經典科幻文學:《生命 宇宙及一切》第16章2

And that’s the deciding factor. We can’t win against obsession. They care, we don’t. They win.
I care about lots of things, said Slartibartfast, his voice trembling partly with annoyance, but partly also with uncertainty.
Such as?
Well, said the old man, life, the Universe. Everything, really. Fjords.
Would you die for them?
Fjords? blinked Slartibartfast in surprise. No.
Well then.
Wouldn’t see the point, to be honest.
And I still can’t see the connection, said Arthur, with whelks.
Ford could feel the conversation slipping out of his control, and refused to be sidetracked by anything at this point.
The point is, he hissed, that we are not obsessive people, and we don’t stand a chance against…
Except for your sudden obsession with whelks, pursued Arthur, which I still haven’t understood.
Will you please leave whelks out of it?
I will if you will, said Arthur. You brought the subject up.
It was an error, said Ford, forget them. The point is this.
He leant forward and rested his forehead on the tips of his fingers.
What was I talking about? he said wearily.
Let’s just go down to the party, said Slartibartfast, for whatever reason. He stood up, shaking his head.
I think that’s what I was trying to say, said Ford.
For some unexplained reason, the teleport cubicles were in the bathroom.

“而那是關鍵因素。我們贏不了着魔的人。他們在乎，我們不在乎。他們會贏。”
“我在乎很多事。” 司拉提巴特法斯說，他的聲音在顫抖，一半因爲惱火，一半卻是因爲不確定。
“比如？”
“嗯，”老人說，“生命，宇宙，一切。真的。峽灣。”
“你會爲它們而死嗎？”
“峽灣？” 司拉提巴特法斯驚訝地眨眨眼，“不。”
“就是羅。”
“可我還是不知道重點，坦白地說。”
“我也不知道它有什麼聯繫，”阿瑟說，“和娥螺之間。”
福特感到，談話漸漸不被他所控制，但他不允許話題有任何轉變。
“重點是，”他吸了口氣，“我們不是着魔的人，我們根本沒有機會去……”
“你倒突然對娥螺着了魔。”阿瑟補上一句，“我還是不明白。”
“你能不能不談娥螺！？”
“你不談我就不談。”阿瑟說，“你起的頭。”
“我錯了，”福特說，“忘了它吧。這纔是重點。”
他往前靠過來，用手指撐起額頭。
“我剛纔說什麼來着？”他弱弱地問道。
“咱們去參加派對吧。” 司拉提巴特法斯說，“不管爲了什麼。”他一邊站起來，一邊搖着頭。
“我想那就是我要說的。”福特說。
不知爲什麼，傳輸通道在浴室裏。