經典科幻文學:《生命 宇宙及一切》第10章2

The three pillars stood out clearly now, three pillars topped with two cross pieces in a way which looked stupefyingly familiar to Arthur’s addled brain.
The three pillars, thundered the man. The Steel Pillar which represented the Strength and Power of the Galaxy!
Searchlights seared out and danced crazy dances up and down the pillar on the left which was, clearly, made of steel or something very like it. The music thumped and bellowed.
The Perspex Pillar, announced the man, representing the forces of Science and Reason in the Galaxy!
Other searchlights played exotically up and down the righthand, transparent pillar creating dazzling patterns within it and a sudden inexplicable craving for ice-cream in the stomach of Arthur Dent.
And, the thunderous voice continued, the Wooden Pillar, representing… and here his voice became just very slightly hoarse with wonderful sentiments, the forces of Nature and Spirituality.
The lights picked out the central pillar. The music moved bravely up into the realms of complete unspeakability.
Between them supporting, the voice rolled on, approaching its climax, the Golden Bail of Prosperity and the Silver Bail of Peace!
The whole structure was now flooded with dazzling lights, and the music had now, fortunately, gone far beyond the limits of the discernible. At the top of the three pillars the two brilliantly gleaming bails sat and dazzled. There seemed to be girls sitting on top of them, or maybe they were meant to be angels. Angels are usually represented as wearing more than that, though.
Suddenly there was a dramatic hush in what was presumably meant to be the Cosmos, and a darkening of the lights.
There is not a world, thrilled the man’s expert voice, not a civilized world in the Galaxy where this symbol is not revered even today. Even in primitive worlds it persists in racial memories. This it was that the forces of Krikkit destroyed, and this it is that now locks their world away till the end of eternity!
And with a flourish, the man produced in his hands a model of the Wikkit gate. Scale was terribly hard to judge in this whole extraordinary spectacle, but the model looked as if it must have been about three feet high.
Not the original key, of course. That, as everyone knows, was destroyed, blasted into the ever-whirling eddies of the space-time continuum and lost for ever. This is a remarkable replica, hand-tooled by skilled craftsmen, lovingly assembled using ancient craft secrets into a memento you will be proud to own, in memory of those who fell, and in tribute to the Galaxy our Galaxy which they died to defend…
Slartibartfast floated past again at this moment.

那三根柱子，現在已清晰可見。三根柱子頂部，有兩個十字交叉的東西，在頭腦一片混亂的阿瑟看來，熟悉得驚人。
“三根柱子，”那個人扯着嗓子叫道，“鋼柱，代表着銀河的威力和能量！”
探照燈瘋狂地在那根柱子上掃來掃去，很明顯，它是由鋼鐵或類似的東西製成的。音樂猛烈地咆哮着。
“有機玻璃柱，”那人高聲道，“代表着銀河的科學與理性之力！”
又一些探照燈光，在右邊那根柱子周圍古怪地跳動着，透明的柱子上映出令人眼花繚亂的圖案。阿瑟從胃裏感到一種突如其來的對冰淇淋的渴望。
“最後，”那震耳欲聾的聲音繼續道，“木柱，代表着……”他的聲音此刻變得稍帶沙啞，充盈着美好的情感，“……自然與精神之力。”
燈光聚集在中間那根柱子上。音樂聲隨之升高到一種完全無法表達的程度。
“它們之間所託起的，”那聲音配合着氣氛，繼續道，“是繁榮的金橫木，與和平的銀橫木！”
此時，上上下下全是令人暈眩的燈光，好在音樂已經高得根本聽不出了。柱子們頂部那兩根極其璀璨的橫木，也閃得讓人睜不開眼。似乎還有些姑娘坐在上面，也許是天使，雖然通常印象中的天使穿得比她們多多了。
剎那間，全場戲劇性地靜默下來，燈光熄滅了。
“從來不曾……”那個很專業的聲音顫顫地說，“從來不曾有任何一個文明，不敬畏這一象徵，即便是今天。就連在那未開化的星球，它也保留在民族的記憶裏。它，卻正是被版求戰爭所摧毀。而他們現在已鎖住了自己的世界，直到永恆的終點！”
那人雙手很誇張地一翻，變出一個叄柱門模型來。在這個古怪的節目裏，很難判斷物體的比例，不過這個模型看上去也就三尺高。
“當然了，鑰匙不是原來的。原來的鑰匙——衆所周知，已被毀壞，捲進了永遠混沌的、時空中的漩子裏，再也找不到了。這，則是一尊優秀的複製品，由高超的工匠手工製成，將古老的密傳工藝融於如此珍貴的紀念品中，你會因爲擁有它而驕傲。它紀念着那些逝去的人，表達了對銀河系——我們的星系的崇敬。人們正是爲它獻出生命……”
司拉提巴特法斯又飄了出來。