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He and Valentina had married three weeks after Sputnik's launch, and their lives were now as good as they'd ever dreamed.
那时的他和瓦伦蒂娜在人造卫星发射三周后结婚了，他们的生活就像他们梦想的那样美好。
Then these mysterious recruiters came knocking at Gagarin's base, and everything was turned upside down.
之后这些神秘的招聘者敲响了加加林基地的大门，自此一切都被颠覆了。
Alongside his comrades, Gagarin was subjected to a battery of tests, physical and mental, that were so strenuous few could pass them.
加加林和他的战友们一起接受了一系列的身体和精神测试，这些测试极其艰苦，很少有人能够通过。
When those were done, the successful pilots were sent to Burdenko military hospital in Moscow, where Gagarin later recalled:
测试完成后，通过测试的飞行员被送往了位于莫斯科的Burdenko军事医院。加加林后来回忆道：
"They tapped our bodies with hammers, twisted us about on special devices and checked the vestibular organs in our ears… They tested us from head to toe." By the time the tests were over, only 20 pilots remained.
“他们用锤子敲打我们的身体，用特殊设备将我们扭来扭去，检查我们耳朵里的前庭器官……他们把我们从头到脚测了个遍。”等到测试结束时只剩下了20名飞行员。
20 pilots from across the USSR, the creme-de-la-creme of Soviet airmanship.
20名来自苏联各地的飞行员，也是苏联顶尖的飞行员。
It was now clear to the remaining pilots what all this was about. They were in the running to be the first-ever cosmonaut.
此刻那些飞行员终于清楚是怎么一回事了：他们有望成为史上第一位宇航员。
Shortly after passing his medical, Gagarin and Valentina left behind their cold, comfortable lives in Murmansk, and transferred to one of the most-secretive towns in Russia: Star City.
在完成体检后不久，加加林和瓦伦蒂娜离开了他们在摩尔曼斯克的寒冷舒适的生活，转移到了俄罗斯最神秘的城镇之一：星城。
A closed town, Star City was a place of luxury unparalleled even in Moscow; with well-stocked shops and vast apartments.
星城是莫斯科的一个封闭的小镇，它的奢华程度无与伦比，那里商店琳琅满目，还有十分宽敞的公寓。
But while life in Star City may have been luxurious, it was also tough.
星城的生活也许很奢侈，但也很艰难。
As the first astronaut training program in the world - America was still dicking about with chimpanzees at this stage - Star City's trials pushed the 20 pilots to their limits.
作为世界上第一个宇航员训练项目，星城的试验将20名飞行员推向了极限——当时美国还在捣鼓黑猩猩。
They endured G-forces even seasoned pilots had never experienced.
他们承受了即使是经验丰富的飞行员也从未经受过的重力。
Underwent physical tests so rigorous that most dropped out. Eventually, only six remained, all of them short men.
经过严格的体能测试，大多数人都退出了。最后只剩下六个人，而且都是矮个子。
Apparently Korlov had gone and built a capsule so small no average-sized man could dream of fitting inside.
显然，克洛夫建造的是一个小到连普通人都无法进入的太空舱。
At last, those six short men became two: Yuri Gagarin and Gherman Titov.
最后，这六个矮个子变成了两个：尤里·加加林和盖尔曼·蒂托夫。
Gagarin was convinced that Titov would be the one chosen.
曾有人明确告诉加加林被选上的肯定会是蒂托夫。
Possibly the best pilot in the USSR, he was intense, athletic, and educated.
因为他大概是前苏联最好的飞行员：热情、健壮、还受过良好的教育。
In another time, in another place, he likely would've gotten the job.
如果是在另一个时间点，另一个地方，那么他得到这份差事的可能性很大。
But this was the Soviet Union, the workers' paradise.
然而这里是苏联，是工人的天堂。
When word got to Nikita Khrushchev - himself the son of peasants - that the choice had come down to a poor boy from the sticks, and a middle class intellectual, he supposedly told Korolev to forget Titov.
赫鲁晓夫本身就是农民的儿子，当他得知要从一个来自乡下的穷孩子和一个中产阶级知识分子里进行选择时，(据说)他告诉科洛夫忘掉铁托夫。
The first man in space would be Yuri Gagarin.
自此第一个进入太空的人就变成了尤里·加加林。
By the time word reached the two pilots, they'd decamped to Baikonur Cosmodrome, on the vast plains of the Kazakh Steppe, to prepare for the launch.
两名飞行员收到消息的时候，他们已经撤到了拜科努尔航天发射场为发射做准备，那里位于哈萨克斯坦草原的广阔平原之上。
How exactly Titov took the news is a matter of some debate.
铁托夫究竟是如何看待这一消息的还存在一些争论。
Although all accounts say he was outraged at the time, some claim he found peace with the snub in later life, while others say he died still bitter at being robbed of his place in the history books.
尽管所有的报道都说他当时非常愤怒，但有人说他在晚年的生活中找到了平静，还有人则说他临死时仍为自己在历史书上的地位被剥夺而感到痛苦。
Either way, on April 12, 1961, it was Gagarin who got out of bed knowing he had a date with destiny.
不管怎样，1961年4月12日，加加林从床上爬了起来，他知道“自己和命运有个约会”。
If your idea of rocket launches comes via Hollywood, you might be picturing Yuri Gagarin sat in his capsule, listening to a countdown before liftoff.
如果你对于火箭发射的想法来自于好莱坞，那么你可能会想象尤里加加林坐在太空舱里在发射前听倒计时的场景。
But that image would be entirely wrong, as Korolev thought the idea of a countdown absurd American nonsense.
不过这一场景和现实完全不符，因为科洛夫认为倒计时的想法就是荒谬的美国人的无稽之谈。
Instead, Gagarin sat there listening to Russian love songs, waiting for the final checks to finish.
真实的情况是，加加林坐在那里听着俄罗斯情歌，等待最后的检查结束。
That morning, he'd awoken at 5:30 am to get to the launchpad.
那天早上，他5:30醒来来到发射台。
There, he'd made time for a quick pee against the back of his bus, a bit of necessary business that every future cosmonaut would repeat in the hopes of getting some of Gagarin's good luck.
先是在巴士的后面快速地进行了一次小便，这是未来的每个宇航员都必须重复做的任务，希望能沾沾加加林的好运。
Now Gagarin was sat atop a gigantic missile pointed at the stars, not knowing whether death or destiny awaited him.
现在加加林坐在一个巨大的导弹上指着星星，不知道等待着他的是死亡还是天命。
At exactly 9:06 am, Korolev punched the ignition key.
上午9点06分，科洛夫按下了点火开关。
There was no warning. Just the sudden jolt of the rocket, a roar of noise that seemed to fill the universe…
没有任何警告，火箭突然一震，一声巨响好似响彻了整个宇宙……
…and then Yuri Gagarin was blasting upwards, leaving Earth behind in a way no human had ever done before.
……之后尤里·加加林升空了，以一种人类从未尝试过的方式离开了地球。
Although he later claimed to have no memory of it, he was heard screaming "Poyekhali!" - an informal Russian word that roughly translates as "Let's roll!"
虽然后来他说自己不记得了，但有人听到他大喊了一声“Poyekhali!”——一个非正式的俄语单词，意思大致是“出发！”
A little over ten minutes later, the story of humanity had begun its newest chapter.
十多分钟后，人类的故事开始了新的篇章。
Outside the window, a giant swathe of bright blue impressed itself on the cosmonaut's retinas.
窗外，宇航员的视网膜上留下了一大片的亮蓝色。
It was the Earth, seen for the very first time by human eyes as it really is.
那是地球，人类第一次看到了它真实的样子。
