Chinese · Episode 13
A Ship That Never Leaves
Spoken by 晓星
Why a small indoor job might still help her understand ships: a city is already a ship that never leaves.
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放学以后，我跟着兔子一起走。 After school, I walked along with Rabbit.
从一个圆顶走到另一个圆顶。 From one dome to another.
中间那截路，两边都是墙， That stretch in the middle has walls on both sides,
上面也是墙，像走进一条管子。 and walls overhead too—like walking into a tube.
空气在里面，人也在里面， The air is inside, people are inside,
送东西的机器人也在这里跑。 and the delivery robots run through here too.
一出来就是花园，有灯，有树，还有路。 Step out and it's a garden—lights, trees, and paths.
再走进去，又是那样的管子。 Go on in again, and it's those same tubes.
陈师傅在那一头等着我。 Master Chen was waiting for me at the other end.
他蹲在地上，在拧一个盖，问我：号码是多少？ He was squatting on the ground, twisting a cover, and asked me, What's the number?
我说号码是三十二。 I said the number was thirty-two.
陈师傅点点头，说好。 Master Chen nodded and said, Good.
我站在管子口，用手碰了碰墙。 I stood at the mouth of the tube and touched the wall.
那面墙有一点暖。 That wall was a little warm.
我忽然想到了船。 I suddenly thought of ships.
船里面也是这样走来走去的。 Inside a ship you walk back and forth like this too.
可是船自己会往前走。 But a ship moves forward on its own.
望城自己不走，它停在灰上， Wangcheng doesn't move—it sits on the ash,
已经停在这儿很多年了。 and it's been sitting here for many years.
里面还是有人跳，有人浇水。 Inside, people still jump around and water things.
兔子还在从这头送到那头， Rabbit keeps delivering from one end to the other,
像在一条不开的船里面。 like being inside a ship that never sails.
我以后想造会自己走的船。 Someday I want to build ships that move on their own.
现在我只看这些会跑的小东西。 For now I just watch these little things that run around.
这工作很小，不是造飞船， This job is small—it isn't building spaceships,
就是看着这条自己不走的路。 just watching this path that doesn't go anywhere.
我也一天一天跟着送。 Day after day I tag along on the deliveries too.
这些话我没跟陈师傅说。 I never said any of this to Master Chen.
说出来像在开玩笑。 It would sound like I was joking.
我把兔子送到那一头了。 I got Rabbit to the other end.
它慢慢走进了花园。 It slowly walked into the garden.
城还停在原地，哪儿也不去。 The city still sits where it is, going nowhere.