Its chances of spotting this other source of data – a massive yellow constructor ship – accidentally were practically nil. It was as far from the sun as Rupert was, but almost diametrically opposite, almost hidden by the sun.

它碰巧发觉这个数据源的几率实际上可以忽略不计——那是艘巨大的黄色建筑飞船，离太阳和鲁伯特一样远，但差不多正好位于完全相反的方向上，几乎被太阳遮了个严严实实。

Almost.

几乎。

The massive yellow constructor ship wanted to be able to monitor events on Planet Ten without being spotted itself. It had managed this very successfully.

那艘巨大的黄色建筑船，它想不动声色地监视第十行星上的一举一动，而且干得很成功。

There were all sorts of other ways in which this ship was diametrically opposite to the Grebulons.

在其他许多方面，这船也跟格里布隆人的船完全相反。

Its leader, its Captain, had a very clear idea of what his purpose was. It was a very simple and plain one and he had been pursuing it in his simple, plain way for a considerable period of time now.

它的首领，也就是它的船长，对自己的目的一清二楚，这目的简单又明了，而他也以简单明了的作风很努力地追求了它挺长的一段时间。

Anyone who knew of his purpose might have said that it was a pointless and ugly one, that it wasn’t the sort of purpose that enhanced a life, put a spring in a person’s step, made birds sing and flowers bloom. Rather the reverse in fact. Absolutely the reverse.

任何知道他目的的人都会认定这目的毫无意义而且丑陋不堪，谁都会说它不是那种能丰富你的人生，让你的脚步充满了活力，让小鸟唱歌花儿绽放的目的。真要说的话，应该是正好相反，完全相反。