93、一位火星居民被指给我看，确切地说，他不是真正的居民，而是一个类似火星居民的灵人。他的脸就像我们地球居民的脸，只是脸的下面部分因没有胡须而发黑；事实上，他一根胡须也没有，取而代之的是这块黑色区域。这黑色向两边延伸，直到两耳下面。脸的上面部分发黄，就像我们地球上并非纯白居民的脸。
这些灵人继续说，在火星，他们以树上的果实，尤其从地里长出来的一种圆形果实，以及豆类为食。他们所穿的衣服由某些树的树皮纤维制成。这些树皮纤维具有一种黏稠性，以致它们能被编织，也能通过它们自身带有的一种树胶被粘在一起。此外，他们还讲到，火星居民知道如何制造液态火，以便在傍晚和夜间为他们提供照明。
93. I was shown what an inhabitant of that planet looks like-what I saw, though, was not an actual inhabitant, but a likeness of one. His face was like the faces of inhabitants of our planet, but the lower part was black. 1This was not because of a beard, since he did not have one, but from a blackness where a beard would be; the blackness also extended to just below the ears on both sides. The upper part of the face looked tanned, like the faces of inhabitants of our planet that are not pale.
They said that on their planet they eat fruit from trees, and especially a kind of round fruit that grows out of their soil; they also eat vegetables. They wear clothes that they make from the fibers of the bark of particular trees that can be woven and also glued together with a kind of adhesive that they have.
They told me that they know how to make flammable liquids so that they have light in the evening and at night.
Footnotes:
1. In this reference to “the faces of inhabitants of our planet,” Swedenborg is clearly thinking of his white European audience as the norm. However, the exceptional nature of the described person’s face consists not in the fact that part of it is nonwhite, specifically, but that it is “two-toned”: the upper part is tanned (as Swedenborg goes on to explain) and the lower part is black. [LSW, SS]
93. One of the inhabitants of that world was shown to me, or rather, not an actual inhabitant, but a spirit who resembled one. His face was like that of the inhabitants of our world, but the lower part of his face was black, not with a beard, for he had none, but due to a black area taking its place. This blackness extended up under his ears on either side. The upper part of his face was sallow, like the faces of people in our world who are not completely white.
They went on to say that the food eaten in that world is the fruit of trees, especially a certain round fruit which grows on their earth, and also vegetables. Their clothing consists of garments which they make out of the bark fibres of certain trees. These have such a consistency that they can be woven and also glued together with a kind of gum they have. Moreover they reported that they know there how to make liquid fires, to provide themselves with light in the evening and at night.
93. There was presented before me an inhabitant of that earth. He was not indeed an inhabitant, but like one. His face was like that of the inhabitants of our earth, but the lower region of the face was black, not from a beard, for he had none, but from blackness in place of it. This blackness extended on both sides as far as the ears. The upper part of the face was yellowish, like the faces of the inhabitants of our earth who are not altogether white. These spirits said further that in their earth they feed on the fruits of trees, especially a certain round fruit which grows up out of the ground, and also leguminous plants. That they are there clothed with garments made out of fibers of the bark of certain trees. These have such consistence that they can be woven, and also glued together by a kind of gum which they have with them. They further related that they know there how to make fluid fires from which they have light during the evening and night.
93. Sistebatur mihi Incola telluris illius; non quidem erat incola, sed similis ei facies ejus erat qualis facies incolarum nostrae telluris, sed regio inferior faciei erat nigra, non ex barba, quam non habebat, sed ex nigredine loco ejus: nigredo illa se usque sub aures utrinque extendebat; superior pars faciei erat flavescens, sicut facies incolarum nostrae Telluris, qui non prorsus candidi sunt. Porro dicebant, quod in tellure vescantur fructibus arborum, imprimis fructu quodam rotundo, qui ex terra illorum egerminatur; praeter etiam leguminibus. Quod vestiantur ibi vestibus, quas ex fibris corticeis quarundam arborum conficiunt, quae illam consistentiam habent, ut contexi queant, et quoque conglutinari per genus gummi quod apud illos. Narrabant insuper quod ignes fluidos ibi sciant facere, ex quibus lucem temporibus vesperae et noctis habent.