经典科幻文学:《银河系漫游指南》第27章1

Chapter 27
Slartibartfast's study was a total mess, like the results of an explosion in a public library. The old man frowned as they stepped in.
"Terribly unfortunate," he said, "a diode blew in one of the life-support computers. When we tried to revive our cleaning staff we discovered they'd been dead for nearly thirty thousand years. Who's going to clear away the bodies, that's what I want to know. Look why don't you sit yourself down over there and let me plug you in?"
He gestured Arthur towards a chair which looked as if it had been made out of the rib cage of a stegosaurus.
"It was made out of the rib cage of a stegosaurus," explained the old man as he pottered about fishing bits of wire out from under tottering piles of paper and drawing instruments. "Here," he said, "hold these," and passed a couple of stripped wire end to Arthur.
The instant he took hold of them a bird flew straight through him.
He was suspended in mid-air and totally invisible to himself. Beneath him was a pretty treelined city square, and all around it as far as the eye could see were white concrete buildings of airy spacious design but somewhat the worse for wear — many were cracked and stained with rain. Today however the sun was shining, a fresh breeze danced lightly through the trees, and the odd sensation that all the buildings were quietly humming was probably caused by the fact that the square and all the streets around it were thronged with cheerful excited people. Somewhere a band was playing, brightly coloured flags were fluttering in the breeze and the spirit of carnival was in the air.
Arthur felt extraordinarily lonely stuck up in the air above it all without so much as a body to his name, but before he had time to reflect on this a voice rang out across the square and called for everyone's attention.
A man standing on a brightly dressed dais before the building which clearly dominated the square was addressing the crowd over a Tannoy.
"O people waiting in the Shadow of Deep Thought!" he cried out. "Honoured Descendants of Vroomfondel and Majikthise, the Greatest and Most Truly Interesting Pundits the Universe has ever known ... The Time of Waiting is over!"
Wild cheers broke out amongst the crowd. Flags, streamers and wolf whistles sailed through the air. The narrower streets looked rather like centipedes rolled over on their backs and frantically waving their legs in the air.

第二十七章
司拉提巴特法斯特的书房一片混乱，就像一个发生了一场爆炸的公共图书馆。进门后，老人皱起眉头。
“真是太不幸了，”他说，“一台生命支持电脑里的一个二极管爆了。当我们试图唤醒我们的清扫系统时，才发现它们已经死掉差不多快3万年了。谁来清理这些垃圾呢，真是头疼呀。唔，你为什么不到那边坐下来，让我替你接上仪器好吗？”
他做了个手势，让阿瑟坐到一张看上去像是由一头剑龙的胸腔制成的椅子上。
“这是用一头剑龙的胸腔做的。”老人解释道，一边磨磨蹭蹭地从摇摇晃晃的纸堆下面扯出电线，接上仪器。“这儿，”他说，“拿着这些。”他把几根剥掉了外皮的电线端头递给阿瑟。
阿瑟接过电线的那一瞬间，一只鸟笔直地从他面前掠过。
他悬在半空中，自己完全看不见自己。在他身下是一个绿树成行的美丽的城市广场，广场四周目力所及之处全都是白色的混凝土建筑，设计风格轻快通透，只是装饰稍微差了些一许多建筑已被雨淋得痕迹斑驳。这是阳光明媚的一天，清新的微风在林间吹拂，广场和周围的街道上聚集着欢乐兴奋的人群，很容易使人产生一种奇怪的感觉，似乎所有建筑也都跟着轻声地哼哼着。某个地方，一支乐队正在表演，色彩鲜艳的旗帜在风中招展，空气中弥漫着狂欢节的气息。
在空中，阿瑟甚至没有一具有形的躯体，于是他感到极端孤独，但没等他有足够的时间考虑这个问题，一个声音已经响彻整个广场，让所有人注意。
一个男人站在装点得五彩缤纷的高台上，这个高台就在显然是这个广场的主体建筑物前面，他正通过扩音器向人群发表演讲。
“等待在深思的阴影之下的人们！”他喊道，“光荣的卢姆方德尔和曼吉克塞斯——宇宙中有史以来最伟大、最风趣的博学者一一的子孙们，漫长的等待终于结束了！”
人群中爆发出热烈的欢呼声。旗帜、横幅以及口哨声飘荡在空中。狭窄一些的街道看上去很像转过身背部着地的蜈蚣，在空中疯狂地挥舞着它们的腿。