4 THE FAMILY

CHAPTER 4 THE FAMILY "Welcome to Hilltop Farm, Roz. My name is Mr. Shareef. You belong to me now." Roz studied the man with her softly glowing eyes and in a robotic voice she said, "Hello, Mr. Shareef." "This old fella here is Oscar." Mr. Shareef scratched his dog's head. "You won't see much of him. Oscar spends most of his time sleeping in the house." "Hello, Oscar," said the robot. A goofy grin stretched across the dog's face and he let out a happy yelp. Mr. Shareef pulled a small computer from his pocket. He tapped the screen and brought up a map of Hilltop Farm. "There you are, Roz," he said as the robot's electronic signal appeared on the map. "You'll be working all over this farm. And now that you're in the system I can always see right where you are."

“欢迎来到山顶农场，罗兹。 我是谢里夫先生。你现在属于我了。” 罗兹用她温柔发光的眼睛打量着这个男人，用机械的声音说：“你好，谢里夫先生。” “这个老家伙是奥斯卡。” 谢里夫先生挠了挠他的狗的头。 “你不会经常见到他的。 奥斯卡大部分时间都在房子里睡觉。” “你好，奥斯卡，”机器人说。 狗狗的脸上露出了傻笑，开心地叫了一声。 谢里夫先生从口袋里掏出一台小电脑。 他轻敲屏幕，弹出一张山顶农场的地图。 “你在这儿，罗兹，”当机器人的电子信号出现在地图上时，他说。 “你要在整个农场工作。 现在你在这个系统里，我总能看到你在哪里。”

"What would you like me to do?" said Roz. "You can start by putting your crate in the garage over there. I'll hold on to it, in case I ever have to send you back to the factory." Clearly, Roz was designed to take orders, because her body automatically did as it was told. She stuffed the packing materials into her crate and carried it into the garage. When Roz returned, Mr. Shareef was watching a school bus winding along the country road. Oscar barked and dashed off as the bus came to a stop at the bottom of the driveway. A girl and a boy jumped out, and the bus drove on. In their matching school uniforms, the children looked almost identical. But the boy was a little taller, and the girl's hair was a little longer. They meandered up the driveway and romped around with their dog until they noticed Roz. "A robot!" said the girl, running up. "It's about time we got one," said the boy. "She's refurbished," said the man. "She's the cheapest one I could find, but she'll make a decent farmer." "What's her name?" said the girl. "She said her name's Roz."

“你想让我做什么？”罗兹说。 “你可以先把板条箱放在那边的车库里。 我会保管好它，万一我不得不把你送回工厂去呢。” 显然，罗兹生来就是服从命令的，因为她的身体会自动按照指令行事。 她把包装材料塞进板条箱，抬进车库。 罗兹回来时，谢里夫正看着一辆校车在乡间小路上蜿蜒行驶。 当公共汽车停在车道尽头时，奥斯卡咆哮着冲了出去。 一个女孩和一个男孩跳下车，公共汽车继续行驶。 孩子们穿着相同的校服，看起来几乎一模一样。 但是男孩高了一点，女孩的头发长了一点。 他们漫步在车道上，带着他们的狗到处嬉戏，直到他们注意到罗兹。 “机器人！”女孩边跑边说。 “我们也该买一个了，”男孩说。 “她已经翻新过了，”那人说。 “她是我能找到的最便宜的，但她会成为一个体面的农民。” “她叫什么名字？”女孩问。 “她说她叫罗兹。”

"That's just her starter name," said the boy. "We can give her any name we want. Let's call her… Farmbot!" "I kind of like the name Roz," said the girl. "Me too," said Mr. Shareef. "Let's leave her name as it is. Roz, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Jaya, and my son, Jad." "Hello, Jaya and Jad," said the robot. The children looked at each other and smiled. "Will Roz take orders from me?" asked Jad. "What about me?" asked Jaya. "She'll take orders from both of you." "Roz, I order you to do my homework!" said Jaya. "Don't waste her time with nonsense!" Mr. Shareef grumbled. "Roz is here to do farmwork, not homework, understand?" The children nodded. "Now, I order you kids to bring the dog inside and do your own homework," said Mr. Shareef. "I need to show Roz the farm."

“那只是她最初的名字，”男孩说。 “我们想给她取什么名字都可以。 我们就叫她……农场机器人吧！”“我有点喜欢罗兹这个名字，”女孩说。 “我也是，”谢里夫说。 “我们就让她的名字保持原样吧。 罗兹，我想让你认识一下我的女儿贾雅和儿子杰德。” “你好，Jaya和Jad，”机器人说。 孩子们面面相觑，笑了。 “罗兹会听我的命令吗？”杰德问。 “那我呢？” “她会听从你们俩的命令。” “罗兹，我命令你做我的家庭作业！” “别用废话浪费她的时间！”谢里夫抱怨道。 “罗兹是来干农活的，不是来做作业的，明白吗？”孩子们点了点头。 “现在，我命令你们这些孩子把狗带进屋，自己做作业，”谢里夫说。 “我得带罗兹看看农场。”