經典科幻文學:《 再見 多謝你們的魚》第40章1
Chapter 40
There remains little still to tell.
Beyond what used to be known as the Limitless Lightfields of Flanux until the Grey Binding Fiefdoms of Saxaquine were discovered lying behind them, lie the Grey Binding Fiefdoms of Saxaquine. Within the Grey Binding Fiefdoms of Saxaquine lies the star named Zarss, around which orbits the planet Preliumtarn in which is the land of Sevorbeupstry, and it was to the land of Sevorbeupstry that Arthur and Fenchurch came at last, a little tired by the journey.
And in the land of Sevorbeupstry, they came to the Great Red Plain of Rars, which was bounded on the South side by the Quentulus Quazgar Mountains, on the further side of which, according to the dying words of Prak, they would find in thirty-foot-high letters of fire God’s Final Message to His Creation.
According to Prak, if Arthur’s memory saved him right, the place was guarded by the Lajestic Vantrashell of Lob, and so, after a manner, it proved to be. He was a little man in a strange hat and he sold them a ticket.
Keep to the left, please, he said, keep to the left, and hurried on past them on a little scooter.
They realized they were not the first to pass that way, for the path that led around the left of the Great Plain was well-worn and dotted with booths. At one they bought a box of fudge, which had been baked in an oven in a cave in the mountain, which was heated by the fire of the letters that formed God’s Final Message to His Creation. At another they bought some postcards. The letters had been blurred with an airbrush, so as not to spoil the Big Surprise! it said on the reverse.
Do you know what the message is? they asked the wizened little lady in the booth.
Oh yes, she piped cheerily, oh yes!
She waved them on.
Every twenty miles or so there was a little stone hut with showers and sanitary facilities, but the going was tough, and the high sun baked down on the Great Red Plain, and the Great Red Plain rippled in the heat.
Is it possible, asked Arthur at one of the larger booths, to rent one of those little scooters? Like the one Lajestic Ventrawhatsit had.
The scooters, said the little lady who was serving at an ice cream bar, are not for the devout.
Oh well, that’s easy then, said Fenchurch, we’re not particularly devout. We’re just interested.
Then you must turn back now, said the little lady severely, and when they demurred, sold them a couple of Final Message sunhats and a photograph of themselves with their arms tight around each other on the Great Red Plain of Rars.
They drank a couple of sodas in the shade of the booth and then trudged out into the sun again.
We’re running out of border cream, said Fenchurch after a few more miles. We can go to the next booth, or we can return to the previous one which is nearer, but means we have to retrace our steps again.
They stared ahead at the distant black speck winking in the heat haze; they looked behind themselves. They elected to go on.
They then discovered that they were not only not the first ones to make this journey, but that they were not the only ones making it now.
Some way ahead of them an awkward low shape was heaving itself wretchedly along the ground, stumbling painfully slowly, half-limping, half-crawling.
It was moving so slowly that before too long they caught the creature up and could see that it was made of worn, scarred and twisted metal.
It groaned at them as they approached it, collapsing in the hot dry dust.
第40章
沒多少要說的了。
在從發現賽科薩奎恩的灰色聯合封地之前，那裏曾經作爲弗蘭諾克斯的無限光域而廣爲人知，賽科薩奎恩的灰色聯合封地就在它的前方。在賽科薩奎恩的灰色聯合封地裏面有一顆叫做扎爾斯的恆星，在圍繞它的軌道上有一顆叫做普里利姆坦的行星，行星上是瑟沃爾博普斯特立大陸，而瑟沃爾博普斯特立大陸就是阿瑟和芬切琪在旅途之後，帶着些許的疲憊到達的地方。
他們在最後來到了在瑟沃爾博普斯特立大陸中的拉爾斯紅色大平原，這個平原與昆圖魯斯·垮茲噶爾山脈的南邊接壤，根據噗啦克臨死前所說的，他們可以在山脈的遠端找到三十英尺高的火焰字母寫稱的上帝給自己造物的最後一個訊息。
根據噗啦克所說的，如果阿瑟沒記錯的話，那個地方由洛布的拉傑斯提克·旺忒拉謝爾守衛，後來證明他記的沒錯。那是一個戴着奇怪帽子的小個子男人，他賣給他們一張門票。
“一直左拐，”他說，“一直左拐。”然後他就坐着一個小電動車急急忙忙從他們身邊經過走開了。
他們意識到自己並不是第一個經過這裏的人，因爲伸向大平原左方的小路看起來經常有人走動，而且點綴着一些售貨亭。他們在一個售貨亭上買了一盒軟糖，這些軟糖是是在山中一個山洞裏烤出來的，用的就是上帝給自己造物的最後一個訊息的那些字母的火。他們又在另一個售貨亭上買了點明信片。上面的字母被用噴繪工具弄模糊了，“爲了不破壞那‘巨大的驚喜’”明信片的背面寫着。
“你知道那個訊息是什麼嗎？”他們問售貨亭後那個乾癟的小婦人。
“哦是的，”她開心地叫着，“哦是的。”
她揮手向他們送別。
每過二十英里左右就有一個石砌的小屋子，裏面有淋浴和洗漱設施，但是旅途十分艱辛，高懸的太陽烘烤着紅色大平原，紅色大平原在熱浪下微微起着漣漪。
“有沒有可能，”阿瑟在一個大一點的售貨亭問，“租一臺小電動車？就像拉傑斯提克·旺忒拉謝爾開的那樣的？”
“電動車，”一個買冰激凌的小婦人說，“是不虔誠的。”
“好的，那就簡單了，”芬切琪說，“我們並不怎麼虔誠。我只是感興趣。”
“那你們現在就該回去，”那個小婦人嚴厲地說，當他們提出抗議的時候，她賣了兩頂“最後訊息”的太陽帽和一張以拉爾斯的紅色大平原爲背景他們緊緊擁抱的照片給他們。
他們在售貨亭的陰影裏面喝了點汽水，然後再次拖着沉重的步伐走到陽光下。
“我們的保護霜用完了，”走了幾英里之後芬切琪說，“我們可以在下一個售貨亭買，或者可以回到之前那個售貨亭，那樣近一點，不過之後我們就得把這段路重走一遍了。”
他們向前盯遠處在着蒸騰的熱浪中閃爍的黑點；他們向後看了看。他們決定繼續向前走。
然後他們發現他們不僅僅不是第一批走這條路的人，而且不是唯一正在走這條路的人。
在他們前面一些的地方，一個笨拙的小影子正在地上可憐巴巴地挪動着身軀，慢慢費力地蹣跚着，半蹭半爬地向前走。
它走的太慢了，沒過多久他們就追了上去，並且看清了這個東西是由破舊的，裂開的，扭曲的金屬製成的。
他們接近的時候它呻吟了一聲，翻倒在熱騰騰的灰塵中。
