經典科幻文學:《 基本上無害 Mostly Harmless》 第9章15
‘Yes,’ said Arthur.
“有。”阿瑟說。
‘It goes like this. Let’s see now: “Protect me from knowing what I don’t need to know. Protect me from even knowing that there are things to know that I don’t know. Protect me from knowing that I decided not to know about the things that I decided not to know about. Amen.” That’s it. It’s what you pray silently inside yourself anyway, so you may as well have it out in the open.’
“我們這就來看看，那祈禱是這麼說的：‘保護我別讓我知道我不需要知道的事。保護我甚至別讓我知道存在着我不知道而其實可以知道的事。保護我別讓我知道我已經決定不去知道我決定不去知道的事。阿門。’就是這個。反正你自己心裏也是這麼祈禱的，所以不如干脆大大方方地說出來。”
‘Hmmm,’ said Arthur. ‘Well, thank you—’
“恩。”阿瑟說，“謝謝你……”
‘There’s another prayer that goes with it that’s very Important,’ continued the old man, ‘so you’d better jot this down, too, just in case. You can never be too sure. “Lord, lord, lord. Protect me from the consequences of the above prayer. Amen.” And that’s it. Most of the trouble people get into in life comes from missing out that last part.’
“還有一個跟它配套的祈禱，非常重要。”老頭繼續往下說，“所以你最好趕快把它記下來，以防萬一嘛。小心駛得萬年船。‘主啊，主啊，主啊。求你保護我不受剛纔的祈禱所害。阿門。’就這樣了，大家過日子遇上那麼多麻煩，基本上都是因爲省略了這最後一部分。”
‘Ever heard of a place called Stavromula Beta?’ asked Arthur.
“聽說過一個叫斯達弗洛穆拉貝塔的地方嗎？”阿瑟問。
‘No.’
“沒。”
‘Well, thank you for your help,’ said Arthur.
“好吧，謝謝你的幫助。”阿瑟說。
‘Don’t mention it,’ said the man on the pole, and vanished.
“不用客氣。”杆子上的老頭說，然後他消失了。
