He was interrupted by a sharp crack of thunder. He glanced up apprehensively, and in response to a sudden thought quickly started to rummage through the large plastic shopping bag, which he now discovered had a hole in the bottom. It had large characters printed on the side which read (to anyone who could decipher the Centaurian alphabet) Duty free MegaMarket, Port Brasta, Alpha Centauri. Be Like the Twenty-Second Elephant with Heated Value in Space – Bark! – Hold on! – the figure called, waving at the ship. The steps, which had started to fold themselves back through the hatchway, stopped, re-unfolded, and allowed him back in. He emerged again a few seconds later carrying a battered and threadbare towel which he shoved into the bag. He waved again, hoisted the bag under his arm, and started to run for the shelter of some trees as, behind him, the spacecraft had already begun its ascent. Lightning flitted through the sky and made the figure pause for a Moment, and then hurry onwards, revising his path to give the trees a wide berth. He moved swiftly across the ground, slipping here and there, hunching himself against the rain which was falling now with ever-increasing concentration, as if being pulled from the sky. His feet sloshed through the mud. Thunder grumbled over the hills. He pointlessly wiped the rain off his face and stumbled on. More lights. Not lightning this time, but more diffused and dimmer lights which played slowly over the horizon and faded. The figure paused again on seeing them, and then redoubled his steps, making directly towards the point on the horizon at which they had appeared. And now the ground was becoming steeper, sloping upwards, and after another two or three hundred yards it led at last to an obstacle. The figure paused to examine the barrier and then dropped the bag he was carrying over it before climbing over himself. Hardly had the figure touched the ground on the other side when there came sweeping out of the rain towards him a machine, lights streaming through the wall of water. The figure pressed back as the machine streaked towards him. it was a low bulbous shape, like a small whale surfing – sleek, grey and rounded and moving at terrifying speed. The figure instinctively threw up his hands to protect himself, but was hit only by a sluice of water as the machine swept past and off into the night. It was illuminated briefly by another flicker of lightning crossing the sky, which allowed the soaked figure by the roadside a split-second to read a small sign at the back of the machine before it disappeared. To the figure’s apparent incredulous astonishment the sign read, “My other car is also a Porsche.” 他被一道凄厉的闪电打断了。他担心地望着天上，突然间想起了什么，开始快速地在那巨大的购物塑料袋里踅摸着，结果他发现袋子底部有个洞。 那个袋子的一面上印着巨大的文字（专门给那些熟悉半人马座字母表的人看的）写着：超巨型免税店，布拉斯塔空港，半人马座阿尔法星——就像炙手可热的第二十二只星际大象——吼！ “等等！”那个身影喊着，朝飞船挥手。 那段本来已经打算把自己折回去的台阶停住了，又伸展了下来，让他跑回去。 几秒钟后他再一次出现了，揣着一条又皱又破的毛巾，死命地把毛巾往袋子里塞。 他再一次挥手，把袋子用胳膊夹起来，开始向林中跑去，在他身后，飞船已经开始爬升了。 闪电划破天际，让那个身影愣了一下。随后他继续向前跑，不断地修正自己的奔跑路线以使自己和树之间保持着安全距离。他迅捷地穿过空地，不时地滑倒。他把身子弓起来以迎接倾盆大雨对他越来越浓厚的注意。 他的脚沾满了泥。山的那边电闪雷鸣。他毫无意义地抹了一下自己脸上的雨水，突然发现—— 更多的光亮。 这次不是闪电，而是更加散落和模糊的光，那片光亮缓慢地飘过地平线，最后黯淡下来。 那个身影再次停了下来，盯着那光，随后加快了步伐，直接冲向地平线，冲向光亮出现的地方。 现在路变得更加崎岖了，开始有了坡度，又过了两三百码，最终碰到了一个障碍。那个身影停下来审视那个障碍，把袋子扔过去，随后自己开始翻越栅栏。 那个身影刚刚碰到另一边的的地面，一个机器大模大样地从雨中向他移动，灯光穿透了雨幕。身影退回去的同时机器开始向他飞奔。那个机器是低矮的球根状，就像一只乘风破浪的鲸鱼，灰色而圆润，拥有可怕的速度。 那个身影本能地把手举起来以保护自己，可最终当机器经过时，他只是被一股水流冲过，而那个机器也消失在夜幕中。 那个机器被另一道夜空中的闪电短暂地照亮，使得那个路边的落汤鸡在机器消失前的霎那间可以辨识出机器背后的一个小牌子。 他显然非常惊讶和疑惑，那个牌子写着：“老子的另外一辆车也是保时捷。”
