英文原版

Aboard the Vogon ship, Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz was puzzled. He had expected a chase, he had expected an exciting grapple with tractor beams, he had expected to have to use the specially installed Sub-Cyclic Normality Assert-i-Tron to counter the Heart of Gold’s Infinite Improbability Drive, but the Sub-Cyclic Normality Assert-i-Tron lay idle as the Heart of Gold just sat there and took it.
A dozen 30-Megahurt Definit-Kil Photrazon Cannon continued to blaze away at the Heart of Gold, and still it just sat there and took it.
He tested every sensor at his disposal to see if there was any subtle trickery afoot, but no subtle trickery was to be found.
He didn’t know about the tea of course.
Nor did he know exactly how the occupants of the Heart of Gold were spending the last three minutes and thirty seconds of life they had left to spend.
Quite how Zaphod Beeblebrox arrived at the idea of holding a seance at this point is something he was never quite clear on.
Obviously the subject of death was in the air, but more as something to be avoided than harped upon.
Possibly the horror that Zaphod experienced at the prospect of being reunited with his deceased relatives led on to the thought that they might just feel the same way about him and, what’s more, be able to do something about helping to postpone this reunion.
Or again it might just have been one of the strange promptings that occasionally surfaced from that dark area of his mind that he had inexplicably locked off prior to becoming President of the Galaxy.
“You want to talk to your great grandfather?” boggled Ford.
“Yeah.”
沃贡飞船上，沃贡·杰尔兹感到迷惑不解。按他的估计，这应该是一场追捕，是一场牵引光束之间令人兴奋的格斗，是用专门安装的常态持续循环亚粒子加速器和黄金之心号的无限非概率驱动器一决雌雄。可实际情况却是，常态持续循环亚粒子加速器无所事事地躺在那里，因为黄金之心号根本没有启动。它停在原地，似乎等着他们来抓捕。
三十级高杀伤力高精度光辐射炮火继续倾泻在黄金之心号上，它仍然停在那里，承受着。
他检查了自己控制台上的每一个传感器，想找出对方是不是暗藏着什么诡计，却没有发现一丝端倪。
当然，他不可能知道那杯茶的事。
他同样不可能知道黄金之心号上的人如何度过他们生命中的最后三分三十秒。
赞福德自己也说不清楚，为什么会在这个时候冒出举行一次降神会的念头。
死亡的主题自然弥漫在空气中，但这个主题是需要极力回避的，而不是喋喋不休地讨论。
也许是这个原因：赞福德看到了和他那些死去的亲戚们重聚的前景，由此产生了强烈恐惧。于是他将心比心，认为他那些已逝的亲戚们也同样畏惧与他重逢，说不定能做点儿什么，以推迟这种重聚。
或者，这又是那种偶尔从他脑子里的黑暗区域浮现出来的奇怪念头，这一区域早在他成为银河系总统之前就不可理解地锁闭了。
“你想和你的曾祖父交谈？”福特犹豫着问。
“是的。”

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