۩ròód۩

Chapter 9                                                                    
                                         
                                                                             
                                         
Another world, another day, another dawn.
                                                                             

                                                                             
                                         
The early morning's thinnest sliver of light appeared silently.              
                                         
彼一世界兮别一日，另一拂晓兮日出东方晨光狭，这里的黎明静悄悄。

                                                                             
                                        
Several billion trillion  tons  of  superhot  exploding  hydrogen            
                                         
nuclei  rose  slowly above the horizon and managed to look small,            
                                         
cold and slightly damp.  

恒河沙数吨的超热爆氢原子核从天涯缓缓升起，看上去效果却是小，冷还
有点湿。                                                                     
                       
                                                                             
                                         
There is a moment in every dawn when light floats, there  is  the            
                                         
possibility of magic. Creation holds its breath.
每次破晓晨光漂流的时刻，这是魔幻的可能性的一刻。造物摒住了呼吸。             
                                                        
                                                                             
                                         
The moment passed as it regularly  did  on  Squornshellous  Zeta,            
                                         
without incident.
压壳六星上这一刻像往常一样平静地流逝了，没有事变。                           
                                                                         
                                                                             
                                         
The mist clung to the surface of the  marshes.  The  swamp  trees            
                                         
were  grey with it, the tall reeds indistinct. It hung motionless            
                                         
like held breath.                                                            
                                         
薄雾粘附上沼泽的地表。泽木变得灰白，高高的芦苇也模糊了。它静悬不动
仿佛摒息。
                                                                             
                                        
Nothing moved.                                                               
                                         
                                                                             
                                         
There was silence.
万籁俱静无物动。
                                                                             
                      
                                                                             
                                         
The sun struggled feebly with the mist, tried to impart a  little            
                                         
warmth  here,  shed  a  little light there, but clearly today was            
                                         
going to be just another long haul across the sky.
太阳有气无力地与雾气争斗，试图给这儿传授一丝温暖，透射一抹光明，可惜
看上去很明显今个儿又只能成为穿越天际的一砣。                                 
                                   
                                                                             
                                         
Nothing moved.                                                               
                                         
                                                                             
                                         
Again, silence.                                                              
                                         
万籁俱静，仍无物动。                                                         
                                                             
Nothing moved.                                                               
                                         
                                                                             
                                         
Silence.                                                                     
                                         
万籁静无物动。
                                                                             
                                        
Very often on Squornshellous Zeta, whole days would  go  on  like            
                                         
this, and this was indeed going to be one of them. 
压壳六星上经常一整天就像这样奄奄而过，今天也确实不会例外。                   
                                               
                                                                             
                                         
Fourteen hours later the sun sank hopelessly beneath the opposite            
                                         
horizon with a sense of totally wasted effort.                               
                                         
14小时后太阳绝望地从另一侧天涯沉暮，完全无用功的感觉。
                                                                             
                                         
And a few hours later it reappeared, squared  its  shoulders  and            
                                         
started on up the sky again.                                                 
                                         
数小时后它又回来了，耸耸肩开始再次爬升天际。
                                                                             
                                        
This time, however, something was happening. A mattress had  just            
                                         
met a robot.                                                                 
                                         
不过这次有事发生了。一张床垫刚碰上一位机器人。
                                                                             
                                         
"Hello, robot," said the mattress. 
“你好，机仔，”床垫说。                                                     
                             
                                                                             
                                         
"Bleah," said the robot and continued what it  was  doing,  which            
                                         
was walking round very slowly in a very tiny circle.                         
                                         
“呜呼哉，”机器人说着并继续做自己的事，那就是绕着很小的圈踱步。
                                                                             
                                         
"Happy?" said the mattress.                                                  
                                         
“快活的说？”床垫问。
                                                                             
                                        
The robot stopped and looked at the mattress.  It  looked  at  it            
                                         
quizzically.  It  was  clearly  a very stupid mattress. It looked            
                                         
back at him with wide eyes.                                                  
                                         
机器人停下来看着床垫，一脸困惑。很明显这是床极蠢的垫子，它还睁大眼睛
回瞪他呢。
                                                                             
                                         
After what it had calculated to ten significant decimal places as            
                                         
being the precise length of pause most likely to convey a general            
                                         
contempt for all things mattressy, the robot  continued  to  walk            
                                         
round in tight circles.                                                      
                                         
经过一段精确计算长度的时间，精确到小数点后十位，这段时间应该足以传达
对所有床垫之类咚咚的蔑视，机器人继续踱起小圈步。
                                                                             
                                         
"We could have a conversation," said  the  mattress,  "would  you            
                                         
like that?"                                                                  
                                         
“咱可以唠会儿嗑砍砍大山什么的，”床垫说，“你喜欢侃么？”
                                                                             
                                         
It was a large mattress, and probably one of quite high  quality.            
                                         
Very  few things actually get manufactured these days, because in            
                                         
an infinitely large Universe such as, for instance,  the  one  in            
                                         
which  we live, most things one could possibly imagine, and a lot            
                                         
of things one would rather not,  grow  somewhere.  A  forest  was            
                                         
discovered  recently  in  which  most  of  the trees grew ratchet            
                                         
screwdrivers as fruit.  The life  cycle  of  ratchet  screwdriver            
                                         
fruit  it  quite  interesting.  Once picked it needs a dark dusty            
                                         
drawer in which it can lie undisturbed for years. Then one  night            
                                         
it  suddenly hatches, discards its outer skin which crumbles into            
                                         
dust, and emerges as a totally unidentifiable little metal object            
                                         
with  flanges at both ends and a sort of ridge and a sort of hole            
                                         
for a screw. This, when found, will get thrown away. No one knows            
                                         
what  it  is  supposed to gain from this. Nature, in her infinite            
                                         
wisdom, is presumably working on it.                                         
                                         
这是张大个床垫，很可能质量上乘。事实上这些日子很少有人造物生产出来了，
因为在一个无限大的宇宙当中，比方说俺们住着的这个，大多数可以想象的，
以及许多想都想象不到的咚咚都在某处自然生长着。最近刚发现片林子，里面
的树把棘轮旋凿当果子长。棘轮旋凿果的生活史循环相当有趣。果子摘下后
放在黑暗积尘的抽屉里可以太太平平待很多年。然后在某晚突然孵化，丢下
外果皮零落成泥，露出一个完全无法认清的小金属体，两边起凸缘，还有种脊和
螺丝眼。这玩意发现后被扔之夭夭。没人知道它是干嘛来的。大自然，以她
无限的智慧，很可能在这事里有一腿。
                                                                             
                                        
No one really knows what mattresses are meant to gain from  their            
                                         
lives  either.  They are large, friendly, pocket-sprung creatures            
                                         
which live quiet private lives in the marshes  of  Squornshellous            
                                         
Zeta.  Many  of  them get caught, slaughtered, dried out, shipped            
                                         
out and slept on. None of them seem to mind and all of  them  are            
                                         
called Zem.                                                                  
                                         
同样也没人知道床垫们的人生意义何在。他们是大码子，友好，兜满弹簧
的造物，在压壳六的沼泽里和平地生活着。许多床垫被捕获，屠宰，晾干，然后
被船运出去，好让人躺在上面。它们好像对这满不在乎而且它们所有的名字
都叫湿疹平。
                                                                             
                                         
"No," said Marvin.                                                           
                                         
“否”马文说。
                                                                             
                                         
"My name," said the mattress,  "is  Zem.  We  could  discuss  the            
                                         
weather a little."                                                           
                                         
“俺的名字，”床垫说，“叫湿疹平。咱可以谈点天气么。”
                                                                             
                                         
Marvin paused again in his weary circular plod. 
马文再次停下他疲倦的沉重圈步。

"The dew," he observed, "has clearly fallen with  a  particularly                                                      
sickening thud this morning."
“露水，”他观察到，“今早落下的怦怦声明显令人作呕。”                                                                                          
                                                                                                                       
He resumed his  walk,  as  if  inspired  by  this  conversational                                                      
outburst  to  fresh  heights of gloom and despondency. He plodded                                                      
tenaciously. If he had had teeth he would have  gritted  them  at                                                      
this point. He hadn't. He didn't. The mere plod said it all.                                                           
他继续踱步，似乎在这种对谈的爆发中被激励，登峰造极至阴郁和绝望的
全新高度。脚步沉重而顽强。他要是有一口牙这时肯定咬碎了，可他没有。
只有沉重的脚步说明了一切。
                                                                                                                     
The mattress flolloped around. This is a  thing  that  only  live                                                      
mattresses in swamps are able to do, which is why the word is not                                                      
in more common usage. It flolloped in a sympathetic  sort of way,                                                      
moving  a  fairish  body  of  water  as  it did so. It blew a few                                                      
bubbles up through the  water  engagingly.  Its  blue  and  white                                                      
stripes  glistened briefly in a sudden feeble ray of sun that had                                                      
unexpectedly made it through the mist, causing  the  creature  to                                                      
bask momentarily.
床垫在四周散逛。这件事只有沼泽里的活体床垫才能做到，因此该词未被
普遍使用。它以一种共振的方式散逛，在这样做的时候搞起一大滩水。它在
水面吹起几串迷人的泡泡。一簇柔和的阳光意外地穿过雾气，使这头造物立即
享受到负暄旨趣，它蓝白色的斑纹暂时闪起光芒。                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                       
Marvin plodded.                                                                                                        
马文沉重地踱步。
                                                                                                                       
"You have something on your mind, I  think,"  said  the  mattress                                                      
floopily.                                                                                                              
“你脑子里在想些什么，我觉得，” 床垫慵圈地说。
                                                                                                                      
"More  than  you  can  possibly  imagine,"  dreaded  Marvin.  "My                                                      
capacity  for mental activity of all kinds is as boundless as the                                                      
infinite reaches  of  space  itself.  Except  of  course  for  my                                                      
capacity for happiness."                                                                                               
“远远超过你所能想象到的，”马文令人敬畏道，“我各种精神活动的能力无远
弗届，正如宇宙本身那样无限。当然，快乐的能力除外。”
                                                                                                                       
Stomp, stomp, he went.
踏，踏，他走着。                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                       
"My capacity for happiness," he added,  "you  could  fit  into  a                                                      
matchbox without taking out the matches first."                                                                        
“我的快乐能力，”他补充道，“你可以把它塞进一火柴盒里，还不用把
里面的火柴取出来。”
                                                                                                                       
The mattress globbered. This is the noise made by a live,  swamp-                                                      
dwelling  mattress  that  is  deeply moved by a story of personal                                                      
tragedy. The word  can  also,  according  to  The  Ultra-Complete                                                      
Maximegalon  Dictionary  of  Every  Language Ever, mean the noise                                                      
made by the Lord High Sanvalvwag of Hollop on discovering that he                                                      
has  forgotten  his  wife's birthday for the second year running.                                                      
Since there was only ever one Lord High Sanvalvwag of Hollop, and                                                      
he  never  married,  the  word is only ever used in a negative or                                                      
speculative sense,  and  there  is  an  ever-increasing  body  of                                                      
opinion   which   holds   that   The  Ultra-Complete  Maximegalon                                                      
Dictionary is not worth the fleet of lorries it takes to cart its                                                      
microstored  edition  around in. Strangely enough, the dictionary                                                      
omits the word "floopily", which simply means "in the  manner  of                                                      
something which is floopy".
床垫珠叹了。这是一种噪声，当沼居的床垫活体被个人的悲剧故事所深深打动
时就会发出这种声音。根据马克西姆加仑古往今来所有语言超全词典，这个词
也可表示当空穴星高贵的三娃吕西领主发现自己忘了第二年老婆生日时所发出
的噪音。空穴星高贵的三娃吕西领主在这世上只有一位，而且从未娶亲。因而
对马氏超全词典的反对声量日渐增长，称完全不值得为了装载其微贮存版而动用
整队卡车。说来也真奇怪，该词典忽略掉了单词“慵圈地”，就是表示
“以一种慵圈的方式”的意思。
                                                                                           
                                                                                                                       
The mattress globbered again.
床垫再次珠叹。                                                                                         
                                                                                                                       
"I sense a deep dejection in your diodes," it  vollued  (for  the                                                      
meaning  of  the  word  "vollue",  buy  a  copy of Squornshellous                                                      
Swamptalk at any remaindered bookshop, or alternatively  buy  The                                                      
Ultra-Complete  Maximegalon Dictionary, as the University will be                                                      
very glad to get it off their  hands  and  regain  some  valuable                                                      
parking   lots),   "and   it  saddens  me.  You  should  be  more                                                      
mattresslike. We live quiet retired lives in the swamp, where  we                                                      
are  content  to  flollop  and vollue and regard the wetness in a                                                      
fairly floopy manner. Some of us are killed, but all  of  us  are                                                      
called Zem, so we never know which and globbering is thus kept to                                                      
a minimum. Why are you walking in circles?" 
“我感到你的二极管里有着深深的沮丧，”它呜噜道（关于单词“呜噜”的
意思，请到任何旧书店购买压壳星沼泽语的拷贝，也可买马氏超全词典备选，
大学会很高兴出手后者以腾出颇有价值的停车位），“那沮丧也令我悲伤。
你应该变得更像床垫。我们在沼泽里过着平静的退休生活，在这儿散逛，呜噜，
并以一种慵圈的方式看待潮湿。我们当中有些被杀了，可我们都叫湿疹平，所
以我们永远不知道死的是谁，因此珠叹被保持在最小限度。你走路干嘛绕着圈？”                                                                          
                                                                                                                       
"Because my leg is stuck," said Marvin simply.
“因为我的腿陷住了,”马文简答。                                                                         
                                                                                                                       
"It seems to me," said the mattress  eyeing  it  compassionately,                                                      
"that it is a pretty poor sort of leg." 
“对我而言，”床垫同情地望着，“那是很差劲的一种腿。”                                                                              
                                                                                                                       
"You are right," said Marvin, "it is."
“你说得没错”马文说“的确差劲”。                                                                                 
                                                                                                                       
"Voon," said the mattress.
“哦嗯”床垫说。                

"I expect so," said Marvin, "and I also expect that you find  the            


                                        
idea of a robot with an artificial leg pretty amusing. You should            
 

                                       
tell your friends Zem and Zem when you see  them  later;  they'll            


                                         
laugh,  if  I know them, which I don't of course - except insofar            
 

                                       
as I know all organic life forms, which is  much  better  than  I            
  

                                      
would wish to. Ha, but my life is but a box of wormgears."
“我料到会这样,”马文说，“我还料到你会发觉机器人长条人造假腿
这主意特逗。你以后看见你的朋友此平彼平的时候应该告诉他们这事，
他们会笑的，我知道就像我认识他们一样，虽然我当然不认识——
不过我其实牛到认识所有有机体生命形式的地步，这比我自愿的要
牛多了。哈，但这又如何，我的人生不过是一盒蜗轮。”
                                                             
                                                                             
                             

           
He stomped around again in his tiny circle, around his thin steel            
  

                                      
peg-leg which revolved in the mud but seemed otherwise stuck.                

他继续以泥浆中瘦弱的钢假腿为轴心小圈踏步，要不然的话就陷死了。       

                                 
                                                                             
                             

           
"But why do you just keep walking  round  and  round?"  said  the            


                                         
mattress.                                                                    
                        

“可你干嘛只是不停地绕阿绕着走呢？”床垫说。                
                                                                             
                             

           
"Just to make the point," said Marvin, and continued,  round  and            


                                         
round.                                                                       
                          

”只是要得出立足点罢了“马文说，然后继续绕阿绕。             
                                                                             
                             

           
"Consider it  made,  my  dear  friend,"  flurbled  the  mattress,            
  

                                      
"consider it made."                                                          
                    

“ 试着想想你已经有了，我亲爱的朋友，”床垫囫吟道，“想想你
有了。”                  
                                                                             
                             

           
"Just another million years," said Marvin,  "just  another  quick            
 

                                       
million. Then I might try it backwards. Just for the variety, you            


                                        
understand."                                                                 
                      

“只不过又一次百万年罢了，”马文说，“又一次忍忍也很快过掉的百
万年。然后我会试着倒走。为了步态多样性，你的明白。”                  
                                                                             
                             

           
The mattress could feel deep in his innermost spring pockets that            


                                         
the robot dearly wished to be asked how long he had been trudging          


                                           
in this futile and  fruitless  manner,  and  with  another  quiet            
    

                                    
flurble he did so.                                                           
                      

床垫能在它弹簧套的最深处强烈感受到，机器人极度渴望能被问道他
已经以这一地鸡毛而毫无成果的方式跋涉了多久，于是随着一声安静
的囫吟他这么做了。                 
                                                                             
                             

           
"Oh, just over the one-point-five-million mark, just over,"  said            
  

                                      
Marvin airily. "Ask me if I ever get bored, go on, ask me."                  
  

“嚄，刚过一百五十万年罢，刚过一点点”马文轻快地说“我一旦
显出疲烦之态就问我这个，继续，再问我。”                                     

                                                                             
                             

           
The mattress did.                                                            
                    

床垫照办。                   
                                                                             
                             

           
Marvin  ignored  the  question,  he  merely  trudged  with  added            


                                        
emphasis.                                                                    
                        

马文忽略掉问题，他只是格外卖力地跋涉着。        
                                                                             
                             

           
"I  gave  a  speech  once,"  he  said  suddenly,  and  apparently            
   

                                     
unconnectedly. "You may not instantly see why I bring the subject          


                                           
up, but that is because my mind works so phenomenally fast, and I           


                                          
am at a rough estimate thirty billion times more intelligent than            
 

                                       
you. Let me give you an example. Think of a number, any number."           


“我有次发表演说，”他突然说，而且明显前言不搭后语。“你可能不会
马上明白为何我谈及这个话题，但那是因为我的思维在表象上运作地
太快，而且我毛估估自己比你聪明叁佰亿倍。让我给你举个例子。
想一个数，随便什么数。”

                                          
                                                                             
                          

"Er, five," said the mattress.                                               
                 

“呃，五，”床垫说。                      
                                                                             
                             

           
"Wrong," said Marvin. "You see?"                                             
           

“错了，”马文说，“你的明白？”                             
                                                                             
                             

           
The mattress was much impressed by this and realized that it  was          


                                           
in  the  presence  of a not unremarkable mind. It willomied along            


                                        
its entire length, sending excited  little  ripples  through  its            
      

                                  
shallow algae-covered pool.                                                  
                

床垫对此印象太深刻了，马上意识到自己身处一位非凡智慧的
头脑面前。它五体投地，从它覆满水藻的浅塘里传出阵阵兴奋的小
水泡。                       
                                                                             
                             

           
It gupped.                                                                   
                       

它淘奋了。                
                                                                             
                             

           
"Tell me," it urged, "of the speech you once made, I long to hear            


                                        
it."                                                                         
                            

”告诉我，“它催促道”告诉我你那次讲演，我太渴望听到它了。“           
                                                                             
                             

           
"It was received very badly," said  Marvin,  "for  a  variety  of            


                                        
reasons.  I  delivered  it," he added, pausing to make an awkward            


                                         
humping sort of gesture with his not-exactly-good  arm,  but  his            


                                        
arm which was better than the other one which was dishearteningly          


                                           
welded to his left side, "over there, about a mile distance."                
    

”它没被好好承认肯定，“马文说”由于种种原因。我发布它“他补充道，
停下来做了个笨拙的类似前拱的手势，用的是他不怎么利索的那条胳膊，
不过这条说起来总比左边另一条焊得让人很汗也很寒的强多了，”就在
那里，大概一英里远的地方。“                                   
                                                                             
                             

He was pointing as well as he  could  manage,  and  he  obviously            
 

                                       
wanted to make it totally clear that this was as well as he could            
 

                                       
manage, through the mist, over the reeds, to a part of the  marsh            


                                        
which looked exactly the same as every other part of the marsh.              


他尽力指着方向，并且很明显他想使自己正竭尽全力这一点表现得
清清楚楚，穿过芦苇上方的雾气，指向沼泽的某一部分，和沼泽的
其它每一部分看上去完全是一模一样。                                        
                                                                             
                             

"There," he repeated. "I was  somewhat  of  a  celebrity  at  the            


                                        
time."                                                                       
                          

”那旮旯儿，“他重复道”我那时大小是个名流呢。“              
                                                                             
                             

           
Excitement gripped the mattress. It had never heard  of  speeches          


                                           
being  delivered  on  Squornshellous  Zeta,  and certainly not by            


                                        
celebrities. Water spattered off it as a thrill  glurried  across            
  

                                      
its back.                                                                    
                         

  兴奋令床垫十分感冒。它从没听说过在压壳六上发表的演讲，更甭提
是名角儿的了。背上一阵乱颤，水花四溅。             
                                                                             
                             

           
It did something which  mattresses  very  rarely  bother  to  do.            


                                        
Summoning  every  bit of its strength, it reared its oblong body,            


                                        
heaved it up into the air and held it quivering there for  a  few            
  

                                      
seconds  whilst  it peered through the mist over the reeds at the            


                                        
part of the marsh which Marvin had indicated, observing,  without           


                                          
disappointment,  that it was exactly the same as every other part            


                                         
of the marsh. The effort was too much, and it flodged  back  into            


                                         
its pool, deluging Marvin with smelly mud, moss and weeds.                   
  

它做了件床垫很少会冒着麻烦去做的事。贾其体内每一丝余勇，它勃
起自己长方的身躯，将其矗向空中，在那儿抖豁豁地挺了几秒钟，同时
穿过芦苇上方的雾气瞥向马文所指的那部分沼泽，观察着，虽然和沼泽
其它每一部分完全一样，它倒是也没失望。努力过头了，它淌回塘里，
这个动作造成一阵臭烂泥，苔藓和野草的泛滥，淹过了马文。                    

                
                                                                             
                             

           
"I was a celebrity," droned the robot sadly, "for a  short  while            


                                        
on  account  of my miraculous and bitterly resented escape from a          


                                           
fate almost as good as death in the heart of a blazing  sun.  You            
 

                                       
can  guess  from  my  condition," he added, "how narrow my escape          


                                           
was. I was rescued by a scrap-metal merchant, imagine that.  Here          


                                           
I am, brain the size of ... never mind."                                     
             

”我是个腕儿“机器人悲痛地沉声道”至少在一小段时间里。那是因为我从
痛苦而可恨的厄运中奇迹般的逃脱，那运道衰到差不多死在炽热太阳的
中心。你可以从我的状况猜想到，“他补充道”我的虎口余生是多么惊险。
我被一收废金属的救下了，想象那个罢。现在我在这儿，脑子的大小……
算了，没关系。“
                                                                             
                             

           
He trudged savagely for a few seconds. 
他暴走了几秒钟。                                                             
                 
                                                                             
                             

           
"He it was who fixed me up with this leg. Hateful, isn't  it?  He            
  

                                     
sold  me to a Mind Zoo. I was the star exhibit. I had to sit on a            
 

                                       
box and tell my story whilst people told me to cheer up and think            


                                         
positive. `Give us a grin, little robot,' they would shout at me,            
    

                                    
`give us a little chuckle.' I would explain to them that  to  get            
   

                                     
my  face  to  grin wold take a good couple of hours in a workshop            


                                         
with a wrench, and that went down very well."                                
       

”他就是帮我修这条腿的人。可恨得紧，是不？ 他把我卖到了智力动物园。
我是明星展品。我被迫坐一盒子上，讲着我的故事而同时人们告诉我要
振作，想想积极的光明面。“给咱咧嘴笑一个，小机仔，”他们会冲我叫喊
“给咱吃吃傻笑一个” 我会向他们解释让我的脸露出咧嘴笑容得在车间用扳手
干上好几个钟头，而且一不留神很容易又咧回去了。“                             
  
                                                                             
                             

           
"The speech," urged the mattress. "I long to hear of  the  speech            


                                         
you gave in the marshes."                                                    
                 

”讲演“床垫催促道”我渴望听到你在沼泽里发表的讲演“

"There was a bridge built across the marshes.  A  cyberstructured            
                                         
hyperbridge,  hundreds  of  miles in length, to carry ion-buggies            
                                         
and freighters over the swamp." 
“以前有座桥造了来穿过沼泽的。赛博结构的超桥，几百英里长，以便承载
离子货车与货船穿越沼地。”                                                   
                                  
                                                                             
                                         
"A bridge?" quirruled the mattress. "Here in the swamp?"
“桥？”床垫震问道“就在这儿沼泽里？”                                       
                      
                                                                             
                                         
"A bridge," confirmed Marvin, "here in the swamp. It was going to            
                                         
revitalize  the  economy of the Squornshellous System. They spent            
                                         
the entire economy of the Squornshellous System building it. They            
                                         
asked me to open it. Poor fools."                                            
                                         
“桥”马文确认“就在这沼泽里。它将使压壳群星系统的经济得到重生。他们
动用压壳群星系统的所有经济力量来建造它。他们让我来启动它。可怜的
傻瓜们。”
                                                                             
                                        
It began to rain a little, a fine spray slid through the mist.               
                                         
开始下起了小雨，细细的水墨喷溅划过雾气。
                                                                             
                                         
"I stood on the platform. For hundreds of miles in front  of  me,            
                                         
and hundreds of miles behind me, the bridge stretched."                      
                                         
“我站在平台上。前不见古人，后不见来者，统统是数百英里的桥面延伸。”
                                                                             
                                         
"Did it glitter?" enthused the mattress.                                     
                                         
“它闪闪发光么？”床垫热心地问。
                                                                             
                                         
"It glittered."  
“日月光华旦复旦兮。”                                                       
                                             
                                                                             
                                         
"Did it span the miles majestically?"                                        
                                         
“它越过诸多英里的拱跨，是否雄伟壮丽？”
                                                                             
                                         
"It spanned the miles majestically."                                         
                                         
“堪称坚忍不动宝相庄严。”
                                                                             
                                         
"Did it stretch like a silver thread far out into  the  invisible            
                                         
mist?"                                                                       
                                         
“它是否犹如一缕银纱，向着远方无形的雾气中延伸？”
                                                                             
                                         
"Yes," said Marvin. "Do you want to hear this story?"
“当然，”马文说“你想听这个故事么？”                                       
                          
                                                                             
                                         
"I want to hear your speech," said the mattress.                             
                                         
“我想听你的演说”床垫道。
                                                                             
                                       
"This is what I said. I said, `I would like to say that it  is  a            
                                         
very  great  pleasure,  honour  and privilege for me to open this            
                                         
bridge, but I can't because my lying  circuits  are  all  out  of            
                                         
commission.  I  hate  and  despise  you  all.  I now declare this            
                                         
hapless cyberstructure open to the unthinkable abuse of  all  who            
                                         
wantonly  cross  her.'  And  I  plugged  myself  into the opening            
                                         
circuits."                                                                   
                                         
“这就是我所说的。我说道‘我想我很愿意说对我而言能启动这座大桥是崇高的
特权，伟大的荣耀与相当的乐事，遗憾在于我不能，因为我的谎言电路集体罢工。
我仇恨并鄙视你们所有人。我现在宣布，这倒了八辈子血霉的赛博建筑，向所有
放肆穿越她者所造成的不可思议的过分虐待开放。”于是我把自己插进了启动电路。
                                                                             
                                         
Marvin paused, remembering the moment.                                       
                                         
马文停下来，回忆着那一刻。
                                                                             
                                         
The mattress flurred  and  glurried.  It  flolloped,  gupped  and            
                                         
willomied, doing this last in a particularly floopy way.                     
                                         
床垫撒开了起颤。它散逛，淘奋并投地，作最后一个动作时是以一种相当
慵圈的方式。
                                                                             
                                         
"Voon," it wurfed at last. "And it was a magnificent occasion?"              
                                         
“哦嗯，”它最后呜伏道“那是个宏伟的事故场面么？”
                                                                             
                                        
"Reasonably magnificent.  The  entire  thousand-mile-long  bridge            
                                         
spontaneously  folded  up  its  glittering spans and sank weeping            
                                         
into the mire, taking everybody with it."                                    
                                         
“气势相当之恢宏。整个一千英里长的桥面自发折叠起其闪光的拱跨，
并且泣渗着把桥上的每个人带着稀里哗啦地沉进了泥潭。”
                                                                             
                                        
There was  a  sad  and  terrible  pause  at  this  point  in  the            
                                         
conversation  during  which  a  hundred  thousand  people  seemed            
                                         
unexpectedly to say "wop" and a team of  white  robots  descended            
                                         
from  the  sky like dandelion seeds drifting on the wind in tight            
                                         
military formation. For a sudden violent  moment  they  were  all            
                                         
there,  in  the swamp, wrenching Marvin's false leg off, and then            
                                         
they were gone again in their ship, which said "foop".                       
                                         
对话此时陷入了悲伤而可怕的暂停，期间十万人视乎意料之外地喊“我扑（南意
黑佬？）”，而一队白色机器人以严紧的军事编队如蒲公英种子一般从空中降下。
猛地他们都出现在沼泽里，把马文的伪足假腿截肢拿下，然后再乘船离开，
喊着“复扑（纸上谈兵Fight Only On Paper的缩写？）”。                        
                                                                             
              

"You see the sort of thing I have to contend with?"  said  Marvin            
                                         
to the gobbering mattress.                                                   
                                         
“你看到我不得不应付的这种破事了吧？”马文对正在清理废物的床垫说。
                                                                             
                                         
Suddenly, a moment later, the robots were back again for  another            
                                         
violent  incident, and this time when they left, the mattress was            
                                         
alone in the swamp.  He  flolloped  around  in  astonishment  and            
                                         
alarm.  He  almost lurgled in fear. He reared himself to see over            
                                         
the reeds, but there was nothing to  see,  just  more  reeds.  He            
                                         
listened,  but  there  was  no  sound  on the wind beyond the now            
                                         
familiar sound of half-crazed etymologists calling  distantly  to            
                                         
each other across the sullen mire.
过了一会，那队机器人又猛地回来了，这次他们离开时沼泽里只剩下了床垫
孤零零一个。他只好在惊讶与恐慌中散逛。他几乎在害怕中抽住了。他矗起自己
好看到芦苇上方，可没什么可看的，更多的芦苇而已。他侧耳细听，可是没啥声音，
除了现在已经很熟悉的，半疯的语源学家彼此遥遥召唤之声正穿过这阴沉的泥沼。