经典科幻文学:《 再见 多谢你们的鱼》第1章1

Chapter 1
That evening it was dark early, which was normAl for the time of year. It was cold and windy, which was normal.
It started to rain, which was particularly normal.
A spacecraft landed, which was not.
There was nobody around to see it except some spectacularly stupid quadrupeds who hadn’t the faintest idea what to make of it, or whether they were meant to make anything of it, or eat it, or what. So they did what they did to everything which was to run away from it and try to hide under each other, which never worked.
It slipped down out of the clouds, seemingly balanced on a single beam of light.
From a distance you would scarcely have noticed it through the lightning and the storm clouds, but seen from close to it was strangely beautiful – a grey craft of elegantly sculpted form: quite small.
Of course, one never has the slightest notion what size or shape different species are going to turn out to be, but if you were to take the findings of the latest Mid-Galactic Census report as any kind of accurate guide to statistical averages you would probably guess that the craft would hold about six people, and you would be right.
You’d probably guessed that anyway. The Census report, like most such surveys, had cost an awful lot of money and didn’t tell anybody anything they didn’t already know – except that every single person in the Galaxy had 2.4 legs and owned a hyena. Since this was clearly not true the whole thing had eventually to be scrapped.
The craft slid quietly down through the rain, its dim operating lights wrapping it in tasteful rainbows. It hummed very quietly, a hum which became gradually louder and deeper as it approached the ground, and which at an altitude of six inches became a heavy throb.
At last it dropped and was quiet.
A hatchway opened. A short flight of steps unfolded itself.
A light appeared in the opening, a bright light streaming out into the wet night, and shadows moved within.
A tall figure appeared in the light, looked around, flinched, and hurried down the steps, carrying a large shopping bag under its arm.
It turned and gave a single abrupt wave back at the ship. Already the rain was streaming through its hair.
– Thank you, – he called out, – thank you very…

第一章
天黑得早了，在一年中的这个时候是完全正常的。天很冷风很大，这也是正常的。
天上开始下雨了，这更是相当正常的。
一艘飞船降落了，这就不正常了。
周围没有任何人见到它，除了一些蠢得出奇的四足生物，它们不知道那个东西是什么做的，或它们应该对那个东西做什么，或是不是要吃掉它，或其它什么最弱智的想法。于是它们做了它们对任何东西都会做的事，那就是逃得远远的，并且试着藏在对方的身体下，这一招从来就没有用。
那艘飞船从云中滑落，似乎是努力地在一束光上走钢丝。
从远处看，你几乎不会注意到在一片闪电和风暴云中的飞船，但是如果凑近了看，你会发现它有一种奇异的美——一艘有着优雅造型的灰色飞船：而且它非常小。
当然，你没有任何最基本关于不同种族的尺寸或形状的概念，但如果去采用最新的中央银河调查报告中的成果作为精确的平均数统计指导，你也许会猜测这艘飞船能载大约六个人。你是对的。
即使没有那个报告，你可能也会做出那个推论的。那个调查报告，就像大多数这一类的调查一样，花掉了一大坨的钱却没有告诉任何人任何他们此前还不知道的事——除了这一条：银河系中每个人平均拥有2.4条腿和1只鬣狗。由于这一条很明显也纯粹是胡诌，所以整个报告最终就被大家无视掉了。
这艘飞船平静地在雨中滑向地面，机身上模糊的指示灯使得飞船笼罩在一片诱人的绚烂彩虹中。它轻轻地嗡嗡作响，这一嗡嗡声随着飞船逐渐接近地面而逐渐响亮低沉，最终当飞船离地六英尺时，嗡嗡声变成了震耳欲聋的轰鸣。
最终它落地了，沉寂了下来。
一个舱门打开，伸展出一小段台阶。
一片光亮从舱门透出来，一束耀眼的光射入了湿漉漉的夜晚，有阴影在移动。
一个高大的身影出现在亮光中，向四周瞅了瞅，畏缩了一下，随后飞快地跑下了台阶，胳膊底下夹着一个购物袋。
那个东西转过身，生硬地对飞船挥了一下手。雨已经打湿了它的头发。
“谢了！”它大声喊着，“非常谢......”