经典科幻文学:《生命 宇宙及一切》第6章1

Chapter 6
It seemed to Arthur as if the whole sky suddenly just stood aside and let them through.
It seemed to him that the atoms of his brain and the atoms of the cosmos were streaming through each other.
It seemed to him that he was blown on the wind of the Universe, and that the wind was him.
It seemed to him that he was one of the thoughts of the Universe and that the Universe was a thought of his.
It seemed to the people at Lord’s Cricket Ground that another North London restaurant had just come and gone as they so often do, and that this was Somebody Else’s Problem.
What happened? whispered Arthur in considerable awe.
We took off, said Slartibartfast.
Arthur lay in startled stillness on the acceleration couch. He wasn’t certain whether he had just got space-sickness or religion.
Nice mover, said Ford in an unsuccessful attempt to disguise the degree to which he had been impressed by what Slartibartfast’s ship had just done, shame about the decor.
For a moment or two the old man didn’t reply. He was staring at the instruments with the air of one who is trying to convert fahrenheit to centigrade in his head whilst his house is burning down. Then his brow cleared and he stared for a moment at the wide panoramic screen in front of him, which displayed a bewildering complexity of stars streaming like silver threads around them.
His lips moved as if he was trying to spell something. Suddenly his eyes darted in alarm back to his instruments, but then his expression merely subsided into a steady frown. He looked back up at the screen. He felt his own pulse. His frown deepened for a moment, then he relaxed.
It’s a mistake to try and understand mathematics, he said, they only worry me. What did you say?
Decor, said Ford. Pity about it.

第六章
在阿瑟看来仿佛整个天空突然一分为二，让他们从中通过。
在他看来他自己的大脑原子和宇宙的原子彼此交织在一起，穿梭不息。
在他看来仿佛他被宇宙之风托了起来，而那风就是他自己。
在他看来仿佛他是宇宙思维之一念，而宇宙又是他的思维之一念。
在罗德板球场上的人看来，就跟往常一样，又一座北伦敦餐厅搬来又搬走了，而这只是别人的问题。
“发生什么事了？”阿瑟满怀敬畏地小声问道。
“我们起飞了。”司拉提巴特法斯答。
阿瑟呆呆地躺在加速沙发上，他不知道自己刚才是晕空间了，还是亲历了一次宗教体验。
“挺好的船。”福特说。他对司拉提巴特法斯的飞船所做的一切感到极度惊奇，他试图掩饰这一点，但并不成功。“可惜装修差了点。”
这位老人并未马上作答。他凝视着飞船上的各种装置，那神情就像是一个自己家房子正在燃烧的家伙、努力用心算把华氏度换算成摄氏度似的。他盯了一会前方宽大的全景显示屏，眉头渐渐舒展开来。屏幕上显示的，是令人眩晕的流动的星星，看起来像无数银色线条。
他的嘴唇动了动，似乎想说点什么。突然，他的眼睛猛地一转，又死死盯住那些装置，脸上渐变为持续不快的表情。他再次转向屏幕。他意识到自己的情绪波动，那不快的表情先是加深，之后才轻松了下来。
“尝试去理解数学是个错误。”他说，“它们只能让我烦恼。你说呢？”
“装修，”福特说，“真遗憾。”