61 THE GUIDE

CHAPTER 61 THE GUIDE A light drizzle was falling on the travelers. Although they weren't actually traveling at the moment. They were standing still and staring up at a steep mountain of rocks. The robot had plenty of rock-climbing experience, but one bad fall out there and she could be stranded forever. So Roz carefully picked her way up the slippery slope, while Brightbill fluttered along beside her. They hadn't gone far when there came the sound of hooves clattering on stone, and then a horned creature leaped from the mist and smashed right into the robot. CLANG! —Roz went flying backward. CLANG!—Roz crashed onto the ground. Standing on the rocks above the robot was a wild ram. He had big, curling horns and a crazed look in his eyes. Brightbill flew to his mother's side, ready to defend her. "Stay away from my mama!" he hissed,

第六十一章向导一阵细雨落在旅行者身上。 虽然他们当时并没有在旅行。 他们一动不动地站着，抬头望着一座陡峭的岩石山。 这个机器人有丰富的攀岩经验，但一旦在那里摔倒，她就可能永远被困在那里。 于是，罗兹小心翼翼地爬上了滑溜溜的斜坡，布莱特比尔在她身边扑腾着翅膀。 他们没走多远，就听到了马蹄踩在石头上的声音，然后一只长着角的生物从雾中跳出来，正好撞上了机器人。 铿锵声!-罗兹向后飞了起来。 铿锵声!-罗兹摔在地上。 机器人上方的岩石上站着一只野公羊。 它长着大而卷曲的角，眼睛里有一种疯狂的神情。 布莱特比尔飞到妈妈身边，准备保护她。 “离我妈妈远点！”他嘶嘶地说，

spreading his wings. But rather than charging, the ram hung his head and started to cry. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" he blubbered. "I don't want to hurt anyone. Sometimes I just lose control and smash things. I feel awful about it, really I do!" Roz brushed herself off. "I believe those are your instincts," she said. "We all have them—they can be very powerful. I only hope your instincts do not end up breaking me." "Don't worry," the ram sniffled. "I'll try not to let my instincts break you." "I appreciate that," said the robot. "My name's Thud," said the ram. "Which way are you headed?" "We are trying to find our way out of these mountains," said Roz. "But they never seem to end." "You're almost there!" said Thud. "Let me show you the way—it's the least I can do after smashing you." The ram pranced away and led our friends to a narrow path that wound up the rocky mountainside. Roz tried to stay close, but Thud was born to climb. He easily scrambled up the steep slopes and vanished

展开他的翅膀。但公羊没有冲上去，而是低下头哭了起来。 “噢，真对不起！”他抽泣着说。 “我不想伤害任何人。 有时候我会失控，砸东西。 我觉得很糟糕，真的！”罗兹把自己刷了一下。 “我相信那是你的本能，”她说。 “我们都有它们——它们可能非常强大。 我只希望你的直觉不会击垮我。” “别担心，”公羊抽泣着说。 “我尽量不让我的直觉击垮你。” “我很感激，”机器人说。 “我叫砰。”公羊说。 “你往哪边走？”罗兹说：“我们正试图找到走出这些山脉的路。 “但它们似乎永远不会结束。” “你就快成功了！” “让我给你带路吧——这是我打碎你之后所能做的最起码的事。” 公羊蹦蹦跳跳地跑开了，领着我们的朋友们来到一条狭窄的小路上，这条小路沿着岩石山腰蜿蜒而上。 罗兹试图靠近他，但砰砰天生就会攀爬。 他轻松地爬上陡峭的山坡，消失了

into the mist. A minute later his friendly voice called out, "For a creature without hooves, you're not a bad climber!" And there he was, peering down from a cliff ledge. The path opened into a foggy meadow where a whole flock of wild sheep were grazing. They reminded Roz of the cows, grazing in the pasture, and she wondered how Hilltop Farm was doing without her. Thud pranced through the flock. "These are my new friends," he announced without stopping. "They're lost, so I'm guiding them out of the mountains." The sheep raised their heads. Thud had a habit of making weird friends, but these two were definitely the weirdest. The flock watched as the ram, the robot, and the goose continued up the mountain and disappeared into the mist. Higher and higher they climbed, above the tree line, to where there were only rocks and scrubby plants and trickling mountain streams. They occasionally came upon a dirt road or a hiking trail, and the ram trotted across casually, while our friends crept across cautiously. At one point, the ram got that crazed look in his

进入雾中。一分钟后，他友好的声音喊道：“作为一个没有蹄子的生物，你爬得还不错！”他站在那里，从悬崖上往下看。 小路通向一片雾蒙蒙的草地，草地上有一大群野羊在吃草。 它们让罗兹想起了牧场上吃草的奶牛，她不知道没有她，山顶农场过得怎么样。 砰砰跳着穿过鸟群。 “这些是我的新朋友，”他不停地宣布。 “他们迷路了，所以我带他们出了山。” 羊抬起了头。 泰德有结交奇怪朋友的习惯，但这两个人绝对是最奇怪的。 羊群看着公羊、机器人和鹅继续上山，消失在雾中。 他们越爬越高，越过了林木线，到了只有岩石、灌木和山间溪流的地方。 他们偶尔走到一条土路或一条徒步小径上，公羊就随随便便地小跑过去，我们的朋友们则小心翼翼地蹑手蹑脚地走过去。 有一次，公羊露出了疯狂的表情

eyes again. His horns came flying at the robot and she jumped out of the way just in time. Then Thud cried and apologized for his instincts, Roz forgave him, and the group carried on. They finally hiked up from the mist and onto a mountain ridge. Above, the sky was clear. Below, a blanket of puffy clouds spread outward in every direction. The sun was setting, and the western clouds were burning pink. Roz thought of the mountaintop on her island. If only she could be watching the sunset from that peak instead of this one. But they still had a long, long way to go.

眼睛再一次。他的角飞向机器人，她及时地跳开了路。 然后砰哭了起来，为自己的直觉道歉，罗兹原谅了他，大家继续前进。 他们终于从雾中爬出来，登上了一座山脊。 头顶上，天空晴朗。下面，一层蓬松的云向四面八方散开。 太阳落山了，西边的云燃烧着粉红色。 罗兹想起了她岛上的山顶。 要是她能在那个山顶而不是这个山顶看日落就好了。 但他们还有很长的路要走。

Thud pointed our friends to one last path. "This will take you down from the mountains and through the foothills," he said, smiling. The ram suddenly got that crazed look in his eyes again, and the robot prepared to jump. But this time Thud pulled himself together. He said good-bye to the travelers, and then he pranced away.

砰的一声给我们的朋友指出了最后一条路。 他笑着说：“这将带你从山上下来，穿过丘陵。” 公羊突然又露出了疯狂的眼神，机器人准备跳下去。 但这一次砰砰振作了起来。 他向旅客们告别，然后蹦蹦跳跳地走开了。