经典科幻文学:《 基本上无害 Mostly Harmless》 第2章13

‘Everybody does that. Every moment of every day. Every single decision we make, every breath we draw, opens some doors and closes many others. Most of them we don’t notice. Some we do. Sounds like you noticed one.’

“每个人身上都会发生这种事儿。每一天，每一秒。我们的每个决定、我们的每次呼吸，它们都会打开某些门，同时关上其他许许多多的门。大多数时候我们都不会留意，有时我们会。看来你是留意到了其中一扇。”

‘Oh yes, I noticed,’ said Tricia. ‘All right. Here it is. It’s very simple. Many years ago I met a guy at a party. He said he was from another planet and did I want to go along with him. I said, yes, OK. It was that kind of party. I said to him to wait while I went to get my bag and then I’d be happy to go off to another planet with him. He said I wouldn’t need my bag. I said he obviously came from a very backward planet or he’d know that a woman always needed to take her bag with her. He got a bit impatient, but I wasn’t gong to be a complete pushover just because he said he was from another planet.

“哦，我是留意到了没错。”崔茜卡说，“好吧。是这样，事情很简单。许多年前我在一个派对上遇到了个男人，他说他来自另外一个星球，问我愿不愿意跟他走。我说，愿意，好的。你知道，那种派对就是那样。我让他等我一会儿，说我得先去把包拿上，然后我会很高兴跟他去另外一个星球。他说我不会需要我的包的。我说他显然来自一个非常落后的星球，否则他会知道女人永远需要随身带上自己的包。他有点不耐烦，但我可不打算对他言听计从，哪怕他说他是从另一个星球来的。

‘I went upstairs. Took me a while to find my bag, and then there was someone else in the bathroom. Came down and he was gone.’

“我上了楼。找包花了些时间，然后洗手间又有人占着。我下了楼，他已经走了。”

Tricia paused.

崔茜卡闭上嘴。

‘And… ?’ said Gail.

“然后呢？”盖尔问。

‘The garden door was open. I went outside. There were lights. Some kind of gleaming thing. I was just in time to see it rise up into the sky, shoot silently up through the clouds and disappear. That was it. End of story. End of one life, beginning of another. But hardly a moment of this life goes by that I don’t wonder about some other me. A me that didn’t go back for her bag. I feel like she’s out there somewhere and I’m walking in her shadow.’

“花园的门开着，我走出去。我看到些光，一种若隐若现的东西。我刚好看见它飞起来，静悄悄地冲破云层，然后就消失了。就这样。故事结束。一种生活结束了，另一种开始。可这一生的每一秒钟我都忍不住想到另外一个我。那个没有回去拿包的我。我觉得她就在外边的什么地方，而我则是走在她的影子里。”

A member of the hotel staff was now going round the bar asking people if they were Mr. Miller. Nobody was.

酒店的一个工作人员开始在酒吧里寻找一位米勒先生。可惜没找着。

‘You really think this… person was from another planet?’ asked Gail.

“你真认为这个……这个人是从另外一个星球来的？”盖尔问。

‘Oh, certainly. There was the spacecraft. Oh, and also he had two heads.’

“哦，当然。那是艘飞船。哦，还有就是，他长了两个脑袋。”

‘Two? Didn’t anybody else notice?’

“两个？其他人都没发现吗？”

‘It was a fancy dress party.’

“那是个化妆派对。”

‘I see…’

“明白了……”

‘And he had a bird cage over it, of course. With a cloth over the cage. Pretended he had a parrot. He tapped on the cage and it did a lot of stupid “Pretty Polly” stuff and squawking and so on. Then he pulled the cloth back for a moment and roared with laughter. There was another head in there, laughing along with him. It was a worrying moment I can tell you.’

“当然，他还在其中一个脑袋上罩了个鸟笼子，在鸟笼上又搭块布，假装自己带了只鹦鹉。他会弹弹笼子，它就‘鹦鹉真帅鹦鹉真帅’地耍把戏，还呱呱叫什么的。然后有一会儿他把布掀开，哈哈大笑。结果笼子里还有个脑袋，跟他一块笑。我跟你说，那一刻真让人有点担心。”

‘I think you probably did the right thing, dear, don’t you?’ said Gail.

“我想你大概做了正确的选择，亲爱的。你不觉得吗？”