經典科幻文學:《 基本上無害 Mostly Harmless》 第9章3

This at least had gained her attention. She looked round at him suspiciously, but, being half blind, had difficulty finding him in the blurred and rocky landscape.

這話至少引起了她的注意。她疑神疑鬼地朝他這邊掃了一眼，不過由於視力問題，要想在一堆模模糊糊的石頭中間找到他恐怕有些困難。

He waved, helpfully. ‘Hello!’ he called.

阿瑟很幫忙的揮揮手。“哈嘍！”他喊道。

At last she spotted him, grunted to herself and turned back to whacking flies.

她終於發現了他，然後自顧自地哼了哼，轉身繼續拍蒼蠅。

It was horribly apparent from the way that currents of air moved when she did, that the major source of the smell was in fact her. The drying bladders, the festering bodies and the noxious potage may all have been making violent contributions to the atmosphere, but the major olfactory presence was the woman herself.

如今事情已經很明白了，根據她拍蒼蠅時流動的情況判斷，那股怪味主要來源是她無疑。曬在太陽底下的膀胱，潰爛的屍體，再加上腐敗的肉湯，它們對空氣質量可能都有不小的貢獻，但最主要的嗅覺衝擊就是那個女人自己。

She got another good thwack at a fly. It smacked against the rock and dribbled its insides down it in what she clearly regarded, if she could see that far, as a satisfactory manner.

她又完成了一次漂亮的打擊。蒼蠅啪嗒一聲撞扁在石頭上。它的內臟流得到處都是，那模樣準能讓她滿意——只要她看得到那麼遠的話。

Unsteadily, Arthur got to his feet and brushed himself down with a fistful of dried grass. He didn’t know what else to do by way of announcing himself. He had half a mind just to wander off again, but felt awkward about leaving a pile of his vomit in front of the entrance to the woman’s home. He wondered what to do about it. He started to pluck up more handsful of the scrubby dried grass that was to be found here and there. He was worried, though, that if he ventured nearer to the vomit he might simply add to it rather than clear it up. Just as he was debating with himself as to what the right course of action was he began to realise that she was at last saying something to him.

阿瑟晃晃悠悠地爬起來，扯了一把乾草擦擦衣服。他不知道自己還能怎麼吸引對方的注意。他簡直想幹脆晃到別處去算了，可又覺得在人家家門口吐了一攤，就這麼拍拍屁股走人實在有些不好意思。他琢磨了半天接下來該怎麼辦。他看見地上零零星星地長着幾從乾草，於是過去把它們收集起來。但他還是有些擔心——如果再靠近自己吐出來的那些東西，他很可能不但沒法把它們清理掉，反而會增加它們的數量。他開始跟自己討論下一步的行動計劃，卻意識到對方終於開始跟他講話了。

‘I beg your pardon?’ he called out.

“請問，您說什麼來着？”他大聲問。

‘I said, can I help you?’ she said, in a thin, scratchy voice, that he could only just hear.

“我說，有什麼可以幫忙的嗎？”她的聲音又細又刺耳，阿瑟只能勉強聽清。

‘Er, I came to ask your advice,’ he called back, feeling a bit ridiculous.

“呃，我來尋求您的建議。”他喊回去，覺得自己有點傻。