Arvid sits in the bus shelter at six in the morning. The village is on a hill. The shelter has the best view. The first bus does not come until eight. That is why Arvid likes it. Nobody is here.
清晨六点，阿尔维德坐在公交候车亭里。村子建在山坡上，这座候车亭的视野最好。头班车要到八点才来，所以阿尔维德喜欢这个时候的这里，因为没有人。
He keeps a box of chalk in his bag. Every morning he takes it out. Every morning he puts it back.
他的包里放着一盒粉笔。每天早上他都把它拿出来，每天早上又把它放回去。
Arvid is twenty-four, and he draws very well. His drawings fill four notebooks under his bed. Nobody sees them. Sometimes a friend asks. He says, "Oh, I only play with a pencil."
阿尔维德二十四岁，画得非常好。他的画填满了床底下的四本笔记本，却没有人看过。有时朋友问起，他就说：“哦，我只是拿铅笔随便玩玩。”
Today he looks at the pavement in front of the shelter. It is wide and smooth and clean. It looks like a giant sheet of grey paper. His hands feel strange. They want to move.
今天，他望着候车亭前的人行道。它宽阔、平整、干净，像一张巨大的灰色画纸。他的双手觉得怪怪的，它们想动。
"Just one line," he says to himself.
“就画一条线。”他对自己说。
He takes a white chalk and kneels down. He draws one long curve. Then he draws another. His heart beats fast, but his hand knows what to do.
他拿起一支白粉笔，跪了下来。他画了一道长长的弧线，又画了一道。他的心怦怦直跳，但他的手知道该怎么做。
By seven o'clock, a whale lies on the pavement. It is as long as the whole shelter. It has a round, kind eye and a wide smile. Blue lines run around it like waves. A small gull sits on its back.
到七点时，人行道上躺着一头鲸。它和整个候车亭一样长，有一只圆圆的、和善的眼睛，和一个宽宽的笑容。蓝色的线条像波浪一样绕着它。一只小海鸥站在它的背上。
Arvid stands up and looks at it. His knees hurt, and his fingers are white. He feels happy and scared at the same time.
阿尔维德站起身，看着它。他的膝盖发疼，手指沾满了白粉。他又高兴又害怕。
A woman with a shopping bag walks past. She stops. She does not say a word. She only looks at the whale for a long moment and smiles. Then she goes on.
一位提着购物袋的女士走过。她停了下来，一句话也没说，只是望着那头鲸看了好一会儿，微微一笑，然后继续走了。
Arvid does not wait for anyone else. He puts the chalk in his bag. He walks home very fast.
阿尔维德没有再等别人。他把粉笔放进包里，飞快地走回了家。
The next morning, he comes back early. He feels shy, like a boy on his first day of school. Maybe the whale is gone. Maybe someone washes it away in the night.
第二天早晨，他很早就回来了。他觉得羞怯，像入学第一天的男孩。也许鲸不见了。也许夜里有人把它冲掉了。
The whale is still there. It has a few shoe marks on its tail. And something new is there too.
鲸还在那里。尾巴上多了几个鞋印。另外，还有一样新东西。
Four orange cones stand around the drawing. Yellow tape runs from cone to cone. A white card hangs on the tape. Big black letters cover it.
四个橙色的锥形路障围在画的四周，黄色的警戒带从一个路障拉到另一个。带子上挂着一张白色的卡片，上面写满了粗粗的黑字。
DO NOT WALK HERE. REMOVE BY FRIDAY.
此处禁止行走。星期五前清除。
Under the words, someone writes a short name. It says "B. Village Roads."
字的下面，有人写了一个简短的署名：“巴·乡村道路处”。
Arvid reads the card three times. He feels cold inside. Someone in the village does not want the whale. The village office knows about it. They even give him a day.
阿尔维德把卡片读了三遍。他心里发凉。村里有人不想要这头鲸。村办公室知道了这件事，甚至还给了他一天时间。
"Of course," he whispers. "You cannot draw on a public street."
“当然了，”他小声说，“公共街道上是不能乱画的。”
He wants to run away, but he does not. He thinks, I made this mess, so I will clean it. That seems fair. At least he can do it before anyone sees him.
他想逃走，可他没有。他想：这个乱子是我弄出来的，我就该自己清理。这似乎很公平。至少，他能在别人看见之前把它做完。
He walks to the fountain by the church. He fills a bucket with water. He finds a hard brush behind the shelter. His hands shake as he comes back to the whale.
他走到教堂边的喷泉，提了一桶水。他在候车亭后面找到一把硬毛刷。回到鲸身边时，他的手在发抖。
He kneels at the tail. The brush is wet. He lifts it.
他跪在鲸尾巴旁边。刷子是湿的。他把它举了起来。
"Stop!"
“住手！”
A man in an orange vest runs up the hill. A small white van stands behind him with its door open. He is about Arvid's age, with messy hair and a loud voice.
一个穿橙色背心的男人跑上山坡。他身后停着一辆小白货车，车门敞开着。他和阿尔维德年纪差不多，头发乱蓬蓬的，嗓门很大。
"What are you doing?" the man says. He is out of breath. "Please do not touch it!"
“你在干什么？”男人说，上气不接下气，“请别碰它！”
"I am sorry," Arvid says. "I know it is not allowed. I will clean it now. Then nobody needs to be angry."
“对不起，”阿尔维德说，“我知道这是不允许的。我现在就清理掉。这样就没有人需要生气了。”
The man stares at him. "Angry? Who is angry?"
男人盯着他。“生气？谁生气了？”
"You are. The card says to remove it by Friday."
“你们啊。卡片上说星期五前清除。”
The man looks at the card. Then he looks at the whale. Then he looks at Arvid, and he starts to laugh. It is a big, helpless laugh.
男人看了看卡片，又看了看鲸，再看看阿尔维德，然后大笑起来。那是一阵响亮的、无可奈何的笑。
"No, no, no," he says. "I wrote that card. The cones belong to the road office. I must take them away by Friday, or my boss gets angry. That is the thing to remove. Not the whale!"
“不，不，不，”他说，“那张卡片是我写的。那些路障是道路处的。我得在星期五前把它们搬走，不然我的老板会发火。要清除的是那个东西，不是鲸！”
Arvid feels the bucket slip in his hand. "The cones?"
阿尔维德觉得手里的桶要滑下去了。“路障？”
"Yes! Look." The man points at the pavement. "Yesterday, school children walked all over the tail. A boy jumped on the gull. A girl cried. So I put up the tape. I want to keep it safe."
“对！你看，”男人指着人行道，“昨天，学校的孩子们在鲸尾巴上踩来踩去。一个男孩跳到了海鸥上。一个女孩哭了。所以我拉了警戒带，想保护好它。”
"You want to keep it safe?"
“你想保护它？”
"Of course. It is the best thing in this village." The man puts his hand on his chest. "My name is Bastien. I drive past this shelter every day, and it is always grey. Yesterday it was a whale. Do you know how that feels?"
“当然。它是这个村子里最棒的东西。”男人把手按在胸口。“我叫巴斯蒂安。我每天开车经过这个候车亭，它一直都是灰色的。昨天它变成了一头鲸。你知道那是什么感觉吗？”
Arvid does not answer. His throat is tight.
阿尔维德没有回答。他的喉咙发紧。
"Do you know who made it?" Bastien asks. "I want to thank him. Maybe I want to ask him for a favour too."
“你知道是谁画的吗？”巴斯蒂安问，“我想谢谢他。说不定我还想求他帮个忙。”
Arvid looks at the brush in his hand. He looks at the white chalk dust on his fingers. Bastien looks at them too, and his eyes grow wide.
阿尔维德看着手里的刷子，看着手指上的白色粉笔灰。巴斯蒂安也看着它们，眼睛越睁越大。
For a long moment, nobody speaks.
好一会儿，谁也没有说话。
"I did," Arvid says. The words feel big in his mouth. It is the first time he says them aloud. "I drew it."
“是我，”阿尔维德说。这几个字在他嘴里显得很沉重。这是他第一次大声说出来。“我画的。”
"I thought so!" Bastien says. "You sit here every morning, do you not? I see you from my van."
“我就觉得是！”巴斯蒂安说，“你每天早上都坐在这里，对吧？我在车上看得到你。”
"You see me?"
“你看得到我？”
"Every day. You sit here with your bag. I always think, he looks like a man with a story."
“每天都看得到。你背着包坐在这里。我总是想，他看起来像一个有故事的人。”
Arvid laughs. It comes out shaky and loud. He puts the brush down in the bucket.
阿尔维德笑了。笑声颤抖而响亮。他把刷子放回桶里。
"I have a lot of stories," he says. "They are in four notebooks."
“我有很多故事，”他说，“都在四本笔记本里。”
"Then you must bring them here," says Bastien. "The pavement is big. I can find more tape."
“那你就该把它们带到这里来，”巴斯蒂安说，“这片人行道很大。我可以再找些警戒带。”
Arvid looks at the whale. Its kind eye looks back at him. For the first time, the drawing looks finished. It also looks like the start of something.
阿尔维德看着那头鲸。它那只和善的眼睛也回望着他。这是第一次，这幅画看起来完成了。它同时也像是某件事的开始。
Bastien reaches into his vest pocket. He takes out a short blue chalk, the kind that children use. He holds it out without a word.
巴斯蒂安把手伸进背心口袋，掏出一支短短的蓝粉笔，孩子们常用的那种。他一言不发地递了过来。
Arvid does not take it yet. He looks at the empty grey space beside the whale. It is as wide as a second whale. Bastien keeps his hand open, and the blue chalk waits between them.
阿尔维德还没有接。他看着鲸旁边那片空空的灰色地方。它宽得足以再容下一头鲸。巴斯蒂安的手一直摊开着，那支蓝粉笔在他们之间等待着。
