经典科幻文学:《基本上无害 Mostly Harmless》 第15章11

‘She had me because I was meant to make things not for her. That was my job. But I fitted even worse than she did! So she just shut me off and carried on with her stupid life.’

“她生我就是让我帮她使事情顺当起来。那是我的任务。可我比她还一团糟！所以她就把我关在外头，继续过她那愚蠢的生活。”

‘What’s stupid about her life? She’s fantastically successful, isn’t she? She’s all over time and space, all over the Sub-Etha TV networks…

“她的生活有什么愚蠢的？她很成功不是吗？时间和空间里哪儿都有她，亚以太电视网上全是她……”

‘Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!’

“愚蠢！愚蠢！愚蠢！愚蠢！”

Random turned and ran off again. Arthur couldn’t keep up with her and at last he had to sit down for a bit and let the pain in his leg subside. The turmoil in his head he didn’t know what to do with at all.

兰登转身继续跑。阿瑟跟不上她的脚步，最后他只好坐下来休息会，让腿上的感觉慢慢消退。至于脑子里的骚动嘛，他完全不知道拿它怎么办才好。

He hobbled into the village an hour later. It was getting dark. The villagers he passed said hello, but there was a sense of nervousness and of not quite knowing what was going on or what to do about it in the air. Old Thrashbarg had been seen pulling on his beard a fair bit and looking at the moon, and that was not a good sign either.

一个小时后，他一瘸一拐地回了村子。天色渐晚，遇上的村民都跟他打招呼，但空气里悬着种紧张兮兮，略微不知所措的气氛。老刷希巴老望着月亮扯胡子，这也不是个好迹象。

Arthur went into his hut.

阿瑟走进自己的茅房。

Random was sitting hunched quietly over the table.

兰登弓着背，静静地坐在桌子边上。

‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I’m so sorry.’

“对不起。”她说，“真的很抱歉。”

‘That’s all right,’ said Arthur as gently as he knew how. ‘It’s good to, well, to have a little chat. There’s so much we have to learn and understand about each other, and life isn’t, well it isn’t all just tea and sandwiches…’

“这没什么。”阿瑟尽量拿出最温柔的语气，“这样很好，你知道，这样聊聊。我们都有好多需要彼此了解的地方，而且生活也不止是，呃，不止是茶和三明治……”

‘I’m so sorry,’ she said again, sobbing.

“对不起。”她开始抽泣。

Arthur went up to her and put his arm round her shoulder. She didn’t resist or pull away. Then Arthur saw what it was she was so sorry about.

阿瑟走过去，伸出一只胳膊搂住她。她没有抗拒也没有挣开。然后阿瑟看见了她道歉的原因。

In the pool of light thrown by a Lamuellan lantern lay Arthur’s watch. Random had forced the back off it with the back edge of the butter spreading knife, and all of the minute cogs and springs and levers were lying in a tiny cock-eyed mess where she’d been fiddling with them.

在一盏拉姆拉提灯投下的光圈里躺着阿瑟的手表。兰登拿了他抹黄油的小刀，用刀背把表壳撬开了，所有细小的齿轮，弹簧和杠杆全都乱七八糟地扭在一起。

‘I just wanted to see how it worked,’ said Random, ‘how it all fitted together. I’m so sorry! I can’t get it back together. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do. I’ll get it repaired! Really! I’ll get it repaired!’

“我只是想看看它是怎么回事，”兰登说，“看看它怎么能合在一起。我真的很抱歉！我没法把它装回去。对不起，对不起，对不起。我不知道该怎么办。我会把它修好的！真的！我会把它修好的！”

The following day Thrashbarg came round and said all sorts of Bob stuff. He tried to exert a calming influence by inviting Random to let her mind dwell on the ineffable mystery of the giant earwig, and Random said there was no giant earwig and Thrashbarg went very cold and silent and said she would be cast into outer darkness. Random said good, she’d been born there, and the next day the parcel arrived.

第二天，刷希巴跑来唠叨了老半天鲍伯的事情。他想对兰登施展一些沉静的影响，邀请她让心灵在巨蠼螋不可言说的奥秘中熏陶，而兰登回答说根本就没有巨蠼螋，于是刷希巴一下子就冷静下来，说她会被打入黑暗的深渊。兰登说好得很她就是在那儿生的。然后第二天包裹就到了。