经典科幻文学:《 基本上无害 Mostly Harmless》 第2章11

‘Yes,’ said Tricia, suspiciously. She just stopped herself asking, ‘How did you know?’ but Gail answered anyway.

“好的。”崔茜卡有些疑心，她差点问，“你怎么知道？”虽然话没出口，但盖尔还是回答了。

‘I asked the barman,’ she said, with a kindly smile.

“我问了调酒师来着。”她脸上露出一个温和的笑容。

The barman had her vodka ready for her and slid it charmingly across the glossy mahogany.

调酒师已经帮她准备好了伏特加，杯子从光洁的桃花心木台面上滑到她跟前，相当潇洒。

‘Thank you,’ said Tricia, stirring it sharply.

“谢谢。”崔茜卡使劲搅了几下。

She didn’t know quite what to make out of all this sudden niceness and was determined not to be wrong-footed by it. People in New York were not nice to each other without reason.

她不太清楚该怎么理解对方突如其来的友善亲切，但下定决心绝不被它迷惑。纽约人才不会无缘无故地给你好脸色看呢。

‘Ms. Andrews,’ she said, firmly, ‘I’m sorry that you’re not happy. I know you probably feel I was a bit rough with you this morning, but astrology is, after all, just popular entertainment, which is fine. It’s part of showbiz and it’s a part that you have done well out of and good luck to you. It’s fun. It’s not a science though, and it shouldn’t be mistaken for one. I think that’s something we both managed to demonstrate very successfully together this morning, while at the same time generating some popular entertainment, which is what we both do for a living. I’m sorry if you have a problem with that.’

“安德鲁斯女士，”她坚定地说，“如果你觉得不快乐，我很遗憾。我知道你大概认为我今天早上对你有些太粗鲁，可占星术，你看，毕竟只是项大众娱乐，这挺好。它跟电视一样是作秀，而且你做得很不错，我也祝你好运。占星术其实蛮有意思的，可它不是科学，也不该被误以为是科学。我想这一点咱们今早已经很成功地演示过了，还顺带产生了些可供大众娱乐的节目。大家不都是吃这碗饭的么？你对此有意见我只能说很遗憾。”

‘I’m perfectly happy,’ said Gail Andrews.

“我很快乐。”盖尔?安德鲁斯说。

‘Oh,’ said Tricia, not quite certain what to make of this. ‘It said in your message that you were not happy.’

“哦。”崔茜卡不太确定这话什么意思，“你的留言上说你不快乐。”

‘No,’ said Gail Andrews. ‘I said in my message that I thought you were not happy, and I was just wondering why.’

“不是。”盖尔?安德鲁斯道，“我在留言上说的是我觉得你不快乐，我只是好奇这是为什么。”

Tricia felt as if she had been kicked in the back of the head. She blinked.

崔茜卡觉得自己好像被人一脚踢中了后脑勺。她眨眨眼。

‘What?’ she said quietly.

“什么？”她轻声问。

‘To do with the stars. You seemed very angry and unhappy about something to do with stars and planets when we were having our discussion, and it’s been bothering me, which is why I came to see if you were all right.’

“星星。我们讨论的时候，恒星行星什么的似乎让你非常愤怒和不快，我一直放心不下，所以才来看看你怎么样了。”

Tricia stared at her. ‘Ms. Andrews—’ she started, and then realised that the way she had said it sounded exactly angry and unhappy and rather undermined the protest she had been trying to make.

崔茜卡瞪大眼睛，“安德鲁斯女士。”她刚一开口就意识到，自己的口气正好是又愤怒又不快，肯定会严重削弱抗议的效果。

‘Please call me Gail, if that’s OK.’

“请叫我盖尔，如果你不介意的话。”

Tricia just looked bewildered.

崔茜卡一脸迷惑。