经典科幻文学:《宇宙尽头的餐馆》第29章4
“Weird,” said Zaphod.
“But it’s in the middle of nowhere,” said Trillian, “we must have come to the wrong place. You can’t rule the Universe from a shack.”
They hurried through the pouring rain, and arrived, wet through, at the door. They knocked. They shivered.
The door opened.
“Hello?” said the man.
“Ah, excuse me,” said Zarniwoop, “I have reason to believe…”
“Do you rule the Universe?” said Zaphod.
The man smiled at him.
“I try not to,” he said, “Are you wet?”
Zaphod looked at him in astonishment.
“Wet?” he cried, “Doesn’t it look as if we’re wet?”
“That’s how it looks to me,” said the man, “but how you feel about it might be an Altogether different matter. If you feel warmth makes you dry, you’d better come in.”
They went in.
They looked around the tiny shack, Zarniwoop with slight distaste, Trillian with interest, Zaphod with delight.
“Hey, er…” said Zaphod, “what’s your name?”
The man looked at them doubtfully.
“I don’t know. Why, do you think I should have one? It seems very odd to give a bundle of vague sensory perceptions a name.”
He invited Trillian to sit in the chair. He sat on the edge of the chair, Zarniwoop leaned stiffly against the table and Zaphod lay on the mattress.
“Wowee!” said Zaphod, “the seat of power!” He tickled the cat.
“Listen,” said Zarniwoop, “I must ask you some questions.”
“Alright,” said the man kindly, “you can sing to my cat if you like.”
“Would he like that?” asked Zaphod.
“You’d better ask him,” said the man.
“Does he talk?” said Zaphod.
“I have no memory of him talking,” said the man, “but I am very unreliable.”
Zarniwoop pulled some notes out of a pocket.
“Now,” he said, “you do rule the Universe, do you?”
“How can I tell?” said the man.
“太奇怪了。”赞幅德说。
“但这儿这么荒凉，”崔莉恩说，“我们一定是来错地方了，你不可能在这样一问小屋子里统治宇宙。”
他们快步穿过大雨，浑身湿透地来到小尾门前。他们一边敲门，一边颤抖着。
门开了。
“有什么事吗，”那个人说。
“噢，对不起，打扰了，”扎尼乌普说，“我有理由相信…·”
“是你在统治整个宇宙吗’”赞幅德问。
那人冲他笑笑。
“我尽量不这么馓，”他说，“你们淋湿了吗？”
赞福德惊讶地看着他。
“淋湿？”他叫道，“难道你觉得我们还不够湿吗？”
“在我看来是这样，”这人说，“不过你们的感觉可能完全是另一回事。如果你们认为温暖可以给你们烘干衣服的话，那你们最好进来。”
于是，他们进了屋。
他们上下打量着这间小屋，扎尼乌普带着些微厌恶，崔莉恩带着好奇，赞犒德带着欣喜。
“嘿，嗯……”赞福德说，”你叫什么名字？”
这人怀疑地看着他们。
“我不知道你们I^为我应该有一个名字吗t给一堆模糊的感观知觉取一个名字，这种举动似乎非常奇怪。”
他邀请崔莉恩坐在椅子上，他则坐在那把椅子的边缘。扎尼鸟普佩硬地靠在桌边，赞福德干脆躺在了床垫上。
“哇！”赞福德说，“极力的宅座！”他逗着那只猫。
“听着，”扎尼乌普说，“我必须问你几个问题。”
“好吧。”这人温和地说，“你可以对我的猫唱歌，如果你愿意的话。”
“可它愿意吗？”赞福德问。
“你最好问问它。”这人说，
“它会讲话吗？”赞福德叉问
“我不记得它讲过话，”这人说，“但我这个人非常靠不住，”
扎尼乌普从一个口袋里掏出几张便笺。
“好吧，”他说，“你统治着整个宇宙，是这样吗？”
“让我怎么说呢？”这人说。
