經典科幻文學:《 基本上無害 Mostly Harmless》 第2章13

‘Everybody does that. Every Moment of every day. Every single decision we make, every breath we draw, opens some doors and closes many others. Most of them we don’t notice. Some we do. Sounds like you noticed one.’

“每個人身上都會發生這種事兒。每一天，每一秒。我們的每個決定、我們的每次呼吸，它們都會打開某些門，同時關上其他許許多多的門。大多數時候我們都不會留意，有時我們會。看來你是留意到了其中一扇。”

‘Oh yes, I noticed,’ said Tricia. ‘All right. Here it is. It’s very simple. Many years ago I met a guy at a party. He said he was from another planet and did I want to go along with him. I said, yes, OK. It was that kind of party. I said to him to wait while I went to get my bag and then I’d be happy to go off to another planet with him. He said I wouldn’t need my bag. I said he obviously came from a very backward planet or he’d know that a woman always needed to take her bag with her. He got a bit impatient, but I wasn’t gong to be a complete pushover just because he said he was from another planet.

“哦，我是留意到了沒錯。”崔茜卡說，“好吧。是這樣，事情很簡單。許多年前我在一個派對上遇到了個男人，他說他來自另外一個星球，問我願不願意跟他走。我說，願意，好的。你知道，那種派對就是那樣。我讓他等我一會兒，說我得先去把包拿上，然後我會很高興跟他去另外一個星球。他說我不會需要我的包的。我說他顯然來自一個非常落後的星球，否則他會知道女人永遠需要隨身帶上自己的包。他有點不耐煩，但我可不打算對他言聽計從，哪怕他說他是從另一個星球來的。

‘I went upstairs. Took me a while to find my bag, and then there was someone else in the bathroom. Came down and he was gone.’

“我上了樓。找包花了些時間，然後洗手間又有人佔着。我下了樓，他已經走了。”

Tricia paused.

崔茜卡閉上嘴。

‘And… ?’ said Gail.

“然後呢？”蓋爾問。

‘The garden door was open. I went outside. There were lights. Some kind of gleaming thing. I was just in time to see it rise up into the sky, shoot silently up through the clouds and disappear. That was it. End of story. End of one life, beginning of another. But hardly a moment of this life goes by that I don’t wonder about some other me. A me that didn’t go back for her bag. I feel like she’s out there somewhere and I’m walking in her shadow.’

“花園的門開着，我走出去。我看到些光，一種若隱若現的東西。我剛好看見它飛起來，靜悄悄地衝破雲層，然後就消失了。就這樣。故事結束。一種生活結束了，另一種開始。可這一生的每一秒鐘我都忍不住想到另外一個我。那個沒有回去拿包的我。我覺得她就在外邊的什麼地方，而我則是走在她的影子裏。”

A member of the hotel staff was now going round the bar asking people if they were Mr. Miller. Nobody was.

酒店的一個工作人員開始在酒吧裏尋找一位米勒先生。可惜沒找着。

‘You really think this… person was from another planet?’ asked Gail.

“你真認爲這個……這個人是從另外一個星球來的？”蓋爾問。

‘Oh, certainly. There was the spacecraft. Oh, and also he had two heads.’

“哦，當然。那是艘飛船。哦，還有就是，他長了兩個腦袋。”

‘Two? Didn’t anybody else notice?’

“兩個？其他人都沒發現嗎？”

‘It was a fancy dress party.’

“那是個化妝派對。”

‘I see…’

“明白了……”

‘And he had a bird cage over it, of course. With a cloth over the cage. Pretended he had a parrot. He tapped on the cage and it did a lot of stupid “Pretty Polly” stuff and squawking and so on. Then he pulled the cloth back for a moment and roared with laughter. There was another head in there, laughing along with him. It was a worrying moment I can tell you.’

“當然，他還在其中一個腦袋上罩了個鳥籠子，在鳥籠上又搭塊布，假裝自己帶了只鸚鵡。他會彈彈籠子，它就‘鸚鵡真帥鸚鵡真帥’地耍把戲，還呱呱叫什麼的。然後有一會兒他把布掀開，哈哈大笑。結果籠子裏還有個腦袋，跟他一塊笑。我跟你說，那一刻真讓人有點擔心。”

‘I think you probably did the right thing, dear, don’t you?’ said Gail.

“我想你大概做了正確的選擇，親愛的。你不覺得嗎？”