24 THE ACCIDENT

CHAPTER 24 THE ACCIDENT As Roz wandered through springtime, she saw all the different ways that animals entered the world. She saw birds guarding their eggs like treasures until the chicks finally hatched. She saw deer give birth to fawns who were up and running in a matter of minutes. Many newborns were greeted by loving families. Some were on their own from their very first breath. And, as you're about to find out, a few poor goslings would never even get a chance to hatch. Roz was climbing down one of the forest cliffs when the accident happened. The wind started blowing out of the north, and suddenly clouds were rushing over the island. With the clouds came a spring shower. A downpour, actually. And there was our robot, clamping her hands onto a wet block of stone on the side of the cliff. But the block couldn't handle the extra weight. And as the heavy robot hung

第二十四章意外当罗兹在春天漫步时，她看到了动物进入这个世界的各种不同的方式。 她看到鸟儿像守护宝贝一样守护着它们的蛋，直到小鸡终于孵出来。 她看到鹿在几分钟内就生下了小鹿。 许多新生儿都得到了充满爱心的家庭的欢迎。 有些人从呱呱坠地起就自力更生了。 而且，正如你即将发现的，一些可怜的小鹅甚至没有机会孵化。 事故发生时，罗兹正在爬下森林中的一个悬崖。 风开始从北方吹来，突然间，岛上乌云密布。 随着云来了一场春雨。 实际上是一场倾盆大雨。我们的机器人就在那里，她的手夹在悬崖边上一块潮湿的石头上。 但石块无法承受额外的重量。 沉重的机器人悬挂着

there, cracks suddenly shot through the stone and it started breaking apart. Down went the robot, plummeting into the treetops below. She crashed through branch after branch before finally hooking an arm around one. Then she dangled there, gently swinging as rocks roared past her on their way to the forest floor. When the dust settled, Roz shimmied down the tree trunk. The ground was littered with broken rocks and splintered wood and pulverized shrubs. And within all that rubble was a goose nest that had been torn to shreds. Two dead geese and four smashed eggs lay among the carnage. The robot stared at them with her softly glowing eyes, and something clicked deep inside her computer brain. Roz realized she had caused the deaths of an entire family of geese.

在那里，石头突然出现了裂缝，开始裂开。 机器人掉了下去，一头扎到下面的树梢上。 她穿过一根又一根树枝，最后用手臂勾住了一根树枝。 然后，她在那里晃来晃去，当岩石从她身边呼啸而过，坠落到森林的地面上时，她轻轻地摇摆着。 尘埃落定后，罗兹从树干上滑下来。 地上散落着破碎的岩石、破碎的木头和粉碎的灌木。 在这些碎石中有一个被撕成碎片的鹅窝。 其中有两只死鹅和四只碎蛋。 机器人用她柔和发光的眼睛盯着他们，她的电脑大脑深处响起了什么声音。 罗兹意识到她造成了一整个鹅家族的死亡。