经典科幻文学:《生命 宇宙及一切》第9章4

Tell me, it urged, of the speech you once made, I long to hear it.
It was received very badly, said Marvin, for a variety of reasons. I delivered it, he added, pausing to make an awkward humping sort of gesture with his not-exactly-good arm, but his arm which was better than the other one which was dishearteningly welded to his left side, over there, about a mile distance.
He was pointing as well as he could manage, and he obviously wanted to make it totally clear that this was as well as he could manage, through the mist, over the reeds, to a part of the marsh which looked exactly the same as every other part of the marsh.
There, he repeated. I was somewhat of a celebrity at the time.
Excitement gripped the mattress. It had never heard of speeches being delivered on Squornshellous Zeta, and certainly not by celebrities. Water spattered off it as a thrill glurried across its back.
It did something which mattresses very rarely bother to do. Summoning every bit of its strength, it reared its oblong body, heaved it up into the air and held it quivering there for a few seconds whilst it peered through the mist over the reeds at the part of the marsh which Marvin had indicated, observing, without disappointment, that it was exactly the same as every other part of the marsh. The effort was too much, and it flodged back into its pool, deluging Marvin with smelly mud, moss and weeds.
I was a celebrity, droned the robot sadly, for a short while on account of my miraculous and bitterly resented escape from a fate almost as good as death in the heart of a blazing sun. You can guess from my condition, he added, how narrow my escape was. I was rescued by a scrap-metal merchant, imagine that. Here I am, brain the size of… never mind.
He trudged savagely for a few seconds.
He it was who fixed me up with this leg. Hateful, isn’t it? He sold me to a Mind Zoo. I was the star exhibit. I had to sit on a box and tell my story whilst people told me to cheer up and think positive. “Give us a grin, little robot,” they would shout at me, “give us a little chuckle.” I would explain to them that to get my face to grin wold take a good couple of hours in a workshop with a wrench, and that went down very well.
The speech, urged the mattress. I long to hear of the speech you gave in the marshes.
There was a bridge built across the marshes. A cyberstructured hyperbridge, hundreds of miles in length, to carry ion-buggies and freighters over the swamp.
A bridge? quirruled the mattress. Here in the swamp?
A bridge, confirmed Marvin, here in the swamp. It was going to revitalize the economy of the Squornshellous System. They spent the entire economy of the Squornshellous System building it. They asked me to open it. Poor fools.
It began to rain a little, a fine spray slid through the mist.
I stood on the platform. For hundreds of miles in front of me, and hundreds of miles behind me, the bridge stretched.
Did it glitter? enthused the mattress.
It glittered.

“告诉我，”它急切地说，“你曾做过的那次演讲，我太想听了。”
“反响很不好。”马文说，“原因相当复杂。发表演讲的地方，”他停了一下，用他不太好的一只手做了个古怪的弯曲手势。很不幸，他好点儿的那只手是焊在左边的。“在那边，一里地的样子。”
他尽力地指着那边。很明显他还想指得更清楚一点，穿过浓雾，越过苇丛，指到那片和所有沼泽完全一样的沼泽上。
“在那儿。”他重复道，“当时我算是个名人。”
激动充溢着床垫的心。它从没听过在斯科谢勒斯Z星上发表的演讲，更别提名人发表的了。它颤抖地一阵格溧，水珠从它身上洒了下来。
它做了一件床垫们难得一做的事。它鼓起全身所有力气，竖起它长方形的身躯，高举在半空里，颤巍巍地立了几秒钟，极力眺望那穿过浓雾、越过苇丛、到达马文指的那片沼泽。它看了一眼那边，并无失望，虽然那片沼泽跟所有沼泽完全一样。它只能立这么点久，于是，它跌洛到小池子里，溢出的苔藓、野草、难闻的泥浆淹了马文一身。
“我曾是个名人，”机器人消沉地嗡嗡着，“第一次是由于我奇迹般的、令人痛恨的脱险经历。差点冲进一颗燃烧的恒星中央，几乎跟死掉一样愉快。你可以想象，”他补充道，“我的脱险有多难。我被一个废旧金属商给救了，想想看。我，大脑容量抵得上……算了。”
他恶狠狠地踏了几步。
“他就是给我装上这条腿的人。可恶之极，不是吗？他把我卖到脑动物园。我是那儿的明星展品。我得坐在一个箱子上，把我的故事讲给别人听。别人就会叫我开心点，思想积极点。‘笑一个，小机器人。’他们会对我喊叫。‘笑一笑嘛。’我就跟他们解释说，要让我的脸笑起来，得用扳手在车间里忙活好几个小时。他们听了都很满意。”
“演讲呢？”床垫焦急地说，“我盼着听你在沼泽里做的演讲呢。”
“沼泽上曾修过一座桥。一座数码结构超新桥。长达几百英里，能让离子小汽车和大货车从沼泽上通过。”
“一座桥？”床垫凉叹道，“在这沼泽里？”
“一座桥。”马文表示确定，“在这沼泽里。它是为了振兴斯科谢勒斯Ζ星的经济系统而建。他们用尽所有斯科谢勒斯Ζ星的经济力量修建的。他们让我来启动它。可怜的傻瓜。”
开始下小雨了。细细的雨丝在雾里滑落。
“我站在平台上。前面是几百里的桥，后面也是几百里的桥。”
“它是不是很闪？”床垫热情高涨地问。
“它是很闪。”