18 THE EXPERIMENT

CHAPTER 18 THE EXPERIMENT Midnight, and most of the animals were asleep. Brightbill, however, was wide awake. He couldn't stop thinking about his mother. Throughout his life, deep water had always been a danger to her. He remembered when he was a gosling how she could only watch from the edge of the pond while he went swimming. He remembered worrying any time she crossed the river. He remembered her falling into the ocean, and how it almost killed her. Those experiences had happened with her old robotic body, but now she had a different body, and only hours earlier, he had learned that his mother was waterproof. Never again would he have to worry about her falling into water. The goose wondered what other hidden abilities his mother might have, and an idea popped into his head. The poison tide was harmful to all living things, but Roz was not a living thing—she was a machine. What if she was safe from the poison tide? Brightbill needed to speak to her right away. Without waking Glimmer, he carefully crept out of their nest.

第十八章实验午夜时分，大多数动物都睡着了。 然而，布莱特比尔完全清醒了。 他无法停止对母亲的思念。 在他的一生中，深水对她来说一直是一种危险。 他记得当他还是一只小鹅时，当他去游泳时，她只能在池塘边看着他。 他记得每次她过河时他都很担心。 他记得她掉进海里，差点要了她的命。 这些经历发生在她以前的机器人身体上，但现在她有了一个不同的身体，就在几个小时前，他才知道他的母亲是防水的。 他再也不用担心她掉进水里了。 母鹅想知道他妈妈还可能有什么其他隐藏的能力，一个想法突然出现在他的脑海里。 毒潮对所有生物都是有害的，但罗兹不是生物——她是一台机器。 如果她在毒潮中是安全的呢？ 布莱特比尔要马上跟她说话。 在没有吵醒微光的情况下，他小心翼翼地爬出了他们的巢穴。

Then he stepped through the moonlit forest toward Roz's home. But she wasn't there. Brightbill knew his mother well, and he had a good guess where to find her. The goose took flight and headed north. He flew out from the forest and over the mountain, and there was the ocean, spread out beneath the stars. The slopes along the coast had once been carpeted with grasses and flowers, but now they were a wasteland. Poison sea spray had killed off the plants, and the wildfire had turned them to ashes. On this night, there was no sea spray, no breeze, no crashing waves. Everything was calm. And then Brightbill spotted his mother. She was standing in a quiet, rocky cove, staring into the water.

然后他穿过月光下的森林，朝罗兹的家走去。 但她不在那里。布莱特比尔很了解他的母亲，他能很好地猜测到哪里可以找到她。 母鹅飞向北方。 他飞出森林，飞过高山，看到了在星空下展开的海洋。 沿着海岸的山坡曾经长满了草和花，但现在它们是一片荒地。 有毒的浪花杀死了这些植物，野火把它们烧成了灰烬。 在这个夜晚，没有浪花，没有微风，没有海浪。 一切都很平静。然后布莱特比尔发现了他的妈妈。 她站在一个安静的岩石海湾里，凝视着水面。

"Ma! What are you doing?" cried Brightbill as he circled through the night sky. Roz's headlights swung up and found her son. "Go home, Brightbill!" she said. "You are not safe near the poison tide!" "What about you, Ma? Are you safe?" "I do not know," said Roz. "I have come here to learn whether I can survive the poison tide. To do that I must go into the water. There is a risk that the poison tide will damage my body, but I believe it is worth that risk. I did not want anyone to worry about me, so I kept this experiment a secret. I should have known you would uncover my plan." "I've been having the same thoughts," said Brightbill. "That's why I went looking for you. When I didn't find you at home, I knew I'd find you here, where the poison tide first came ashore." "Do you understand why I must do this?" "I understand. I'm not here to stop you. But I won't let you do this alone." The robot's eyes glowed brighter. "Thank you, son. I am glad you are here. But no matter what happens to me, you must not go near the poison tide." Brightbill nodded and watched as his mother turned back to the cove. She lifted a foot off the ground and extended it over the shallows. Then she lowered it into the gently shimmering water. Roz stood there, perfectly

“妈!你在干什么？”布莱特比尔在夜空中盘旋时喊道。 罗兹的车灯一亮，发现了她的儿子。 “回家吧，布莱特比尔！” “你在毒潮附近不安全！”“你呢，妈妈？” 你安全吗？”“我不知道，”罗兹说。 “我来这里是想知道我是否能在毒潮中幸存下来。 要做到这一点，我必须潜入水中。 毒潮有可能会损害我的身体，但我相信这个风险是值得的。 我不想让任何人担心我，所以我把这个实验保密了。 我早该知道你会揭穿我的计划。” “我也有同样的想法，”布莱特比尔说。 “所以我才去找你。 当我在家里找不到你时，我知道我会在这里找到你，毒潮第一次登陆的地方。” “你明白我为什么必须这么做吗？”“我明白了。 我不是来阻止你的。但我不会让你一个人去做的。” 机器人的眼睛更亮了。 “谢谢你，儿子。我很高兴你在这里。 但无论我发生什么事，你都不能靠近毒潮。” 布莱特比尔点了点头，看着妈妈转身回到小海湾。 她把一只脚抬离地面，伸到浅滩上。 然后她把它放进微微闪烁的水中。 罗兹站在那里，完美无缺

still, one foot on the rocks, the other in the poison tide. "What's happening?" said Brightbill. "Does it hurt?" "It does not hurt!" said Roz. "The poison tide has no effect on my foot! I will go in further." Roz lowered her other foot, stepping down to a deeper part of the shallows, and the water came up to her knees. She stepped down again, and the water came up to her waist. Then it came up to her chest. Then to her shoulders. She kept stepping down, and more of her body disappeared into the poison tide until she was completely submerged. The robot was just a blur within the poison tide. Her headlights lit up the water, casting an eerie glow on the surrounding rocks. It was a frightening scene, and the goose felt a flicker of panic. Why was his mother still underwater? Had something gone wrong? Did she need help? At last, Brightbill saw movement. Roz's headlights swept through the poison tide and she stepped out from the water and onto the rocks. "Well?" said Brightbill. "Are you all right?" "Yes, I am all right!" said Roz. "The poison tide has no effect on me!" Oh, the relief they both felt! The goose cheered, and the robot did a happy dance. But when Brightbill swooped down to give his mother a hug, she jumped

一只脚踩在岩石上，另一只脚踩在毒潮里。 “发生什么事了？”布莱特比尔说。 “疼吗？”“不疼！”罗兹说。 “毒潮对我的脚不起作用！”我将进一步深入。” 罗兹把另一只脚放低，走到浅滩较深的地方，水没过了她的膝盖。 她又走下楼梯，水没过她的腰。 然后涨到了她的胸口。 然后是她的肩膀。她继续往下沉，她身体的更多部分消失在毒潮中，直到她完全被淹没。 机器人在毒潮中只是一片模糊。 她的车灯照亮了水面，在周围的岩石上投下诡异的光芒。 这是一个可怕的场景，母鹅感到一阵恐慌。 为什么他的母亲还在水下？ 出什么问题了吗？她需要帮助吗？ 最后，布莱特比尔看到了动静。 罗兹的车灯扫过了毒潮，她从水里走到岩石上。 “怎么样？”布莱特比尔说。“你没事吧？”“是的，我很好！” “毒潮对我不起作用！”啊，他们俩都松了一口气！鹅欢呼起来，机器人高兴地跳起了舞。 但当布莱特比尔扑下来给妈妈一个拥抱时，妈妈跳了起来

back and said, "Do not touch me! I am still coated with the poison tide. We could both use a hug right now, but I must first rinse myself in fresh water. Please, son, go home to Glimmer and get some rest. I will see you both tomorrow."

说：“别碰我！我身上还裹着毒潮。 我们现在都想拥抱一下，但我必须先用清水冲洗一下自己。 求你了，儿子，回家去找格里默好好休息吧。 明天见你们俩。”