經典科幻文學:《 基本上無害 Mostly Harmless》 第12章13

They all looked to Thrashbarg, but he was on his knees mumbling and looking very firmly up into the sky and not catching anybody else’s eye until he’d thought of something.

他們都把目光投向刷希巴，可他正念念有詞地跪在地上，雙眼堅定地凝視着天空，在想出什麼法子之前決計不肯對上任何人的視線。

‘Trillian!’ said the Sandwich Maker, sucking his bleeding thumb. ‘What… ? Who… ? When… ? Where… ?’

“崔莉恩！”三明治大師吮着自己鮮紅的手指，“怎麼……誰……什麼時候……哪兒……”

‘Exactly the questions I was going to ask you,’ said Trillian, looking around Arthur’s hut. It was neatly laid out with his kitchen utensils. There were some fairly basic cupboards and shelves, and a basic bed in the corner. A door at the back of the room led to something Trillian couldn’t see because the door was closed. ‘Nice,’ she said, but in an enquiring tone of voice. She couldn’t quite make out what the set-up was.

“這些正好是我要跟你提的問題。”崔莉恩一面說一面打量着阿瑟的茅屋。屋裏整整齊齊地擺放着他的廚房用具，還有些挺基本的壁櫥和架子，角落裏有一張簡簡單單的小牀。正門對面還有一扇門，眼下關着，不知道通向哪裏。“挺好。”她說，不過帶點疑問的口氣，她不大明白這一切到底是什麼意思。

‘Very nice,’ said Arthur. ‘Wonderfully nice. I don’t know when I’ve ever been anywhere nicer. I’m happy here. They like me, I make sandwiches for them, and… er, well that’s it really. They like me and I make sandwiches for them.’

“非常好。”阿瑟說，“簡直好極了。我不相信我還去過什麼更好的地方。在這兒我很開心。他們喜歡我，我給他們做三明治，而且……呃，就這麼多了其實。他們喜歡我而我給他們做三明治。”

‘Sounds, er…’

“聽起來，呃……”

‘Idyllic,’ said Arthur, firmly. ‘It is. It really is. I don’t expect you’d like it very much, but for me it’s, well, it’s perfect. Look, sit down, please, make yourself comfortable. Can I get you anything, er, a sandwich?’

“像首田園詩。”阿瑟堅定地說，“的確如此。正是如此。我猜你可能不覺得怎麼樣，但對我，嗯，對我來說太完美了。聽着，請坐吧，別拘束。要吃點什麼嗎？呃，一塊三明治怎麼樣？”

Trillian picked up a sandwich and looked at it. She sniffed it carefully.

崔莉恩拿起一塊三明治，她看了看，又小心翼翼地嗅了嗅。

‘Try it,’ said Arthur, ‘it’s good.’

“試試。”阿瑟說，“很好吃的。”

Trillian took a nibble, then a bite and munched on it thoughtfully.

崔莉恩咬了一小口，然後一大口，然後若有所思地大嚼特嚼。

‘It is good,’ she said, looking at it.

“很好吃。”她看着它。

‘My life’s work,’ said Arthur, trying to sound proud and hoping he didn’t sound like a complete idiot. He was used to being revered a bit, and was having to go through some unexpected mental gear changes.

“我這輩子的傑作。”阿瑟試着傳達自豪感，並且希望自己聽起來不會像個徹頭徹尾的大傻瓜。他已經習慣了人家有那麼點崇拜自己，眼下卻需要在精神狀態上換個檔位，這變化來得有些突然。

‘What’s the meat in it?’ asked Trillian.

“這裏頭是什麼肉？”崔莉恩問。

‘Ah yes, that’s, um, that’s Perfectly Normal Beast.’

“啊對，那是，呃，那是絕對正常獸。”

‘It’s what?’

“是什麼來着？”