经典科幻文学:《 基本上无害 Mostly Harmless》 第9章15
‘Yes,’ said Arthur.
“有。”阿瑟说。
‘It goes like this. Let’s see now: “Protect me from knowing what I don’t need to know. Protect me from even knowing that there are things to know that I don’t know. Protect me from knowing that I decided not to know about the things that I decided not to know about. Amen.” That’s it. It’s what you pray silently inside yourself anyway, so you may as well have it out in the open.’
“我们这就来看看，那祈祷是这么说的：‘保护我别让我知道我不需要知道的事。保护我甚至别让我知道存在着我不知道而其实可以知道的事。保护我别让我知道我已经决定不去知道我决定不去知道的事。阿门。’就是这个。反正你自己心里也是这么祈祷的，所以不如干脆大大方方地说出来。”
‘Hmmm,’ said Arthur. ‘Well, thank you—’
“恩。”阿瑟说，“谢谢你……”
‘There’s another prayer that goes with it that’s very Important,’ continued the old man, ‘so you’d better jot this down, too, just in case. You can never be too sure. “Lord, lord, lord. Protect me from the consequences of the above prayer. Amen.” And that’s it. Most of the trouble people get into in life comes from missing out that last part.’
“还有一个跟它配套的祈祷，非常重要。”老头继续往下说，“所以你最好赶快把它记下来，以防万一嘛。小心驶得万年船。‘主啊，主啊，主啊。求你保护我不受刚才的祈祷所害。阿门。’就这样了，大家过日子遇上那么多麻烦，基本上都是因为省略了这最后一部分。”
‘Ever heard of a place called Stavromula Beta?’ asked Arthur.
“听说过一个叫斯达弗洛穆拉贝塔的地方吗？”阿瑟问。
‘No.’
“没。”
‘Well, thank you for your help,’ said Arthur.
“好吧，谢谢你的帮助。”阿瑟说。
‘Don’t mention it,’ said the man on the pole, and vanished.
“不用客气。”杆子上的老头说，然后他消失了。
