經典科幻文學:《 基本上無害 Mostly Harmless》 第11章2

The strange thing was pulsating irritably at him, tapping some kind of pseudopodia on the desk.

那個怪東西正朝他好不耐煩地起起伏伏，伸出個僞足模樣的玩意拍着桌子。

Arthur shook his head and looked at the next sheet of paper.

阿瑟晃晃腦袋，接着往下看。

Grim, he thought. And the next.

倒胃口，他暗想。然後是下一張。

Very grim. And the next.

非常倒胃口。再下一張。

Oh… Now that looked better.

哦……這地方看來還不錯。

It was a world called Bartledan. It had oxygen. It had green hills. It even, it seemed, had a renowned literary culture. But the thing that most aroused his interest was a photograph of a small bunch of Bartledanian people, standing around in a village square, smiling pleasantly at the camera.

那個星球名叫巴忒勒丹。有氧氣，有綠色的小山，甚至還有——至少介紹上是這麼說的——聲名遠播的文學傳統。不過最能引起阿瑟興趣的還是一張照片，一小羣巴忒勒丹人圍在一個存在的廣場周圍，對着鏡頭親切的微笑。

‘Ah,’ he said, and held the picture up to the strange thing behind the desk.

“啊。”他把照片拿給桌子背後的怪東西看。

Its eyes squirmed out on stalks and rolled up and down the piece of paper, leaving a glistening trail of slime all over it.

它的眼睛蠕動到照片上，前前後後地滾了老半天，到處留下亮閃閃的粘液。

‘Yes,’ it said with distaste. ‘They do look exactly like you.’

“沒錯，”它輕蔑地說，“他們看起來的確跟你一摸一樣。”

Arthur moved to Bartledan and, using some money he had made by selling some toenail clippings and spit to a DNA bank, he bought himself a room in the village featured in the picture. It was pleasant there. The air was balmy. The people looked like him and seemed not to mind him being there. They didn’t attack him with anything. He bought some clothes and a cupboard to put them in.

阿瑟搬到了巴忒勒丹，他賣了些腳趾甲渣和唾液給一家DNA銀行，用那筆錢在照片上的村子買了間房，那兒很舒服，氣候溫和。當地人跟他長相接近，而且似乎並不介意多出他這麼個人，也沒拿任何東西攻擊他。他買了些衣服，還買了個壁櫥好把衣服裝進去。

He had got himself a life. Now he had to find a purpose in it.

生活已經讓他搞到手了。現在他需要爲它找個目標。