经典科幻文学:《生命 宇宙及一切》第4章(3)

I’m home, said Arthur hoarsely. He closed his eyes and greedily inhaled the steam from his tea as if it was well, as far as Arthur was concerned, as if it was tea, which it was.
I’m home, he repeated, home. It’s England, it’s today, the nightmare is over. He opened his eyes again and smiled serenely. I’m where I belong, he said in an emotional whisper.
There are two things I fell which I should tell you, said Ford, tossing a copy of the Guardian over the table at him.
I’m home, said Arthur.
Yes, said Ford. One is, he said pointing at the date at the top of the paper, that the Earth will be demolished in two days’ time.
I’m home, said Arthur. Tea, he said, cricket, he added with pleasure, mown grass, wooden benches, white linen jackets, beer cans…
Slowly he began to focus on the newspaper. He cocked his head on one side with a slight frown.
I’ve seen that one before, he said. His eyes wandered slowly up to the date, which Ford was idly tapping at. His face froze for a second or two and then began to do that terribly slow crashing trick which Arctic ice-floes do so spectacularly in the spring.
And the other thing, said Ford, is that you appear to have a bone in your beard. He tossed back his tea.
Outside the refreshment tent, the sun was shining on a happy crowd. It shone on white hats and red faces. It shone on ice lollies and melted them. It shone on the tears of small children whose ice lollies had just melted and fallen off the stick. It shone on the trees, it flashed off whirling cricket bats, it gleamed off the utterly extraordinary object which was parked behind the sight-screens and which nobody appeared to have noticed. It beamed on Ford and Arthur as they emerged blinking from the refreshment tent and surveyed the scene around them.
Arthur was shaking.
Perhaps, he said, I should…
No, said Ford sharply.
What? said Arthur.
Don’t try and phone yourself up at home.
How did you know?…
Ford shrugged.
But why not? said Arthur.
People who talk to themselves on the phone, said Ford, never learn anything to their advantage.
But…

“我到家了。”阿瑟沙哑地说，他闭上眼睛，贪婪地吸着茶的水汽，就好象……嗯，正如阿瑟所想，就好象它真的是一杯茶。而它的确也是。
“我到家了。”他重复着，“家。这里是英格兰。这是今天。噩梦结束了。”他再次睁开眼，发自肺腑地笑了，“我在我自己的地方了。”他深情地低语道。
“有两件事我觉得应该告诉你。”福特隔着桌子扔给他一份《卫报》。
“我到家了。”阿瑟说。
“是的。”福特说，“一件是，”他指着报头的日期，“地球将在两天之后被毁灭。”
“我到家了。”阿瑟说，“茶，”他说，“板球，”他开心地接着说，“割过的草坪，木头长椅，白色亚麻夹克，罐装啤酒……”
慢慢地，他注意到了报纸。他轻轻皱着眉头，歪了歪脑袋。
“我见过那个。”他的目光游移到日期上，福特正懒洋洋地敲着这个日期。阿瑟的脸僵住了几秒钟，然后他的面部表情开始扭曲，就像春天到来，北极地区大片的浮冰之间那种壮观的碰撞和碎裂一样。
“另一件，”福特说，“就是你胡子上好象有块骨头。”他把茶端了回去。
在护理帐篷之外，阳光正照射在快乐的人群身上，照射在白色的帽子和红色的脸庞上，照射在冰棍上，烤化了它们。它还照射在因为冰棍融化、从棍子上掉了下来而大哭的孩子的泪珠上。它照射在树上，它使挥来挥去的板球拍闪闪发光。它照耀着那个超级不同寻常的、停泊在助视屏后面的物体，而且似乎没人注意到这个物体。它照耀在从帐篷里向外探头探脑的福特和阿瑟，两人正查看周围的情况。
阿瑟在发抖。
“也许，”他说，“我应该……”
“不行。”福特犀利地说。
“什么？”阿瑟问。
“不要试着给在家的自己打电话。”
“你怎么知道……？”
福特耸耸肩。
“可是为什么？”阿瑟说。
“那些给自己打电话的人，”福特说，“都没得到什么好处。”
“可是……”