43 THE BEACH

CHAPTER 43 THE BEACH A layer of fog hung over the ocean. Icebergs drifted silently through the mist. The calm water rippled, and Roz's head rose up. Our robot needed to find the Ancient Shark. But how would she track down the shark in the vast northern ocean? Roz began to hear a chorus of deep grunts. Hidden somewhere within the fog was a gathering of beasts. She followed the grunting noises, and a coastline emerged, but the noisy creatures were nowhere to be seen. The robot marched out of the water and over the rocks and up a hill. The noises grew louder, and the fog lifted, and when Roz reached the hilltop, she looked down the other side at a beach that was packed with giant creatures. Brown bodies, pink faces, white tusks. Walruses. Tons of them. So many walruses had hauled themselves out of the water that the beach couldn't fit them all. They crowded onto the surrounding hillsides and onto slabs of ice floating offshore. The air was thick with pungent smells and with steam rising up from the herd.

第四十三章海滩海面上笼罩着一层雾。 冰山在雾中无声地漂流。 平静的水面泛起涟漪，罗丝抬起头来。 我们的机器人需要找到远古鲨鱼。 但她如何在广阔的北方海洋中找到鲨鱼呢？ 罗兹开始听到一阵低沉的咕噜声。 雾中的某个地方隐藏着一群野兽。 她顺着哼哼的声音走，海岸线出现了，但那些吵闹的生物却不见了。 机器人从水里出来，跨过岩石，爬上了一座小山。 噪音越来越大，雾散了，当罗兹到达山顶时，她看到了另一边的海滩，那里挤满了巨大的生物。 棕色的身体，粉红色的脸，白色的象牙。 海象。成千上万。这么多海象把自己从水里拖出来，海滩上容不下它们了。 他们挤在周围的山坡上和漂浮在海面上的冰块上。 空气中弥漫着刺鼻的气味和从牛群中冒出来的蒸汽。

Surely one of the walruses would know where to find the Ancient Shark. Roz marched downhill toward them, but when she started climbing over a boulder, she knew she'd made a mistake. The boulder was soft and warm. Somehow it rolled onto its side, and two long tusks swung into view. "Get off me!" shouted a walrus. "I was napping!" Roz crashed to the ground and the walrus raised his tusks, ready to strike. "I am very sorry!" Roz shouted. "I mistook you for a boulder!" The walrus looked down at his body. "Now that you mention it," he said, "I do look a little like a boulder." He seemed to forget all about the robot as he admired his own boulder-like body. He flexed his muscles and puffed out his chest. Then he clambered atop an actual boulder for comparison. The likeness was remarkable. Roz hated to interrupt the walrus, but she had a burning question. "Do you know where I can find the Ancient Shark?"

海象肯定知道在哪里可以找到古鲨。 罗兹向他们走去，但当她开始爬过一块巨石时，她知道自己犯了一个错误。 巨石又软又热。 不知怎么的，它翻了个身，两根长牙映入眼帘。 “放开我！”一只海象喊道。 “我在打盹！”罗兹扑倒在地，海象举起獠牙，准备攻击。 “我很抱歉！”警察喊道。 “我把你当成一块大石头了！”海象低头看着自己的身体。 “既然你提到了，”他说，“我确实看起来有点像一块大石头。” 当他欣赏自己巨石般的身体时，他似乎完全忘记了机器人。 他弯曲肌肉，挺起胸膛。 然后他爬上了一块真正的巨石进行比较。 这幅画非常相似。 罗兹不愿意打断海象的话，但她有一个迫切的问题。 “你知道我在哪里可以找到古鲨吗？”

Without taking his eyes off himself, the walrus replied, "Ask Big Shot, the beach master." Big Shot wasn't hard to spot. He was the biggest, toughest, loudest walrus in the herd. Roz headed in his direction, down the hill and onto the pebble beach, politely stepping through the crowd. "Excuse me! Sorry to bother you! Pardon me!" The lounging walruses groaned as she passed by, but they were too comfortable to move. Before Roz could call out to Big Shot, a white shape appeared at the other end of the beach. A polar bear was hunting for his next meal. But the bear didn't attack the walruses, not yet. He just lumbered along as panic swept through the herd. The walruses grunted nervously and erupted into a stampede, with Roz caught in the middle. Heavy bodies knocked her around. Long tusks clanked against her

海象目不转睛地回答说：“去问大佬吧，海滩的主人。” “大人物”并不难发现。 他是象群中最大、最强壮、声音最大的海象。 罗兹朝他的方向走去，下了山，来到卵石滩上，礼貌地穿过人群。 “对不起!抱歉打扰你了！原谅我!”当她经过的时候，那些懒洋洋的海象呻吟着，但是它们太舒服了，一动也不动。 罗兹还没来得及喊“大人物”，一个白色的身影出现在海滩的另一端。 一只北极熊正在寻找它的下一餐。 但是熊并没有攻击海象，还没有。 当恐慌席卷兽群时，它只是蹒跚地走着。 海象们紧张地哼了一声，爆发出一场踩踏，罗兹被夹在中间。 沉重的身躯把她撞倒了。 长牙在她身上叮当作响

sides. Strong flippers shoved her down, and a walrus crawled over, crunching her into the pebbles. Roz struggled to her feet and then leaped up and away to safety. The herd was vanishing into the sea. So the polar bear moved faster, trotting back and forth, searching the crowd for an easy target. Finally, he found what he was looking for. A young walrus had been separated from her family. The polar bear sprinted across the beach and pounced on the youngster's back. The walrus might have been young, but she was as big as the bear. She slashed her tusks and kicked her hind flippers and dragged the bear with her. If she could get to the water, she could escape into the depths. But the bear was strong and hungry and wouldn't let go. It looked like the polar bear would get his meal, until Big Shot came charging to the rescue. Well, charging might not be the right word. The bull walrus moved as fast as he could, in a slow, wriggling sort of way. Then he lifted up to his full height and roared, "If you want her, you'll have to kill me first!" The polar bear was a fierce hunter, but he knew better than to fight the mighty beach master. He trotted off, and Big Shot escorted the young walrus into the waves. Minutes earlier, the beach had been overcrowded. Now only the robot and the polar bear were left.

两侧。有力的脚蹼把她推了下去，一只海象爬了过来，把她压在卵石上。 罗兹挣扎着站起来，然后跳起来，逃到了安全的地方。 象群正在消失在海里。 所以北极熊跑得更快了，来回小跑，在人群中寻找一个容易的目标。 最后，他找到了他要找的东西。 一只小海象与家人走散了。 北极熊冲过海滩，猛扑在小企鹅的背上。 海象也许还很年轻，但她已经和熊一样大了。 她砍断了自己的长牙，踢了踢后肢，拖着熊一起走。 如果她能到水里，她就能逃到深处。 但是熊又强壮又饥饿，不肯松手。 看起来北极熊要吃大餐了，直到大佬冲过来救了它。 “充电”这个词可能不太恰当。 公海象以一种缓慢、扭动的方式尽可能快地移动着。 然后他挺直了身子，吼道：“如果你想要她，你就得先杀了我！”北极熊是凶猛的猎手，但它知道不要与强大的海滩主人战斗。 他小跑着离开了，大腕护送着小海象进入海浪中。 几分钟前，海滩上挤满了人。 现在只剩下机器人和北极熊了。