經典科幻文學:《 再見 多謝你們的魚》第22章1

The night in Islington was sweet and fragrant.
There were, of course, no Fuolornis Fire Dragons about in the alley, but if any had chanced by they might just as well have sloped off across the road for a pizza, for they were not going to be needed.
Had an emergency cropped up while they were still in the middle of their American Hots with extra anchovy they could always have sent across a message to put Dire Straits on the stereo, which is now known to have much the same effect.
No, said Fenchurch, not yet.
Arthur put Dire Straits on the stereo. Fenchurch pushed ajar the upstairs front door to let in a little more of the sweet fragrant night air. They both sat on some of the furniture made out of cushions, very close to the open bottle of champagne.
No, said Fenchurch, not till you’ve found out what’s wrong with me, which bit. But I suppose, she added very, very, very quietly, that we may as well start with where your hand is now.
Arthur said: So which way do I go?
Down, said Fenchurch, on this occasion.
He moved his hand.
Down, she said, is in fact the other way.
Oh yes.
Mark Knopfler has an extraordinary ability to make a Schecter Custom Stratocaster hoot and sing like angels on a Saturday night, exhausted from being good all week and needing a stiff beer which is not strictly relevant at this point since the record hadn’t yet got to that bit, but there will be too much else going on when it does, and furthermore the chronicler does not intend to sit here with a track list and a stopwatch, so it seems best to mention it now while things are still moving slowly.
And so we come, said Arthur, to your knee. There is something terribly and tragically wrong with your left knee.
My left knee, said Fenchurch, is absolutely fine.
So it is.
Did you know that…
What?
Ahm, it’s all right. I can tell you do. No, keep going.
So it has to be something to do with your feet…
She smiled in the dim light, and wriggled her shoulders noncommittally against the cushions. Since there are cushions in the Universe, on Squornshellous Beta to be exact, two worlds in from the swampland of the mattresses, that actively enjoy being wriggled against, particularly if it’s noncommittally because of the syncopated way in which the shoulders move, it’s a pity they weren’t there. They weren’t, but such is life.
Arthur held her left foot in his lap and looked it over carefully. All kinds of stuff about the way her dress fell away from her legs was making it difficult for him to think particularly clearly at this point.
I have to admit, he said, that I really don’t know what I’m looking for.
You’ll know when you find it, she said. Really you will. There was a slight catch in her voice. It’s not that one.
Feeling increasingly puzzled, Arthur let her left foot down on the floor and moved himself around so that he could take her right foot. She moved forward, put her arms round and kissed him, because the record had got to that bit which, if you knew the record, you would know made it impossible not to do this.
Then she gave him her right foot.

伊斯林頓的夜晚香甜而芬芳。
當然，那裏沒有弗洛尼斯火龍在小巷徘徊，如果真的碰巧有火龍的話，他們最好還是跑過街去找塊比薩餅，免得自己被吃掉。
如果加倍鳳尾魚的美國熱辣比薩吃到一半時出現了緊急狀況，他們總可以去將一張《恐怖海峽》（注1）的唱片放入音響，現在已知的是它能達到和辣比薩相同的效果。
“不，”芬琪詩說，“還不是時候。”
阿瑟將《恐怖海峽》放入音響。芬琪詩將樓上前門微微敞開，多透進一些甜美芬芳的夜晚空氣。他們倆都坐在一種墊子製成的傢俱上，緊挨着一瓶打開的香檳。
“不行，”芬琪詩說，“除非你找到了我不對勁的是哪個地方。但我認爲，”她非常非常非常輕地補充道，“我們也許不妨從你的手現在放的地方開始。”
阿瑟說，“那麼我該沿着什麼方向找？”
“往下，”芬琪詩說，“在這個場合。”
他挪動他的手。
“往下，”她說，“事實上是另一邊。”
“哦好的。”
馬克諾夫勒（注2）有一種超凡的能力可以讓一把Schecter（注3）定製的Stratocaster吉他像天使一樣高叫歌唱讓人產生一種在週六晚上，被一週的循規蹈矩搞得精疲力盡之後需要來一杯烈啤酒的感覺——其實嚴格地說來這一點沒有什麼關聯，因爲那張唱片還沒進行到那部分，但那裏進行的其它事兒可太多了，史學家不打算坐在那兒守着曲目表和秒錶，所以最好還是趁着現在節奏還比較慢的時候就把這點提出來。
“那麼接下來，”阿瑟說，“是你的膝蓋。你的左膝曾發生過一些可怕而悲慘的事情。”
“我的左膝，”芬琪詩說，“完全正常。”
“是這樣吧。”
“你知道麼......”
“啥？”
“啊，沒事。我待會可以告訴你的。不，先繼續吧。”
“那麼一定是你的腳有點什麼問題......”
她在昏暗的燈光下微笑，肩膀靠在墊子上不明確地扭動着。因爲宇宙中的有些墊子，確切的說是距離牀墊沼澤兩個世界遠的史奎若謝絡絲貝塔星上的墊子，它們就相當喜歡被靠着扭來扭去，特別是這樣隨機扭動，因爲這種肩膀運動的方式就像切分音一樣美妙，真可惜它們不在這兒。它們不在這兒，但這就是生活。
阿瑟把她的左腳捧在大腿上然後仔細查看。她的全部衣着都順着腿滑了下來，這使得他在此刻很難特別清醒地思考。
“我得承認，”他說，“我真的不知道我在找什麼。”
“等你找到的時候就知道了，”她說，“真的，你會知道的。”她的聲音中有個輕微的停頓。“不是那隻。”
阿瑟越發的糊塗，把她的左腳放到了地上然後挪過身子去抓她的右腳。她挪過去，摟着吻他，因爲唱片就放到這一段了，如果你瞭解這張唱片，就該明白在此時此刻不這麼做是不可能的。
接着她將右腳伸向阿瑟。