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‘OK, so you think that time flows that way, do you? Interesting. Am I still infinite?’ it asked, ballooning this way and that in space. ‘Am I infinite now? How yellow am I?’
“OK，这么说你认为时间是这样流动的，恩？有意思。我还是无限个吗？”它在空间里这样鼓鼓那样胀胀，“现在还是无限个吗？我有多黄？”
Moment by moment the bird was going through mind-mangling transformations of shape and extent.
每一秒钟，它的形状和长宽都在经历着让人心力交瘁的转变。
‘I can’t…’ said Random, bewildered.
“我说不上来……”兰登大惑不解。
‘You don’t have to answer, I can tell from watching you now. So. Am I your mother? Am I a rock? Do I seem huge, squishy and sinuously intertwined? No? How about now? Am I going backwards?’
“你不必回答，现在我只需要看你的表情就明白了。好，我是你母亲吗？是块石头吗？我看起来是大大的，扁扁的，还乱七八糟地搅在一起？不是？现在呢？我是不是在倒退着走？”
For once the bird was perfectly still and steady.
从开始到现在，它第一次稳稳当当地一次没动。
‘No,’ said Random.
“不是。”兰登说。
‘Well I was in fact, I was moving backwards in time. Hmmm. Well I think we’ve sorted all that out now. If you’d like to know, I can tell you that in your universe you move freely in three dimensions that you call space. You move in a straight line in a fourth, which you call time, and stay rooted to one place in a fifth, which is the first fundamental of probability. After that it gets a bit complicated, and there’s all sorts of stuff going on in dimensions 13 to 22 that you really wouldn’t want to know about. All you really need to know for the moment is that the universe is a lot more complicated than you might think, even if you start from a position of thinking it’s pretty damn complicated in the first place. I can easily not say words like “damn” if it offends you.’
“恩事实上我就是在倒退，我是在时间里倒退。恩我想我们已经全搞定了。如果你想知道的话，我可以告诉你，在你们的宇宙里，你们自由地活动于被你们称作空间的三个维度里。你们还在第四个维度做线性运动，你们管那叫时间，并且还根植于第五个维度里，那是可能性的第一条基本原则。那之后就有点复杂了，再说从第十三到第二十二维度里的那些事情你肯定不想知道。眼下你真正需要的就是，宇宙比你想象的还要复杂的多，哪怕你一开始就觉得这地方已经够他妈复杂的。我完全可以不说‘他妈’，如果这话冒犯了你的话。”
‘Say what you damn well like.’
“你他妈爱怎么说就怎么说。”
‘I will.’
“我会的。”
‘What the hell are you?’ demanded Random.
“你到底是个什么鬼东西？”兰登问。
‘I am The Guide. In your universe I am your Guide. In fact I inhabit what is technically known as the Whole Sort of General Mish Mash which means… well, let me show you.’
“我是《银河系漫游指南》。在你的宇宙里我就是你的指南。事实上我住在一个行话里叫做全体各色总杂烩的地方，意思是……恩，让我表演给你看好了。”
It turned in mid-air and swooped out of the cave, and then perched on a rock, just beneath an overhang, out of the rain, which was getting heavier again.
它在半空中转个身，一个猛扑出了山洞，然后它落在一块石头上，身体刚好位于突出的岩石底下，躲开了刚刚重整旗鼓的雨点。
‘Come on,’ it said, ‘watch this.’
“来啊，”它说，“来瞧瞧。”
