21 THE INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 21 THE INTRODUCTION There was an hour each morning, in the dim light of dawn, when all the island animals were safe. You see, long ago they had agreed not to hunt or harm one another during that hour. They called it the Dawn Truce. Most mornings, the island residents would gather in the Great Meadow and spend the hour chatting with friends. Of course, not everyone attended these gatherings. The bears had never made an appearance. And the vultures just circled high above. But on this particular morning, an unusually large group of animals had come out to discuss some important news. "Settle down, everyone—I have something to say!" Swooper the owl hooted to the crowd from the lowest branch of a dead tree. "Last night I saw a mysterious creature right here in the Great Meadow. It seemed to be covered in grass, so I couldn't get a good look at it, but I think it may have been the monster."

每天早晨，在朦胧的晨光中，岛上所有的动物都是安全的。 你看，很久以前，他们就约定在这一小时内不猎杀或伤害对方。 他们称之为黎明休战。 大多数早晨，岛上的居民会聚集在大草地上，花一个小时和朋友聊天。 当然，并不是每个人都参加了这些聚会。 熊从来没有出现过。 秃鹫在高空盘旋。 但是在这个特别的早晨，一大群动物出来讨论一些重要的消息。 “大家安静点——我有话要说！”猫头鹰从一棵枯树的最下面的树枝上向人群鸣叫。 “昨晚我在大草原上看到了一个神秘的生物。 它似乎被草覆盖着，所以我无法看清它，但我想它可能是那个怪物。”

Looks of concern swept over the crowd. "What was the creature doing?" said Dart the weasel. "It was speaking," said Swooper. "It kept repeating the same words over and over again. But each time it sounded a little different. At first it sounded like a cricket, and then it sounded like a raccoon, and then it sounded like an owl!" "What was it saying?" said Digdown the groundhog. "I could be mistaken," said Swooper, "but I think it was saying, 'Hello, my name is Roz.'" The crowd began to chatter. "Just where was this creature?" said Fink the fox. Everyone turned as the owl slowly pointed his wing to a grassy lump in the meadow. It was a rather ordinary-looking grassy lump. Until it began to move. As you probably guessed, that grassy lump was Roz. She had been there the whole time, camouflaged, watching, listening, and with all the animals looking at her she decided to introduce herself. The crowd stared in disbelief as the grassy lump started shaking and bulging upward and crumbling apart, and there was the robot! Then, using

人群中满是关切的神色。 “那家伙在干什么？”黄鼠狼达特问。 “它在说话，”斯伍珀说。 它一遍又一遍地重复着同样的话。 但每次听起来都有点不同。 起初听起来像蟋蟀，然后听起来像浣熊，然后听起来像猫头鹰！”“它在说什么？”土拨鼠掘土问。 “我可能搞错了，”斯伍珀说，“但我认为它在说，‘你好，我的名字是罗兹。’”人群开始议论起来。 “这家伙到底在哪儿？”狐狸芬克问。 猫头鹰慢慢地用翅膀指着草地上的一块草地，每个人都转过身来。 那是一块相当普通的草堆。 直到它开始移动。你可能猜到了，那个草包就是罗兹。 她一直在那里，伪装着，看着，听着，在所有动物都看着她的情况下，她决定自我介绍一下。 人们难以置信地看着那草堆开始摇晃，向上隆起，四分五裂，原来是机器人！然后,使用

her body and voice, the robot spoke to the animals in their own language. "Hello, my name is Roz." The crowd gasped. Swooper fluttered up from his branch and screeched, "It's the monster!" "I am not a monster," said Roz. "I am a robot." A flock of sparrows suddenly took off. "Leave us alone!" squeaked Dart as he crouched low in the grass. "Return to whatever horrible place you've come from!" "I come from here," said Roz. "I have spent my whole life on this island." "Why haven't you spoken to us sooner?" screeched the owl, from higher up in the tree. "I did not know the animal language until now," said the robot. Crownpoint the buck had heard enough, and he slipped into the forest with his family. "So what do you want from us?" growled Fink. "I have observed that different animals have different ways of surviving," said the robot. "I would like each of you to teach me your survival techniques."

机器人用她的身体和声音，用动物们自己的语言跟它们说话。 “你好，我叫罗兹。”人群倒吸了一口气。 斯乌普从树枝上扑腾起来，尖声叫道：“是怪物！”“我不是怪物，”罗兹说。 “我是一个机器人。”一群麻雀突然飞走了。 “别烦我们！”达特蹲在草丛里，尖声叫道。 “滚回你从哪里来的可怕地方去！”“我是从这里来的，”罗兹说。 “我一生都在这个岛上度过。” “你为什么不早点跟我们说呢？”猫头鹰从更高的树上尖声叫道。 “直到现在我才知道动物的语言，”机器人说。 雄鹿克朗波因特听够了，他和他的家人溜进了森林。 “那你想从我们这里得到什么？”芬克咆哮道。 “我观察到不同的动物有不同的生存方式，”机器人说。 “我希望你们每个人都能把生存技巧教给我。”

"I'm not going to help you!" screeched the owl, from the very top of the tree. "You seem so… unnatural!" "The monster is just waiting to gobble us up!" shrieked Digdown. And the groundhog disappeared into a hole. "I will not gobble anyone up," said Roz. "I have no need for food." "You don't need food?" Fink relaxed a bit. "Well, I need food. And lots of it. Why don't you make yourself useful and find me some food?" "What would you like me to do?" said Roz. "Can you hunt?" The fox smiled at a hare on the far side of the gathering. "It's almost time for breakfast." "I cannot hunt. But I could gather berries." The fox's smile disappeared. "Berries? I'm hungry for meat, not berries! Good luck to you, Roz. You're gonna need it!" And the fox trotted away. Roz looked up at the tree, but the owl had gone. And when the robot looked down again, she realized that everyone else had gone too.

“我不会帮你的！”猫头鹰站在树顶尖声说。 “你看起来很……不自然！”“怪物正等着把我们吃掉呢！”迪唐尖叫道。 土拨鼠消失在一个洞里。 “我不会吃掉任何人，”罗兹说。 “我不需要吃的。” “你不需要吃的吗？”芬克放松了一点。 “嗯，我需要食物。而且很多。 你为什么不帮点忙，给我找点吃的呢？”“你想让我做什么？”罗兹说。 “你会打猎吗？”狐狸对远处的一只野兔笑了笑。 “快到吃早饭的时间了。” “我不会打猎。但是我可以采浆果。” 狐狸的笑容消失了。 “浆果?我饿的是肉，不是浆果！祝你好运，罗兹。 你会需要它的！”狐狸小跑着走了。 罗兹抬头看了看树，但猫头鹰已经走了。 当机器人再次低头时，她意识到其他人也都走了。