英文原版

Ford’s spell of concentration was broken. He turned angrily on Arthur.
I wasn’t talking about my towel, said Arthur. We’ve established that that isn’t mine. It’s just that the bag into which I was putting the towel which is not mine is also not mine, though it is extraordinarily similar. Now personally I think that that is extremely odd, especially as the bag was one I made myself on prehistoric Earth. These are also not my stones, he added, pulling a few flat grey stones out of the bag. I was making a collection of interesting stones and these are clearly very dull ones.
A roar of excitement thrilled through the crowd and obliterated whatever it was that Ford said in reply to this piece of information. The cricket ball which had excited this reaction fell out of the sky and dropped neatly into Arthur’s mysterious rabbit-skin bag.
Now I would say that that was also a very curious event, said Arthur, rapidly closing the bag and pretending to look for the ball on the ground.
I don’t think it’s here, he said to the small boys who immediately clustered round him to join in the search, it probably rolled off somewhere. Over there I expect. He pointed vaguely in the direction in which he wished they would push off. One of the boys looked at him quizzically.
You all right? said the boy.
No, said Arthur.
Then why you got a bone in your beard? said the boy.
I’m training it to like being wherever it’s put. Arthur prided himself on saying this. It was, he thought, exactly the sort of thing which would entertain and stimulate young minds.
Oh, said the small boy, putting his head to one side and thinking about it. What’s your name?
Dent, said Arthur, Arthur Dent.
You’re a jerk, Dent, said the boy, a complete asshole. The boy looked past him at something else, to show that he wasn’t in any particular hurry to run away, and then wandered off scratching his nose. Suddenly Arthur remembered that the Earth was going to be demolished again in two days’ time, and just this once didn’t feel too bad about it.
Play resumed with a new ball, the sun continued to shine and Ford continued to jump up and down shaking his head and blinking.
Something’s on your mind, isn’t it? said Arthur.
I think, said Ford in a tone of voice which Arthur by now recognized as one which presaged something utterly unintelligible, that there’s an SEP over there.
He pointed. Curiously enough, the direction he pointed in was not the one in which he was looking. Arthur looked in the one direction, which was towards the sight-screens, and in the other which was at the field of play. He nodded, he shrugged. He shrugged again.
A what? he said.
An SEP.
An S?…
…EP.
And what’s that?
Somebody Else’s Problem.
Ah, good, said Arthur and relaxed. He had no idea what all that was about, but at least it seemed to be over. It wasn’t.
Over there, said Ford, again pointing at the sight-screens and looking at the pitch.
Where? said Arthur.
There! said Ford.
I see, said Arthur, who didn’t.
You do? said Ford.
福特高度集中的精神被破坏掉了。他愤怒地转向阿瑟。
“我没有提我的毛巾，咱们都承认那不是我的了。但这条不是我的毛巾所放的袋子也不是我的。这同样很不寻常。我个人认为这件事极其怪异，特别是我在史前地球上做的这个袋子。”他从袋里掏出一些灰色扁平的石块，又说，“我在收集有趣的石头，但这些显然非常无趣。”
人群突然爆发出一阵激动的喝彩，盖住了福特回答阿瑟的话。那颗激动了人们的板球从天而降，恰巧落入阿瑟那神秘的兔皮袋子里。
“现在我想说，这同样是件离奇的事。”阿瑟敏捷地关上袋子，装作在地上找球。
“我想它不在这儿。”他对一些很快围过来找球的男孩说，“可能滚到别处去了，我猜在那边。”他随随便便地指了一个方向，只希望他们赶快走开。一个男孩用嘲笑的神情望着他。
“你没事吧？”那男孩说。
“没事。”阿瑟说。
“那你胡子上为什么有块骨头？”男孩说。
“我在训练自己习惯它放在任何地方。”阿瑟对于自己所说的感到很骄傲。他想，这就是所谓的，能够激励新一代的格言警句吧。
“哦，”男孩歪着头，想了想，“你叫什么名字？”
“邓特，”阿瑟说，“阿瑟·邓特。”
“你是个蠢货，邓特，”男孩说，“十足的混蛋。”这个男孩悠闲地看着阿瑟背后的什么东西，以示他并不急着要走。然后，他擦擦鼻子，大摇大摆地离开了。阿瑟突然记起，地球将在两天之后再次毁灭，只是这次他不再那么难过了。
比赛使用新球继续进行，太阳继续照在福特身上，福特继续跳上跳下，摇着头，眨巴着眼睛。
“你脑子有毛病吗？”阿瑟说。
“我想，”福特说。阿瑟听着他的语调，预感到一些极其难懂的事就要发生了，“那边有一个SEP。”
他用手一指。奇怪的是，他所指的方向，不是他正在看的方向。阿瑟往他指的方向看了看，看见了助视屏；又往福特看的方向看了看，那是赛场。阿瑟点点头，耸了耸肩，然后又耸了耸肩。
“一个什么？”
“一个SEP。”
“一个S……？”
“……EP。”
“那又是什么？”
“别人的问题。 ”
“啊，很好。”阿瑟终于放松地说道。他不知到底怎么回事，不过，至少好象不用管了。实际上，远非如此。
“就在那儿。”福特又指了指那个助视屏，同时眼睛看着球场。
“哪儿？”阿瑟说。
“那儿！”福特说。
“看见了。”阿瑟说。其实他没看见。
“是吗？”福特问。

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