經典科幻文學:《銀河系漫遊指南》第28章2

Deep Thought pondered this for a moment.
"Tricky," he said.
"But can you.do it?" cried Loonquawl.
Deep Thought pondered this for another long moment.
Finally: "No," he said firmly.
Both men collapsed on to their chairs in despair.
"But I'll tell you who can," said Deep Thought.
They both looked up sharply.
"Who?" "Tell us!"
Suddenly Arthur began to feel his apparently non-existent scalp begin to crawl as he found himself moving slowly but inexorably forward towards the console, but it was only a dramatic zoom on the part of whoever had made the recording he assumed.
"I speak of none other than the computer that is to come after me," intoned Deep Thought, his voice regaining its accustomed declamatory tones. "A computer whose merest operational parameters I am not worthy to calculate — and yet I will design it for you. A computer which can calculate the Question to the Ultimate Answer, a computer of such infinite and subtle complexity that organic life itself shall form part of its operational matrix. And you yourselves shall take on new forms and go down into the computer to navigate its ten-million-year program! Yes! I shall design this computer for you. And I shall name it also unto you. And it shall be called ... The Earth."
Phouchg gaped at Deep Thought.
"What a dull name," he said and great incisions appeared down the length of his body. Loonquawl too suddenly sustained horrific gashed from nowhere. The Computer console blotched and cracked, the walls flickered and crumbled and the room crashed upwards into its own ceiling ...
Slartibartfast was standing in front of Arthur holding the two wires.
"End of the tape," he explained.

深思沉吟了一會兒。
“有點兒棘手。”它最後説。
“可是你能辦到嗎？”盧恩克沃爾帶着哭腔問。
深思這一次考慮了很長時間。
最後它回答説：“不能。”語氣很堅定。
於是兩人同時絕望地癱倒在座位上。
“不過我能告訴你們誰能辦到。”深思接着説。
他們又同時猛然抬頭看過來。
“誰？告訴我們！”
突然間，阿瑟開始感到有什麼東西像是在他其實並不存在的頭皮上蠕動着，他緩慢但卻不可抗拒地朝着控制枱前移。不過他可以猜想得到，這儀僅是攝製這段錄像的人為了追求戲劇性效果所採取的手段。
“我説的不是別的，正是那台將在我之後誕生的電腦。”深思吟唱似的説道，它的聲音又重新恢復了慣常的雄辯家的腔調，“這台電腦，連它最基本的操作參數都是我所計算不出來的——但我將會為你們設計出來。這是一台能夠計算出這個終極問題的答案的電腦，這台電腦具有無限和微妙的複雜性，有機生命本身將會成為它的操作母體的一部分。你們自身也將會以一種新的生命形式投入到這台電腦中，去操控它的為期1000萬年的程序！是的！我將為你們設計出這台電腦，我甚至將為它取好名字。它將被稱為……地球。”
佛格盯着深思。
“真是個無趣的名字。”他説。然後，巨大的切口貫穿了他的全身，盧恩克沃爾也突然間全身佈滿了不知從哪兒來的恐怖的傷口。電腦控制枱開始出現斑點，噼啪作響，牆壁閃着光開始崩裂，整間屋子向着自己的屋頂坍塌“上”去……
司拉提巴特法斯特站在阿瑟面前，手裏握着兩根電線。
“磁帶的結尾。”他解釋説。