經典科幻文學:《 基本上無害 Mostly Harmless》 第6章3

Ford quickly stood up and whisked the towel away. The robot rose ecstatically into the air, pursuing a kind of wriggly path.

福特迅速站起身來，手腕一抖收起毛巾。機器人心醉神迷地升到半空，其線路很有些蜿蜒曲折。

It turned and saw Ford.

它轉過身來看見了福特。

‘Mr. Prefect, sir! I’m so happy to see you!’

“長官先生，哦！看見您真是太高興了！”

‘Good to see you, little fella,’ said Ford.

“我也一樣，小傢伙。”福特說。

The robot rapidly reported back to its central control that everything was now for the best in this best of all possible worlds, the alarms rapidly quelled themselves, and life returned to normal.

機器人很快就報告主控室，在這個所有可能的世界中最美好的世界裏，一切都已經達到了最佳狀態，警報聲很快平息下來，生活又回到了正常的軌道上。

At least, almost to normal.

基本上正常，至少是。

There was something odd about the place.

這地方總是透着些古怪。

The little robot was gurgling with electric delight. Ford hurried on down the corridor, letting the thing bob along in his wake telling him how delicious everything was, and how happy it was to be able to tell him that.

小機器人的電子歡樂簡直沒法抑制。福特快步朝走廊另一頭走去，任那東西晃晃悠悠地跟在自己屁股後頭。它不停地告訴他一切都多麼美好，能夠把這一情況通報給他自己又多麼的高興。

Ford, however, was not happy.

福特可高興不起來。

He passed faces of people he didn’t know. They didn’t look like his sort of people. They were too well groomed. Their eyes were too dead. Every time he thought he saw someone he recognised in the distance, and hurried along to say hello, it would turn out to be someone else, with an altogether neater hairstyle and a much more thrusting, purposeful look than, well, than anybody Ford knew.

一路上他遇到不少生面孔。他們與他不像一路人。他們打扮得太整齊，他們的眼睛死氣沉沉。每次他都遠遠地好像看見個熟人，跑過去打招呼，最後都會發現自己認錯了。眼前的傢伙總之是髮型太齊整，神色太進步，舉止太精英，甚至賽過，是的，賽過他認識的任何人。

A staircase had been moved a few inches to the left. A ceiling had been lowered slightly. A lobby had been remodelled. All these things were not worrying in themselves, though they were a little disorienting. The thing that was worrying was the decor. It used to be brash and glitzy. Expensive – because the Guide sold so well through the civilised and post-civilised Galaxy – but expensive and fun. Wild games machines lined the corridors. Insanely painted grand pianos hung from ceilings, vicious sea creatures from the planet Viv reared up out of pools in tree-filled atria, robot butlers in stupid shirts roamed the corridors seeking whose hands they might press frothing drinks into. People used to have pet vastdragons on leads and pterospondes on perches in their offices. People knew how to have a good time, and if they didn’t there were courses they could sign up for which would put that right.

這邊的樓梯被人往左邊移了幾寸。那兒的天花板稍稍降低了些。一個大廳給重新設計過了。這一切本身倒沒什麼可讓他擔心的，儘管的確讓他有一點點暈頭轉向。讓他擔心的是裝潢。大樓過去的風格既唐突又耀眼，非常昂貴——因爲《指南》在整個文明世界和後文明世界賣得實在太好——但卻是逗樂的昂貴。走廊上排滿瘋狂的遊戲機；天花板上吊着漆得瘋瘋癲癲的大鋼琴；種滿樹的前廳裏，從威弗星運來的暴躁海獸在池塘裏直翻騰；機器侍應穿着傻乎乎的襯衣，在走廊裏飛來飛去，拼命把冒泡泡的飲料往大家手裏塞。好多辦公室裏還栓着寵物龍寶寶和各種長翅膀的東西。他們知道怎麼找樂子——就算不知道也沒關係，有課可以上，保證教會爲止。

There was none of that now.

現在這些全沒了。

Somebody had been through the place doing some iniquitous kind of taste job on it.

有些個沒品位的壞傢伙把這地方搞了個底朝天。