59 THE STRANGE WILDERNESS

CHAPTER 59 THE STRANGE WILDERNESS Another gloomy day had settled over the mountains. Here and there, the sun broke through the clouds and bright streaks came shining down like spotlights. One of those bright streaks swept over a rugged mountainside and found our friends. For a moment, the robot and the goose basked in warm sunlight. Then the patch of light moved on and rolled into the next valley, where it sparkled across a strange industrial site. A patchwork of large, boxy structures was nestled among the trees. Broken walkways clung to the walls. Ramps and pipes slanted up from holes in the ground. The robot's computer brain identified the site. It was a deserted coal mine.

第五十九章奇怪的荒野又是阴沉的一天笼罩着群山。 太阳不时地冲破云层，明亮的条纹像聚光灯一样照下来。 其中一道亮光掠过崎岖的山坡，找到了我们的朋友。 机器人和鹅在温暖的阳光下晒了一会儿。 然后，那片光继续移动，滚进下一个山谷，在那里，它在一个奇怪的工业基地上闪闪发光。 一大片四四方方的建筑坐落在树林中。 残破的走道紧贴着墙壁。 斜坡和管道从地上的洞里斜伸出来。 机器人的计算机大脑识别了这个地点。 这是一个废弃的煤矿。

This was a strange kind of wilderness. Scattered throughout that mountain range were ghosts of human activity. Overgrown railways. Rusted

这是一种奇怪的荒野。 人类活动的幽灵散布在那座山脉上。 杂草丛生的铁路。生锈的

automobiles. Spindly towers perched on mountaintops. Faded signs with messages like No Trespassing and No Hunting. It seemed humans had once lived and worked in this wilderness, only to leave it all behind. In places, though, there was still activity. Robot activity. Armies of robot workers methodically dug new tunnels and built new dams and worked in new mining operations. They took down abandoned buildings and hauled away truckloads of litter. Our friends were curious about these working robots, but they kept a safe distance, and went on their way.

汽车。细长的塔矗立在山顶上。 褪色的牌子上写着“禁止非法侵入”和“禁止狩猎”。 似乎人类曾经在这片荒野中生活和工作，只是把一切都抛在脑后。 不过，有些地方仍有活动。 机器人的活动。大批机器人工人有条不紊地挖掘新的隧道，建造新的水坝，并在新的采矿作业中工作。 他们拆除了废弃的建筑，运走了成卡车的垃圾。 我们的朋友们对这些工作机器人很好奇，但他们保持着安全距离，继续赶路。