經典科幻文學:《生命 宇宙及一切》第6章2大綱

Deep in the fundamental heArt of mind and Universe, said Slartibartfast, there is a reason.
Ford glanced sharply around. He clearly thought this was taking an optimistic view of things.
The interior of the flight deck was dark green, dark red, dark brown, cramped and moodily lit. Inexplicably, the resemblance to a small Italian bistro had failed to end at the hatchway. Small pools of light picked out pot plants, glazed tiles and all sorts of little unidentifiable brass things.
Rafia-wrapped bottles lurked hideously in the shadows.
The instruments which had occupied Slartibartfast’s attention seemed to be mounted in the bottom of bottles which were set in concrete.
Ford reached out and touched it.
Fake concrete. Plastic. Fake bottles set in fake concrete.
The fundamental heart of mind and Universe can take a running jump, he thought to himself, this is rubbish. On the other hand, it could not be denied that the way the ship had moved made the Heart of Gold seem like an electric pram.
He swung himself off the couch. He brushed himself down. He looked at Arthur who was singing quietly to himself. He looked at the screen and recognized nothing. He looked at Slartibartfast.
How far did we just travel? he said.
About… said Slartibartfast, about two thirds of the way across the Galactic disc, I would say, roughly. Yes, roughly two thirds, I think.
It’s a strange thing, said Arthur quietly, that the further and faster one travels across the Universe, the more one’s position in it seems to be largely immaterial, and one is filled with a profound, or rather emptied of a…
Yes, very strange, said Ford. Where are we going?
We are going, said Slartibartfast, to confront an ancient nightmare of the Universe.
And where are you going to drop us off?
I will need your help.

“在意識與宇宙的核心之最深處，”司拉提巴特法斯說，“有這樣裝修的理由。”
福特四處瞟來瞟去。他顯然認爲這能表達樂觀的心態。
飛船內部的艙板是暗綠、暗紅和暗棕色的，在幽暗的光線下顯得很侷促。有一點似乎無法解釋：飛船跟一個意大利小飯館的相似性，並不只存在於艙門之外：這裏有一些小小的點狀燈光、用來突出那些盆栽；有光潔的瓷磚，以及各種各樣難以辨認的黃銅小玩意兒。
陰影處，一些酒椰纖維裹着的瓶子，很扎眼地藏在那兒。
吸引了司拉提巴特法斯注意力的裝置，似乎就置於那些像是嵌在水泥裏的瓶子底下。
福特上前伸手摸了摸。
假的水泥。塑料的。假瓶子嵌在假水泥裏。
意識與宇宙的核心之最深處，可以滾了。福特想。真是垃圾。另一方面，還有一點是無法否認的：與這艘飛船的飛行方式相比，黃金之心就像一架電動嬰兒車。
他往沙發上重重一躺，然後順着沙發滑了下來。他看看阿瑟，阿瑟正輕聲哼着歌兒。他又看看屏幕，什麼也看不出來。他又看看司拉提巴特法斯。
“我們剛纔飛了多遠？”他問。
“大約……”司拉提巴特法斯說，“大約銀河系盤徑的三分之二吧。我想，粗略一點的話，是的。三分之二我想。”
“真是怪事，”阿瑟小聲地說，“一個人在銀河系裏走得越遠、越快，他所處的位置好象就越難以捉摸，而他就越是充滿一種深刻的……或者說貧乏的……”
“是的，很奇怪。”福特說，“我們要去哪兒？”
“我們要去，”司拉提巴特法斯說，“面對一場宇宙遠古的噩夢。”
“那你要在哪讓我們倆下船？”
“我需要你們的幫助。”