A Door for Thirty Cheeses

Madu had a problem, and the problem had thirty wheels.

马杜遇到了一个难题，而这个难题有三十个轮子。

Madu made cheese in a cellar under a green hill. The cellar was cold and dark. It smelled of milk and stone. Round cheeses sat on long wooden shelves. Every morning, Jabu turned them one by one. Jabu was Madu's helper. He was young, quick, and always hungry.

马杜在一座绿色山丘下的地窖里做奶酪。地窖又冷又暗，闻起来有牛奶和石头的味道。圆圆的奶酪一块块摆在长长的木架上。每天早晨，贾布都会把它们一块一块翻个身。贾布是马杜的帮手，年轻，手脚麻利，总是饿着肚子。

Between two shelves, a brass key hung on a nail. It was as long as a hand. It had no door. No lock in the cellar fit it. No lock in the village did either. The key came with the cellar, long before Madu. He never took it down.

在两排架子之间，一把黄铜钥匙挂在钉子上。它有一只手那么长，却没有门。地窖里没有一把锁配得上它，村里也没有。这把钥匙在马杜之前很久就跟着地窖留下来了，他从没取下来过。

On Monday afternoon, a letter came from the town school. The school needed thirty cheeses for a big festival. They must arrive by noon the next day. But the bridge on the valley road was closed for repairs. The long way took a whole day by cart.

星期一下午，镇上的学校来了一封信。学校要三十块奶酪办一场盛大的庆典，必须在第二天中午前送到。可是山谷路上的桥正在维修，封了路，绕远路坐马车要走一整天。

"We cannot do it," Madu said. He sat on a box. He put his head in his hands. "No bridge, no cheese, no money."

“咱们办不到，”马杜说。他坐在一只箱子上，双手抱住了头。“没桥，没奶酪，没钱。”

Jabu looked at the key. He looked at it a thousand times a year. "What if it opens something?" he said.

贾布看着那把钥匙。一年里他看它一千次。“要是它能开什么东西呢？”他说。

"It opens nothing."

“它什么也开不了。”

"Everything opens something," said Jabu. He lifted the key off its nail. It was warm, like a cup of fresh milk.

“什么东西都能开点什么，”贾布说。他把钥匙从钉子上取了下来。钥匙是暖的，像一杯刚挤出的牛奶。

Madu stood up. "Do not touch it," he said. But he did not say it very strongly.

马杜站了起来。“别碰它，”他说，但说得并不严厉。

Jabu walked to the bare stone wall. He held the key out in front of him. He turned it, as if there was a lock. There was a soft click. A thin line of light ran across the stone. It drew a small round door with a wooden frame. The key now sat in a brass keyhole at its side.

贾布走到光秃秃的石墙前，把钥匙举在身前，像面前有一把锁似的转了一下。咔哒一声轻响。一道细细的光线沿着石头划过，画出一扇带木框的小圆门。钥匙此刻插在门边的一个黄铜锁孔里。

They looked at each other. Neither of them breathed.

他们对视着，谁也不敢呼吸。

"Think about the school," said Madu. "Think hard."

“想想学校，”马杜说，“好好想。”

Jabu turned the key again. The door swung open. Behind it was a huge room with a shiny floor. A man in a grey suit sat at a long desk. He stamped a paper and looked up.

贾布又转了一下钥匙，门打开了。门后是一个巨大的房间，地板闪闪发亮。一个穿灰西装的男人坐在一张长桌后面，盖完一个章，抬起头来。

"Who are you?" the man asked.

“你们是谁？”男人问。

"Oh no," whispered Madu. "That is the tax office. I thought about money."

“哦，糟了，”马杜低声说，“那是税务局。我想到钱了。”

"Sorry!" shouted Jabu. He pulled the door shut. The light faded. The wall was only stone again.

“对不起！”贾布大叫。他把门拉上，光渐渐消失，墙又变回了石头。

That was the first plan, and it was a bad one.

这是第一个计划，而且是个糟糕的计划。

"My turn," said Jabu. "I will think about the school, and only the school." He closed his eyes. His hand shook a little. He turned the key.

“该我了，”贾布说，“我只想学校，别的什么都不想。”他闭上眼睛，手微微发抖，转动了钥匙。

The door opened on a classroom. Thirty children turned their heads at once. At the front stood a teacher with a long ruler.

门开在一间教室上。三十个孩子同时转过头来。前面站着一位拿着长戒尺的老师。

"You are late, young man," she said to Jabu.

“你迟到了，年轻人，”她对贾布说。

Jabu shut the door so fast that the cellar shook. His face was pale. "That was my old teacher," he said. "I only wanted to think about the school. But I remembered her."

贾布飞快地把门关上，震得地窖都晃了。他的脸色苍白。“那是我从前的老师，”他说，“我只想着学校，可我想起了她。”

Madu sat down again. A cheese rolled off a shelf and bumped his foot. He picked it up and held it like a baby. Time went fast. It was already late in the afternoon.

马杜又坐了下来。一块奶酪从架子上滚下来，碰到他的脚。他把它捡起来，像抱婴儿一样抱着。时间过得飞快，已经是傍晚了。

"The door follows the mind," he said slowly. "It goes where the holder thinks. And your mind and my mind are two different places."

“这扇门跟着心走，”他慢慢地说，“拿钥匙的人想到哪儿，它就通到哪儿。可你的心和我的心，是两个不同的地方。”

"Then we need one mind," said Jabu.

“那我们得有一颗心才行，”贾布说。

They both stopped. Then they both smiled at the same moment.

两人同时停住了，然后同一时刻都笑了。

"The school song," said Madu.

“学校的歌，”马杜说。

"The goat song!" said Jabu.

“山羊歌！”贾布说。

They both went to that school as boys, many years apart. Every child there learned the same silly song about a goat. They both knew every word.

他们俩小时候都上过那所学校，只是相隔好多年。那里的每个孩子都学过同一首关于山羊的傻歌，他们俩一个字也没忘。

Madu took one end of the key. Jabu took the other. They stood in front of the wall. Together they began to sing.

马杜握住钥匙的一端，贾布握住另一端。他们站在墙前，一起唱了起来。

"A goat on a hill, a goat on a hill! He eats all the grass, but he is hungry still!"

“山上有只羊，山上有只羊！草都吃光光，肚子还饿慌！”

They sang it badly. They sang it loudly. The words filled the cellar and rolled between the shelves. And in each of their heads, the same picture grew. It was the school kitchen door, with its old blue paint. It smelled of boiled beans.

他们唱得很难听，也唱得很响。歌声充满了地窖，在架子之间回荡。在两人的脑海里，同一幅画面渐渐清晰：那是学校厨房的门，漆成旧旧的蓝色，闻起来有煮豆子的味道。

The key turned by itself. Click.

钥匙自己转动了。咔哒。

The door opened. Behind it was a small, cool room. It had tall shelves and a stone floor. A cook in a tall white hat stood there. He held a spoon. He looked at the door. He looked at the two singing men. The spoon fell on the floor.

门开了。门后是一个凉爽的小房间，有高高的架子和石头地面。一位戴高高白帽子的厨师站在那里，手里拿着一把勺子。他看看门，又看看这两个唱歌的男人，勺子掉在了地上。

"Good afternoon," said Madu politely. "We have your cheeses."

“下午好，”马杜客气地说，“我们把你们的奶酪送来了。”

"Where did you come from?" the cook whispered.

“你们是从哪儿来的？”厨师低声问。

"From the hills," said Jabu. "Where do you want them?"

“从山上来，”贾布说，“您想放在哪儿？”

The cook pointed at an empty shelf. His hand shook.

厨师指了指一个空架子，手在发抖。

Then the work began. Madu and Jabu rolled the cheeses across the cellar, one by one. Each wheel went through the little round door. Each wheel bumped over the frame with a soft bump. The cook counted out loud. He sounded a bit afraid. When the last wheel went through, the shelves were empty. Their arms were tired, and their shirts were wet.

接着活儿就开始了。马杜和贾布把奶酪一块一块滚过地窖，每一块都穿过那扇小圆门，每一块滚过门框时都发出轻轻的一声碰响。厨师大声数着，声音里有点害怕。最后一块滚过去时，架子都空了。他们的胳膊又酸又累，衬衫也湿透了。

"Thirty," said the cook. He looked at the door again, and then at Madu. "How did you…"

“三十块，”厨师说。他又看了看那扇门，再看看马杜。“你们是怎么……”

"Better not to ask," said Madu. He took the coins the cook gave him. They were warm from the cook's pocket.

“最好别问，”马杜说。他接过厨师给的钱，硬币在厨师的口袋里焐得暖暖的。

Jabu pulled out the key. The door grew smaller, and smaller, and smaller. It became a thin line of light. Then the line was gone. Only the stone wall was left. The key cooled slowly in his hand.

贾布拔出钥匙。门越变越小，越变越小，成了一条细细的光线，然后光线也消失了，只剩下石墙。钥匙在他手里慢慢变凉。

Madu laughed until he had to hold a shelf. "A goat on a hill," he said.

马杜笑得不得不扶住架子。“山上有只羊，”他说。

"A goat on a hill," Jabu said, and he laughed too.

“山上有只羊，”贾布说，也笑了起来。

Jabu walked to the nail. He hung the key back in its place. He stepped away and looked at it. It was only a brass key, and it opened nothing.

贾布走到钉子旁，把钥匙挂回原处，退后一步看着它。它只是一把黄铜钥匙，什么也开不了。

Then, from somewhere deep inside the wall, came a tiny sound.

这时，从墙的深处，不知哪里传来一个很小的声音。

Click.

咔哒。