经典科幻文学:《宇宙尽头的餐馆》第17章5

“And now, ladies and gentlemen,” he beamed, “is everyone having one last wonderful time?”
“Yes,” called out the sort of people who call out “yes” when comedians ask them if they’re having a wonderful time.
“That’s wonderful,” enthused Max, “absolutely wonderful. And as the photon storms gather in swirling crowds around us, preparing to tear apart the last of the red hot suns, I know you’re all going to settle back and enjoy with me what I know we will find all an immensely exciting and terminal experience.”
He paused. He caught the audience with a glittering eye.
“Believe me, ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “there’s nothing penultimate about this one.”
He paused again. Tonight his timing was immaculate. Time after time he had done this show, night after night. Not that the word night had any meaning here at the extremity of time. All there was was the endless repetition of the final moment, as the Restaurant rocked slowly forward over the brink of time’s furthest edge and back again. This “night” was good though, the audience was writhing in the palm of his sickly hand. His voice dropped. They had to strain to hear him.
“This,” he said, “really is the absolute end, the final chilling desolation, in which the whole majestic sweep of creation becomes extinct. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the proverbial ‘it’.”
He dropped his voice still lower. In the stillness, a fly would not have dared cleat its throat.
“After this,” he said, “there is nothing. Void. Emptiness. Oblivion. Absolute nothing…”
His eyes glittered again or did they twinkle?”
“Nothing… except of course for the sweet trolley, and a fine selection of Aldebaran liqueurs!”
The band gave him a musical sting. He wished they wouldn’t, he didn’t need it, not an artist of his calibre. He could play the audience like his own musical instrument. They were laughing with relief. He followed on.
“And for once,” he cried cheerily, “you don’t need to worry about having a hangover in the morning because there won’t be any more mornings!”
He beamed at his happy, laughing audience. He glanced up at the sky, going through the same dead routine every night, but his glance was only for a fraction of a second. He trusted it to do its job, as one professional trusts another.
“And now,” he said, strutting about the stage, “at the risk of putting a damper on the wonderful sense of doom and futility here this evening, I would like to welcome a few parties.”
He pulled a card from his pocket.

“现在，女士们、先生们，”他微笑着说，“你们所有人部在享受这美妙的最后一刻吗？”
“是的，”那些每当滑稽演员问他们是否在享受美妙时光时都会喊出“是的”的人喊道。
“太好了，”马克斯热情洋溢地说，“真是太好了。光了风暴正在我们四周聚合成涡流，准备将最后的那些红色炽热恒星撕个粉碎：我知道，你们大家都会作好准备，和我一起，分享这次必然会让我们大家感到无比兴奋的终极体验。”
他停顿了一下，目光闪烁地看着观众。
“相信我！女士们、先生们，”他说，“没有任何事情能让这一刻排在倒数第二，这就是终极。”
他又停顿了一下。今晚，他的时间把握得堪称完美。他曾经一次又一次地主持这个表演，一晚又一晚，当然，“夜晚”这个词在这里－－在时间的末端并没有什么意义。这里有的只是最后时刻的尤尽循环。这家餐馆缓慢地向前摆动，越过时间的最远边界的边缘——然后再摆回来。尽管如此，今天这个“夜晚”还是不错的，观众们完全被操控在他那憔悴的手掌中。他的声音低了下来他们必须绷紧神经才能听清楚：
“这－－”他说，“真的是绝对的终极，是终点的寒冷和荒芜在这里，天地万物的宏伟的绵延传承灭绝了。这，女士们、先生们，就是众所周知的‘那一刻’！”
他把声音压樽更低了，在这样的寂静中，连苍蝇都不敢清嗓子，
“在这以后，”他说，“就是一无所有空白。虚空，湮没，绝对的一无所有！”
他的眼睛又闪了闪——或者，是眨了眨？
“一无所有！当然，除了餐后甜点和精选的毕宿五（金牛座q星）利口酒！”
乐队用音乐声附和他，他却并不希望他们这么做一他不需要这些，没有哪个艺术家有他这样的爿能他能把观众玩弄于股掌之问，就像演奏自己的乐器一般：他们如释重负地大笑着，他则继续说下去。
“惟一的一次，”他愉快地叫道，“你们不必担心明天}i醉醒来后的不适，因为——不会再有什么明天了！”
他冲台下开怀大笑的观众们微笑着。他抬头看了看天宅，进行着每晚该死的惯例：这一仅仅持续了一秒钟，他信任自己的这一眼眼，就像一个专业人士信任另外一个。
“现在，”他在舞台上昂首阔步，“本着破坏今晚这种末日临近、百无聊赖的美妙感觉的危险，我想向几个团体致以欢迎之意。”
他从衣兜里掏出一张卡片。