經典科幻文學:《基本上無害 Mostly Harmless》 第17章1

17

第十七章

For a long period of time there was much speculation and controversy about where the so-called ‘missing matter’ of the Universe had got to. All over the Galaxy the science departments of all the major universities were acquiring more and more elaborate equipment to probe and search the hearts of distant galaxies, and then the very centre and the very edges of the whole Universe, but when eventually it was tracked down it turned out in fact to be all the stuff which the equipment had been packed in.

很長時間以來，對於宇宙中所謂的“失落的物質”究竟哪兒去了，大家都有很多很多種猜測和爭論。整個銀河系裏，所有主要大學的科學院都不斷買進越來越先進的設備，調查，探測遠方各個銀河系的核心，接着又瞄準了整個宇宙的中心與邊緣，可當大家終於找到它的時候，卻發現它原來是打包裝儀器時墊箱子的某些東西。

There was quite a large quantity of missing matter in the box, little soft round white pellets of missing matter, which Random discarded for future generations of physicists to track down and discover all over again once the findings of the current generation of physicists had been lost and forgotten about.

蘭登的盒子裏就有大量失落物質形成的白色小球，軟軟的，圓圓的，蘭登隨手把它們丟掉。等這一代科學家發現被遺忘之後，未來的物理學家就可以重新探索並且發現它們。

Out of the pellets of missing matter she lifted the featureless black disk. She put it down on a rock beside her and sifted amongst all the missing matter to see if there was anything else, a manual or some attachments or something, but there was nothing else at all. Just the black disk.

她從無數個失落物質形成的小球裏拿起那個毫無特徵的黑色圓盤。她把它放在身旁的一塊石頭上，又在所有那些失落物質裏篩了半天，看還有沒有別的什麼東西，比方說一本手冊或者幾個附件什麼的，結果什麼也沒找到。只有那個黑色的碟子。

She shone the torch on it.

她拿手電筒照上去。

As she did so, cracks began to appear along its apparently featureless surface. Random backed away nervously, but then saw that the thing, whatever it was, was merely unfolding itself.

隨着燈光的照射，圓盤本來彷彿漆黑一片的表面上出現了裂縫。蘭登緊張地後退幾步，但很快就看出不管那是什麼東西，反正它只不過是在做伸展體操而已。

The process was wonderfully beautiful. It was extraordinarily elaborate but also simple and elegant. It was like a piece of self-opening origami, or a rosebud blooming into a rose in just a few seconds.

那過程真是美不勝收。它精緻極了，同時又簡潔，優雅。它彷彿是一張自己打開的摺紙，又或者一朵在寥寥數秒內綻放的玫瑰花苞。

Where just a few moments earlier there had been a smoothly curved black disk there was now a bird. A bird, hovering there.

片刻之前它還是一個線條光潔的黑色圓盤，現在已經化作一隻鳥，一隻鳥，懸在半空。

Random continued to back away from it, carefully and watchfully.

蘭登繼續退後，小心翼翼，一臉戒備。