The first whisked by with complete disregard, the second flashed meaninglessly. A Ford Cortina passed and put on its brakes.
Lurching with surprise, the figure bundled his bag to his chest and hurried forward towards the car, but at the last moment the Cortina span its wheels in the wet and carreered off up the road rather amusingly.
The figure slowed to a stop and stood there, lost and dejected. As it chanced, the following day the driver of the Cortina went into hospital to have his appendix out, only due to a rather amusing mix up the surgeon removed his leg in error, and before the appendectomy could be rescheduled, the appendicitis complicated into an entertainingly serious case of peritonitis and justice, in its way, was served.
The figure trudged on.
A Saab drew to a halt beside him.
Its window wound down and a friendly voice said,– Have you come far?
The figure turned toward it. He stopped and grasped the handle of the door.
The figure, the car and its door handle were all on a planet called the Earth, a world whose entire entry in the Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy comprised the two words “Mostly harmless”.The man who wrote this entry was called Ford Prefect, and he was at this precise moment on a far from harmless world, sitting in a far from harmless bar, recklessly causing trouble.
第一辆车呼啸而过，把那个身影完全当成了虚线；第二辆车则只是无意义地闪着车灯。一辆福特千里马经过他身边，刹了车。
那个身影惊讶得差点跌倒，赶紧把袋子放在胸前然后跑向那辆车，但在最后一刻，那辆千里马的轮子突然在雨中转动起来，嘲弄似地绝尘而去。
那个身影逐渐停了下来，随后楞在那里，迷茫而又绝望。他希望有朝一日那辆千里马的司机进医院切阑尾的时候，只是由于一连串相当有趣的巧合，医生错截了他的腿，随后在重新进行阑尾切除术之前，他的阑尾炎又恶化成了令人愉快的腹膜炎重症，这样子，正义就被伸张了。
那个身影继续他的跋涉。
一辆萨博在他身边停住。
车窗摇了下来，一个友善的声音说到：“你从远方来的？”
那个身影转向车子，站在那里紧紧地攥着车门把手。

那个身影，那辆车子，以及那个车门把手全都在一个名叫地球的行星上，而整个地球世界在银河系漫游指南中的条目只有两个词：“基本无害”。写下这个条目的人名叫福特.普里弗克特，在这一精确的时间点上，福特正处在一个远不无害的世界，坐在一家远不无害的酒吧，鲁莽地惹事儿。