我,機(jī)器人

編者按：

一、機(jī)器人不能夠傷害人類，也不能夠因?yàn)樽约旱男傅《钊祟愂艿絺Γ?/p>

二、機(jī)器人必須聽從人類的命令，除非該命令與第一定律相悖；

三、機(jī)器人應(yīng)保護(hù)自身的安全，但不得違反第一、第二定律。

艾薩克·阿西莫夫，世界頂尖級科幻小說作家。這三條被后人引為經(jīng)典的機(jī)器人三大定律，來自于他的名著《我，機(jī)器人》。阿西莫夫創(chuàng)造了很多想法出來，比如他寫“機(jī)器人系列”，創(chuàng)造了“機(jī)器人學(xué)三大法則”、“機(jī)器人學(xué)”；寫“基地系列”，虛構(gòu)了“心理學(xué)史”這門自然科學(xué)，即預(yù)測歷史的方向等，這都開辟了一個時代。

《我，機(jī)器人》是短篇小說合集，這里選取的是第一篇《羅比》，討論對機(jī)器人的信任問題。從小照顧小姑娘格洛莉的機(jī)器人羅比被送走了，格洛莉非常傷心，幸運(yùn)的是，她最終找回了羅比。

今年是阿西莫夫逝世20周年

電影《機(jī)器人管家》雖不是直接改編自阿西莫夫的作品，但受其影響很深

Robbie（Excerpt）

［1］ Mr. Struthers was a conscientious General Manager and naturally inclined to be a bit talkative. The combination， therefore， resulted in a tour that was fully explained， perhaps even overabundantly explained， at

羅比（節(jié)選）

［1］ 斯特拉茲先生是個認(rèn)真負(fù)責(zé)的管理人員，天生話多。由于結(jié)合了這兩個特點(diǎn)，參觀的每一步都解釋得非常詳細(xì)——未免太詳細(xì)了。不過威斯頓太太聽得也很仔細(xì)。她甚至好幾次打斷了斯特拉茲并請他盡可能淺近地再重復(fù)某

every step. However， Mrs. Weston was not bored. Indeed， she stopped him several times and begged him to repeat his statements in simpler language so that Gloria might understand. Under the influence of this appreciation of his narrative powers， Mr. Struthers expanded genially and became ever more communicative， if possible. George Weston， himself， showed a gathering impatience.

Life doesn’t get better by chance， it gets better by change. 生活變得美好，不是偶然，而是我們努力改變的結(jié)果。

You can choose to be sad for what you have lost， or happy for what you still have. 你可以選擇為失去的東西而落寞，或是為仍然擁有的一切而慶幸。

“Pardon me， Struthers，” he said， breaking into the middle of a lecture on the photoelectric cell， “haven’t you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?”

“Eh? Oh， yes! Yes， indeed!” He smiled at Mrs. Weston. “A vicious circle in a way， robots creating more robots. Of course， we are not making a general practice out of it. For one thing， the unions would never let us. But we can turn out a very few robots using robot labor exclusively， merely as a sort of scientific experiment. You see，” he tapped his pincenez into one palm argumentatively， “what the labor unions don’t realize—and I say this as a man who has always been very sympathetic with the labor movement in general—is that the advent of the robot， while involving some dislocation to begin with， will inevitably—”

“Yes， Struthers，” said Weston， “but about that section of the factory you speak of—may we see it? It would be very interesting， I’m sure.”

“Yes! Yes， of course!” Mr. Struthers replaced his pincenez in one convulsive movement and gave vent to a soft cough of discomfiture. “Follow me， please.”

些解釋，以便格洛莉能聽懂。對斯特拉茲先生的敘述能力如此高的評價(jià)使他十分感動，話就更多了。可是威斯頓先生越來越不耐煩了。

“對不起，斯特拉茲先生。”他半腰打斷了關(guān)于光電元件的長篇講解，“你們工廠里有沒有全是機(jī)器人工作的工段？”

“什么？有的。當(dāng)然有！”斯特拉茲向威斯頓太太笑道：“從某種形式來說，是一種奇妙的循環(huán)：用機(jī)器人制造新機(jī)器人。自然，我們照例不這樣做。首先是，工會不讓我們這樣做。由機(jī)器人制造少量的機(jī)器人——只是作為一種科學(xué)上的實(shí)驗(yàn)。你們看，”他摘下夾鼻眼鏡在手掌上拍打著，“工會不能理解這點(diǎn)——我是作為一個十分同情工會運(yùn)動的人來說的——他們不理解，機(jī)器人的開始出現(xiàn)，總會帶來某些混亂。但將來必然會……”

“是的，斯特拉茲?！蓖诡D說道，“您方才說的這個工段是什么樣的？可以讓我們看看嗎？這一定很有趣?！?/p>

“是的，是的，當(dāng)然可以。”斯特拉茲先生戴上眼鏡，咳嗽了一聲。“請往這邊走！”

［2］ He was comparatively quiet while leading the three through a long corridor and down a flight of stairs. Then， when they had entered a large welllit room that buzzed with metallic activity， the sluices opened and the flood of explanation poured forth again.

“There you are!” he said with pride in his voice. “Robots only! Five men act as overseers and they don’t even stay in this room. In five years， that is， since we began this project， not a single accident has occurred. Of course， the robots here assembled are comparatively simple， but…”

［3］ The General Manager’s voice had long died to a rather soothing murmur in Gloria’s ears. The whole trip seemed rather dull and pointless to her， though there were many robots in sight. None were even remotely like Robbie， though， and she surveyed them with open contempt.

In this room， there weren’t any people at all， she noticed. Then her eyes fell upon six or seven robots busily engaged at a round table halfway across the room. They widened in incredulous surprise. It was a big room. She couldn’t see for sure， but one of the robots looked like—looked like—it was!

［4］ “Robbie!”

Her shriek pierced the air， and one of the robots about the table faltered and dropped the tool he was holding. Gloria went almost mad with joy. Squeezing through the railing before either parent could stop her， she dropped lightly to the

［2］ 他陪著威斯頓夫婦走過長長的走廊下了樓梯，這時他的話比較少了。可是當(dāng)他們來到光線充足、充滿金屬叮當(dāng)聲的房間，斯特拉茲的話匣子像閘門一樣打開了，滔滔不絕的解說詞更起勁地講起來。

“瞧！”他驕傲地說道，“全是機(jī)器人！有五個人只是照看它們一下，人甚至不必在這個房間里。自從我們開始試驗(yàn)以來，五年當(dāng)中從沒出現(xiàn)過一次故障。當(dāng)然，這里裝配的是比較簡單的機(jī)器人，不過……”

［3］ 管理人員的聲音對于格洛莉來說，早已和催眠的嗡嗡聲混雜起來了。整個參觀她都覺得枯燥無味，毫無目的。盡管周圍有許多機(jī)器人，可是哪怕稍微有點(diǎn)像羅比的一個也沒有，她毫不掩飾輕蔑地看她們。

她發(fā)現(xiàn)在這間屋里完全沒有人。隨后她的目光落在六、七個機(jī)器人身上，它們正在屋子當(dāng)中的圓桌旁工作。她驚訝和懷疑地睜大眼，房間太大了，她不能完全相信，但有一個機(jī)器人很像……很像……是的，就是他！

［4］ “羅比！”

空氣中響起她的一聲尖叫。桌旁的一個機(jī)器人打了個哆嗦，丟下了手里的工具。格洛莉高興得發(fā)狂了。在她的父母親還沒有來得及制止她之前，她鉆過防護(hù)欄桿，輕輕地往下一跳，跳到了低一米多的地板上，揮舞著雙手，朝著她的羅

floor a few feet below， and ran toward her Robbie， arms waving and hair flying. And the three horrified adults， as they stood frozen in their tracks， saw what the excited little girl did not see—a huge， lumbering tractor bearing blindly down upon its appointed track.

Sometimes a winner is just a dreamer that never gives up. 有時候，成功者只是堅(jiān)持夢想不放棄的人。

The end is just a new beginning. 結(jié)束只是新的開始。

It took splitseconds for Weston to come to his senses， and those splitseconds meant everything， for Gloria could not be overtaken. Although Weston vaulted the railing in a wild attempt， it was obviously hopeless. Mr. Struthers signaled wildly to the overseers to stop the tractor， but the overseers were only human and it took time to act.

［5］ It was only Robbie that acted immediately and with precision. With metal legs eating up the space between himself and his little mistress he charged down from the opposite direction. Everything then happened at once. With one sweep of an arm， Robbie snatched up Gloria， slackening his speed not one iota， and， consequently， knocking every breath of air out of her. Weston， not quite comprehending all that was happening， felt， rather than saw， Robbie brush past him， and came to a sudden bewildered halt. The tractor intersected Gloria’s path half a second after Robbie had， rolled on ten feet further and came to a grinding， long drawnout stop.

Gloria regained her breath， submitted to a series of passionate hugs on the part of both her parents and turned eagerly toward Robbie. As far as she was concerned， nothing had happened except that she had found her friend.

比跑去。三個成人嚇呆了。因?yàn)樗麄兛吹搅思拥母衤謇蛩鶝]看到的東西。一臺巨型的自動拖拉機(jī)正轟隆隆地朝她開過來。

幾分之一秒鐘之后。威斯頓醒悟過來了，可是這幾分之一秒決定了一切。格洛莉已經(jīng)是追不上了。威斯頓在一瞬間翻過了柵欄，但這顯然是毫無希望的嘗試。斯特拉茲先生拼命揮動雙手，向工人打手勢制止拖拉機(jī)。但是這些工人也只是一般人，他們要執(zhí)行這個命令，需要一定的時間。

［5］ 只有羅比毫不遲疑地、準(zhǔn)確地行動起來，它邁開金屬腿猛跨著大步，迎著它的小主人飛奔而來。說時遲，那時快，它在毫不降低速度的同時，一把將格洛莉抱起來，快得使她喘不出氣。威斯頓還沒明白過來眼前發(fā)生的一切，只是感覺到羅比已經(jīng)從他身邊沖過去了，于是他不知所措地站住了。這時拖拉機(jī)從格洛莉站過的地方開過去，只比羅比晚了半秒鐘。一直沖過去三米多才發(fā)出吱吱聲剎住車。

格洛莉喘過氣來。掙脫了父母的擁抱，高興地奔向羅比。對她來說只發(fā)生一件事情——她找到了自己的朋友。

［6］ But Mrs. Weston’s expression had changed from one of relief to one of dark suspicion. She turned to her husband， and， despite her disheveled and undignified appearance， managed to look quite formidable， “You engineered this， didn’t you?”

George Weston swabbed at a hot forehead with his handkerchief. His hand was unsteady， and his lips could curve only into a tremulous and exceedingly weak smile.

Mrs. Weston pursued the thought， “Robbie wasn’t designed for engineering or construction work. He couldn’t be of any use to them. You had him placed there deliberately so that Gloria would find him. You know you did.”

“Well， I did，” said Weston. “But， Grace， how was I to know the reunion would be so violent? And Robbie has saved her life; you’ll have to admit that. You can’t send him away again.”

［7］ Grace Weston considered. She turned toward Gloria and Robbie and watched them abstractedly for a moment. Gloria had a grip about the robot’s neck that would have asphyxiated any creature but one of metal， and was prattling nonsense in halfhysterical frenzy. Robbie’s chrome steel arms（capable of bending a bar of steel two inches in diameter into a pretzel）wound about the little girl gently and lovingly， and his eyes glowed a deep， deep red.

“Well，” said Mrs. Weston， at last， “I guess he can stay with us until he rusts.”

［6］ 可是威斯頓太太臉上輕松的表情很快就變成懷疑。她向著丈夫轉(zhuǎn)過身來。顧不得激動和散亂的頭發(fā)，氣勢洶洶地問：

“這是你安排的吧？”

喬治用手帕擦去頭上的汗。他的手還在發(fā)抖，顫動的嘴唇只能發(fā)了非常勉強(qiáng)的微笑。威斯頓太太繼續(xù)說：

“羅比不是為工廠工作而設(shè)計(jì)的。你故意安排它坐在這里，格洛莉找到它，這是你有意安排的?！?/p>

“不錯，是我，”威斯頓說，“可是，格雷斯，我哪里知道見面會這樣驚險(xiǎn)！而且羅比救了她的命——這一點(diǎn)你得承認(rèn)。你不能再把它打發(fā)走了?！?/p>

［7］ 格雷斯·威斯頓沉思了一會兒。她心慌意亂地朝格洛莉和羅比望去。格洛莉是那么緊地?fù)е_比的脖子，如果這是有血有肉的活人，一定會窒息的。女孩感到無比幸福，俯在機(jī)器人的耳朵上，興奮地講著許多傻話。羅比用它那鉻鋼鑄造的，能將五厘米粗的鋼條擰成蝴蝶結(jié)的手，溫柔地?fù)崦ⅲ难劬Πl(fā)出暗紅的光芒。

“好吧，”威斯頓太太終于開口了，“就讓羅比留在咱們家吧，直到鐵銹把它銹壞的那一天。”