经典科幻文学:《宇宙尽头的餐馆》第3章13

“What?”
“What use is your life to anyone? When I think of what you’ve made of it the phrase ‘pig’s ear’ comes irresistibly to my mind.”
“But I was President of the Galaxy, man!”
“Huh,” muttered his ancestor, “And what kind of a job is that for a Beeblebrox?”
“Hey, what? Only President you know! Of the whole Galaxy!”
“Conceited little megapuppy.”
Zaphod blinked in bewilderment.
“Hey, er, what are you at, man? I mean Great Grandfather.”
The hunched up little figure stalked up to his great grandson and tapped him sternly on the knee. This had the effect of reminding Zaphod that he was talking to a ghost because he didn’t feel a thing.
“You know and I know what being President means, young Zaphod. You know because you’ve been it, and I know because I’m dead and it gives one such a wonderfully uncluttered perspective. We have a saying up here. ‘Life is wasted on the living.’”
“Yeah,” said Zaphod bitterly, “very good. Very deep. Right now I need aphorisms like I need holes in my heads.”
“Fifty seconds,” grunted Ford Prefect.
“Where was I?” said Zaphod Beeblebrox the Fourth.
“Pontificating,” said Zaphod Beeblebrox.
“Oh yes.”

“什么？”
“你的生命对任何人又有什么用呢？每当我想起你是怎样对待你的生命时，有个说法就会无法遏制地钻进我的脑子里，‘猪耳朵’，一文不值。”
“可我毕竟当过银河系总统啊！”
“哈，”他的祖先嘀咕道，“这份工作对一个毕博布鲁克斯来说，又能意味着什么呢？”
“什么？起码是你认识的惟一一个总统吧！整个银河系的！”
“狂妄的臭小子。”
赞福德困惑地眨着眼睛。
“嘿——嗯，你又是什么呢，伙计？我是说，曾祖父。”
这个驼背的小个子老人大踏步走到他的曾孙面前，严厉地敲打着他的膝盖。这样做的结果是提醒了赞福德，自己正在和一个鬼魂说话，因为他被敲打了却毫无感觉。
“你我都清楚，当个总统意味着什么，年轻的赞福德。你知道，是因为你已经当过了；我知道，是因为我已经死了，这给了我相当不错的洞察力，洞见秋毫。我们这儿有个说法，‘生命在活着时被浪费了’。”
“是啊，”赞福德苦涩地说，“相当正确。相当深刻。我现在需要的正是箴言，就像我需要在脑袋上多几个洞一样。”
“五十秒。”福特长官咕哝道。
“我刚才说到哪儿了？”赞福德·毕博布鲁克斯四世问。
“正在斩钉截铁大发议论。”赞福德·毕博布鲁克斯说。
“噢，是的。”