Chapter 6 Summary

The fish in Arthur's ear turns out to be called a Babel fish, which through a complicated survival mechanism involving the absorption of brain waves, enables its host to instantly understand anything said to them in any form of language. The immediate convenience is that Arthur is able to understand the captain's announcement: the Vogons are aware there are hitch hikers on board, and are sending a search party to find them. The captain announces that when they are found they will be put instantly off the ship, although if they are lucky, he will read his poetry to them first. Although this last threat sounds harmless, Arthur has already read the section on Vogons in the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It says, "On no account allow a Vogon to read poetry at you."

As Arthur tries to come to grips...