經典科幻文學:《 基本上無害 Mostly Harmless》 第6章7
‘InfiniDim Enterprises. We have bought out the Guide.’
“無限帥公司。《指南》被我們收購了。”
‘InfiniDim?’
“無限衰？”
‘We spent millions on that name, Prefect. Start liking it or start packing.’
“這名字花了我們幾百萬，福特。要麼愛上它，要麼收拾東西滾蛋。”
Ford shrugged. He had nothing to pack.
福特聳聳肩。他根本沒東西收拾。
‘The Galaxy is changing,’ said Harl. ‘We’ve got to change with it. Go with the market. The market is moving up. New aspirations. New technology. The future is…’
“銀河系在變化，”哈爾說，“我們必須跟它一起變。緊跟市場的步伐。市場在前進。新需求，新技術，未來……”
‘Don’t tell me about the future,’ said Ford. ‘I’ve been all over the future. Spend half my time there. It’s the same as anywhere else. Anywhen else. Whatever. Just the same old stuff in faster cars and smellier air.’
“別跟我說什麼未來。”福特說，“未來我都走遍了，一半的時間都花在那兒，跟其他地方一摸一樣，其他時間，我是說。管他呢，反正就是那些個東西，除了車子快些，空氣難聞些。”
‘That’s one future,’ said Harl. ‘That’s your future, if you accept it. You’ve got to learn to think multi-dimensionally. There are limitless futures stretching out in every direction from this moment – and from this moment and from this. Billions of them, bifurcating every instant! Every possible position of every possible electron balloons out into billions of probabilities! Billions and billions of shining, gleaming futures! You know what that means?’
“那是一種未來，”哈爾說，“你的未來，如果你接受的話，你得以多元的視角看問題，每一個方向上都有無限的未來在伸展，就從這一秒開始……還有這一秒和這一秒。上億個，每一刻都在分叉！每一粒可能的電子的每一個可能的位置形成無數的可能性！無數無數個亮閃閃，金燦燦的未來。你知道這意味着什麼嗎？”
‘You’re dribbling down your chin.’
“你的口水留下來了。”
‘Billions and billions of markets!’
“無數無數個市場。”
‘I see,’ said Ford. ‘So you sell billions and billions of Guides.’
“明白了。”福特說，“這麼一來你們就可以賣掉無數無數本《指南》，對不？”
‘No,’ said Harl, reaching for his handkerchief and not finding one. ‘Excuse me,’ he said, ‘but this gets me so excited.’ Ford handed him his towel.
“不。”哈爾伸手拿那手絹，結果沒找到，“抱歉，可說起這個我實在太激動了。”福特把自己的毛巾遞給他。
‘The reason we don’t sell billions and billions of Guides,’ continued Harl, after wiping his mouth, ‘is the expense. What we do is we sell one Guide billions and billions of times. We exploit the multidimensional nature of the Universe to cut down on manufacturing costs. And we don’t sell to penniless hitch hikers. What a stupid notion that was! Find the one section of the market that, more or less by definition, doesn’t have any money, and try and sell to it. No. We sell to the affluent business traveller and his vacationing wife in a billion, billion different futures. This is the most radical, dynamic and thrusting business venture in the entire multidimensional infinity of space/time/probability ever.’
“我們之所以不會賣出無數無數本《指南》，”哈爾擦過嘴以後繼續講，“就在於費用。我們要做的是把一本《指南》賣上無數無數遍。我們發掘宇宙的多元性好消減成本。而且我們也不賣給那些一文不名搭便車的。多麼愚蠢的想法！從定義上講，兜裏絕對沒錢的市場總共也就這麼一個，卻專門瞄準它想把東西賣給它，不，我們要賣給富裕的商務旅館和他老婆，賣給無數無數個未來裏的他們。這是整個無限多元的空間/時間/概率裏最激進，最富於激情，最強有力的商業投機運動。”
‘And you want me to be its restaurant critic,’ said Ford.
“而你想讓我做它的美食評論。”福特說。
‘We would value your input.’
“我們會對你的稿件進行審覈。”
