經典科幻文學:《基本上無害 Mostly Harmless》第22章7

‘Shhh!’ said Ford. ‘I paid to hear this song.’ He seemed to have tears in his eyes, which Arthur found a bit disturbing. He’d never seen Ford moved by anything other than very, very strong drink. Probably the dust. He waited, tapping his fingers irritably, out of time with the music.

“噓！”福特說，“我可是爲這首歌花了錢的。”他眼裏含着淚水，讓阿瑟有些不自在。他從沒見過有任何東西能打動福特，只除了非常，非常烈的酒。多半是灰塵吧。他等着，他好不耐煩地彈着手指，跟音樂完全不合拍。

The song ended. The singer went on to do ‘Heartbreak Hotel’.

這首歌完了，歌手繼續唱起《傷心旅館》。

‘Anyway,’ Ford whispered, ‘I’ve got to review the restaurant.’

“反正，”福特開始跟他竊竊私語，“我也得給這間餐廳寫篇評論。”

‘What?’

“什麼？”

‘I have to write a review.’

“我得寫篇評論。”

‘Write a review? Of this place?’

“寫篇評論？寫這地方？”

‘Filing the review validates the expenses claim. I’ve fixed it so that it happens completely automatically and untraceably. This bill is going to need some validation,’ he added quietly, staring into his beer with a nasty smirk.

“只要把評論傳出去，花費就能得到批准。我已經搞定了，讓這道程序自動化，而且無跡可查。這張賬單可很需要些批准呢。”他靜靜地加上一句，然後盯着自己的啤酒滿臉壞笑。

‘For a couple of beers and a roll?’

“就兩杯啤酒和一個肉卷？”

‘And a tip for the singer.’

“外加給歌手的小費。”

‘Why, how much did you tip him?’

“怎麼，你給了多少？”

Ford named a figure again.

福特又說了一個數。

‘I don’t know how much that is,’ said Arthur. ‘What’s it worth in pounds sterling? What would it buy you?’

“我不知道那是多少。”阿瑟說，“用英鎊算值多少錢？能買個什麼？”

‘It would probably buy you, roughly… er…’ Ford screwed his eyes up as he did some calculations in his head. ‘Switzerland,’ he said at last. He picked up his Hitch Hiker’s Guide and started to type.

“多半能買個，粗略的估計……呃……”福特皺起眉在腦子裏算起數字，“瑞士吧。”最後他說。說完他拿起《銀河系漫遊指南》開始打字。