‘No! It is fantastically stupid. Look. The machine’s only a little Guide. It’s got some quite clever cybertechnology in it, but because it has Unfiltered Perception, any smallest move it makes has the power of a virus. It can propagate throughout space, time and a million other dimensions. Anything can be focused anywhere in any of the universes that you and I move in. Its power is recursive. Think of a computer program. Somewhere, there is one key instruction, and everything else is just functions calling themselves, or brackets billowing out endlessly through an infinite address space. What happens when the brackets collapse? Where’s the final “end if”? Is any of this making sense? Arthur?’

“不！蠢得发疯。听着。那机器只是个小《指南》。里头是有些挺妙的电子技术，可因为用了无过滤感知，它的任何一点点动作都会有病毒那样的威力。它可以在空间、时间和其他无数个维度繁殖。无论我们进入哪个宇宙，任何地方的任何东西都逃不过它的手掌心。它的能力是递归式的，就好像一个计算机程序。在某个地方存在着一条关键指令，其余的一切都不过是些自循环功能而已，或者说是在无休止的地址栏里往下翻滚的括号。要是括号崩溃了怎么办？最后一个‘如果……则结束’上哪儿去找？你听明白了哪怕一小点儿吗，阿瑟？”

‘Sorry, I was nodding off for a moment. Something about the Universe, yes?’

“抱歉，我打了会瞌睡。是关于宇宙的什么事情，对吧？”

‘Something about the Universe, yes,’ said Ford, wearily. He sat down again.

“是关于宇宙的什么事情，对。”福特疲倦极了，他重新坐下。

‘All right,’ he said. ‘Think about this. You know who I think I saw at the Guide offices? Vogons. Ah. I see I’ve said a word you understand at last.’

“好吧。”他说，“想想吧，你知道我觉得自己在《指南》的大楼里看见谁了？沃贡人。啊，看得出我终于说了个你能听懂的字眼。”

Arthur leapt to his feet.

阿瑟一跃而起。

‘That noise,’ he said.

“那个噪音。”他说。

‘What noise?’

“什么噪音？”

‘The thunder.’

“雷声。”

‘What about it?’

“怎么了？”

‘It isn’t thunder. It’s the spring migration of the Perfectly Normal Beasts. It’s started.’

“那不是打雷。那是绝对正常兽的春季迁徙，开始了。”

‘What are these animals you keep on about?’

“你老提到这些动物，他们到底是些什么东西？”

‘I don’t keep on about them. I just put bits of them in sandwiches.’

“我没老提它们。我只是在三明治里放了些它们。”

‘Why are they called Perfectly Normal Beasts?’

“为什么要管它们叫绝对正常兽？”

Arthur told him.

阿瑟跟他讲了。

It wasn’t often that Arthur had the pleasure of seeing Ford’s eyes open wide with astonishment.

福特惊得瞪大了眼睛，这在阿瑟可是少有的享受。