Chinese · Episode 9
An Old Robot's Hand
Spoken by 晓星
Repairing 王奶奶’s watering robot 绿绿 and learning it is older than the new dome.
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王奶奶叫我去看绿绿，说它又把水浇到路上了。 Grandma Wang asked me to check on Lülü—said it had watered the road again.
我还没动手，它就先说：“谢谢，晓星。” Before I even touched it, it spoke first: "Thank you, Xiaoxing."
我笑着让它等一下，把盖子打开， I smiled and told it to wait a moment, opened the cover,
看看这次是哪里不对。 to see what was wrong this time.
里面有一点土，原来黄黄的地方也旧了。 There was a bit of dirt inside, and the parts that used to be yellow had gone dull too.
盖子下面还写着一个年份，字已经很淡。 Under the cover a year was written; the characters were already very faint.
我算了算，发现它比新圆顶还老， I did the math and realized it was even older than the new dome,
就问王奶奶：“它真的这么老了吗？” so I asked Grandma Wang, "Is it really that old?"
她说没错，这边还没有花园的时候， She said that was right—back when there wasn't even a garden here,
绿绿就在旧花园浇水了。 Lülü was already watering in the old garden.
后来它跟着搬过来，轮子却还是原来那一对。 Later it moved over with them, but the wheels were still that original pair.
有一只已经磨平了一块，走起来不太稳。 One had already worn flat in a spot, so it didn't walk very steadily.
我把轮子的位置调好，又把手扶正一点， I adjusted the wheels and straightened the handle a little,
让它往前试试。 and had it try going forward.
它走得慢，不过这次水都落在土上了。 It walked slowly, but this time the water all landed on the soil.
王奶奶摸了摸它，说：“老家伙，还能干呢。” Grandma Wang patted it and said, "Old fellow, still got it in you."
以前绿绿坏了，我就过来修一修， Whenever Lülü broke down before, I'd just come over and fix it,
从来没想过它已经在这儿这么多年。 never once thinking how many years it had already been here.
学校比它新，旁边有些树也比它新，连我的名字， The school is newer than it, some of the trees nearby are newer too—even my name
都是它后来才学会的。 was something it only learned later on.
我把盖子盖回去，它又叫了我一声。 I put the cover back, and it called my name again.
我说：“听见了，不过这只手还没完全修好， I said, "I heard you, but this hand isn't fully fixed yet,
过几天我再来看。” I'll come check again in a few days."
王奶奶说不急，她会看着水，先不让它浇到路上。 Grandma Wang said no rush—she'd watch the water and keep it off the road for now.