經典科幻文學:《宇宙盡頭的餐館》第32章7

“You’re a bunch of raving nutters,” he opined.
The tide of opinion started to turn against him. What had started out as excellent entertainment had now, in the crowd’s view, deteriorated into mere abuse, and since this abuse was in the main directed at them they wearied of it.
Sensing this shift in the wind, the marketing girl turned on him.
“Is it perhaps in order,” she demanded, “to inquire what you’ve been doing all these months then? You and that other interloper have been missing since the day we arrived.”
“We’ve been on a journey,” said Ford, “We went to try and find out something about this planet.”
“Oh,” said the girl archly, “doesn’t sound very productive to me.”
“No? Well have I got news for you, my love. We have discovered this planet’s future.”
He continued.“It doesn’t matter a pair of fetid dingo’s kidneys what you all choose to do from now on. Burn down the forests, anything, it won’t make a scrap of difference. Your future history has already happened. Two million years you’ve got and that’s it. At the end of that time your race will be dead, gone and good riddance to you. Remember that, two million years!”
The crowd muttered to itself in annoyance. People as rich as they had suddenly become shouldn’t be obliged to listen to this sort of gibberish. Perhaps they could tip the fellow a leaf or two and he would go away.
They didn’t need to bother. Ford was already stalking out of the clearing, pausing only to shake his head at Number Two who was already firing his Kill-O-Zap gun into some neighbouring trees.
He turned back once.
“Two million years!” he said and laughed.
“Well,” said the Captain with a soothing smile, “still time for a few more baths. Could someone pass me the sponge? I just dropped it over the side.”

“你們簡直就是一羣胡言亂語的瘋子。”他發表了自己的看法，
意唚的潮流開始逆轉，人羣開始反對他。在人們看來，一開始時作爲精彩螟樂出現的東西現在已經演變成了辱罵，並且是指向他們的辱罵。於是，他們開始感到厭煩了。
由於感覺到了空氣中的這種變化，那個市場部女孩轉向他。
“也許有必要問問，這幾個月以來你都做了些什麼？從我們到達那一天，你和另一個闖人者就失蹤了，”
“我們進行了一次旅行，”福特說，“我們試圖找出一些東西，關於這顆行星的。”
“哦，”這女孩狡黠地說，“聽上去不是太有成果嘛。”
“不是？那好，讓我告訴你一個新聞，親愛的。我們已經發現了這顆星球的未來。”
他繼續道：“從現在起，無論你們選擇做些什麼，其價值都頂不七一對臭烘烘的澳洲野狗的腰子。燒掉森林，或者其他任何事，都不會有一絲一毫的區別。你們未來的歷史已經發生了，你們還有二百萬年，就這些。這段時間過後，你們這個種族將會滅亡。對你們來說，滅亡真是一種解脫。記住這一點吧，二百萬年！”
人羣開始煩惱地嘀咕這件事。突然變得富裕的人們覺得自己不應該被人強迫聽這種胡肓亂語。也許他們浚給這傢伙一兩片葉子的小費，讓他離開。
其實他們不用擔心這個。耦特已始開始離開這片空地了，他只在看見二號的時候停了一下，搖頭嘆息，嘣爲二號已經開始用蒸發轟擊槍對着附近的樹林開火了。
他轉過頭。
“二百萬年！”他大笑道。
“噢，”艦長平靜地微笑着說，‘還有時間多洗幾次澡誰能把海綿遞我一下？我剛剛把它弄掉了”