经典科幻文学:《生命 宇宙及一切》尾章2

The group gathered round his bedside glanced at each other. There were goose pimples on backs.
What happened? said Zaphod at last.
Oh, he told it all right, said the man savagely, for all I know he’s still telling it now. Strange, terrible things… terrible, terrible! he screamed.
They tried to calm him, but he struggled to his elbows again.
Terrible things, incomprehensible things, he shouted, things that would drive a man mad!
He stared wildly at them.
Or in my case, he said, half-mad. I’m a journalist.
You mean, said Arthur quietly, that you are used to confronting the truth?
No, said the man with a puzzled frown. I mean that I made an excuse and left early.
He collapsed into a coma from which he recovered only once and briefly.
On that one occasion, they discovered from him the following:
When it became clear that Prak could not be stopped, that here was truth in its absolute and final form, the court was cleared.
Not only cleared, it was sealed up, with Prak still in it. Steel walls were erected around it, and, just to be on the safe side, barbed wire, electric fences, crocodile swamps and three major armies were installed, so that no one would ever have to hear Prak speak.
That’s a pity, said Arthur. I’d like to hear what he had to say. Presumably he would know what the Ultimate Question to the Ultimate Answer is. It’s always bothered me that we never found out.
Think of a number, said the computer, any number.
Arthur told the computer the telephone number of King’s Cross railway station passenger inquiries, on the grounds that it must have some function, and this might turn out to be it.
The computer injected the number into the ship’s reconstituted Improbability Drive.
In Relativity, Matter tells Space how to curve, and Space tells Matter how to move. The Heart of Gold told space to get knotted, and parked itself neatly within the inner steel perimeter of the Argabuthon Chamber of Law.
The courtroom was an austere place, a large dark chamber, clearly designed for Justice rather than, for instance, for Pleasure. You wouldn’t hold a dinner party here at least, not a successful one. The decor would get your guests down.
The ceilings were high, vaulted and very dark. Shadows lurked there with grim determination. The panelling for the walls and benches, the cladding of the heavy pillars, all were carved from the darkest and most severe trees in the fearsome Forest of Arglebard. The massive black Podium of Justice which dominated the centre of the chamber was a monster of gravity. If a sunbeam had ever managed to slink this far into the Justice complex of Argabuthon it would have turned around and slunk straight back out again.
Arthur and Trillian were the first in, whilst Ford and Zaphod bravely kept a watch on their rear.
At first it seemed totally dark and deserted. their footsteps echoed hollowly round the chamber. This seemed curious. All the defences were still in position and operative around the outside of the building, they had run scan checks. Therefore, they had assumed, the truth-telling must still be going on.
But there was nothing.

众人围在床边，你看看我，我看看你，一身都起了鸡皮疙瘩。
“怎么了？”赞福德终于问道。
“噢，他的确说了。”那人恶狠狠地答道，“就我所知，现在还在说呢。说的全是怪事……恐怖的事……太恐怖……太恐怖的事！”他尖叫道。
他们想安慰他，但他又用双肘撑了起来。
“恐怖的事，无法理解的事。”他叫道，“能让人疯掉的事！”
他神情激动地望着众人。
“或者，就我而言……”他说，“半疯。我是个记者。”
“你是说，”阿瑟轻声问道，“你已经习惯了面对真相？”
“不是，”对方迷惑地皱起眉头，“我是说我找了个借口先走了。”
他又倒了下去，昏迷了。后来他只醒了一次，而且时间很短。
在那唯一一次清醒的时候，众人问出了如下情况：
既然普啦刻已经不能停下来，而且真相也终于、完全大白了，所以大家就退庭清场了。
不只是清场，法庭还被封了起来——连带着普啦刻一起。法庭四周立起了铁墙。而且，出于安全考虑，周围又加上了倒钩钢丝，电网，鳄鱼池，以及三支陆军部队。这样就没人听得见普啦刻说话了。
“真可惜，”阿瑟说，“我挺想听听他说的，或许他知道终极答案的终极问题呢。咱们一直没找出来，我一直想知道。”
“想一个数字，”电脑说，“随便一个。”
阿瑟就说出了国王十字路地铁站的乘客咨询电话号码。这个号码总该有点用处，也许这时候就是用到它的时候吧。
电脑将电话号码输入重新组装的非概率驱动器。
根据相对论，物质令空间弯曲，空间则令物质运动。黄金之心却可以令空间打结，然后，它便可以恰好出现在阿加布松审判大厅那钢铁内墙的正中心了。
这间大厅非常朴实。它是一间空旷、黑暗的大厅，显然是为正义而设，而不是为了……举个例子，为快乐而造。没人愿意在这儿举行晚宴派对——至少，一定不会成功举行。这儿的装修会让客人失去兴致的。
天花板高耸如穹，非常阴暗。上面不知藏着多少不怀好意的阴影。墙壁和长椅的嵌板，笨重的柱子的包层，这些地方所使用的木料，都是来自阿戈巴德那可怕的森林中、最黑最冷峻的树木。大厅正中那巨大的黑色的正义的讲台，简直庄严得吓人。要是哪天，一束阳光竟然得以潜入这间阿加布松正义的建筑里，它一定会扭头便走，一路潜出的。
阿瑟和崔莉安先进去。福特和赞福德英勇地为其断后。
刚进去时，只见一片黑暗与寂寥。他们的脚步声鬼魅一般回荡在大厅之中。这很奇怪。外面那些防护设施都处于正常状态，他们都检查过了。这么说，他们猜，那个人应该还在说真话才对。
可是什么也没有。