‘… but I mean it! What is the point? We assume that every time we do anything we know what the consequences will be, i.e., more or less what we intend them to be. This is not only not always correct. It is wildly, crazily, stupidly cross-eyed-blithering-insectly wrong!’

“……可我是认真的！有什么意义呢？每次干什么事情的时候我们总以为自己知道结果是什么，也就是说，或多或少跟我们希望的一样。这种想法不仅仅不是每回都正确，它简直疯狂的，愚蠢的，跟对眼胡扯的虫子一样的大错特错！”

‘Which is exactly my point.’

“正好是我的观点。”

‘Thank you,’ said Arthur, sitting down again. ‘What?’

“谢谢。”阿瑟重新坐下，“什么？”

‘Temporal reverse engineering.’

“短期反向操控。”

Arthur put his head in his hands and shook it gently from side to side.

阿瑟把脑袋埋进两只手里，轻轻地从一边摇到另一边。

‘Is there any humane way,’ he moaned, ‘in which I can prevent you from telling me what temporary reverse bloody-whatsiting is?’

“有没有任何人类能力范围以内的方法，”他呻吟道，“可以让我阻止你告诉我那个短期反向什么什么是什么鬼东西？”

‘No,’ said Ford, ‘because your daughter is caught up in the middle of it and it is deadly, deadly serious.’

“没有。”福特说，“因为你女儿已经陷进去了，而这事情严重得要命，非常要命。”

Thunder rolled in the pause.

雷声填满了中间的沉默。

‘All right,’ said Arthur. ‘Tell me.’

“好吧，”阿瑟说，“告诉我。”

‘I leaped out of a high-rise office window.’

“我从一栋特高的大楼的窗户跳了下去。”

This cheered Arthur up.

这话让阿瑟高兴起来。

‘Oh!’ he said. ‘Why don’t you do it again?’

“哦！”阿瑟说，“你干嘛不再跳一回？”

‘I did.’

“我跳过了。”

‘Hmmm,’ said Arthur, disappointed. ‘Obviously no good came of it.’

“呃。”阿瑟好不失望，“显然没派上什么用场。”

‘The first time I managed to save myself by the most astonishing and – I say this in all modesty – fabulous piece of ingenious quick-thinking, agility, fancy footwork and self-sacrifice.’

“第一次脱线我用上了最最令人吃惊而且——我说这话可是毫不夸张，非常谦虚的——最最难以置信的创造力，机智，行动，还有无上的脚法外加自我牺牲精神。”