78 THE SPEECH

CHAPTER 78 THE SPEECH After spending a little time with her grandgoslings, Roz was ready to address the crowd. She stood on a ledge and faced the animals. Nearby, a wave crashed, spraying mist high into the air, and a rainbow briefly appeared above the gathering. Roz waited for the rainbow to fade, and then she started to speak. The robot's voice boomed across the shore as she described her northern adventure. She wowed her audience with tales of amazing creatures and places. She recalled each detail that you already know about, reader, but she eventually got to details you do not yet know about, and this is what she said. "There I was, on a deep underwater mountain, gripped in Crusher's claw. And then we saw the Juggernaut. The mining station was sinking toward us, and it was guided by an army of giant creatures. The Ancient Shark had found a way to destroy the mining robot, and by the time she realized I was in his grip, it was too late. I do not blame her for risking my life. She was doing what needed to be done.

第七十八章演讲和她的小孙女们呆了一会儿之后，罗兹准备向人群发表讲话。 她站在窗台上，面对着动物们。 附近，一个波浪撞击着，把雾喷到空中，彩虹短暂地出现在集会的上空。 罗兹等着彩虹褪去，然后开始说话。 当她描述她的北方冒险时，机器人的声音响彻了整个海岸。 她用神奇的生物和地方的故事使听众惊叹不已。 她回忆了你已经知道的每一个细节，读者，但她最终提到了你还不知道的细节，这就是她所说的。 “我在水下的一座深山上，被克拉希尔的爪子紧紧抓住。 然后我们看到了神像。 采矿站正在向我们这边下沉，它是由一群巨大的生物引导的。 远古鲨鱼找到了摧毁采矿机器人的方法，当她意识到我被他控制时，已经太晚了。 我不怪她拿我的生命冒险。 她在做该做的事。

"The station sank faster and closer, and at the very last instant, Crusher let me go. I started swimming away, but I did not make it far before the Juggernaut crashed against the mountain. I heard a terrible blast of noise. Metal groaned and screeched as the whole massive station broke apart. Hulking pieces of wreckage were falling all around. I saw a building toppling toward me. Quickly, I scanned the area for any kind of escape, and I spotted a small cave in the rock. Just as I was diving in, the building slammed to the ground behind me, burying me inside. I waited in that cave as the station continued crashing. It seemed like it would go on forever. Gradually, though, the mountain stopped shaking, the noise died down, and I knew the crash was over.

“车站下沉得越来越快，越来越近，在最后一刻，克拉希尔让我走了。 我开始游开，但没游多远，神像就撞在了山上。 我听到一阵可怕的巨响。 随着整个巨大的车站分崩离析，金属发出了呻吟和尖锐的声音。 巨大的残骸散落在周围。 我看见一座建筑物向我倒塌。 我迅速扫视了一下这片区域，寻找任何可以逃跑的地方，我在岩石中发现了一个小洞。 就在我冲进去的时候，大楼在我身后轰然倒塌，把我埋在里面。 我在那个山洞里等着，眼看着车站继续轰鸣。 似乎会永远持续下去。 不过，渐渐地，山停止了晃动，声音也消失了，我知道坠机结束了。

"It took me a week to climb out from the rubble. I crawled up through the mess, squeezing through crumpled structures and pushing through piles of smashed equipment. Finally, I heaved aside one last piece of debris, and I was free. "Before me was a scene of total destruction. Buildings and platforms and walkways and machines were twisted together in a heap that sprawled across the mountain. One of Crusher's claws was sticking up from the rubble. The rest of his body had been flattened. The Ancient Shark's plan had worked, and the poison tide had come to an end, at last. "I never saw the Ancient Shark again, although I did search for her. As I stood there, I let out bursts of clicks

“我花了一个星期才从废墟中爬出来。 我从一片狼藉中爬了出来，从坍塌的建筑物中挤过去，从一堆堆破碎的设备中挤过去。 最后，我把最后一块碎片扔到一边，我自由了。 “在我面前是一片彻底毁灭的景象。 建筑物、平台、人行道和机器都扭曲成一堆，在山上蔓延开来。 克拉希尔的一只爪子从瓦砾中伸出来。 他身体的其他部分都被压扁了。 古鲨的计划成功了，毒潮终于结束了。 “我再也没见过古鲨，虽然我确实找过它。 我站在那里，发出一阵咔哒声

and listened for an echo shaped like a shark. What I heard, instead, was the faint sound of motors, and soon lights were shining down. "I hid beneath a mangled machine as a crew of cleanup robots descended. The robots began scooping the rubble into enormous bins. I was afraid of being discovered, so I stayed hidden, and I was scooped up along with the rubble. Everything was hauled to the surface and dumped into robotic barges, and then the fleet of cleanup robots sailed away. "Only days earlier, those waters had been filled with the poison tide. It had rushed between islands and slowed in the open ocean. It had spread through calm seas until the next current whisked it in a new direction. Flowing swiftly here and drifting gently there, the

听着鲨鱼形状的回声。 相反，我听到的是微弱的马达声，很快灯光就照了下来。 “我躲在一台破损的机器下面，一群清理机器人下来了。 机器人开始把碎石铲进巨大的箱子里。 我怕被人发现，就躲起来，和碎石一起被人捞了起来。 所有的东西都被拖到水面上，倾倒在机器人驳船上，然后清理机器人的舰队就开走了。 就在几天前，这些水域还充满了毒潮。 它在岛屿之间穿梭，在开阔的海洋中减速。 它在平静的海面上传播，直到下一股洋流把它推向一个新的方向。 这里飞快地流动，那里又轻轻飘过

poison tide meandered farther and farther to the south. The fleet of cleanup robots traveled that same path, removing the toxic dust as they went. Progress was slow, but what they left behind was a clean ocean, ready for life to return. "For days and days, I stayed hidden in the back of that barge. Then, yesterday, I carefully peered ahead and saw our island in the distance. I was almost home! I waited until none of the robots were looking, and then I dove into the waves. Once the fleet had passed our island, I swam to shore, where I found all of you.

毒潮越向南蜿蜒越远。 清理机器人车队沿着同样的路线行进，一边走一边清除有毒粉尘。 进展缓慢，但他们留下的是一片干净的海洋，等待生命的回归。 “一天又一天，我躲在驳船的后面。 然后，昨天，我仔细地向前看，看到了我们的岛在远处。 我就快到家了！我一直等到没有机器人在看我，然后我跳进了海浪里。 舰队一经过我们的岛，我就游到岸边，在那里我找到了你们所有人。

"The humans promised to clean the ocean, and they are following through. They also promised this would never happen again, and I believe them. My friends, I am happy to say that the poison tide is gone for good, and we have survived. Life will never go back to exactly how it was, but in time, we will move on from this tragedy. Old friends will come home. Fields and forests will regrow. The ocean will thrive again. Our island is already beginning to heal, and so are we."

“人类承诺要清理海洋，他们正在履行诺言。 他们还保证不会再发生这种事，我相信他们。 朋友们，我很高兴地说，毒潮已经一去不复返了，我们活了下来。 生活永远不会回到原来的样子，但假以时日，我们会从这场悲剧中走出来。 老朋友会回家。 田地和森林将重新生长。 海洋将再次繁荣。 我们的岛屿已经开始愈合，我们也一样。”