經典科幻文學:《銀河系漫遊指南》第27章3

"The time is nearly upon us," said one, and Arthur was surprised to see a word suddenly materialize in thin air just by the man's neck. The word was Loonquawl, and it flashed a couple of times and the disappeared again. Before Arthur was able to assimilate this the other man spoke and the word Phouchg appeared by his neck.
"Seventy-five thousand generations ago, our ancestors set this program in motion," the second man said, "and in all that time we will be the first to hear the computer speak."
"An awesome prospect, Phouchg," agreed the first man, and Arthur suddenly realized that he was watching a recording with subtitles.
"We are the ones who will hear," said Phouchg, "the answer to the great question of Life ...!"
"The Universe ...!" said Loonquawl.
"And Everything ...!"
"Shhh," said Loonquawl with a slight gesture, "I think Deep Thought is preparing to speak!"
There was a moment's expectant pause whilst panels slowly came to life on the front of the console. Lights flashed on and off experimentally and settled down into a businesslike pattern. A soft low hum came from the communication channel.
"Good morning," said Deep Thought at last.
"Er ... Good morning, O Deep Thought," said Loonquawl nervously, "do you have ... er, that is ..."
"An answer for you?" interrupted Deep Thought majestically. "Yes. I have."
The two men shivered with expectancy. Their waiting had not been in vain.
"There really is one?" breathed Phouchg.

“那一刻正在接近我們。”其中一人說，這時阿瑟驚訝的發現在他脖子旁邊稀薄的空氣中突然顯出了一個單詞。這個單詞是“盧恩克沃爾”，閃爍了幾次之後又消失了。還沒等阿瑟把這一切存進腦子裏，另一個人就開口了，於是一個單詞“佛格”出現在他的脖旁邊。
“7萬5千個世代以前，我們的祖先啓動了這個程序。”第二個人說，“從那以後直到今天的漫長歲月中，我們將是第一個聽見這臺電腦說話的人。”
“一個令人敬畏的時刻，佛格。”第一個人贊同說。阿瑟這才意識到他正在觀看一段配有字幕的錄像。
“我們將要聽到，”佛格說，“那些偉大問題的答案，生命……”
“宇宙……”盧恩克沃爾說。
“以及一切……”
“噓，”盧恩克沃爾輕輕打了個手勢，“我想深思已經準備開口了！”
伴隨着一陣充滿了期待的停頓，控制檯前端的儀表盤慢慢地開始復甦。指示燈嘗試着一明一滅地閃爍起來，構成了一幅工作中的景象。柔和而低沉的嗡嗡聲從交流頻道里傳出。
“早上好。”深思終於說。
“嗯……早上好，深思。”盧恩克沃爾緊張地說，“你得到……嗯，那個……”
“你們所要的答案？”深思莊嚴地打斷了他，“是的，我得到了。”
兩人因爲期待開始顫抖起來。他們漫長的等待畢竟不是徒勞。
“真的有一個答案嗎？”佛格喘着氣問。