Chapter 2

2 ARRRGGGHHH," GROANS THE DARK SHAPE IN THE LABORATORY-DUST cloud. "What is that?" says Klank. "I am afraid." "You cannot be afraid," says Klink. "You are a machine." The menacing shape aims what looks like a bazooka on its shoulder. "OK," says Klank, dimly lit by his head

“啊！”实验室尘埃云里的黑影呻吟着。 “那是什么？”克兰克说。 “我害怕。”“你不能害怕，”Klink说。 “你是一台机器。”这具威胁性的外形在肩膀上瞄准了一个看起来像火箭筒的东西。 “好吧，”克兰克说，头顶上的灯光很暗

antenna bulb. "Maybe I am just very nervous." Frank grabs a steel pipe. He hands Watson a baseball bat. "We outnumber whoever or whatever it is. Charge on three. One..." "What?" whispers Watson. "Maybe I should use my peashooter again instead." "Two..." The dark figure shakes itself, moans again, and points its bazooka cannon right at Klank. "Do not shoot!" beeps Klank. "I am a friendly machine." "Wha—? Huh?" says the dark shape in the dust. "Oh, sorry, fellas. I didn't mean to interrupt your chin-wagging confab." "Grampa Al!" says Frank, dropping his steel pipe. And it is Grampa Al. Because who else would ever say "chin-wagging confab"? Grampa Al shrugs the ripped piece of canvas off his head. He pushes the busted pipe

天线灯泡。“也许我只是太紧张了。” 弗兰克抓起一根钢管。他递给华生一个棒球棒。 “我们的人数超过了他们。 数到三。一个……”“什么？”华生小声说。 “也许我应该再次使用我的豌豆枪。” “两个……”那个黑影抖了抖身子，又呻吟了一声，把火箭炮对准了克兰克。 “别开枪！”克兰克嘟嘟地说。 “我是一台友好的机器。” “世界卫生大会- ?嗯？”尘埃中的黑影说。 “哦，对不起，伙计们。我不是故意打断你们的闲聊的。” “阿尔爷爷！”弗兰克说着，扔下了他的钢管。 是阿尔爷爷，因为还有谁会说“摇下巴”呢？ 阿尔爷爷耸了耸肩，从头上扯下了一块帆布。 他推着破裂的管子

off his shoulder and kicks his way through the rubble of the collapsed roof. "Doodlebugs! I forgot all about that patched piece of roof. Fell through and pulled my whole windmill construction right down with me." Frank helps Grampa Al dust himself off. "Windmill? What are you doing with a windmill?" Grampa Al sits down at the lab table. "Making my own energy. Getting off the grid. Midville Power and Light is under new management. And they're sending electricity prices sky-high." "We were just talking about energy," says Frank. "And forces," adds Watson. "Let me show you what I got. Maybe you guys can help." Grampa Al shuffles back to the pile of roof and windmill pieces. He pulls out a rolled-up piece of paper and lays out a

从他的肩膀上踢开，穿过倒塌的屋顶的瓦砾。 “飞弹!我把那块打过补丁的屋顶全忘了。 掉下去了，把我的整个风车建筑都拖下水了。” 弗兰克帮阿尔爷爷掸掸身上的灰尘。 “风车吗?你拿着风车干什么？”爷爷在实验桌旁坐下。 “创造我自己的能量。远离网络。 米德维尔电力照明公司换了新管理层。 他们把电价推高了。” “我们只是在谈论能源，”弗兰克说。 “还有力量，”沃森补充道。 “让我给你看看我得到了什么。 也许你们能帮上忙。”阿尔爷爷慢悠悠地走回那堆屋顶和风车的碎片旁。 他拿出一张卷起来的纸，摆出一张

blueprint of his building. Grampa Al traces a path through the blueprint. "This is where the electric runs. This place is a hundred years old. It was built when there was plenty of coal, and oil was cheap. All its electricity came from burning those fossil fuels."

他的建筑蓝图。 阿尔爷爷在蓝图中找到了一条路。 “这是电力运行的地方。 这地方有一百年的历史了。 它是在煤炭充足、石油便宜的时候建造的。 它所有的电力都来自燃烧那些化石燃料。”

"Nonrenewable energy sources," says Klink, projecting a diagram onto one of Frank's laboratory walls. "Plant and animal forms squashed and decaying over millions of years," says Klink. "Turned into coal and oil and gas." "Exactly," says Grampa Al. "So I'm thinking

“不可再生能源，”克林克一边说，一边把一张图表投射到弗兰克实验室的墙上。 “数百万年来，植物和动物的形态被压扁和腐烂，”Klink说。 “变成了煤炭、石油和天然气。” “没错，”阿尔爷爷说。 “所以我在想

we switch over to renewable energy." Frank nods. "Stuff that doesn't take millions of years to replace." Klink projects another diagram onto the wall. "Nice," says Frank. "Like geothermal energy —using the Earth's temperature to cool water in the summer, and heat water in the winter." "And electricity generated from the windmill I was putting up top," says Grampa

我们转而使用可再生能源。” 弗兰克点了点头。“这些东西不需要数百万年的时间来替换。” Klink将另一张图表投射到墙上。 “很好，”弗兰克说。“比如地热能——利用地球的温度在夏天冷却水，在冬天加热水。” 爷爷说：“还有我放在上面的风车发的电。