Chapter 23

23 EXACTLY TWELVE KILOMETERS AWAY FROM LAKE MIDVILLE, thirty-two meters above ground level, on a tall hill, in the operator's cab of a tower crane, through the lenses of black, compact, folding, day-and night-vision binoculars, T. Edison watches a small raft spin around a whirlpool next to the Midville Hydroelectric Dam. T. Edison watches the raft drop into the swirling funnel and disappear from view.

在离米德维尔湖12公里远的地方，离地面32米的一座高山上，在塔式起重机的驾驶室里，通过黑色的、小巧的、折叠的、日夜两用的双筒望远镜的镜头，T。 爱迪生看着一个小木筏在米德维尔水电站旁边的漩涡中旋转。 爱迪生看着木筏落入旋转的漏斗中，从视野中消失。

"Success! What a fantastic plan!" Mr. Chimp, still wearing his yellow hard hat, gives a thumbs-up and turns back to the crane controls. "We are nowhere near Lake Midville. That lamebrain Einstein and his dorky friend and idiot robots have just had a terrible

“成功!多么奇妙的计划啊！”猩猩先生仍然戴着黄色的安全帽，他竖起大拇指，然后转向起重机的控制装置。 “我们离米德维尔湖很远。 那个笨蛋爱因斯坦和他的笨蛋朋友还有白痴机器人刚刚经历了一场可怕的

hydroelectric-turbine accident. It's clear I had nothing to do with it, because I am miles away. And everyone will forget about Einstein's stupid 'free wireless energy' invention." Mr. Chimp pulls the cab control joystick toward himself with one big toe. The cab glides down the tower back toward the ground. "Now all of Midville must buy its power from me!" Mr. Chimp's big toe twitches forward. The cab jerks to a stop, still twenty meters above the ground. Edison lurches up, then falls back into his seat. "I wish you would learn how to operate your heavy machinery just a bit more smoothly." Mr. Chimp stares at Edison. "What?" Mr. Chimp stares.

hydroelectric-turbine事故。 很明显我和这件事无关，因为我在千里之外。 每个人都会忘记爱因斯坦愚蠢的‘免费无线能源’发明。” 猩猩先生用一个大脚趾把驾驶室的操纵杆拉向自己。 出租车沿着塔顶滑回地面。 “现在整个米德维尔都必须从我这里购买它的力量！”猩猩先生的大脚趾向前抽动。 出租车猛地停了下来，离地面还有20米。 爱迪生蹒跚地站起来，然后倒在座位上。 “我希望你能学会如何更顺利地操作你的重型机械。” 猩猩先生盯着爱迪生。 “什么?”猩猩先生瞪大了眼睛。

A red-tailed hawk flies by at cab-window level. "What?" Mr. Chimp signs: Edison frowns. "Listen, you tree-swinging reject. Edison Energy is my company, and people will be buying energy from me, not us. Edison Energy. Not Chimp Energy. You will get your share. Now stop monkeying around... and get us down on the ground so I can get to the real work." Mr. Chimp takes his feet off the controls. He leans forward until his chimp nose is almost touching Edison's human nose. Mr.

一只红尾鹰在驾驶室窗户的高度飞过。 “什么?”黑猩猩先生示意：爱迪生皱起了眉头。 “听着，你这个摇摆不定的废物。 爱迪生能源是我的公司，人们会从我这里购买能源，而不是从我们这里。 爱迪生的能量。不是黑猩猩能源。 你会得到你的那份的。现在别胡闹了…… 让我们都躺在地上，这样我就可以开始真正的工作了。” 猩猩先生把脚从控制台上拿开。 他身体前倾，直到他的猩猩鼻子几乎碰到了爱迪生的人类鼻子。 先生。

Chimp tenses the muscles in his face, pulling his lips up and slightly apart. It looks like a smile. But it is not a smile. Mr. Chimp leans back in his seat. He pulls his operator's seat belt tight, pauses for two seconds, then jams the control joystick UP, DOWN, TILT LEFT, TILT RIGHT... Edison slides-flips-flops out of his seat, smacks against the cab's glass side, and sees the ground twenty long meters below. Mr. Chimp toggles DOWN, TILT, DROP, TILT, UP, FREE FALL. "I was just kidding!" yells Edison. He bounces off the ceiling, then the floor. "Stop!" Smack, bang, boom. Mr. Chimp pauses. "OK, OK. It's our company— EdisonChimp." Mr. Chimp reaches for the control joystick again.

黑猩猩绷紧了脸部的肌肉，把嘴唇向上拉，并微微分开。 它看起来像一个微笑。但这不是微笑。 黑猩猩先生靠在椅背上。 他拉紧安全带，停顿了两秒钟，然后按下操纵杆，向上、向下、向左、向右倾斜…… 爱迪生从座位上滑了出来，撞在驾驶室的玻璃上，看到了下面20米长的地面。 黑猩猩先生切换向下，倾斜，下降，倾斜，上升，自由落体。 “我只是在开玩笑！”爱迪生喊道。 他从天花板上跳了下来，然后又跳到了地板上。 “住手!”砰，砰，砰。 黑猩猩先生停顿了一下。“好,好。 这是我们的公司——爱迪生黑猩猩。” 猩猩先生再次伸手去拿操纵杆。

"OK! ChimpEdison!" Mr. Chimp leans back again. He nods. He folds his arms behind his head, grips the joystick with his left toe, and eases the cab smoothly to the ground. Edison crawls back into his seat, now with a lump on his forehead. He turns to look out the glass wall and mumbles something that sounds an awful lot like "Dumb monkey." Mr. Chimp hears. He doesn't care about insults. But he does care about accuracy. He signs: Then he twitches two muscles in his face. And this time he smiles a real smile.

“好吧!ChimpEdison !”黑猩猩先生又向后靠了靠。 他点了点头。他双手抱在脑后，用左脚趾抓住操纵杆，将驾驶室平稳地开到地面。 爱迪生爬回座位，额头上有个肿块。 他转身向玻璃墙外望去，喃喃自语，听起来很像“笨猴子”。 黑猩猩先生听到了。他不在乎侮辱。 但他确实关心准确性。 他做了个手势，然后抽搐了一下脸上的两块肌肉。 这一次，他露出了真正的微笑。