经典科幻文学:《 再见 多谢你们的鱼》第3章1

The next two lorries were not driven by Rain Gods, but they did exactly the same thing.
The figure trudged, or rather sloshed, onwards till the hill resumed and the treacherous sheet of water was left behind. After a while the rain began to ease and the moon put in a brief appearance from behind the clouds.
A Renault drove by, and its driver made frantic and complex signals to the trudging figure to indicate that he would have been delighted to give the figure a lift, only he couldn’t this time because he wasn’t going in the direction that the figure wanted to go, whatever direction that might be, and he was sure the figure would understand. He concluded the signalling with a cheery thumbs-up sign, as if to say that he hoped the figure felt really fine about being cold and almost terminally wet, and he would catch him the next time around.
The figure trudged on. A Fiat passed and did exactly the same as the Renault.
A Maxi passed on the other side of the road and flashed its lights at the slowly plodding figure, though whether this was meant to convey a “Hello” or a “Sorry we’re going the other way” or a “Hey look, there’s someone in the rain, what a jerk” was entirely unclear. A green strip across the top of the windscreen indicated that whatever the message was, it came from Steve and Carola.
The storm had now definitely abated, and what thunder there was now grumbled over more distant hills, like a man saying “And another thing…” twenty minutes after admitting he’s lost the argument.
The air was clearer now, the night cold. Sound travelled rather well. The lost figure, shivering desperately, presently reached a junction, where a side road turned off to the left. Opposite the turning stood a signpost which the figure suddenly hurried to and studied with feverish curiosity, only twisting away from it as another car passed suddenly.
And another.

接下来经过的两辆大卡车并不是由雨神驾驶的，但他们做了完全相同的事。
那个身影艰难地跋涉着，或者应该说是跌撞着，不停前行，直到重新看见山头，把那摊阴险的水洼甩在了身后。过了一会，雨开始变小了，月亮从云后暂时露了个脸。
一辆雷诺车开过，它的司机用复杂而狂乱的信号向那个跋涉的身影表明自己其实很愿意载他一程，只是此时不行，因为他跟那个身影所要去的方向不一样——不管身影事实上要去哪个方向，而且他确信那个身影会明白的。他最后用一个愉快的翘起大拇指的信号终结了这一串“信号传输”，就好像是在说：他真的很希望那个身影会因为自己像个冻得瑟瑟发抖的落水狗而感到心情舒畅，而且下一次他一定会让那个身影搭便车的。
那个身影继续跋涉。一辆菲亚特经过，做了和雷诺车完全一样的事。
一辆马克西（注）经过路的另一边，冲那个蹒跚前行的身影闪着大灯，尽管这对于表达“你好”或“很抱歉我们要往另一边儿开”或“快看！那儿有一个落汤鸡，真他妈的蠢”之类的信息是完全没有什么帮助的。一条穿过挡风玻璃顶端的绿色横条指示出，无论车灯想表达的信息是什么，它都是出自“史蒂夫和卡罗拉”。
暴风雨现在完全平息下来了，原先还在这里轰鸣的闪电如今已经把阵地转移到更远的山头那边了，就好像一个家伙刚才还在承认自己跟人吵输了，二十分钟后又开始提“关于另一件事......”。
空气现在更加清新，夜开始凉了。这意味着，声音可以传递得更好了。那个迷路的身影在不停地颤抖。他刚刚抵达了一个路口，一条辅路转向了左边。在弯道的对面有个路标，那个身影急忙跑上前去用狂热的好奇心去研究它，直到另一辆车突然驶过才把注意力挪开。
随后又是一辆车。