經典科幻文學:《生命 宇宙及一切》第6章1

Chapter 6
It seemed to Arthur as if the whole sky suddenly just stood aside and let them through.
It seemed to him that the atoms of his brain and the atoms of the cosmos were streaming through each other.
It seemed to him that he was blown on the wind of the Universe, and that the wind was him.
It seemed to him that he was one of the thoughts of the Universe and that the Universe was a thought of his.
It seemed to the people at Lord’s Cricket Ground that another North London restaurant had just come and gone as they so often do, and that this was Somebody Else’s Problem.
What happened? whispered Arthur in considerable awe.
We took off, said Slartibartfast.
Arthur lay in startled stillness on the acceleration couch. He wasn’t certain whether he had just got space-sickness or religion.
Nice mover, said Ford in an unsuccessful attempt to disguise the degree to which he had been impressed by what Slartibartfast’s ship had just done, shame about the decor.
For a moment or two the old man didn’t reply. He was staring at the instruments with the air of one who is trying to convert fahrenheit to centigrade in his head whilst his house is burning down. Then his brow cleared and he stared for a moment at the wide panoramic screen in front of him, which displayed a bewildering complexity of stars streaming like silver threads around them.
His lips moved as if he was trying to spell something. Suddenly his eyes darted in alarm back to his instruments, but then his expression merely subsided into a steady frown. He looked back up at the screen. He felt his own pulse. His frown deepened for a moment, then he relaxed.
It’s a mistake to try and understand mathematics, he said, they only worry me. What did you say?
Decor, said Ford. Pity about it.

第六章
在阿瑟看來彷彿整個天空突然一分爲二，讓他們從中通過。
在他看來他自己的大腦原子和宇宙的原子彼此交織在一起，穿梭不息。
在他看來彷彿他被宇宙之風託了起來，而那風就是他自己。
在他看來彷彿他是宇宙思維之一念，而宇宙又是他的思維之一念。
在羅德板球場上的人看來，就跟往常一樣，又一座北倫敦餐廳搬來又搬走了，而這只是別人的問題。
“發生什麼事了？”阿瑟滿懷敬畏地小聲問道。
“我們起飛了。”司拉提巴特法斯答。
阿瑟呆呆地躺在加速沙發上，他不知道自己剛纔是暈空間了，還是親歷了一次宗教體驗。
“挺好的船。”福特說。他對司拉提巴特法斯的飛船所做的一切感到極度驚奇，他試圖掩飾這一點，但並不成功。“可惜裝修差了點。”
這位老人並未馬上作答。他凝視着飛船上的各種裝置，那神情就像是一個自己家房子正在燃燒的傢伙、努力用心算把華氏度換算成攝氏度似的。他盯了一會前方寬大的全景顯示屏，眉頭漸漸舒展開來。屏幕上顯示的，是令人眩暈的流動的星星，看起來像無數銀色線條。
他的嘴脣動了動，似乎想說點什麼。突然，他的眼睛猛地一轉，又死死盯住那些裝置，臉上漸變爲持續不快的表情。他再次轉向屏幕。他意識到自己的情緒波動，那不快的表情先是加深，之後才輕鬆了下來。
“嘗試去理解數學是個錯誤。”他說，“它們只能讓我煩惱。你說呢？”
“裝修，”福特說，“真遺憾。”