經典科幻文學:《基本上無害 Mostly Harmless》 第18章11

‘Temporal reverse engineering.’

“短期反向操控。”

‘Oh,’ said Arthur. ‘Oh yes.’

“哦。”阿瑟說，“哦是的。”

‘The question is, who is it really doing it for?’

“問題在於，它到底是爲誰幹？”

‘I’ve actually got a sandwich in my pocket,’ said Arthur, delving. ‘Would you like a bit?’

“嘿，我兜裏還真有塊三明治。”阿瑟在包裏挖了半天，“想來點嗎？”

‘Yeah, OK.’

“恩，好啊。”

‘It’s a bit squished and sodden, I’m afraid.’

“有點溼，還給壓扁了恐怕。”

‘Never mind.’

“別介意。”

They munched for a bit.

他們大嚼了一會兒。

‘It’s quite good in fact,’ said Ford. ‘What’s the meat in it?’

“說實話味道還真棒。”福特說，“裏頭是什麼肉？”

‘Perfectly Normal Beast.’

“絕對正常獸。”

‘Not come across that one. So, the question is,’ Ford continued, ‘who is the bird really doing it for? What’s the real game here?’

“從沒見過。所以，問題就是，”福特繼續剛纔的話題，“那隻鳥到底在爲誰幹？它究竟在玩什麼把戲？”

‘Mmm,’ ate Arthur.

“呃。”阿瑟吃着三明治。

‘When I found the bird,’ continued Ford, ‘which I did by a series of coincidences that are interesting in themselves, it put on the most fantastic multi-dimensional display of pyrotechnics I’ve ever seen. It then said that it would put its services at my disposal in my universe. I said, thanks but no thanks. It said that it would anyway, whether I liked it or not. I said just try it, and it said it would and, indeed, already had done. I said we’d see about that and it said that we would. That’s when I decided pack the thing up and get it out of there. So I sent it to you for safety.’

“我知道那隻鳥的時候，”福特接着說，“經歷了一連串非常有趣的偶然事件，它搞了場熱成像大匯演，我還真沒見過那麼稀奇的。然後它說它會在我的宇宙裏爲我服務。我說，謝了不過不必。它說它還是要爲我服務，不管我喜歡不喜歡。我說你倒是試試看，它說它會的而且，事實上，已經在幹了。我說我們走着瞧它說好啊。這時候我決定把那東西打包帶回去。所以我把它寄給了你，爲了安全的緣故。”

‘Oh yes? Whose?’

“哦當真？爲了誰的安全？”

‘Never you mind. Then, what with one thing and another, I thought it prudent to jump out of the window again, being fresh out of other options at the time. Luckily for me the jetcar was there otherwise I would have had to fall back on ingenious quick-thinking, agility, maybe another shoe or, failing all else, the ground. But it meant that, whether I liked it or not, the Guide was, well, working for me, and that was deeply worrying.’

“別管這個了。然後，因爲這樣那樣的緣故，我覺得再從窗戶跳出去一回比較謹慎，再說那時候我也沒啥選擇的餘地了。幸運的是那輛噴射車剛好在那底下，否則我就只好再回到天才的機智和行動力上頭去，沒準兒還要賠上另外那隻鞋；又或者——如果其他都不行——回到地上。可它是認真的，不管我喜歡不喜歡，《指南》他都要，恩，爲我服務。這真是太讓人擔心了。”

‘Why?’

“爲什麼。”