經典科幻文學:《生命 宇宙及一切》第1章1
Chapter 1
The regular early morning yell of horror was the sound of Arthur Dent waking up and suddenly remembering where he was.
It wasn’t just that the cave was cold, it wasn’t just that it was damp and smelly. It was the fact that the cave was in the middle of Islington and there wasn’t a bus due for two million years.
Time is the worst place, so to speak, to get lost in, as Arthur Dent could testify, having been lost in both time and space a good deal. At least being lost in space kept you busy.
He was stranded in prehistoric Earth as the result of a complex sequence of events which had involved him being alternately blown up and insulted in more bizarre regions of the Galaxy than he ever dreamt existed, and though his life had now turned very, very, very quiet, he was still feeling jumpy.
He hadn’t been blown up now for five years.
Since he had hardly seen anyone since he and Ford Prefect had parted company four years previously, he hadn’t been insulted in all that time either.
Except just once.
It had happened on a spring evening about two years previously.
He was returning to his cave just a little after dusk when he became aware of lights flashing eerily through the clouds. He turned and stared, with hope suddenly clambering through his heart. Rescue. Escape. The castaway’s impossible dream a ship.
And as he watched, as he stared in wonder and excitement, a long silver ship descended through the warm evening air, quietly, without fuss, its long legs unlocking in a smooth ballet of technology.
It alighted gently on the ground, and what little hum it had generated died away, as if lulled by the evening calm.
A ramp extended itself.
Light streamed out.
第一章
每天早晨，阿瑟·鄧特醒來之後，一想起自己身在何處，就會發出驚恐萬狀的呼喊。
不僅僅是因爲山洞裏很冷，也不單是因爲它又潮又臭。而是由於，這個山洞就在伊斯林頓①正中間，卻沒有一輛公共汽車經過，因爲這是兩百萬年前。
時間是最糟糕的空間。所以說，迷失在時間裏，其實等於同時迷失在時間和空間裏。這點阿瑟·鄧特可以作證。至少，只迷失在空間裏的話，你會比較有事情做。
他曾被炸飛過，飛到銀河系中他所能想象的最怪的地方，還遭到了別人的侮辱。後來，由於捲入了一系列複雜事件，他又被擱在了史前時代的地球。儘管現在他的生活已經變得非常、非常、非常平靜，他仍然是神神叨叨的。
他已經有五年沒被炸飛過了。
自從四年前和福特·長官分開之後，他就幾乎沒再見過任何人，也沒再遭受過侮辱。
除了有一次。
那是在大約兩年前，一個春天的夜晚。
薄暮時分，他正要返回他的山洞時，注意到雲層裏有詭異的閃光。他轉身注視着那裏，心中驟然升起一絲希望。救援。逃離。失事者渺茫的夢想——一艘飛船。
他望着，他滿懷驚訝與激動地凝望着：一艘銀白、修長的飛船，從夜晚的暖風中徐徐下降，平穩地、不緊不慢地、像芭蕾舞一樣輕盈地，散開長長的支撐腳架。
它十分優雅地降落在地，微弱的轟鳴也停止了，就像是被靜謐的夜晚所催眠一般。
一架舷梯自動展開。
燈光投了下來。
