經典科幻文學:《 基本上無害 Mostly Harmless》 第6章6
‘I am your new editor-in-chief. That is, if we decide to retain your services. My name is Vann Harl.’ He didn’t put his hand out. He just added, ‘What have you done to that security robot?’
“我是你的新主編。也就是說，假設我們決定僱用你的話。我叫範.哈爾。”他沒有伸手給福特，只是問，“你把這個保安機器人怎麼了？”
The little robot was rolling very, very slowly round the ceiling and moaning quietly to itself.
那個小機器人正很慢，很慢地繞着天花板打轉，嘴裏唸唸有詞地輕聲呻吟着。
‘I’ve made it very happy,’ snapped Ford. ‘It’s a kind of mission I have. Where’s Stagyar? More to the point, where’s his drinks trolley?’
“我讓他感到非常快樂，”福特厲聲說，“這是我的志向之類的。斯塔格亞在哪兒？或者咱們還是直說吧，他放酒的手推車在哪兒？”
‘Mr. Zil-Doggo is no longer with this organisation. His drinks trolley is, I imagine, helping to console him for this fact.’
“茲爾-多哥先生已經離開本機構了。他那車酒，我想，正在幫助他撫平這一傷痛。”
‘Organisation?’ yelled Ford. ‘Organisation? What a bloody stupid word for a set-up like this!’
“機構？”福特吼道，“機構管這麼個東西叫什麼機構？這他媽也太蠢了。”
‘Precisely our sentiments. Under-structured, over-resourced, under-managed, over-inebriated. And that,’ said Harl, ‘was just the editor.’
“和我們感覺完全相同，組織不力，資源過剩，管理不力，酒精過剩。而這，”哈爾道，“還不僅僅是主編的問題。”
‘I’ll do the jokes,’ snarled Ford.
“搞笑留給我來就好！”福特咆哮道。
‘No,’ said Harl. ‘You will do the restaurant column.’
“不，”哈爾說，“你要搞的是美食專欄。”
He tossed a piece of plastic on to the desk in front of him. Ford did not move to pick it up.
他把一張小塑料片扔到自己面前的書桌上。福特沒有伸手。
‘You what?’ said Ford.
“你啥？”
‘No. Me Harl. You Prefect. You do restaurant column. Me editor. Me sit here tell you you do restaurant column. You get?’
“不，我哈爾。你福特。你美食專欄。我主編。我坐這兒告訴你搞美食專欄。你明白了嗎？”
‘Restaurant column?’ said Ford, too bewildered to be really angry yet.
“美食專欄？”福特眼下太糊塗，還沒法真正生起氣來。
‘Siddown, Prefect,’ said Harl. He swung round in his swivel chair, got to his feet, and stood staring out at the tiny specks enjoying the carnival twenty-three stories below.
“坐下，福特。”哈爾坐在轉椅上一轉，站起身來，俯視地上的小點，順便享受三十三層樓底下的狂歡節。
‘Time to get this business on its feet, Prefect,’ he snapped. ‘We at InfiniDim Enterprises are…’
“該好好說說正事了，福特！”他厲聲喝道，“我們無限帥公司……”
‘You at what?’
“你們啥？”
