6

第六章

Ford Prefect hit the ground running. The ground was about three inches further from the ventilation shaft than he remembered it so he misjudged the point at which he would hit the ground, started running too soon, stumbled awkwardly and twisted his ankle. Damn! He ran off down the corridor anyway, hobbling slightly.

福特.长官跑着步撞到地上。地面跟通风井的距离比他记忆中远了三寸，导致了他对落地的时间判断错误，启动过早，一面跑一面笨手笨脚地绊了一跤，结果扭伤了脚踝。见鬼！他继续顺着走廊往下跑，当然动作稍微有些跛。

All over the building, alarms were erupting into their usual frenzy of excitement. He dived for cover behind the usual storage cabinets, glanced around to check that he was unseen, and started rapidly to fish around inside his satchel for the usual things he needed.

整座大楼里，警报照旧兴奋地狂吼。他闪到了一贯用来藏身的储物柜背后，四下一瞟确定没人发现自己，然后迅速开始在背包里捣腾，搜索他通常需要的那些东西。

His ankle, unusually, was hurting like hell.

跟平常不同的是，他的脚踝痛得要命。

The ground was not only three inches further from the ventilation shaft than he remembered, it was also on a different planet than he remembered, but it was the three inches that had caught him by surprise. The offices of the Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy were quite often shifted at very short notice to another planet, for reasons of local climate, local hostility, power bills or tax, but they were always reconstructed exactly the same way, almost to the very molecule. For many of the company’s employees, the layout of their offices represented the only constant they knew in a severely distorted personal universe.

地面不仅比他记忆中远了三寸，而且还出现在跟他记忆里不同的星球上，不过真正让他猝不及防的还是那三寸距离。《银河系漫游指南》常常二话不说就把办公室搬到另外一个星球：搬家的理由多种多样，从当地的气候，当地人的敌视一直到电费账单或者税收问题。但无论到哪儿去，办公室都会照原样重建，几乎连一个分子都不差。对于公司的许多员工来说，在他们严重扭曲的个人宇宙里，自己的办公室的布局是唯一恒久不变的东西。

Something, though, was odd.

不过，有什么地方的确有些古怪。

This was not in itself surprising, thought Ford as he pulled out his lightweight throwing towel. Virtually everything in his life was, to a greater or lesser extent, odd. It was just that this was odd in a slightly different way than he was used to things being odd, which was, well, strange. He couldn’t quite get it into focus immediately.

这本身倒没什么可吃惊的，福特一面扯出自己的轻量级投掷毛巾一面琢磨。事实上，他生活中的一切或多或少都有些古怪，程度不同而已。只不过这个古怪跟他平时习惯的古怪稍微有些区别。这就有点，唔，古怪了。他一时也理不出什么头绪来。

He got out his No.3 gauge prising tool.

他掏出了自己的三号扳手。

The alarms were going in the same old way that he knew well. There was a kind of music to them that he could almost hum along to. That was all very familiar. The world outside had been a new one on Ford. He had not been to Saquo-Pilia Hensha before, and he had liked it. It had a kind of carnival atmosphere to it.

警报的叫声还是他熟悉的老样子。那声音里有种旋律，他几乎可以跟着哼起来。感觉真的挺亲切。对于大楼外头的世界，福特并不了解。他还从没来过萨夸-派利亚.亨撒。这地方似乎带着点狂欢节的气氛。

He took from his satchel a toy bow and arrow which he had bought in a street market.

他从背包里拿出一副街边买的玩具弓箭。