47 THE PARADE

CHAPTER 47 THE PARADE "Does it hurt?" Brightbill touched the smooth surface where his mother's foot used to be. "No, it does not hurt," said Roz. "But it will be difficult for me to walk." The bears huddled behind the gosling and stared at the robot's stump of a leg. Nobody understood how a foot could pop off like that, or how Roz could remain calm. "Roz, I'm sorry my cubs attacked you," said Mother Bear. "Sometimes they're completely out of control." "It is okay. You know how they are at this age." "I can't thank you enough for saving Thorn. I promise my cubs will never bother you again. Isn't that right?" "Yes, Mother," said Nettle and Thorn, together. The robot tried to walk. She bobbed up and down on her uneven legs, which worked well enough on the

第四十七章游行“疼吗？”亮比尔摸了摸他妈妈以前踩过的光滑的地面。 “不，不疼，”罗兹说。 “但是我走路会很困难。” 熊们挤在小鹅后面，盯着机器人的断腿。 谁也不明白一只脚怎么能这样摔下来，也不明白罗兹怎么能保持冷静。 “罗兹，对不起，我的孩子们袭击了你，”熊妈妈说。 “有时他们完全失去了控制。” “没关系。你知道他们这个年龄是什么样的。” “你救了索恩，我真是感激不尽。 我保证我的孩子们再也不会打扰你了。 对不对？”“是的，妈妈，”荨麻和荆棘一起说。 机器人试着走路。她用她那凹凸不平的腿上下摆动，这对我来说很有效

flat surface of the clifftop, but once she entered the forest, her problem became clear. The smooth stump had no grip, and it slipped around on the forest floor. So Roz tried hopping on her one good foot. She took a few crunching hops and then clanged into a tree trunk. A few more hops and she crashed into the undergrowth. "I'm really sorry I broke off your foot," said Thorn as he helped the robot up from the weeds. "I forgive you," said Roz. Whether she was capable of true forgiveness is anybody's guess. But they were nice words, and Thorn felt better when he heard them. "It looks like I will have to crawl home," said Roz. "Nonsense!" said Mother Bear. "I have a better idea." Mother Bear lay flat on the ground while her cubs boosted Roz onto her back. Then Brightbill fluttered onto the bear's broad shoulders. And when they were both safely aboard, the group set off through the forest. The robot was heavy, but she was no trouble for the giant animal. Mother Bear strolled along as if it were perfectly normal for a robot to be riding on her back.

表面平坦的悬崖，但一旦她进入森林，她的问题就很清楚了。 光滑的树桩没有抓地力，在森林的地面上打滑。 所以罗兹试着用她那只完好的脚跳。 她嘎吱嘎吱地跳了几下，然后撞到了树干上。 又跳了几下，她撞到了矮树丛里。 “真的很抱歉，我打断了你的脚。”索恩一边帮机器人从杂草中爬起来，一边说。 “我原谅你，”罗丝说。 谁也说不准她是否有真正的宽恕之心。 但这些都是好话，索恩听到后感觉好多了。 “看来我得爬回家了，”罗兹说。 “胡说！”熊妈妈说。 “我有个更好的主意。”熊妈妈平躺在地上，而她的孩子们把罗兹推到她的背上。 然后布莱特比尔拍着翅膀飞到熊宽阔的肩膀上。 当他们都安全上船后，这群人就穿过森林出发了。 这个机器人很重，但她对这个巨大的动物来说并不是麻烦。 熊妈妈慢悠悠地走着，好像机器人骑在她背上再正常不过了。

They made quite a grand procession, all walking together like that. And the procession became even grander as deer and raccoons and birds and all kinds of other animals joined in. Everyone wanted to see the mother robot riding the mother bear. The group wound its way past ancient trees, and over rolling meadows, and through babbling streams, collecting more and more curious animals as they went. It was the grandest parade of wildlife anyone had ever seen, and leading the way was our robot, Roz. But the parade couldn't last forever. As the sun went down, the other animals began drifting away, one by one, and when the parade finally arrived at the Nest, only the original members remained. "Here we are," said Mother Bear, helping Roz down into the garden. "Now, wasn't that better than crawling all the way home?" "Oh, yes, that was wonderful!" said the robot. "I cannot imagine a better ending to this day. Thank you very much." "Yeah, that was amazing!" squeaked the gosling. "My friends won't believe me when I tell them I rode across the island on the back of a bear!" "I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves!" Mother Bear

他们组成了一个盛大的队伍，大家都像那样走在一起。 鹿、浣熊、鸟和其他各种动物也加入进来，队伍变得更加盛大。 每个人都想看机器人妈妈骑着熊妈妈。 这群人弯弯曲曲地走过古树，翻过起伏的草地，穿过潺潺的小溪，沿途收集了越来越多好奇的动物。 这是人们所见过的最盛大的野生动物游行，领路的是我们的机器人罗兹。 但游行不可能永远持续下去。 当太阳下山时，其他的动物开始一个接一个地离开，当游行队伍最终到达鸟巢时，只有原来的成员留下来了。 “我们到了，”熊妈妈说着，把罗兹扶到花园里。 “现在，这不是比一路爬回家好吗？”“哦，是的，太棒了！”机器人说。 “我想不出比这更好的结局了。 非常感谢。”“是啊，太神奇了！”小鹅尖声说。 “我的朋友们不会相信我说我骑在熊背上穿越了整个岛！”“我很高兴你们玩得开心！”熊妈妈

smiled. "It's the least I could do after all the trouble these two caused." Her smile became a frown, and she glared at her cubs, who suddenly took great interest in a pebble on the ground. It was late, and it had been a long, difficult day for everyone, so the bears said good-bye and headed back to their cave. Brightbill and Roz stood in the garden and watched their new friends lumber away. And then the gosling said, "Mama, do you think you'll ever walk again?" "I am not sure," said the robot, "but I know who to ask for help. Now go get ready for bed."

笑了。“在这两个人惹了那么多麻烦之后，这是我最起码能做的。” 她的笑容变成了皱眉，她怒视着她的幼崽，它们突然对地上的一块鹅卵石产生了浓厚的兴趣。 很晚了，对每个人来说，这是漫长而艰难的一天，所以熊们告别了，回到了他们的洞穴。 布莱特比尔和罗兹站在花园里，看着他们的新朋友慢慢离去。 然后小鹅说：“妈妈，你觉得你还能走路吗？”“我不确定，”机器人说，“但我知道该找谁帮忙。 现在去准备睡觉吧。”