经典科幻文学:《银河系漫游指南》第22章1

He was standing with his back to Arthur watching the very last glimmers of light sink into blackness behind the horizon. He was tallish, elderly and dressed in a single long grey robe. When he turned his face was thin and distinguished, careworn but not unkind, the sort of face you would happily bank with. But he didn't turn yet, not even to react to Arthur's yelp of surprise.
Eventually the last rays of the sun had vanished completely, and he turned. His face was still illuminated from somewhere, and when Arthur looked for the source of the light he saw that a few yards away stood a small craft of some kind — a small hovercraft, Arthur guessed. It shed a dim pool of light around it.
The man looked at Arthur, sadly it seemed.
"You choose a cold night to visit our dead planet," he said.
"Who ... who are you?" stammered Arthur.
The man looked away. Again a kind of sadness seemed to cross his face.
"My name is not important," he said.
He seemed to have something on his mind. Conversation was clearly something he felt he didn't have to rush at. Arthur felt awkward.
"I ... er ... you startled me ..." he said, lamely.
The man looked round to him again and slightly raised his eyebrows.
"Hmmmm?" he said.
"I said you startled me."
"Do not be alarmed, I will not harm you."
Arthur frowned at him. "But you shot at us! There were missiles ..." he said.
The man chuckled slightly.

他背对阿瑟站在那儿，望着最后一线光芒沉入地平线以下的黑暗之中。他的身材算高的，已经上了年纪，穿着一件灰色单袍。他一会儿转过身来的时候，可以看到他的脸瘦削、高贵、饱经忧患但却很慈祥，属于那种你愿意看到的脸。但此时他还没有转过身来，甚至没有对阿瑟的惊呼声做出任何反应。
太阳的余辉终于完全消失了，他这才转过身来。他的脸仍然被来自某个地方的光线照亮，当阿瑟寻找这光线的来源时，他看见几码之外停着一架小型飞行器——阿瑟猜测这是一艘小气垫船，周围散发出黯淡的光芒。
老人望着阿瑟，看上去有些悲伤。
“你选择了一个寒冷的夜晚来访问我们这个已经死去的星球。”他说。
“你……你是谁？”阿瑟结结巴巴地问。
老人把目光移开了。又一阵悲伤的表情划过他的脸。
“我的名字并不重要。”他说。
他看上去心事重重，显然并不热衷于交谈。阿瑟感到很尴尬。
“我……嗯……你让我大吃一惊……”他断断续续地说。
老人再次望向他，轻轻地扬起眉毛。
“嗯？”他说。
“我说你让我大吃一惊。”
“别害怕，我不会伤害你的。”
阿瑟皱起眉头看着他，“可你朝我们开火了！我是指那些导弹……”他说。
他轻声笑了笑。