45 THE DEAD ROBOTS

CHAPTER 45 THE DEAD ROBOTS The gosling floated on the breeze beside his mother as she climbed down the cliffside. Down they went, past ledges and seagulls and tough little trees, until they were standing on the rocky shore with the cliffs looming behind them. The gravesite had changed. Roz's crate was gone, lost to weather or waves. Some of the robot parts were gone too. Other parts were gritty with sand, or were tangled in seaweed, or were inhabited by small, scuttling creatures. One smashed torso still had a head and legs attached. Roz and Brightbill huddled around the corpse and studied the mess of tubes spilling out. "This thing used to look like you?" said Brightbill. "Yes, we are the same type of robot," said Roz. "And now this robot is dead?" "In a way." "Will you ever die, Mama?"

第四十五章死去的机器人小鹅在微风中飘在妈妈身边，妈妈顺着悬崖往下爬。 他们往下走，经过礁石、海鸥和坚硬的小树，终于站在岩石海岸上，身后是隐约可见的悬崖。 墓地变了。 罗兹的板条箱不见了，可能是天气原因，也可能是海浪。 机器人的一些部件也不见了。 其他地方布满了沙砾，或者被海藻缠住，或者栖息着小型的、潜行的生物。 一个被砸碎的躯干上还连着头和腿。 罗兹和布莱特比尔挤在尸体周围，仔细研究着散落出来的管子。 “这东西以前长得像你？”布莱特比尔说。 “是的，我们是同一类型的机器人，”罗兹说。 “现在这个机器人死了？”“在某种程度上。” “你会死吗，妈妈？”

"I think so." "Will I die?" "All living things die eventually." The gosling's face scrunched with worry. "Brightbill, you are going to live a long and happy life!" Roz laid a hand on her son's back. "You should not worry about death." The gosling's face relaxed. And then he pointed to a small, round shape on the back of the dead robot's head. "What's that?" he said. Roz leaned in closer. "That is a button, which is a knob on a piece of machinery that can be pressed to operate it." Brightbill began pressing the button. Click, click, click. "Nothing is happening," he said. "Probably because this robot is dead." Click, click, click. "Mama, do you have a button?" Brightbill watched as his mother's head turned all the way around and a small button came into view. "You've got one!" he said. "I never noticed it before!"

“我想是的。”“我会死吗？”“所有的生物最终都会死亡。” 小鹅的脸因担心而皱成一团。 “亮比尔，你会过上幸福长寿的生活！”罗兹把手放在儿子的背上。 “你不应该担心死亡。” 小鹅的脸放松了。 然后他指着死机器人后脑勺上的一个小圆点。 “那是什么？”他说。罗兹靠得更近了。 “那是一个按钮，是机器上的一个旋钮，按下它就可以操作机器。” 布莱特比尔开始按按钮。 咔哒，咔哒，咔哒。“什么都没发生，”他说。 “可能是因为这个机器人已经死了。” 咔哒，咔哒，咔哒。“妈妈，你有纽扣吗？”布莱特比尔看到妈妈的头转了一圈，一个小纽扣映入眼帘。 “你有一个！”他说。 “我以前从没注意过！”

"Neither did I," said the robot. The gosling giggled. "Oh, Mama, you have so much to learn about yourself." Roz reached for the button on her head, but her hand automatically stopped before she could touch it. She tried with her other hand, but it automatically stopped as well. "It seems I cannot press the button," she said. "Would you like to try?" "What will happen?" "I think that I will shut down. But I think you could simply press the button again to restart me." "You think?" squawked Brightbill. "What if you're wrong? What if you wake up different? What if you never wake up? Mama, I don't want to shut you down!"

“我也没有，”机器人说。 小鹅咯咯地笑。“哦，妈妈，你对自己还有很多要了解的。” 罗兹伸手去拿头上的按钮，但她的手还没来得及摸到就自动停了下来。 她试着用另一只手，但手也自动停了下来。 “我好像不能按那个按钮，”她说。 “你想试试吗？”“会发生什么？”“我想我会关闭。 但我觉得你只要再按一次按钮，我就可以重启了。” “你认为？”布莱特比尔尖声说。 “如果你错了怎么办？”如果你醒来时不一样了怎么办？ 如果你再也醒不过来怎么办？ 妈妈，我不想让你关门！”

Roz turned her head back around and saw that Brightbill's face was once again scrunched with worry. She knelt beside him and said, "Of course you do not have to shut me down! I am sorry if I scared you. Are you okay?" "I'm okay." Brightbill sniffled and wiped his eyes. And then he heard splashing. Otters were playing in the ocean. He had never seen otters before. He stared as they swam and dove and sloshed around with one another. They seemed to be having a ridiculous amount of fun, and suddenly the gosling was smiling again. "Hello, my name is Brightbill!" he shouted over the waves. "And this is my mama! Her name is Roz!" The last time those otters had seen Roz, they had thought she was some kind of monster. But since then they'd heard that she was remarkably friendly and that she'd even adopted an orphaned gosling. And so the otters smiled at Roz and Brightbill. Then they swam straight over and splashed onto the rocks. "Hello there!" said the biggest otter. "Nice to meet you both! Actually, Roz, we've met once before, but you might not remember me. My name's Shelly." "I do remember you," said the robot. "But I am

罗兹转过头来，看到布莱特比尔的脸又一次因担心而皱成一团。 她跪在他身边说：“你当然不必让我闭嘴！如果吓到你了，我很抱歉。 你还好吗？”“我没事。” 布莱特比尔抽了抽鼻子，擦了擦眼睛。 接着他听到水花飞溅的声音。 水獭在海里玩耍。 他以前从未见过水獭。 他注视着他们一起游泳、潜水、嬉戏。 他们似乎玩得很开心，突然小鹅又笑了。 “你好，我叫布莱特比尔！”他对着海浪喊道。 “这是我妈妈！”她的名字叫罗兹！”上次那些水獭看到罗兹的时候，他们以为她是某种怪物。 但从那以后，他们听说她非常友好，她甚至收养了一只孤儿小鹅。 于是水獭们对罗兹和布莱特比尔笑了。 然后他们径直游过去，溅到岩石上。 “你好！”最大的水獭说。 “很高兴见到你们俩！”事实上，罗兹，我们以前见过一次，但你可能不记得我了。 我叫雪莉。”“我记得你，”机器人说。 “但我是。

glad to learn your name, Shelly." "You know each other?" said the gosling. "These otters were the first animals I ever met," said Roz. "They were also the first animals who ever ran away from me." "Yeah, sorry about that," said Shelly as the other otters sniffed the robot's legs. "You know, Brightbill, when we first saw your mom, she was packed in a box and surrounded by soft squishy stuff…" Brightbill's brow furrowed. "You wouldn't believe how small she looked, all folded up in there…" Brightbill's nose sniffled. "We thought she was dead, but when we reached into the box, she came to life and climbed out looking like a sparkling monster!" Brightbill's eyes welled up with tears, and then he felt his mother scoop him into her arms. "Are you okay?" she whispered in his ear. "I think I've learned enough about robots for today," he whispered back. "I am sorry, otters," said Roz, "but we really must be going." "I hope I didn't upset the little guy!" said Shelly. "I

很高兴知道你的名字，雪莉。” “你们认识吗？”小鹅说。 “这些水獭是我遇到的第一批动物，”罗兹说。 “它们也是第一批从我身边跑开的动物。” “是啊，很抱歉。”雪莉说，其他水獭嗅了嗅机器人的腿。 “你知道吗，布莱特比尔，我们第一次见到你妈妈的时候，她被装在一个盒子里，周围都是软软的东西……”布莱特比尔皱起了眉头。 “你不会相信她看上去有多小，蜷缩在那里……”布莱特比尔的鼻子抽泣着。 “我们以为她死了，但当我们把手伸进盒子里时，她活了过来，爬了出来，看起来像个闪闪发光的怪物！”布莱特比尔的眼睛里充满了泪水，然后他感到妈妈把他抱在怀里。 “你还好吗？”她在他耳边低语。 “我想今天关于机器人的知识已经学得够多了。”他小声回答。 “对不起，水獭们，”罗兹说，“但我们真的得走了。” “我希望我没有让小家伙难过！”雪莉说。 “我

thought he'd like to hear how we first met." "Brightbill will be fine," said Roz, using a friendly voice. "But we have had a very busy day and we should go home. It was nice to see you again. Good-bye!" Roz turned, and with her long strides, she carried her son away from the gravesite and over to the base of the sea cliffs. "Would you like to sit on my shoulder as I climb?" said the robot. "I feel like flying," said the gosling. "I'll meet you at the top." Brightbill flapped his wings and disappeared into the sky. Roz began scaling the wall. Up she went, expertly negotiating rocky columns and ledges, until she hoisted herself onto the clifftop, where two young bears were waiting.

我想他会想听听我们是怎么认识的。” “布莱特比尔会没事的，”罗兹用友好的声音说。 “但是我们已经忙了一天，我们应该回家了。 很高兴再次见到你。 再见!”罗兹转过身来，迈着大步，把儿子从墓地抱到海边悬崖的底部。 “我爬的时候，你愿意坐在我的肩膀上吗？”机器人说。 “我想飞，”小鹅说。 “我们在山顶见。” 布莱特比尔拍打着翅膀，消失在天空中。 罗兹开始爬墙。 她爬了上去，熟练地越过石柱和壁架，爬上了悬崖顶，两只小熊在那里等着她。