‘Shhh!’ said Ford. ‘I paid to hear this song.’ He seemed to have tears in his eyes, which Arthur found a bit disturbing. He’d never seen Ford moved by anything other than very, very strong drink. Probably the dust. He waited, tapping his fingers irritably, out of time with the music.

“嘘！”福特说，“我可是为这首歌花了钱的。”他眼里含着泪水，让阿瑟有些不自在。他从没见过有任何东西能打动福特，只除了非常，非常烈的酒。多半是灰尘吧。他等着，他好不耐烦地弹着手指，跟音乐完全不合拍。

The song ended. The singer went on to do ‘Heartbreak Hotel’.

这首歌完了，歌手继续唱起《伤心旅馆》。

‘Anyway,’ Ford whispered, ‘I’ve got to review the restaurant.’

“反正，”福特开始跟他窃窃私语，“我也得给这间餐厅写篇评论。”

‘What?’

“什么？”

‘I have to write a review.’

“我得写篇评论。”

‘Write a review? Of this place?’

“写篇评论？写这地方？”

‘Filing the review validates the expenses claim. I’ve fixed it so that it happens completely automatically and untraceably. This bill is going to need some validation,’ he added quietly, staring into his beer with a nasty smirk.

“只要把评论传出去，花费就能得到批准。我已经搞定了，让这道程序自动化，而且无迹可查。这张账单可很需要些批准呢。”他静静地加上一句，然后盯着自己的啤酒满脸坏笑。

‘For a couple of beers and a roll?’

“就两杯啤酒和一个肉卷？”

‘And a tip for the singer.’

“外加给歌手的小费。”

‘Why, how much did you tip him?’

“怎么，你给了多少？”

Ford named a figure again.

福特又说了一个数。

‘I don’t know how much that is,’ said Arthur. ‘What’s it worth in pounds sterling? What would it buy you?’

“我不知道那是多少。”阿瑟说，“用英镑算值多少钱？能买个什么？”

‘It would probably buy you, roughly… er…’ Ford screwed his eyes up as he did some calculations in his head. ‘Switzerland,’ he said at last. He picked up his Hitch Hiker’s Guide and started to type.

“多半能买个，粗略的估计……呃……”福特皱起眉在脑子里算起数字，“瑞士吧。”最后他说。说完他拿起《银河系漫游指南》开始打字。