۩ròód۩

Chapter 10
 
The body of Arthur Dent span.
亚瑟 邓特的身体回旋翻滚着。

The Universe shattered into a million glittering fragments around
it,  and  each  particular  shard span silently through the void,
reflecting on its silver surface some single searing holocaust of
fire and destruction.
宇宙在其周围碎裂成百万闪烁碎片，每一片都穿过虚旷的空间无声地旋转着，
在它银色的表面上映射出某些业火与崩煺之炽烈浩劫。
 
And then the blackness behind the  Universe  exploded,  and  each
particular piece of blackness was the furious smoke of hell.
随后宇宙背后的闇黑爆开了，每一片黑暗都是地狱的怒烟。
 
And the nothingness behind  the  blackness  behind  the  Universe
erupted,  and  behind the nothingness behind the blackness behind
the shattered Universe was at last the dark figure of an  immense
man speaking immense words.
随之宇宙后黑暗背后的虚无喷发了，而且这破碎宇宙背后的黑暗背后的虚无
最终是一个讲述无量话语的浩瀚人形黯影。
 
"These, then,"  said  the  figure,  speaking  from  an  immensely
comfortable   chair,   "were   the  Krikkit  Wars,  the  greatest
devastation  ever  visited  upon  our  Galaxy.  What   you   have
experienced ..."
“那么，这些，”人形自一张无限的舒适座椅说道，“就是所谓酷吏苛特战争，
曾降临到我们银河系的最大毁灭事件。你所经历到的……”
 
Slartibartfast floated past, waving.
老四飘过，挥挥手。
 
"It's just a documentary," he called out. "This  is  not  a  good
bit. Terribly sorry, trying to find the rewind control ..."
“这只是个纪录片，”他喊道，“拍得不咋样。非常抱歉，我在找倒带的
控制键……”
 
"... is what billions of billions of innocent ..."
“是数以十亿个十亿计的无辜牺牲者……”
 
"Do not," called out  Slartibartfast  floating  past  again,  and
fiddling furiously with the thing that he had stuck into the wall
of the Room of Informational Illusions  and  which  was  in  fact
still stuck there, "agree to buy anything at this point."
“不要，”再次飘过的老四喊着，并猛烈地摆弄着他插进信息幻想屋墙壁里的
那玩意儿，事实上它仍然插在那里，“在这时候答应买任何东西。”
 
"... people, creatures, your fellow beings ..."
“……人类，造物，你的同伴……”
 
Music swelled - again, it was immense music, immense chords.  And
behind the man, slowly, three tall pillars began to emerge out of
the immensely swirling mist.
音乐声渐强——同样，这是浩瀚的音乐，无边的和弦。而在那人形的身后，
缓缓地，三根高柱开始从涡漩着的浩渺雾气中浮现。
 
"... experienced, lived through - or, more often, failed to  live
through.  Think  of that, my friends. And let us not forget - and
in just a moment I shall be able to suggest a way which will help
us  always to remember - that before the Krikkit Wars, the Galaxy
was that rare and wonderful thing a happy Galaxy!"
“经历了，度过了劫波——或者更经常地，没能熬过去。想想那个，我的朋友
们。让我们不要忘却——而我将会立刻提出一种帮我们永远记住的方法——
在酷战之前，银河系曾是那样罕见的美好事物：一个快乐的星系！”

 
The music was going bananas with immensity at this point.
此时音乐以其浩瀚变得无比疯狂。
 
"A Happy Galaxy, my friends, as represented by the symbol of  the
Wikkit Gate!"
“一个快乐的银河系，我的朋友们，由唯客体之门的符号来代表！”
 
The three pillars stood out clearly  now,  three  pillars  topped
with two cross pieces in a way which looked stupefyingly familiar
to Arthur's addled brain.
现在三根柱子清晰地凸现出来了,三根顶上交叉着两根横梁的柱子，那种样子
在亚瑟一团浆糊的脑子看来熟悉得令人惊讶茫然。
 
"The three pillars," thundered the man. "The Steel  Pillar  which
represented the Strength and Power of the Galaxy!"
“三柱，”那人形声如雷鸣，“钢柱代表银河的强力和权能！”
 
Searchlights seared out and danced crazy dances up and  down  the
pillar on the left which was, clearly, made of steel or something
very like it. The music thumped and bellowed.
探照灯光灼烙而出，沿左边的柱子上下乱舞，那柱子明显是由钢或者某种类似
物质造成的。乐声如砰击似怒咆。
 
"The Perspex Pillar," announced the man, "representing the forces
of Science and Reason in the Galaxy!"
“有机玻璃柱，”人形宣布“代表银河科学与理性的力量!”
 
Other searchlights played exotically up and down  the  righthand,
transparent  pillar  creating  dazzling  patterns within it and a
sudden inexplicable craving  for  ice-cream  in  the  stomach  of
Arthur Dent.
另一束探照灯光沿着右手边透明的柱子富于异国情调地上下舞动，在柱子里
产生了炫目的图案，并且使亚瑟 邓特的胃突然产生了无法解释的对冰淇淋的
渴望。
 
"And,"  the  thunderous  voice  continued,  "the  Wooden  Pillar,
representing  ..."  and  here his voice became just very slightly
hoarse with wonderful  sentiments,  "the  forces  of  Nature  and
Spirituality."
“然后，”雷鸣般的嗓音继续道，“木质的柱子，代表……”此时他的嗓音
带着美妙的情感变得略为沙哑了，“自然与灵性的力量”。
 
The lights picked out the central pillar. The music moved bravely
up into the realms of complete unspeakability.
光柱挑出了中央的柱子。音乐华丽丽地高扬进入完全无法言喻的境域。
 
"Between them supporting," the voice rolled on,  approaching  its
climax,  "the  Golden  Bail  of Prosperity and the Silver Bail of
Peace!"
“它们中间所支撑的是，”嗓音扶摇直上，臻至高潮，“代表繁荣的金横木
与代表和平的银横木！”
 
The whole structure was now flooded with dazzling lights, and the
music  had  now,  fortunately,  gone far beyond the limits of the
discernible. At the top of the three pillars the two  brilliantly
gleaming  bails sat and dazzled. There seemed to be girls sitting
on top of them, or maybe they were meant to be angels. Angels are
usually represented as wearing more than that, though.
令人眼花缭乱的光线泛滥了整座建筑，幸运的是，此时音乐已经远远超出了
听力可辨别的限度。在三柱的顶部端坐着两段辉煌地闪烁着的横木，散布着
眩惑。看上去在它们顶上还坐着些女孩，或许她们是用来代表天使的吧，虽
然，通常来说，天使的形象穿的没这么清凉。

Suddenly there was a dramatic hush in what was  presumably  meant
to be the Cosmos, and a darkening of the lights.
突然在刚才大概是代表宇宙的地方出现了一阵戏剧性的寂静，光线黯去了。

"There is not a world," thrilled the man's expert voice,  "not  a
civilized  world  in  the Galaxy where this symbol is not revered
even today. Even  in  primitive  worlds  it  persists  in  racial
memories.  This  it was that the forces of Krikkit destroyed, and
this it is that now locks  their  world  away  till  the  end  of
eternity!"
“没有一个世界，”那人形老练的声音颤抖了“银河中没有一个文明世界
不敬畏这个象征符号的，甚至今日仍是如此。甚至在原始社会中它也执念进
族群的集体记忆。这就是酷吏苛特人曾摧毁的力量，就是这力量现在把他们
的世界锁藏起来直至永恒的终结！”

And with a flourish, the man produced in his hands a model of the
Wikkit  gate.  Scale  was  terribly  hard  to judge in this whole
extraordinary spectacle, but the model looked as if it must  have
been about three feet high.
随着一个夸张的手势，那人形在掌中产生出一座唯客体之门的模型。在这一
整幕非凡的景象中很难辨认尺度比例，但这座模型看上去一定有大约三英尺高。

"Not the original key, of course. That, as  everyone  knows,  was
destroyed,  blasted  into  the ever-whirling eddies of the space-
time continuum and lost for ever. This is a  remarkable  replica,
hand-tooled   by  skilled  craftsmen,  lovingly  assembled  using
ancient craft secrets into a memento you will be proud to own, in
memory  of  those  who  fell,  and in tribute to the Galaxy - our
Galaxy - which they died to defend ..."
“当然喽，这不是原版。那个，众所周知，已经被毁掉了，在爆炸中掉进了
时空连续体的永久漩涡因而永远遗失了。现在这是个非凡的复制品，由熟练的
工匠手工打造，古老的工艺奥义被如此充满感情地组装进这纪念品，拥有它
你一定会自豪不已。为了纪念那些逝去者，并向银河——我们的星系礼贡，
他们为了保卫它而死……”

Slartibartfast floated past again at this moment.
这时老四再次飘过。

"Found it," he said. "We can lose all this  rubbish.  Just  don't
nod, that's all."
“找到它，”他说“我们可以把这些垃圾都丢开。别点头就行了，完毕。”

"Now, let us bow our heads in payment," intoned  the  voice,  and
then said it again, much faster and backwards.
“现在，让我们点头付款，”那嗓音如吟咏圣诗般悠长，然后又说了一遍，
反向而且语速快的多。

Lights came and went, the pillars  disappeared,  the  man  gabled
himself backwards into nothing, the Universe snappily reassembled
itself around them.
光线纵横，柱子褪隐，人形将自己向后贴壁角缩进虚无，宇宙在它们周围噼啪作响
地重组。

"You get the gist?" said Slartibartfast.
“你明白事情的关键了么？”老四问。

"I'm astonished," said Arthur, "and bewildered."
“我太吃惊了，”亚瑟说“完全迷糊了。”

"I was asleep," said Ford, who floated into view at  this  point.
"Did I miss anything?"

“我睡着了，”这时飘进视野的福特说“我错过好戏了么？”

They found themselves once again teetering rather rapidly on  the
edge  of  an  agonizingly  high  cliff. The wind whipped out from
their faces and across a bay on which the remains of one  of  the
greatest  and most powerful space battle-fleets ever assembled in
the Galaxy was briskly burning itself back  into  existence.  The
sky  was  a sullen pink, darkening via a rather curious colour to
blue and upwards to black. Smoke billowed down out of  it  at  an
incredible lick.
他们发现自己再次急煎煎地蹒跚于一座摇摇欲坠的可恶高崖边缘。狂风如鞭
撕吼着他们的脸，然后穿过一个山坳，银河系曾经组建过最好最强大的太空舰
队之一，其残骸正熊熊燃烧，打回原形。天空先是阴郁的粉色，然后经由一种
颇为古怪的颜色逐渐加深至幽蓝最后直达黑暗。浓烟以难以置信的轻快由其
泻出，波涛汹涌般滚滚而下。


Events were now passing back by them almost  too  quickly  to  be
distinguished,  and when, a short while later, a huge starbattle-
ship rushed away from them as if they'd  said  "boo",  they  only
just recognized it as the point at which they had come in.
一幕幕场景被他们匆匆甩在身后，快到难以辨认。过了一小会，一艘巨大的
星际战舰从他们身侧一冲而过，好像他们在发出嘘声一样，他们只是当
意识到发生了什么时才回认出它来。

But now things were too rapid, a video-tactile blur which brushed
and  jiggled them through centuries of galactic history, turning,
twisting, flickering. The sound was a mere thin thrill.
可此时事物变得太快，可触视频的一处污损带着他们刮花而颠簸地穿越了
诸世纪的银河历史，旋转，扭曲，闪烁。音效只剩下依稀可辨的颤动。

Periodically through the thickening jumble of events they  sensed
appalling  catastrophes,  deep  horrors,  cataclysmic shocks, and
these were always associated with certain recurring  images,  the
only  images  which  ever  stood out clearly from the avalance of
tumbling history: a wicket gate, a  small  hard  red  ball,  hard
white  robots,  and  also something less distinct, something dark
and cloudy.
透过日益混乱的那团事件浆糊，他们周期性地感受到大灾变，深切的恐惧，大
洪水般的震撼，这些总是和反复出现的一幅图像相联，这是唯一始终在歪歪扭扭
的历史之幕上清晰凸现的图像：一个边门，一个小而硬的红球，坚固的白色
机器人，以及某些不那么清楚的东西，阴沉而黑暗的东西。

But there was also another sensation which rose  clearly  out  of
the thrilling passage of time.
但在这段毛骨悚然的时间里有另一种感觉开始清晰地浮现。

Just as a slow series of clicks when speeded  up  will  lose  the
definition  of  each  individual  click and gradually take on the
quality of a sustained and rising tone, so a series of individual
impressions here took on the quality of a sustained emotion - and
yet not an emotion. If it  was  an  emotion,  it  was  a  totally
emotionless  one.  It was hatred, implacable hatred. It was cold,
not like ice is cold, but like a wall is cold. It was impersonal,
not as a randomly flung fist in a crowd is impersonal, but like a
computer-issued parking summons is impersonal. And it was  deadly
- again, not like a bullet or a knife is deadly, but like a brick
wall across a motorway is deadly.
就好似一系列缓慢的滴答声，加速的话就会丧失每声滴答的清晰性并逐渐
呈现出持续上升的音调特性；同样，此时一系列的独立印象呈现出一种
持续的情感特性——然而仍然不算是一种情感。如果它是，那就完全是
无情的那种。它是仇恨，难以平息的恨意。它是冷酷的，不是象冰那种冷，
而是象一堵冷冷的墙那种冷。它是非人的，不是像人群中随便猛挥的拳头
那种非人，而是像电脑印发的违章停车传票那种非人。而且它是致命的——
再一次，不是像一发子弹或一把刀那种致命，而是穿过高速路的一堵砖墙
那种致命。

And just as a rising tone will change in character  and  take  on
harmonics  as it rises, so again, this emotionless emotion seemed
to rise to an unbearable if unheard scream and suddenly seemed to
be a scream of guilt and failure.
并且就像一曲上升音调会改变音色，并在上升期间呈现和声，再一次同样地，
这无情的情感听上去似乎升成了一种若没听到过会不堪忍受的尖叫，而突然
似乎成了负罪与失败的尖叫。

And suddenly it stopped.
然后突然间它停了下来。

They were left standing on a quiet hilltop on a tranquil evening.
他们被留在一个宁静夜晚的一座宁静山顶，傻站着。

The sun was setting.
太阳正在落山。

All around them softly undulating green  countryside  rolled  off
gently  into  the distance. Birds sang about what they thought of
it all, and the general opinion seemed to be good. A  little  way
away  could  be heard the sound of children playing, and a little
further away than the apparent source of that sound could be seen
in the dimming evening light the outlines of a small town.
在他们周围和缓起伏的绿色乡野轻柔地向远方展开。鸟儿鸣唱着它们对此的
所有想法，听上去整体意见很不错。稍远处可以听到孩子们的嬉闹声，在比这
明显的声源更远些的地方则可以从傍晚渐暗的光线中看出一个小镇的轮廓。

The town appeared to consist mostly of fairly low buildings  made
of white stone. The skyline was of gentle pleasing curves.
小镇的外表看来主要由白石造的颇矮的建筑组成。地平线是温和可亲的曲线。

The sun had nearly set.
太阳几乎完全落山了。

As if out of nowhere, music began.  Slartibartfast  tugged  at  a
switch and it stopped.
似乎来自于虚无，乐声出现了。老四使劲拉下一个开关，乐声停止了。

A voice said, "This ..." Slartibartfast tugged at a switch and it
stopped.
一个声音说，“这……”老四使劲拉下一个开关，人声停止了。

"I will tell you about it," he said quietly.
“我会向你解释的。”他平静地说。

The place was peaceful.  Arthur  felt  happy.  Even  Ford  seemed
cheerful.  They  walked a short way in the direction of the town,
and the Informational Illusion of  the  grass  was  pleasant  and
springy  under  their feet, and the Informational Illusion of the
flowers smelt sweet  and  fragrant.  Only  Slartibartfast  seemed
apprehensive and out of sorts.
这个地方宁静祥和。亚瑟感到快活了。甚至福特看上去也挺自在。他们向
镇子的方向走了一小段路，在他们脚下青草的信息幻象松软而令人愉快，
而花朵的信息幻象闻起来甜美芬芳。只有老四看上去有点杞人忧天，郁郁
寡欢。

He stopped and looked up.
他停下来仰望。

It suddenly occurred to Arthur that, coming as this  did  at  the
end,  so to speak, or rather the beginning of all the horror they
had just blurredly experienced, something nasty must be about  to
happen.  He  was  distressed  to think that something nasty could
happen to somewhere as idyllic as this. He too glanced up.  There
was nothing in the sky.
亚瑟忽然想到，往往在这种场景结尾，可以说，或者更确切说，在他们刚刚
朦胧经历的所有惨状的开头，某些恶心事马上就要发生了。想到这恶心事要
降临到如此田园诗风味的地方，他顿感哀痛。他也朝上瞥去。天空中啥也没有。

"They're not about  to  attack  here,  are  they?"  he  said.  He
realized that this was merely a recording he was walking through,
but he still felt alarmed.
“他们没打算袭击这儿，是吧？”他问。尽管意识到自己正走过的只是
记录带而已，他仍然感到恐慌。

"Nothing is about to attack here," said Slartibartfast in a voice
which  unexpectedly  trembled with emotion. "This is where it all
started. This is the place itself. This is Krikkit."
“没人要袭击这儿，”没想到老四的嗓音因为情绪而颤栗着“这里就是一切
开始的地方。这里是那地方本身。这里是酷吏苛特。”

He stared up into the sky.
他凝视着天空。

The sky, from one horizon to another, from  east  to  west,  from
north to south, was utterly and completely black.
天空，从天涯到彼岸，由东而西，自南向北，陷入了完全的彻底的黑暗。