經典科幻文學:《宇宙盡頭的餐館》第3章9

The little old figure moved closer towards them. He peered through the dim light. He thrust out a bony finger at his great grandson.
“Ah,” he snapped. “Zaphod Beeblebrox. The last of our great line. Zaphod Beeblebrox the Nothingth.”
“The First.”
“The Nothingth,” spat the figure. Zaphod hated his voice. It always seemed to him to screech like fingernails across the blackboard of what he liked to think of as his soul.
He shifted awkwardly in his seat.
“Er, yeah,” he muttered, “Er, look, I’m really sorry about the flowers, I meant to send them along, but you know, the shop was fresh out of wreaths and…”
“You forget!” snapped Zaphod Beeblebrox the Fourth.
“Well…”
“Too busy. Never think of other people. The living are all the same.”
“Two minutes, Zaphod,” whispered Ford in an awed whisper.
Zaphod fidgeted nervously.
“Yeah, but I did mean to send them,” he said. “And I’ll write to my great grandmother as well, just as soon as we get out of this…”
“Your great grandmother,” mused the gaunt little figure to himself.
“Yeah,” said Zaphod, “Er, how is she? Tell you what, I’ll go and see her. But first we’ve just got to…”
“Your late great grandmother and I are very well,” rasped Zaphod Beeblebrox the Fourth.
“Ah. Oh.”

這個瘦小的老人朝他們靠近了一些。昏暗的燈光下，他凝視着他們，最後伸出一根瘦骨嶙峋的手指戳了戳他的曾孫。
“哦，”他猛地説，“贊福德·畢博布魯克斯，我們這個偉大族系的最後一個人。贊福德·畢博布魯克斯零世。”
“是一世。”
“零世，”老人爭辯道。贊福德並不喜歡他的聲音。對贊福德來説，這聲音總是像指甲劃過黑板一樣，尖鋭刺耳，在他的靈魂深處刺響。
他笨拙地從座位上站起身來。
“嗯，是啊，”他喃喃地説，“嗯，您瞧，關於花的事，我真的很抱歉。我本來確實是想在您墓前獻花來着，可您知道，商店裏的花圈剛好賣完了……”
“根本就是你忘記了！”贊福德·畢博布魯克斯四世斷然説道。
“可……”
“太忙了。從來想不起別人。活着的人都這樣。”
“兩分鐘，贊福德。”福特充滿敬畏地耳語道。
贊福德緊張得坐立不安。
“可是，可是我真的打算獻花來着。”他説，“還打算給我的曾祖母寫信，只要我們一逃脱這……”
“你的曾祖母。”這個憔悴的老人自言自語道。
“是啊，”贊福德説，“嗯，她還好嗎？您瞧，我會去看望她的。可我們首先得……”
“你‘已故’的曾祖母和我都挺好的。”贊福德·畢博布魯克斯四世刺耳地説。
“噢。哦。”