經典科幻文學:《生命 宇宙及一切》第9章3

Voon, said the mattress.
I expect so, said Marvin, and I also expect that you find the idea of a robot with an artificial leg pretty amusing. You should tell your friends Zem and Zem when you see them later; they’ll laugh, if I know them, which I don’t of course except insofar as I know all organic life forms, which is much better than I would wish to. Ha, but my life is but a box of wormgears.
He stomped around again in his tiny circle, around his thin steel peg-leg which revolved in the mud but seemed otherwise stuck.
But why do you just keep walking round and round? said the mattress.
Just to make the point, said Marvin, and continued, round and round.
Consider it made, my dear friend, flurbled the mattress, consider it made.
Just another million years, said Marvin, just another quick million. Then I might try it backwards. Just for the variety, you understand.
The mattress could feel deep in his innermost spring pockets that the robot dearly wished to be asked how long he had been trudging in this futile and fruitless manner, and with another quiet flurble he did so.
Oh, just over the one-point-five-million mark, just over, said Marvin airily. Ask me if I ever get bored, go on, ask me.
The mattress did.
Marvin ignored the question, he merely trudged with added emphasis.
I gave a speech once, he said suddenly, and apparently unconnectedly. You may not instantly see why I bring the subject up, but that is because my mind works so phenomenally fast, and I am at a rough estimate thirty billion times more intelligent than you. Let me give you an example. Think of a number, any number.
Er, five, said the mattress.
Wrong, said Marvin. You see?
The mattress was much impressed by this and realized that it was in the presence of a not unremarkable mind. It willomied along its entire length, sending excited little ripples through its shallow algae-covered pool.
It gupped.

“浯呢。”牀墊說。
“我就知道。”馬文說，“我還知道你會覺得一個裝着假腿的機器人很可樂。下次和你的朋友贊姆和贊姆見面時，你應該也告訴他們。他們會大笑的——如果我認識他們的話，當然我不認識。就我迄今認識的所有有機生命體而言，大笑的反應算是相當好了。哈，我的生活不過是一盒蝸輪而已。”
他再次咚咚地轉着小圓圈，以他那細小的鋼鐵假腿爲圓心——看起來像在轉圈，實際上是卡住了。
“可是你爲什麼老是轉啊轉呢？”牀墊說。
“強調一下重點罷了。”馬文說着，繼續轉啊轉。
“就當它已經強調了吧，我親愛的朋友，”牀墊沽動道，“就當它已經強調了。”
“不過是另一個一百萬年而已。”馬文說，“一晃又是一百萬年。那時我會換個方向。製造一下多樣性。你懂吧。”
牀墊從它的彈簧袋深處強烈地感覺到，這個機器人是多麼希望有人問他、他忙於這種毫無意義的動作有多久了。牀墊輕輕地沽動着問了。
“噢，剛好一點五個百萬年，剛剛好。”馬文輕鬆地說，“如果我無聊了就問我問題。繼續。問吧。”
牀墊照做了。
馬文沒理它。馬文繼續踏步，以便着重強調重點。
“我做過一次演講。”他突然開口道，前言不搭後語。“你很快就會明白我爲什麼說起這個。那是因爲我的腦子運行過於迅速了。粗略算來，我至少比你聰明三百億倍。舉個例子吧。想個數字，隨便哪個。”
“嗯，五。”牀墊說。
“錯。”馬文說，“明白了？”
牀墊被深深地震撼了。它意識到，自己面前這位絕非尋常人等。它潙拉起整個身軀，使它所在的佈滿水藻的小池蕩起興奮的漣漪。
它沆奮了。