经典科幻文学:《宇宙尽头的餐馆》第10章4

Zaphod peered nervously inside. The chamber was very small. It was steel-lined and there was hardly space in it for more than one man.
“It… er… it doesn’t look like any kind of Vortex to me,” said Zaphod.
“It isn’t,” said Gargravarr, “it’s just the elevator. Enter.”
With infinite trepidation Zaphod stepped into it. He was aware of Gargravarr being in the elevator with him, though the disembodied man was not for the moment speaking.
The elevator began its descent.
“I must get myself into the right frame of mind for this,” muttered Zaphod.
“There is no right frame of mind,” said Gargravarr sternly.
“You really know how to make a guy feel inadequate.”
“I don’t. The Vortex does.”
At the bottom of the shaft, the rear of the elevator opened up and Zaphod stumbled out into a smallish, functional, steel-lined chamber.
At the far side of it stood a single upright steel box, just large enough for a man to stand in.
It was that simple.
It connected to a small pile of components and instruments via a single thick wire.
“Is that it?” said Zaphod in surprise.
“That is it.”
Didn’t look too bad, thought Zaphod.
“And I get in there do I?” said Zaphod.
“You get in there,” said Gargravarr, “and I’m afraid you must do it now.”
“OK, OK,” said Zaphod. He opened the door of the box and stepped in.
Inside the box he waited.
After five seconds there was a click, and the entire Universe was there in the box with him.

赞福德紧张地盯着里面。房间很小，四壁是钢铁，几乎容不下第二个人。
“这玩意儿…嗯看上去不太像我心耳中的旋涡。”赞福德说。
“它本来就不是，”伽古拉瓦说，“这只是电梯。进去。”
带着十二万分的惊恐，赞福德走了进去。他能感到伽古拉瓦也进了电梯，就在他边上，虽然这个脱离了肉体的家伙并没有说一句话。
电梯开始下降。
“要能应付这个，我得作好恰当的思想准备才行。”赞福德咕哝着。
“根本不存在恰当的思想准备。”伽古拉瓦严厉地说。
“你可真是知道怎么才能让一个人感到自己不中用啊。”
“我不行。旋涡在这方面倒是一把好手。”
到了升降井的底端，电梯从后面打开了，于是，赞福德又跌跌撞撞地进人了另一个钢铁四壁……显然是为某种特殊用途而设计的小房间。
房间的远端孤零零地立着一个竖放着的金属箱子，大小刚好够一个人站在里面：
一切就这么简单。
这个箱子通过一根粗电线与一小堆元件和仪器相连。
”就是那玩意儿？”赞福德吃惊地问。
“是的。”
看上去还不算太差，赞福德想。
“我得站进去，是吗？”赞福德又问。
“当然，”伽古拉瓦说，“而且，恐怕你现在就得这么做。’
“行啊，行啊。”赞福德说，他打开箱子盖，站了进去。
他在箱子里等待着。
五秒钟过后，伴随着“咔嚓”一声，整个宇宙就和他一起在这个箱子里了。