經典科幻文學:《 基本上無害 Mostly Harmless》 第9章6

Arthur did as she advised. He almost hyperventilated in fact. When he felt he was ready, he held his breath and followed her in.

阿瑟聽從了她的建議。事實上他差點換氣過度。他覺得自己已經準備好了，於是屏住呼吸跟了上去。

The photocopier was a big old thing on a rickety trolley. It stood just inside the dim shadows of the cave. The wheels were stuck obstinately in different directions and the ground was rough and stony.

影印機是個老掉牙的大傢伙，躺在一輛搖搖晃晃的手推車上，剛好隱藏在山洞幽暗的陰影裏。地面凹凸不平，淨是石頭，手推車的輪子卡在不同的方向上負隅頑抗。

‘Go ahead and take a breath outside,’ said the old woman. Arthur was going red in the face trying to help her move the thing.

阿瑟勉勵幫忙，臉皮都漲紫了。“出去換口氣。”老婦人說。

He nodded in relief. If she wasn’t going to be embarrassed about it then neither, he was determined, would he. He stepped outside and took a few breaths, then came back in to do more heaving and pushing. He had to do this quite a few times till at last the machine was outside.

他如蒙大赦般點點頭，既然她不覺得難堪，那麼他下定決心，自己也不要臉紅。他出洞吸了幾口氣，然後回去繼續又推又擡。這一幕重複了好幾回，最後影印機終於移動到了戶外。

The sun beat down on it. The old woman disappeared back into her cave again and brought with her some mottled metal panels, which she connected to the machine to collect the sun’s energy. She squinted up into the sky. The sun was quite bright, but the day was hazy and vague.

陽光火辣辣地灑上去，老婦人再次消失在山洞裏，拿出幾塊五顏六色的金屬板，把他們連在機器上開始收集太陽能。她眯着眼瞄了瞄天空，太陽挺亮，但空氣卻霧濛濛的，並不清爽。

‘It’ll take a while,’ she said.

“得過一陣。”她說。

Arthur said he was happy to wait.

阿瑟回答說自己很樂意等。

The old woman shrugged and stomped across to the fire. Above it, the contents of the tin can were bubbling away. She poked about at them with a stick.

老婦人聳聳肩，又咚咚地走到了火堆的另一頭，火上，錫鍋裏的東西正大冒氣泡。她拿棍子攪了攪。

‘You won’t be wanting any lunch?’ she enquired of Arthur.

“你不會想吃點午飯吧？”她向阿瑟打聽道。