经典科幻文学:《 基本上无害 Mostly Harmless》 第9章6

Arthur did as she advised. He almost hyperventilated in fact. When he felt he was ready, he held his breath and followed her in.

阿瑟听从了她的建议。事实上他差点换气过度。他觉得自己已经准备好了，于是屏住呼吸跟了上去。

The photocopier was a big old thing on a rickety trolley. It stood just inside the dim shadows of the cave. The wheels were stuck obstinately in different directions and the ground was rough and stony.

影印机是个老掉牙的大家伙，躺在一辆摇摇晃晃的手推车上，刚好隐藏在山洞幽暗的阴影里。地面凹凸不平，净是石头，手推车的轮子卡在不同的方向上负隅顽抗。

‘Go ahead and take a breath outside,’ said the old woman. Arthur was going red in the face trying to help her move the thing.

阿瑟勉励帮忙，脸皮都涨紫了。“出去换口气。”老妇人说。

He nodded in relief. If she wasn’t going to be embarrassed about it then neither, he was determined, would he. He stepped outside and took a few breaths, then came back in to do more heaving and pushing. He had to do this quite a few times till at last the machine was outside.

他如蒙大赦般点点头，既然她不觉得难堪，那么他下定决心，自己也不要脸红。他出洞吸了几口气，然后回去继续又推又抬。这一幕重复了好几回，最后影印机终于移动到了户外。

The sun beat down on it. The old woman disappeared back into her cave again and brought with her some mottled metal panels, which she connected to the machine to collect the sun’s energy. She squinted up into the sky. The sun was quite bright, but the day was hazy and vague.

阳光火辣辣地洒上去，老妇人再次消失在山洞里，拿出几块五颜六色的金属板，把他们连在机器上开始收集太阳能。她眯着眼瞄了瞄天空，太阳挺亮，但空气却雾蒙蒙的，并不清爽。

‘It’ll take a while,’ she said.

“得过一阵。”她说。

Arthur said he was happy to wait.

阿瑟回答说自己很乐意等。

The old woman shrugged and stomped across to the fire. Above it, the contents of the tin can were bubbling away. She poked about at them with a stick.

老妇人耸耸肩，又咚咚地走到了火堆的另一头，火上，锡锅里的东西正大冒气泡。她拿棍子搅了搅。

‘You won’t be wanting any lunch?’ she enquired of Arthur.

“你不会想吃点午饭吧？”她向阿瑟打听道。