| Chapter 27 | 27. |
| Slartibartfast’s study was a total mess, like the results of an explosion in a public library. The old man frowned as they stepped in. | Slartibartfastova radna soba bila je u potpunom neredu, slična posledicama eksplozije u javnoj biblioteci. Kada su kročili unutra, starac se namršti. |
| “Terribly unfortunate,” he said, “a diode blew in one of the life-support computers. When we tried to revive our cleaning staff we discovered they’d been dead for nearly thirty thousand years. Who’s going to clear away the bodies, that’s what I want to know. Look, why don’t you sit yourself down over there and let me plug you in?” | "Užasnom nezgodom", rekao je, "u jednom od kompjutera za održavanje pregorela je dioda. Kada smo pokušali da oživimo čistačko osoblje, otkrili smo da su mrtvi već skoro trideset hiljada godina. Sada me baš zanima ko će da počisti njihova tela. Čuj, što ne sedneš tamo preko, pa da te uključim?" |
| He gestured Arthur toward a chair which looked as if it had been made out of the rib cage of a stegosaurus. | Pokazao je Arturu stolicu koja je izgledala kao da je napravljena od grudnog koša stegosaurusa. |
| “It was made out of the rib cage of a stegosaurus,” explained the old man as he pottered about fishing bits of wire out from under tottering piles of paper and drawing instruments. “Here,” he said, “hold these,” and passed a couple of stripped wire ends to Arthur. | "Napravljena je od grudnog koša stegosaura", objasnio je starac, dok se petljao oko savijenih komada žice koje je izvukao iz ogromne gomile papira i crtaćeg pribora. "Evo", rekao je, "drž' ovo", i pružio Arturu dva ogoljena kraja žice. |
| The instant he took hold of them a bird flew straight through him. | Istog časa kada ih je uhvatio, jedna ptica prolete kroz njega. |
| He was suspended in midair and totally invisible to himself. Beneath him was a pretty tree-lined city square, and all around it as far as the eye could see were white concrete buildings of airy spacious design but somewhat the worse for wear—many were cracked and stained with rain. Today, however, the sun was shining, a fresh breeze danced lightly through the trees, and the odd sensation that all the buildings were quietly humming was probably caused by the fact that the square and all the streets around it were thronged with cheerful excited people. Somewhere a band was playing, brightly colored flags were fluttering in the breeze and the spirit of carnival was in the air. | Visio je usred vazduha, potpuno nevidljiv čak i za samoga sebe. Pod njim se nalazio ugodni trg oivčen drvoredima, a dokle god pogled dopire okruživale su ga bele betonske zgrade, vazdušaste i prostrane, ali unekoliko upropašćene starošću - na mnogima su se videle pukotine i mrlje od kiše. Ali danas je sijalo sunce, svež povetarac lagano je igrao po drveću, a neobičan utisak da sve zgrade tiho žamore verovatno je bio izazvan okolnošću da su trg i okolne ulice bile krcati veselim, uzbuđenim ljudima. Negde u daljini svirao je orkestar, zastave živih boja lepršale su na vetru, a u vazduhu se osećao duh karnevala. |
| Arthur felt extraordinarily lonely stuck up in the air above it all without so much as a body to his name, but before he had time to reflect on this a voice rang out across the square and called for everyone’s attention. | Artur, zarobljen u vazduhu iznad svega toga, čak i bez sopstvenog tela, poče da se oseća neobično usamljeno, ali pre nego što je stigao da razmisli o tome, preko trga se zaori glas koji je zamolio prisutne za pažnju. |
| A man standing on a brightly dressed dais before the building which clearly dominated the square was addressing the crowd over a tannoy | Čovek, koji je stajao na tribini ukrašenoj svetlim bojama pred zgradom koja je dominirala trgom, obraćao se gomili preko razglasa. |
| “O people who wait in the shadow of Deep Thought!” he cried out. “Honored Descendants of Vroomfondel and Majikthise, the Greatest and Most Truly Interesting Pundits the Universe has ever known, the Time of Waiting is over!” | "Oh, narode koji čeka u senci Duboke Misli!" uzviknu on. "Cenjeni naslednici Vrumfondela i Mejdžiktiza, najvećih i najboljih Upućenika koje je Vaseljena ikada upoznala... vremenu čekanja došao je kraj!" |
| Wild cheers broke out among the crowd. Flags, streamers and wolf whistles sailed through the air. The narrower streets looked rather like centipedes rolled over on their backs and frantically waving their legs in the air. | Divlje veselje zavlada u gomili. Zastave, konfete i raznobojne trake zaploviše vazduhom. Uže ulice podsećale su na stonoge koje leže na leđima i mašu nožicama prema nebu. |
| “Seven and a half million years our race has waited for this Great and Hopefully Enlightening Day!” cried the cheerleader. “The Day of the Answer!” | "Sedam i po miliona godina naša rasa čekala je na ovaj veliki i, nadamo se, ugodni dan!" uskliknuo je razdragano vođa. "Dan Odgovora!" |
| Hurrahs burst from the ecstatic crowd. | "Ura!" začulo se iz oduševljene gomile. |
| “Never again,” cried the man, “never again will we wake up in the morning and think Who am I? What is my purpose in life? Does it really, cosmically speaking, matter if I don’t get up and go to work? For today we will finally learn once and for all the plain and simple answer to all these nagging little problems of Life, the Universe and Everything!” | "Više nikad", povika čovek, "više nikad nećemo se probuditi izjutra i pomisliti: Ko sam ja? Koja je moja uloga u životu? Da li je zaista, s kosmičke tačke gledanja, bitno to ako ne budem ustao i pošao na posao? Jer danas ćemo, jednom za svagda, saznati neposredan i jednostavan odgovor na sve te neugodne probleme Života, Vaseljene i Svega Ostalog!" |
| As the crowd erupted once again, Arthur found himself gliding through the air and down toward one of the large stately windows on the first floor of the building behind the dais from which the speaker was addressing the crowd. | Kada je gomila ponovo eksplodirala, Artur otkri da klizi naniže kroz vazduh prema jednom od ogromnih, veličanstvenih prozora na prvom spratu zgrade pred kojom se nalazila tribina sa koje se govornik obraćao gomili. |
| He experienced a moment’s panic as he sailed straight toward the window, which passed when a second or so later he found he had gone right through the solid glass without apparently touching it. | Na trenutak je osetio paniku kada je zaplovio pravo prema prozoru, ali to je prošlo sekundu ili dve kasnije, pošto je otkrio da je prošao pravo kroz staklo, a da ga očigledno nije ni dodirnuo. |
| No one in the room remarked on his peculiar arrival, which is hardly surprising as he wasn’t there. He began to realize that the whole experience was merely a recorded projection which knocked six-track seventy-millimeter into a cocked hat. | Niko u prostoriji nije primetio njegov ulazak, što i nije bilo odveć čudno, jer on se, zapravo, nije nalazio tamo. Počeo je da shvata da ceo događaj predstavlja samo snimljenu projekciju koja je sve moguće šestokanalne sedamdesetmilimetarske snimke šutirala pravo u korpu za otpatke. |
| The room was much as Slartibartfast had described it. In seven and a half million years it had been well looked after and cleaned regularly every century or so. The ultramahogany desk was worn at the edges, the carpet a little faded now, but the large computer terminal sat in sparkling glory on the desk’s leather top, as bright as if it had been constructed yesterday. | Soba je izgledala baš onako kako ju je Slartibartfast opisao. Za čitavih tih sedam i po miliona godina dobro su je pazili i čistili redovno, otprilike svakog veka. Sto od ultramahagonija bio je malo iskrzan na rubovima, tepih donekle izbledeo, ali veliki kompjuterski terminal i dalje je stajao u iskričavoj veličanstvenosti na kožnom postolju povrh stola, blistav kao da je juče načinjen. |
| Two severely dressed men sat respectfully before the terminal and waited. | Dva čoveka u dostojanstvenim odelima mirno su sedela pred terminalom i čekala. |
| “The time is nearly upon us,” said one, and Arthur was surprised to see a word suddenly materialize in thin air just by the man’s neck. The word was LOONQUAWL, and it flashed a couple of times and then disappeared again. Before Arthur was able to assimilate this the other man spoke and the word PHOUCHG appeared by his neck. | "Trenutak se primakao", reče jedan od njih, a Artur se zapanji kada vide kako se ni iz čega u vazduhu pored čovekovog vrata materijalizovala jedna reč. Reč je glasila Lunkvol; zatreptala je nekoliko puta pre nego što je ponovo nestala. Pre nego što je Artur uspeo da to svari, progovorio je drugi čovek, a reč Fuč pojavila mu se pored vrata. |
| “Seventy-five thousand generations ago, our ancestors set this program in motion,” the second man said, “and in all that time we will be the first to hear the computer speak.” | "Pre sedamdeset pet hiljada pokolenja naši preci pokrenuli su ovaj program", reče drugi čovek, "i posle tog grdnog vremena mi ćemo biti prvi koji će čuti kako kompjuter govori." |
| “An awesome prospect, Phouchg,” agreed the first man, and Arthur suddenly realized he was watching a recording with subtitles. | "Perspektiva koja izaziva strahopoštovanje", saglasio se prvi čovek, a Artur iznenada shvati da posmatra titlovani snimak. |
| “We are the ones who will hear,” said Phouchg, “the answer to the great question of Life …!” | "Mi smo ti koji će čuti", reče Fuč, "odgovor na veliko Pitanje Života...!" |
| “The Universe …!” said Loonquawl. | "Vaseljene...!" reče Lunkvol. |
| “And Everything …!” | "I svega Ostalog...!" |
| “Shhh,” said Loonquawl with a slight gesture, “I think Deep Thought is preparing to speak!” | "Psst", reče Lunkvol, "mislim da se Duboka Misao priprema da progovori!" |
| There was a moment’s expectant pause while panels slowly came to life on the front of the console. Lights flashed on and off experimentally and settled down into a businesslike pattern. A soft low hum came from the communication channel. | Na trenutak je zavladala stanka puna iščekivanja, dok su ploče na konzoli lagano oživljavale. Svetla počeše da se pale i gase, kao da se isprobavaju, a potom se središe u oblik koji je ukazivao na delatnost. Blago, duboko brujanje dopre iz komunikacionog kanala. |
| “Good morning,” said Deep Thought at last. | "Dobro jutro", reče najzad Duboka Misao. |
| “Er … good morning, O Deep Thought,” said Loonquawl nervously, “do you have … er, that is …” | "Ovaj... Dobro jutro, o, Duboka Misli", uzvrati nervozno Lunkvol. "Imaš li...ovaj, hoću da kažem..." |
