24 THE BLUFF

CHAPTER 24 THE BLUFF The cows peered out from the barn at Roz. The robot was holding the rifle. She carried it to the far side of the pasture and placed it by her feet. Then she began coating herself with mud and grass, and probably a little cow dung. When every inch of her body was concealed, she nestled down into the ground and became part of the landscape. An ordinary clump of grass. The cows were stunned. "What's Roz doing?" "Is she all right?"

第二十四章牛从罗兹的牲口棚里向外张望。 机器人拿着步枪。 她把它带到牧场的另一边，放在她的脚边。 然后她开始在身上涂上泥土和草，可能还有一点牛粪。 当她身体的每一寸都被隐藏起来时，她依偎在地下，成为风景的一部分。 一丛普通的草。 奶牛们都惊呆了。“罗兹在干什么？”“她没事吧？”

"Where did she go?" Roz had learned to camouflage herself back on the island, and now she was using that trick once again. She sat motionless for hours, waiting for the wolves to appear. Daylight faded, the stars came out, the moon climbed into the sky. But the wolves didn't show. So Roz tried something new. The robot was an excellent mimic, and she began crying out in the sad voice of a wounded calf. "Please help me!" she cried. "I have hurt my leg and I cannot move!" Crickets chirped. "Please help me!" An owl hooted. "I cannot move!" The calf's voice continued crying out. Finally, as the moon dipped behind the trees, seven wolves slunk into the pasture. Shadow led the way, silently stalking through the night. Covered in dark fur, he was practically invisible. Only his long, pale scar gave him away. Noses sniffed, eyes searched, ears listened. Then a clump of grass began rustling. "There," whispered Shadow. "The calf is hiding in that tall grass."

“她去哪儿了？”罗兹在岛上学会了伪装自己，现在她又在用这个把戏了。 她一动不动地坐了几个小时，等着狼群出现。 白昼渐暗，星星出来了，月亮爬上了天空。 但是狼没有出现。 所以罗兹尝试了一些新的东西。 这个机器人是一个优秀的模仿者，她开始用受伤的小牛的悲伤声音喊叫起来。 “请帮帮我！” “我的腿受伤了，我动不了！”蟋蟀鸣叫。 “请帮帮我！”一只猫头鹰叫了起来。 “我动不了！”小牛的叫声还在继续。 最后，当月亮落到树后时，七只狼溜进了牧场。 黑影带路，默默地在夜色中穿行。 他全身披着黑毛，几乎看不见。 只有他那又长又白的伤疤出卖了他。 鼻子嗅着，眼睛搜索着，耳朵听着。 接着，一丛草开始沙沙作响。 “好了。”影子小声说。 “小牛躲在高高的草丛里。”

"Something feels wrong to me, Shadow," said a female wolf. "This is too easy." "I make the decisions, Barb," snapped the wolf leader. "Slash, Lurk, Fang, circle around and wait for my signal." Three wolves dashed off. When they were in position, Shadow gave the signal, and his pack closed in on the wounded calf. With each step, the grass rustled more and more, until the ground seemed to be moving. And then the ground really was moving! Grass and dirt crumbled aside and there was the robot, standing tall, pointing the rifle at the wolf leader. The pack froze. "Hello, Shadow," growled the robot. "My name is Roz. I see from your scar that you are familiar with rifles. You have been shot at before. You know what will happen if I pull this trigger." Reader, you and I are well aware that our robot was not programmed to be violent. Roz couldn't have pulled that trigger if she wanted to. But she didn't want to. She was bluffing. Of course, Shadow didn't know any of this. As far as the wolf knew, he was defeated. And so he did what wolves do when they're

“影子，我觉得有点不对劲。”一只母狼说。 “这太容易了。”“我说了算，巴布。”狼头厉声说。 “斜杠，潜伏，牙牙，绕一圈，等我的信号。” 三只狼冲了出去。当他们就位后，影子发出了信号，他的狼群向受伤的小牛逼近。 每走一步，草沙沙作响，直到地面似乎在动。 然后地面真的在移动！草地和泥土被粉碎了，机器人站在那里，用步枪指着狼的首领。 背包冻住了。“你好，影子。”机器人咆哮道。 “我叫罗兹。从你的伤疤可以看出你对步枪很熟悉。 你以前也挨过枪。 你知道如果我扣动扳机会发生什么。” 读者，你和我都很清楚我们的机器人并没有被编程为暴力。 如果罗兹想开枪，她是不会开枪的。 但她不想。她在虚张声势。 当然，影子对此一无所知。 就狼所知，他被打败了。 所以他做了狼在

defeated. He lay down and he cowered before the robot. For the first time anyone could recall, the wolf leader looked weak. "I do not want to hurt any wolves," Roz continued. "But if you return to this farm, I will have no choice. Now please leave and never come back." Shadow scrambled away with his tail between his legs. Barb was close behind him, followed by the other wolves, and soon the entire pack had disappeared into the night.

打败了。他躺下，在机器人面前畏缩着。 在人们的记忆中，狼头第一次显得很虚弱。 “我不想伤害任何狼，”罗兹继续说。 “但如果你回到这个农场，我就别无选择了。 现在请你离开，永远不要回来。” 黑影夹着尾巴爬开了。 巴布紧跟在他后面，后面跟着其他的狼，很快整个狼群就消失在夜色中了。