"Adams, Douglas - Hitchhiker's 02 - The Restaurant at the End of the Universe 1.1b" - читать интересную книгу автора (Adams Douglas)

little double nod which is the traditional Betelgeusian gesture
of familial respect.

"Oh ... er, hi Great Granddad ..." he breathed.

The little old figure moved closer towards them. He peered
through the dim light. He thrust out a bony finger at his great
grandson.

"Ah," he snapped. "Zaphod Beeblebrox. The last of our great line.
Zaphod Beeblebrox the Nothingth."

"The First."

"The Nothingth," spat the figure. Zaphod hated his voice. It
always seemed to him to screech like fingernails across the
blackboard of what he liked to think of as his soul.

He shifted awkwardly in his seat.

"Er, yeah," he muttered, "Er, look, I'm really sorry about the
flowers, I meant to send them along, but you know, the shop was
fresh out of wreaths and ..."

"You forget!" snapped Zaphod Beeblebrox the Fourth.

"Well ..."

"Too busy. Never think of other people. The living are all the
same."

"Two minutes, Zaphod," whispered Ford in an awed whisper.

Zaphod fidgeted nervously.

"Yeah, but I did mean to send them," he said. "And I'll write to
my great grandmother as well, just as soon as we get out of this
..."

"Your great grandmother," mused the gaunt little figure to
himself.

"Yeah," said Zaphod, "Er, how is she? Tell you what, I'll go and
see her. But first we've just got to ..."

"Your late great grandmother and I are very well," rasped Zaphod
Beeblebrox the Fourth.

"Ah. Oh."