經典科幻文學:《 基本上無害 Mostly Harmless》 第4章1

'Tell you what, though, Miss Tricia,' said Eric, 'I will take a look at the mower, like I meant to last week, and leave you to get on with whatever you're wanting to.'

“不過，崔茜卡小姐，我跟你說，”埃裏克道，“我這就瞧瞧割草機去，上個星期我就打算瞧瞧它來着，現在你想幹什麼就幹什麼去吧。”

'Thank you, Eric,' said Tricia. 'I'm going to bed now, in fact. Help yourself to anything you want in the kitchen.'

“謝謝，埃裏克。”崔茜卡道，“事實上我正準備去睡一覺。廚房裏有吃的，你自便。”

'Thank you, Miss Tricia, and good luck to you,' said Eric. He bent over and picked something from the lawn.

“謝謝，崔茜卡小姐，祝你好運。”說着，埃裏克彎下腰從草坪上撿起個什麼東西。

'There,' he said. 'Three-leaf clover. Good luck you see.'

“給。”他說，“一片三葉的三葉草。你瞧，好運來了。”

He peered at it closely to check that it was a real three-leaf clover and not just a regular four-leaf one that one of the leaves had fallen off. 'If I were you, though, I'd watch for signs of alien activity in the area.' He scanned the horizon keenly. 'Particularly from over there in the Henley direction.'

他湊近了瞅瞅，看它是不是真的只有三葉，怕是株尋常的四葉三葉草掉了片葉子魚目混珠。“不過，我要是你，我會小心留意附近的外星人活動。”他認認真真地檢查了一遍地平線上的情況，“特別是那邊，亨利方向。”

'Thank you, Eric,' said Tricia again. 'I will.'

“謝謝你，埃裏克。”崔茜卡再次道謝，“我會的。”

She went to bed and dreamt fitfully of parrots and other birds. In the afternoon she got up and prowled around restlessly, not certain what to do with the rest of the day, or indeed the rest of her life. She spent at least an hour dithering, trying to make up her mind whether to head up into town and go to Stavro's for the evening. This was the currently fashionable spot for high-flying media people, and seeing a few friends there might help her ease herself back into the swing of things. She decided at last she would go. It was good. It was fun there. She was very fond of Stavro himself, who was a Greek with a German father – a fairly odd combination. Tricia had been to the Alpha a couple of nights earlier, which was Stavro's original club in New York, now run by his brother Karl, who thought of himself as a German with a Greek mother. Stavro would be very happy to be told that Karl was making a bit of a pig's ear of running the New York club, so Tricia would go and make him happy. There was little lovelost between Stavro and Karl Mueller.

她上了牀，斷斷續續地做着關於鸚鵡和其他鳥類的夢。下午她睡醒了，無精打采地四處晃悠，不知道該怎麼打發這一天剩下的時間，還有這輩子剩下的日子。她花了至少一個鐘頭優柔寡斷，試着下定決心，究竟是去城裏還是去斯達弗洛的俱樂部裏消磨一晚。 眼下那地方特時髦，滿腦子抱負的媒體人都愛去，上那兒見見朋友沒準兒能幫她回到過去的軌道里。最後她決定還是去斯達弗洛那兒。那地方不錯，挺快樂的。她還蠻喜歡斯達弗洛，他是希臘人，有個德國老爸——古怪的組合。兩天前崔茜卡還去了阿爾法，那是斯達弗洛最早在紐約開的俱樂部，現在由他的兄弟卡爾打理。卡爾跟斯達弗洛不同，他覺得自己是個有個希臘老媽的德國人。卡爾把紐約的店搞的有些豬頭豬腦，斯達弗洛聽了準高興，於是崔茜卡決定去讓他開開心。斯達弗洛和卡爾. 穆拉之間的確找不出多少兄弟之愛。

OK. That's what she would do.

OK。就這麼定了。