經典科幻文學:《基本上無害 Mostly Harmless》第22章1

Daylight exploded around them. Hot, heavy sun. A desert plain stretched out ahead in a haze of heat. They thundered out into it.

日光在他們周圍炸開，炎熱，沉重的太陽。一片荒蕪的平原在熱氣下舒展，他們轟隆隆地衝進去。

‘Jump!’ shouted Ford Prefect.

“跳！”福特.長官喊道。

‘What?’ shouted Arthur Dent, holding on for dear life.

“什麼？”阿瑟.鄧特死命抓緊不鬆手。

There was no reply.

沒有回答。

‘What did you say?’ shouted Arthur again, and then realized that Ford Prefect was no longer there. He looked around in panic and started to slip. Realising he couldn’t hold on any longer he pushed himself sideways as hard as he could and rolled into a ball as he hit the ground, rolling, rolling away from the pounding hooves.

“你說什麼？”阿瑟再喊一遍，然後他發現福特已經不在了，他驚恐失措地四下亂瞅，並且開始下滑。他意識到自己再也抓不住了，於是使勁吃奶的力氣把自己往旁邊推，落地時立馬蜷縮成一個球，滾啊滾啊，離砰砰砰的蹄子越遠越好。

What a day, he thought, as he started furiously coughing dust up out of his lungs. He hadn’t had a day as bad as this since the Earth had been blown up. He staggered up to his knees, and then up to his feet and started to run away. He didn’t know what from or what to, but running away seemed a prudent move.

今天究竟是什麼日子，他一面拼命咳出肺裏的灰塵一面想。自從地球毀滅以來，他還從沒有過這麼糟心的時候。他搖搖晃晃地跪起來，然後再站起來開跑。他不知道這是要逃離什麼還是要奔向什麼，但跑開些似乎是種謹慎的選擇。

He ran straight into Ford Prefect who was standing there surveying the scene.

他一頭撞上了站在附近審時度勢的福特.長官。

‘Look,’ said Ford. ‘That is precisely what we need.’

“瞧，”福特說，“正是我們需要的。”

Arthur coughed up some more dust, and wiped some other dust out of his hair and eyes. He turned, panting, to look at what Ford was looking at.

阿瑟又咳出些灰塵，然後從頭髮，眼睛裏扒拉出灰來。他氣喘吁吁地轉過身，想瞧瞧福特到底在看什麼。

It didn’t look much like the domain of a King, or the King, or any kind of King. It looked quite inviting though.

它看着並不像是什麼王的領地，不管那是什麼王。但它的模樣還是挺吸引人的。