经典科幻文学:《基本上无害 Mostly Harmless》 第21章3

‘But how does it work?’ she had demanded excitedly. She was still quite excited at the beginning of the trip.

“可它是怎么运作的？”她兴奋地问。那是在旅程的开始阶段，当时她整个人都还挺兴奋的。

She found that part of the tape and played it through to herself. The Grebulons, which is what they called themselves, were politely showing her which buttons they pressed to make the ship go.

她找到那一段，把它重复播放。那些格里布隆人——他们就管自己叫这个——正礼貌得向她演示自己要按哪个钮才能让飞船起飞。

‘Yes, but what principle does it work on?’ she heard herself demand, from behind the camera.

“没错，但它依据的是什么原理？”她听见自己的声音从摄像机背后传来。

‘Oh, you mean is it something like a warp drive or something like that?’ they said.

“哦，你是指比方说偏差驱动器之类的？”他们问。

‘Yes,’ persisted Tricia. ‘What is it?’

“对，”崔茜卡坚持不懈，“到底是什么？”

‘It probably is something of the kind,’ they said.

“跟那东西差不远。”他们说。

‘Like what?’

“比方说。”

‘Warp drive, photon drive, something like that. You’d have to ask the Flight Engineer.’

“偏差驱动器，光子驱动器，诸如此类的。你得问飞行工程师才知道。”

‘Which one is he?’

“谁是飞船工程师？”

‘We don’t know. We have all lost our minds, you see.’

“我们不知道，我们全都得了失忆症，你看到的。”

‘Oh yes,’ said Tricia, a little faintly. ‘So you said. Um, how did you lose your minds, exactly, then?’

“哦，对了。”崔茜卡的声音有些虚弱，“你们的确提到过。呃，那么，你们究竟是怎么得上失忆症的？”

‘We don’t know,’ they said, patiently.

“我们不知道。”他们耐心地说。

‘Because you’ve lost your minds,’ echoed Tricia, glumly.

“因为你们得了失忆症。”崔茜卡阴沉的附和道。