‘He’s giving it to us for free,’ said Ford, taking a gnaw at his roll. ‘Hey, no, keep the tab open though. We have some items to add to it. Good roll.’
“他要白送给我们。”福特咬了一大口肉卷，“嘿，不，不忙结账。我们还要加上些东西，肉卷真棒。”
He took a deep pull of beer.
他狠狠灌下一大口啤酒。
‘Good beer,’ he added. ‘Good ship, too,’ he said, eyeing the big pink and chrome insect-like thing, bits of which could be seen through the windows of the bar. ‘Good everything, pretty much. You know,’ he said, sitting back, reflectively, ‘it’s at times like this that you kind of wonder if it’s worth worrying about the fabric of space/time and the causal integrity of the multi-dimensional probability matrix and the potential collapse of all wave forms in the Whole Sort of General Mish Mash and all that sort of stuff that’s been bugging me. Maybe I feel that what the big guy says is right. Just let it all go. What does it matter? Let it go.’
“啤酒也棒，”他补充道，“飞船也棒。”他瞄了眼那个粉红色的大家伙，透过酒吧的窗户刚好能看见那只铬昆虫的一部分，“说起来一切都很棒，你知道。”他坐得舒服些，一副若有所思的神情，“每到这种时候你就会有点怀疑，怀疑那些个东西值不值得你劳神费心——我指的是空间/时间的质地，什么概率矩阵的多元因果完整性，还有全体各色总杂烩里各种波形的潜在坍塌危险……诸如此类老来烦我的屁事。我觉得没准那个大块头说的没错。干脆都撒手拉倒，有什么关系呢？撒手拉倒！”
‘Which big guy?’ said Arthur.
“哪个大块头？”阿瑟问。
Ford just nodded towards the stage. The big guy was saying ‘one two’ into the mike a couple of times. Couple other guys were on the stage now. Drums. Guitar.
福特朝舞台的方向点了点头，那个大家伙正对着话筒说“喂喂”。舞台上又多了两个人。
The barman, who had been silent for a moment or two, said, ‘You say he’s letting you have his ship?’
酒保从刚才沉默到现在，这时候他问：“你说他要把他的飞船让给你？”
‘Yeah,’ said Ford. ‘Let it all go is what he said. Take the ship. Take it with my blessing. Be good to her. I will be good to her.’
“啊。”福特说，“他是这么说的：撒手拉倒，飞船你拿走吧，还有我的祝福。好好待她。我会好好待她的。”
He took a pull at his beer again.
他又喝了口啤酒。
‘Like I was saying,’ he went on. ‘It’s at times like this that you kind of think, let it all go. But then you think of guys like InfiniDim Enterprises and you think, they are not going to get away with it. They are going to suffer. It is my sacred and holy duty to see those guys suffer. Here, let me put something on the tab for the singer. I asked for a special request and we agreed. It’s to go on the tab. OK?’
“就像我说的，”他继续道，“每当这种时候你就会想，干脆撒手拉倒，可接着你想到无限帅那些人，于是你又想，他们别以为能就这么算了。他们要付出代价。看他们付出代价这是我至高无上神圣的职责。这儿，我要在账单上加点小费给那边的歌手，我提个特别的要求，跟他已经谈妥了，小费就算在账上。OK？”
‘OK,’ said the barman, cautiously. Then he shrugged. ‘OK, however you want to do it. How much?’
“OK。”酒保显得有些戒备，然后他耸耸肩，“好吧，随便你。多少？”