41 THE TUNDRA

CHAPTER 41 THE TUNDRA From the shore, the land sloped up to a high plateau. The grassy slopes were crowded with seabirds, who stared and screeched and nervously fluttered their wings as the robot hiked by. When she reached the top, Roz saw flatlands sprawling out before her. Weeds and stones and tough little bushes blanketed the landscape, but there wasn't a tree in sight. Our robot had arrived at the tundra, where cold temperatures and short growing seasons made it impossible for trees to take root. Winding through the tundra was a stream. Kerplunk, the puffin, said it would lead to a glacier near the northern ocean. So Roz began marching, using the stream as her guide.

第四十一章苔原从海岸往下看，那片土地向高原倾斜。 草坡上挤满了海鸟，它们盯着机器人，尖叫着，紧张地拍打着翅膀。 当她到达山顶时，罗兹看到平原在她面前展开。 野草、石头和坚硬的小灌木丛覆盖了整个风景，但没有一棵树。 我们的机器人到达了冻土带，那里的温度太低，生长季节短，树木不可能扎根。 一条小溪蜿蜒穿过冻土带。 海雀Kerplunk表示，这将导致北部海洋附近出现冰川。 于是，罗兹以小溪为向导，开始行军。

The tundra had once been covered in a permanent layer of hard frozen soil, called permafrost. These days, the soil would thaw by midsummer, and Roz left behind a trail of deep footprints in the spongy, soggy ground. She increased her speed from a march to a trot to a run. Rodents scattered as the robot thundered past. A fox watched as the mechanical creature galloped through his territory. Roz crested a small ridge and surprised a herd of musk oxen. They were burly beasts, with long fur and short tempers. Breath puffed from their mouths as they charged at the oncoming robot. Without breaking stride, Roz launched herself into the air and soared over the herd, shouting, "I apologize for startling you!" Then she landed and kept on running. She crossed windswept fields and leaped over thickets of shrubs and passed hot springs that sent

冻土带曾经覆盖着一层永久的坚硬冻土，称为永久冻土。 这些天，土壤会在仲夏融化，罗兹会在松软潮湿的地面上留下一串深深的脚印。 她把速度从行军提高到小跑再提高到跑步。 机器人轰鸣而过，啮齿动物四散。 一只狐狸看着这个机械的生物在他的领地里疾驰而过。 罗兹爬上一个小山脊，惊动了一群麝牛。 它们身材魁梧，皮毛长，脾气暴躁。 当他们冲向迎面而来的机器人时，他们的嘴里喷着气。 罗兹没有放慢脚步，纵身跃上空中，飞过鹿群，喊道：“我很抱歉吓到你们了！”然后她着陆了，继续跑。 她穿过风吹过的田野，跳过茂密的灌木，经过热气腾腾的温泉

steam floating into the sky. But even in that remote wilderness, there were signs of human activity. A dirt road, cutting through the tangled brush. Stone walls, coated with moss. Rows of solar panels, forgotten and falling apart. Roz noticed movement in the distance. She stopped and adjusted her vision and saw a man walking along a path. He turned and faced Roz. At that long range, the robot must have looked like a fellow human, but if the man were to come closer, he would see who she really was. After a moment, he raised his arm and gave a friendly wave. Roz waved back. Then the man continued walking, and the robot continued running, but with more caution than before. Throughout summer, there had been constant daylight in the far north. But the seasons were changing, and while Roz ran across the tundra, the sun set and the stars came out. And then the aurora appeared. Curtains of colorful light shimmered and billowed through the night sky. Back on the island, Roz had seen the aurora on occasion, but never this clearly. She started searching for information about the wondrous sight, but then she shut off that part of her computer brain, and she simply enjoyed the spectacular northern light show. The night was short, and soon the sun was rising. Morning light slowly spread across the tundra, and it

蒸汽飘向天空。 但即使在那片遥远的荒野上，也有人类活动的迹象。 一条土路，穿过纠结的灌木丛。 石墙上长满了青苔。 一排排的太阳能电池板，被人遗忘，渐渐散架。 罗兹注意到远处有动静。 她停了下来，调整了一下视力，看见一个男人沿着小路走着。 他转过身来，面对着罗兹。从那么远的距离来看，机器人一定看起来像一个人类同伴，但如果那个男人走近一点，他就会看到她的真实身份。 过了一会儿，他举起手臂，友好地挥了挥手。 罗兹也挥了挥手。然后男人继续走，机器人继续跑，但比以前更小心了。 整个夏天，在遥远的北方，一直都是白昼。 但是季节在变化，当罗兹在苔原上奔跑时，太阳下山了，星星出来了。 然后极光出现了。 五颜六色的光幕在夜空中闪烁起伏。 回到岛上，罗兹偶尔看到过极光，但从未如此清晰。 她开始寻找有关这一奇妙景象的信息，但随后她关闭了电脑大脑的这一部分，她只是享受着壮观的北极光表演。 夜很短，太阳很快就升起来了。 晨光慢慢地洒在苔原上，它

glinted off something up ahead. A massive slab of ice and snow was nestled among the faraway hills.

前面有什么东西在闪烁。 一大片冰雪掩映在远处的群山之间。