經典科幻文學:《基本上無害 Mostly Harmless》第22章3
‘Sometimes you have to show a little respect,’ said Ford.
‘Probably have to show a little cash as well,’ said Arthur. ‘How the hell much is that thing worth?’
“多半還得對人家表示一點點金錢。”阿瑟說，“那鬼東西究竟值多少？”With a tiny movement, Ford brought his Dine-O-Charge credit card up out of his pocket. Arthur noticed that the hand holding it was trembling very slightly.
阿瑟手腕一抖，從口袋裏掏出了他的“隨便吃”信用卡。阿瑟注意到他拿信用卡地手在微微發顫。
‘I’ll teach them to make me the restaurant critic…’ breathed Ford.
“讓他們派我做什麼美食評論去吧……”福特低聲道。‘What do you mean?’ asked Arthur.
“你什麼意思？”阿瑟問。‘I’ll show you,’ said Ford with a nasty glint in his eye. ‘Let’s go and run up a few expenses shall we?’
“看了就知道。”福特的眼睛裏閃着兇光，“我們這就去花上點經費，恩？”‘Couple beers,’ said Ford, ‘and, I dunno, a couple bacon rolls, whatever you got, oh and that pink thing outside.’
“兩杯啤酒。”福特說，“還有，恩，那個，兩份薰豬肉卷，隨便你有什麼就上什麼——哦，還有外頭那個粉紅色的東西。”He flipped his card on the top of the bar and looked around casually.
他把信用卡往吧檯上一拍，若無其事地看看周圍。There was a kind of silence.
四周安靜，呃，安靜。There hadn’t been a lot of noise before, but there was definitely a kind of silence now. Even the distant thunder of the Perfectly Normal Beasts carefully avoiding the Domain of the King seemed suddenly a little muted.
這兒本來就不怎麼吵，但現在是真有點安靜下來了。就連遠處那些小心翼翼避開了領地的絕對正常獸，它們的轟隆隆也彷彿突然間悶了些。‘Just rode into town,’ said Ford as if nothing was odd about that or about anything else. He was leaning against the bar at an extravagantly relaxed angle.
“剛騎着它們來這兒的。”看福特那模樣，彷彿無論是自己還是其他的一切都正常的很。他靠在吧檯上的角度極其放鬆。There were about three other customers in the place, sitting at tables, nursing beers. About three. Some people would say there were exactly three, but it wasn’t that kind of a place, not the kind of a place that you felt like being that specific in. There was some big guy setting up some stuff on the little stage as well. Old drum kit. Couple guitars. Country and Western kind of stuff.
除了他倆，裏面大概還有三個客人，都坐在各自的桌邊抿着啤酒，大概三個。有的人可能會說不多不少正好三個，但這兒可不是哪種地方，不是那種你喜歡把話說得太死的地方。小舞臺上還有個大塊頭在擺放什麼東西；用舊了的架子鼓，兩把吉他，鄉村西部之類的玩意。
