灌溉，种植阔叶园林；然而在肥沃的平原上，公园里铺着石头。在受风吹袭的边区村落，人们居住在帐篷里；而在最受庇护的地区，他们有坚固的、能复原的村舍。
尽管他们有差异，岛上居民还是和平共处。虽然在某些捕鱼水域和体育实力上有竞争，但很少达到超过几次激烈争吵的程度。岛屿之间的距离并不远，海洋也平静，但人们更喜欢与自己的同类在一起，异族通婚很少见。在大多数情况下，不同种族间的唯一联系是为了贸易。
在群岛的中央，大概是位于所有场所中最有利的地点，有一座被废弃了好几代的岛屿。对于它的被弃，没有很明显的原因；它有优良的土壤，充足的淡水，两个天然港口，以及比它的邻居不多也不少适合种植庄稼的气候。但是没有鸟在上空盘旋，晚上也没有灯光亮起。
