經典科幻文學:《銀河系漫遊指南》第20章2

As they approached the ridge of higher ground they became aware that it seemed to be circular — a crater about a hundred and fifty yards wide. Round the outside of the crater the sloping ground was spattered with black and red lumps. They stopped and looked at a piece. It was wet. It was rubbery.
With horror they suddenly realized that it was fresh whalemeat.
At the top of the crater's lip they met Zaphod.
"Look," he said, pointing into the crater.
In the centre lay the exploded carcass of a lonely sperm whale that hadn't lived long enough to be disappointed with its lot. The silence was only disturbed by the slight involuntary spasms of Trillian's throat.
"I suppose there's no point in trying to bury it?" murmured Arthur, and then wished he hadn't.
"Come," said Zaphod and started back down into the crater.
"What, down there?" said Trillian with severe distaste.
"Yeah," said Zaphod, "come on, I've got something to show you."
"We can see it," said Trillian.
"Not that," said Zaphod, "something else. Come on."
They all hesitated.
"Come on," insisted Zaphod, "I've found a way in."
"In?" said Arthur in horror.
"Into the interior of the planet! An underground passage. The force of the whale's impact cracked it open, and that's where we have to go. Where no man has trod these five million years, into the very depths of time itself ..."
Marvin started his ironical humming again.
Zaphod hit him and he shut up.

當他們接近這塊高地的邊緣時，才發現它基本上是圓形的——是一座大約150碼寬的環形山。環形山的外側斜坡上分佈着一些黑色和紅色的塊狀物。他們停下來，觀察了一會兒。塊狀物是溼的，還有彈性。
突然間，他們恐怖地意識到這些實際上是新鮮的鯨魚肉。
在環形山頂端，他們見到了贊福德。
“瞧。”他指着坑底說。
中心處躺着一具已經炸裂的抹香鯨的屍體，它甚至還沒來得及學會爲自己的命運悲哀。沉默最後被崔莉恩喉頭的一陣輕微的痙攣打破了。
“我認爲試着去埋葬它沒有什麼意義。”阿瑟喃喃地說，但立刻就恨不得自己沒有說過這句話。
“來吧。”贊福德說，一邊朝坑底走下去。
“什麼，下去？”崔莉恩很不情願地說。
“是的。”贊福德說，“來吧，我有一些東西要給你們看。”
“我們已經看見了。”崔莉恩說。
“不是這個，”贊福德說，“另外的東西。來n巴。”
可大家仍然猶豫不決。
“來吧，”贊福德堅持道，“我已經找到了一條進去的通道。”
“進去？”阿瑟不安地問。
“進入這顆行星的！一條地下通道，鯨魚的撞擊把它震開了，我們現在就可以進去。我們將進入一個500萬年以來從沒有人打擾過的世界，進入時間本身的深處……”
馬文又開始諷刺地哼哼起來。
贊福德敲了他一下，他這才閉上嘴巴。