As the sun set behind the Axiom, the Captain led the rest of his passengers down the ramp.
“C’mon, everyone,” he said heartily. “It’s one small step for man, one giant—” But before he could take the next step, his small feet went out from under him and he tumbled down the ramp.
A steward-bot chased after him, shouting, “Please remain stationary!”
The passengers watched as the stewards surrounded their captain. Straining, he raised himself to his feet.
“No, no, I’m all right, I can do it myself.” The Captain didn’t want any help. And as he stood and dusted himself off, the crowd was filled with a kind of pride that had long been forgotten. “Okay,” he said to his passengers, who were now eager to follow his lead. “We’re going to dig the water well here.” He pointed to the empty bay and took in the desolate horizon. “And dig the food well over there.”
“Ahhh,” he said, smiling, knowing that humans and their planet had been given another chance. “This is going to be great!”
The Captain was right. He and his passengers would soon find out that another change had taken place. Off on a distant mountain of trash, a green field of tiny plants was sprouting.
Across the bay, WALL · E and EVE sat on the roof of his truck, happily watching the sun set over planet Earth. WALL · E would never really understand how he had caused so much change just by following his heart. But holding hands with EVE, surrounded by a throng of joyful reject-bots, he knew that, finally, everything in the universe was as it should be.
(The End)
太陽落到“功理”號后面時,船長帶領其他的乘客們走下了舷梯。
“來吧,諸位,”他勁頭十足地說道,“這是人類的一小步,卻是——”但是還沒等他再走一步,他小小的雙足就支撐不住,導致他翻滾著跌下舷梯。
一名乘務員機器人追著他喊道:“請保持靜止。”
乘客們看著乘務員機器人們圍住他們的船長。他使勁自己站了起來。
“不,不,我很好,我自己可以。”船長不想讓別人幫他。他站了起來,撣去身上的灰塵,人們心中充滿了一種早已被遺忘的自豪感。“好啦,”他對他的乘客們說,他們現(xiàn)在渴望以他為榜樣。“我們要在這兒挖井取水。”他指著空落落的海灣,看見荒蕪的地平線說道,“還要在那里挖井儲存食物。”
“啊——”他微笑著說,心里知道人類和他們的星球都得到了第二次機會。“這次一定會很好!”
船長沒說錯。他和他的乘客們很快就會發(fā)現(xiàn)另一個變化已經(jīng)發(fā)生。在遠處的一座垃圾山上,有一小片綠油油的田地,小小的植物正在那里生長。
海灣的另一邊,瓦力和伊芙坐在他的貨車頂上,快樂地看著太陽落在行星地球上。瓦力永遠都無法真正明白為何他只是順著自己的心意卻引起了這么大的變化。但是,握著伊芙的雙手,身邊圍繞著一群快樂的殘次品機器人,他知道宇宙中的事物本該是什么樣,最終就會是什么樣。
(全書完)