經典科幻文學:《 基本上無害 Mostly Harmless》 第12章12

A few villagers wondered why Almighty Bob would send his onlie begotten Sandwich Maker in a burning fiery chariot rather than perhaps in one that might have landed quietly without destroying half the forest, filling it with ghosts and also injuring the Sandwich Maker quite badly. Old Thrashbarg said that it was the ineffable will of Bob, and when they asked him what ineffable meant he said look it up.

也有幾個村民覺得奇怪，爲什麼萬能的鮑伯要讓他的獨生三明治大師坐着熊熊燃燒的戰車下到凡間，爲什麼不選另一輛交通工具，比如噪音小些的那種，最好別毀掉半片森林，讓裏頭充滿幽靈，還免得三明治大師身受重傷。對此老刷希巴回答道，這是出於鮑伯那不可言說的意志；他們問他不可言說是什麼意思，他回答說想知道就自己查去。

This was a problem because Old Thrashbarg had the only dictionary and he wouldn’t let them borrow it. They asked him why not and he said that it was not for them to know the will of Almighty Bob, and when they asked him why not again he said because he said so. Anyway, somebody sneaked into Old Thrashbarg’s hut one day while he was out having a swim and looked up ‘ineffable’. ‘Ineffable’ apparently meant ‘unknowable, indescribable, unutterable, not to be known or spoken about’. So that cleared that up.

這有點困難，因爲唯一的一本字典掌握在老刷希巴手裏，而他又不肯借給他們。他們問他爲什麼不借，他回答說萬能的鮑伯的意志不是他們可以知道的；他們又問他爲什麼不可以，他回答說因爲我這麼說了。反正，最後還是有人趁老刷希巴出去游泳的時候偷偷溜進他的茅屋，拿字典查了“不可言說”。原來“不可言說”的意思是“沒法知道，沒有形容，沒法說，不可能知道或者說起”。這下清楚了。

At least they had got the sandwiches.

至少他們有了三明治。

One day Old Thrashbarg said that Almighty Bob had decreed that he, Thrashbarg, was to have first pick of the sandwiches. The villagers asked him when this had happened, exactly, and Thrashbarg said it had happened yesterday, when they weren’t looking. ‘Have faith,’ Old Thrashbarg said, ‘or burn!’

有一天老刷希巴說，萬能的鮑伯命令他，刷希巴，頭一個吃三明治。村民們問他這是什麼時候的事兒到底，而刷希巴回答說就是昨天他們沒在看的時候。“要有信心”，老刷希巴說，“否則就會墮入地獄！”

They let him have first pick of the sandwiches. It seemed easiest.

他們讓他頭一個吃三明治。這樣似乎容易理解些。

And now this woman had just arrived out of nowhere, and gone straight for the Sandwich Maker’s hut. His fame had obviously spread, though it was hard to know where to since, according to Old Thrashbarg, there wasn’t anywhere else. Anyway, wherever it was she had come from, presumably somewhere ineffable, she was here now and was in the Sandwich Maker’s hut. Who was she? And who was the strange girl who was hanging around outside the hut moodily and kicking at stones and showing every sign of not wanting to be there? It seemed odd that someone should come all the way from somewhere ineffable in a chariot that was obviously a vast improvement on the burning fiery one which had brought them the Sandwich Maker, if she didn’t even want to be here?

而現在，竟然不知從哪兒冒出來個女人，直愣愣地衝着三明治大師的茅屋去了。雖然他的聲名已經廣爲流傳，儘管實在很難知道傳到了哪裏，因爲按照老刷希巴的說法，除了這兒根本就不存在任何地方。反正，無論她從哪兒來，那多半都是個不可言說的地方。關鍵是她已經來了，而且進了三明治大師的茅屋。她是誰？還有，那個悶悶不樂的在茅屋外晃悠，踢石子，一臉不情願顯然不樂意待在這兒的姑娘又是誰？這難道不是有些奇怪嗎？如果她根本不想待在這兒，怎麼還會坐這麼一輛戰車——比起帶來三明治大師的烈火戰車，它明顯已經有了巨大的改進——大老遠地從一個不可言說的地方跑到這兒來？