Was this really the Earth? Was there the slightest possibility that he had made some extraordinary mistake?
The pub in front of him was unbearably familiar to him in every detail every brick, every piece of peeling paint; and inside he could sense its familiar stuffy, noisy warmth, its exposed beams, its unauthentic cast-iron light fittings, its bar sticky with beer that people he knew had put their elbows in, overlooked by cardboard cutouts of girls with packets of peanuts stapled all over their breasts. It was all the stuff of his home, his world.He even knew this blasted dog.
Hey, Know-Nothing!
The sound of Will Smithers’ voice meant he had to decide what do to quickly. If he stood his ground he would be discovered and the whole circus would begin. To hide would only postpone the moment, and it was bitterly cold now.
The fact that it was Will made the choice easier. It wasn’t that Arthur disliked him as such Will was quite fun. It was just that he was fun in such an exhausting way because, being in advertising, he always wanted you to know how much fun he was having and where he had got his jacket from.
Mindful of this, Arthur hid behind a van.
Hey, Know-Nothing, what’s up?
The door opened and Will came out, wearing a leather flying jacket that he’d got a mate of his at the Road Research Laboratory to crash a car into specially, in order to get that battered look. Know-Nothing yelped with delight and, having got the attention it wanted, was happy to forget Arthur.
Will was with some friends, and they had a game they played with the dog.
Commies! they all shouted at the dog in chorus. Commies, commies, commies!!!
The dog went berserk with barking, prancing up and down, yapping its little heart out, beside itself in transports of ecstatic rage. They all laughed and cheered it on, then gradually dispersed to their various cars and disappeared into the night.
Well that clears one thing up, thought Arthur from behind the van, this is quite definitely the planet I remember.
这真的是地球吗？有没有一丁点的可能性是他犯了一些不同寻常的误会？
他面前的酒馆在每个细节上都不堪忍受地熟悉——每一块砖；每一片剥落的画；他可以感觉到里面那种熟悉的乏味的吵闹的温暖；酒馆透出的光亮；仿冒的铸铁灯具；满是黏糊啤酒的吧台，他认识的人正把胳膊肘放在上面；胸部放着好几袋花生的纸板女郎的远眺。这全都是他的家乡，他的世界。他甚至记得这只倒霉的狗。
“嘿，一无所知！”
威尔·史密斯尔的声音传来，意味着他必须尽快决定自己该做什么。如果他还站在这儿，他就会被发现，然后一场闹剧就该开始了。但躲起来只能延后这一过程，而且外面冷得要命。
事实上，威尔让选择变得更容易些。并不是阿瑟不喜欢他——威尔其实挺有趣的。只是他的有趣实在很累人，因为在广告界，他总是想让你知道他现在过的多有趣以及他的夹克从哪儿来的。
为了避开这些，阿瑟躲在了一辆厢型车后面。
“嘿，一无所知，怎么啦？”
门开了，威尔从里面走出来，穿着一件皮质飞行夹克。他曾专门在道路研究实验室里让一辆车以特定方式撞上那件夹克，以使夹克拥有一种压扁的质感。“一无所知”开心地叫着，得到了它想要的关注，高兴地忘了阿瑟。
威尔和一些哥们在一起，他们在逗狗玩。
“共党！（注）”他们齐声高喊。“共党，共党，共党！！！”
那只狗开始发飙暴走，咆哮着，跳来跳去，把自己小小的心脏吼出来，而且陷于一种狂怒的喜悦中。那些人则捧腹大笑，继续挑逗着，随后逐渐散去，钻进他们不同的车里，消失在夜幕中。
好吧，至少有一件事很清楚了，阿瑟在厢型车后面想，这完全就是我记忆中的那个星球。