經典科幻文學:《宇宙盡頭的餐館》第17章11
“Hey, Marvin, is that you?” said Zaphod into the phone, “How you doing, kid?”
There was a long pause before a thin low voice came up the line.
“I think you ought to know I’m feeling very depressed,” it said.
Zaphod cupped his hands over the phone.
“It’s Marvin,” he said.
“Hey, Marvin,” he said into the phone again, “we’re having a great time. Food, wine, a little personal abuse and the Universe going foom. Where can we find you?”
Again the pause.
“You don’t have to pretend to be interested in me you know,” said Marvin at last, “I know perfectly well I’m only a menial robot.”
“OK, OK,” said Zaphod, “but where are you?”
“‘Reverse primary thrust, Marvin,’ that’s what they say to me, ‘open airlock number three, Marvin. Marvin, can you pick up that piece of paper?’ Can I pick up that piece of paper! Here I am, brain the size of a planet and they ask me to…”
“Yeah, yeah,” sympathized Zaphod hardly at all.
“But I’m quite used to being humiliated,” droned Marvin, “I can even go and stick my head in a bucket of water if you like. Would you like me to go and stick my head in a bucket of water? I’ve got one ready. Wait a minute.”
“Er, hey, Marvin…” interrupted Zaphod, but it was too late. Sad little clunks and gurgles came up the line.
“What’s he saying?” asked Trillian.
“Nothing,” said Zaphod, “he just phoned up to wash his head at us.”
“There,” said Marvin, coming back on the line and bubbling a bit, “I hope that gave satisfaction…”
“Yeah, yeah,” said Zaphod, “now will you please tell us where you are?”
“I’m in the car park,” said Marvin.
“嘿，馬文，是你嗎，”贊福德對着電話說道，“你怎麼樣啊，夥計？”
很久一段時間之後，電話裏傳來一個細微而低沉的聲音。
“我想你應陔知道，我感到非常沮喪。”它說。
贊福德用手捂住電話。
“是馬文。”他說。
“嘿，馬文，”他對着電話繼續說道，“我們玩得正開心呢。大餐、美酒、一點兒自我放縱，還有，宇宙就快終結了。我們在哪兒能找到體，”
又是一陣停頓。
“你知道，你沒有必要裝出關心我的樣子，”馬文最後說，“我很清楚，我只不過是一個機器僕人。”
“好了，好了。”贊福德說，“可你究竟在哪兒？？”
“……‘反轉初始推力，馬文，’這就是他們對我說的話，‘打開三號氣閘，馬文。’‘馬文，你能把那張紙撿起來嗎？’我能把那張紙撿起來嗎，我，擁有相當於整整一個星球的智力，他們卻叫我……”
“好了，好了。”贊福德幾乎役有絲毫的同情。
“不過我已經非常習慣受辱了。”馬文嗡嗡地說，“如果你希望的話，我甚至能跑去把我的腦袋撮在一桶水裏。你希望我把腦袋浸在一桶水裏嗎？我已經準備好了。你等一等：”
“嗯，嘿，馬文……”贊福德打斷他說，可是已經太晚了。電話裏傳出“當”的一聲，還有汩汩的水聲。
“他都說了些什麼？”崔莉恩問。
“沒什麼，”贊福德說，“他只是打電話告訴我們他要洗頭了。”
“辦好了。”馬文說，他又回到了線上，嘴裏似乎冒着泡，“我希望能滿足。”
“好了，好了，”贊福德說，“現在能請你告訴我們你在哪裏嗎？”
“我在停車場，”馬文說。
