It seemed to me, said Wonko the sane, that any civilization that had so far lost its head as to need to include a set of detailed instructions for use in a packet of toothpicks, was no longer a civilization in which I could live and stay sane. He gazed out at the Pacific again, as if daring it to rave and gibber at him, but it lay there calmly and played with the sandpipers. And in case it crossed your mind to wonder, as I can see how it possibly might, I am completely sane. Which is why I call myself Wonko the Sane, just to reassure people on this point. Wonko is what my mother called me when I was a kid and clumsy and knocked things over, and sane is what I am, and how, he added, with one of his smiles that made you feel, Oh. Well that’s all right then. I intend to remain. Shall we go on to the beach and see what we have to talk about? They went out on to the beach, which was where he started talking about angels with golden beards and green wings and Dr. Scholl sandals. About the dolphins… said Fenchurch gently, hopefully. I can show you the sandals, said Wonko the Sane. I wonder, do you know… Would you like me to show you, said Wonko the Sane, the sandals? I have them. I’ll get them. They are made by the Dr. Scholl company, and the angels say that they particularly suit the terrain they have to work in. They say they run a concession stand by the message. When I say I don’t know what that means they say no, you don’t, and laugh. Well, I’ll get them anyway. As he walked back towards the inside, or the outside depending on how you looked at it, Arthur and Fenchurch looked at each other in a wondering and slightly desperate sort of way, then each shrugged and idly drew figures in the sand. How are the feet today? said Arthur quietly. OK. It doesn’t feel so odd in the sand. Or in the water. The water touches them perfectly. I just think this isn’t our world. She shrugged. What do you think he meant, she said, by the message? I don’t know, said Arthur, though the memory of a man called Prak who laughed at him continuously kept nagging at him. When Wonko returned he was carrying something that stunned Arthur. Not the sandals, they were perfectly ordinary woodenbottomed sandals. I just thought you’d like to see, he said, what angels wear on their feet. Just out of curiosity. I’m not trying to prove anything, by the way. I’m a scientist and I know what constitutes proof. But the reason I call myself by my childhood name is to remind myself that a scientist must also be absolutely like a child. If he sees a thing, he must say that he sees it, whether it was what he thought he was going to see or not. See first, think later, then test. But always see first. Otherwise you will only see what you were expecting. Most scientists forget that. I’ll show you something to demonstrate that later. So, the other reason I call myself Wonko the Sane is so that people will think I am a fool. That allows me to say what I see when I see it. You can’t possibly be a scientist if you mind people thinking that you’re a fool. Anyway, I also thought you might like to see this. This was the thing that Arthur had been stunned to see him carrying, for it was a wonderful silver-grey glass fish bowl, seemingly identical to the one in Arthur’s bedroom. Arthur had been trying for some thirty seconds now, without success, to say, “Where did you get that?” sharply, and with a gasp in his voice. Finally his time had come, but he missed it by a millisecond. Where did you get that? said Fenchurch, sharply and with a gasp in her voice. Arthur glanced at Fenchurch sharply and with a gasp in his voice said: What? Have you seen one of these before? Yes, she said, I’ve got one. Or at least I did have. Russell nicked it to put his golfballs in. I don’t know where it came from, just that I was angry with Russell for nicking it. Why, have you got one? Yes, it was… “在我看來，”獨醒客說，“任何一種文明如果到目前已經成了無頭蒼蠅，以至於需要在一包牙籤上寫上這麼詳細的使用說明的話，那它就不是我能夠在其中生存並且保持清醒的文明。” 他又向外盯着太平洋，似乎在挑釁它來和他大吵一架，但是它仍然平靜地躺在那兒逗弄着磯鷂。 “也許你會懷疑我是不是真的清醒，我覺得你很可能會懷疑的。我自稱獨醒客的原因，就是要向人們強調這一點。我小時候很笨拙，總是撞翻東西，我媽那時候叫我‘磕客’，‘醒’是我的實際狀態，以及對爲什麼會是這個狀態的解釋。”他補充說，帶着那種微笑，讓你覺得：“哦，沒什麼大不了的。” “我很樂意呆在這裏。是不是該去海灘上看看我們要談的東西了？” 他們出去到了海灘上，就是他開始談論長着金色鬍子和綠色翅膀，穿着爽健牌拖鞋的天使的地方。 “關於那些海豚……”芬切琪溫和地，充滿希望地說。 “我可以給你們看看那些爽健鞋。”獨醒客說。 “我想，你知不知道……” “你們想讓我拿給你們看，”獨醒客說，“那些鞋子嗎？我有。我弄到了。爽健公司生產的，天使們說特別適合他們工作的環境。他們說通過這個信息他們可以得到站立的特許。當我說我不懂他們說的是什麼意思的時候，他們說對，你不懂，然後就笑。呃，反正我弄到鞋了。” 他又走進裏面去，或者走出外面去，看你怎麼說了。阿瑟和芬切琪迷惑而又有點失望地對視了一下，聳聳肩，隨手在沙裏面亂劃。 “腳今天怎麼樣？”阿瑟悄悄問。 “就那樣。在沙裏面感覺沒什麼特殊的，水裏面也是。水可以很好地碰到腳。我就是覺得這不是我們的世界。” 她聳聳肩。 “你覺得他說，”她問，“‘通過這個消息’，是什麼意思？” “不知道。”阿瑟說，不過一個名叫噗啦克的人嘲笑過他的記憶不斷地騷擾着他。 獨醒客回來的時候，他拿的東西把阿瑟嚇傻了。不是鞋子，鞋子是非常正常的木底拖鞋。 “我覺得你們會想看看，”他說，“天使們腳上穿什麼。好奇而已。對了，我不是要證明什麼。我是個科學家，我知道什麼東西才能構成證據。不過我用我小時候的外號稱呼自己的原因就是要提醒自己，一個科學家也必須要像個孩子。他看見一個東西，就必須說他看見了，不管這是不是他想看見的。先看，後想，然後檢驗。永遠是先看。否則你就只能看見你想看見的。大部分科學家忘了這一點。待會我會給你們看一些東西來說明這個。所以這就是我叫自己獨醒客的另一個原因，而人們會認爲我是個傻瓜。這樣我就可以在看見什麼東西的時候把它說出來。如果你擔心別人認爲你是個傻瓜，那你就不可能成爲一個科學家。管他呢，我只是覺得你可能想看看這個。” 這個就是阿瑟看見他拿過來的時候嚇傻的那個東西，它是一個漂亮的銀灰色玻璃魚缸，看起來與阿瑟臥室裏的那個一模一樣。 阿瑟花了三十秒時間，努力地試圖用尖銳的聲音喘着氣說：“你從哪兒弄來的？”但是沒有成功。 最後他終於控制住自己，但是已經錯過了時機，晚了一毫秒。 “你從哪兒弄來的？”芬切琪用尖銳的聲音喘着氣說。 阿瑟瞥了芬切琪一眼，用尖銳的聲音喘着氣說： “什麼？你以前見過一個這種東西？” “是的。”她說，“我有一個。或者至少以前有一個。拉塞爾摸去裝他的高爾夫球了。我不知道它是哪兒來的，拉塞爾把它拿走了我很生氣。怎麼，你也有一個？” “是啊，那是……”
