23 THE FIRST NIGHT

CHAPTER 23 THE FIRST NIGHT The water was shallow enough that Roz could watch the sun moving across the sky. While she marched along the bottom, the bright ball of light wiggled and wobbled through the wavy surface overhead and sank toward the western horizon. The water turned orange and then purple and then black. Roz's first night in the ocean had begun. The robot activated her headlights—click—and light beamed out from her eyes. To one side, fish darted away. To the other side, the seabed dropped sharply into the deep ocean. And that's when Roz noticed the migration. At the very edge of her vision, where her light beams faded to darkness, there was movement. Up from the deep came hundreds, thousands, millions of sea creatures. Most were microscopic, the tiniest life- forms imaginable. Others were bigger, like fish and squid and bizarre jelly creatures. Each night, they ascended to the starlight. Then before the sun returned, they descended back into the deep. Around the world, countless sea creatures made this great vertical

第二十三章第一个晚上水很浅，罗兹可以看到太阳在天空中移动。 当她沿着海底行进时，那明亮的光球在头顶的波浪形水面上摇摆不定，朝着西边的地平线下沉。 水变成橙色，然后变成紫色，最后变成黑色。 罗兹在海上的第一个夜晚开始了。 机器人启动了她的前灯——咔哒一声——光线从她的眼睛里射出。 在一边，鱼儿飞奔而去。 在另一边，海底急剧下降，进入深海。 就在那时，罗兹注意到了这种迁徙。 在她视线的边缘，在她的光束消失在黑暗中的地方，有动静。 成百上千甚至上百万的海洋生物从深海中冒了出来。 大多数是微小的，是可以想象到的最小的生命形式。 还有一些体型更大，比如鱼、鱿鱼和奇怪的水母。 每天晚上，他们升到星光下。 然后，在太阳升起之前，他们又回到了深海。 在世界各地，无数的海洋生物创造了这个巨大的垂直

migration every night. Their movement churned the water, spreading nutrients throughout the depths, helping to keep the oceans healthy. And now our robot got to witness a small part of this natural wonder for herself. At that time of year, the nights were short, and a few brief hours after the sun had set in the west, it was already rising in the east. The migratory sea creatures disappeared back down into the abyss. The water turned purple and then orange and then bright blue. Roz's first night in the ocean had ended.

每天晚上迁徙。它们的运动搅动了海水，将营养物质传播到深海，帮助保持海洋的健康。 现在我们的机器人可以亲眼见证这个自然奇观的一小部分了。 每年的这个时候，夜晚都很短，太阳在西方落下几个小时后，就已经从东方升起了。 这些迁徙的海洋生物又消失在深渊里了。 水变成紫色，然后是橙色，然后是亮蓝色。 罗兹在海上的第一个夜晚结束了。