Gabi arrives at the car boot sale at six in the morning. Her hatchback is full, and her stomach is empty. The field is already busy. Engines hum, folding tables bang open, and somebody plays music from a small speaker. She parks in her usual spot and starts to unload.
加比早上六点来到后备箱旧货集市。她的两厢车塞得满满的，肚子却空空的。场地上已经很热闹了：引擎嗡嗡响，折叠桌砰砰地撑开，有人用一个小音箱放着音乐。她把车停在老位置，开始卸货。
She is moving to a new city in three weeks. Her flat has too much stuff in it. Today she wants to sell as much as possible. She lays out lamps, cups, a box of old cables, and a pile of board games. Then she takes the last item from the back seat: a small wooden chest with a brass padlock.
她三周后就要搬到一座新城市了。她的公寓里东西太多，今天她想尽可能多地卖出去。她摆出了台灯、杯子、一箱旧数据线和一堆桌游。然后她从后座上拿下了最后一件东西：一只小木箱，上面挂着一把黄铜挂锁。
She found it at the bottom of a wardrobe when she moved in. It has a four-digit lock. A paper tag tied to the handle shows the code in faded pencil. Gabi has never opened it. She likes mysteries too much to spoil them. But she has no room for one in her new flat. She writes a sign in thick marker: "MYSTERY BOX. CODE INCLUDED. CONTENTS UNKNOWN. FIVE POUNDS."
这只箱子是她搬进来时在衣柜底部发现的。它有四位数密码锁，把手上系着一张纸标签，用褪色的铅笔写着密码。加比从没打开过。她太喜欢谜了，舍不得去破坏。可她的新公寓里没有地方放它。她用粗记号笔写了一块牌子：“神秘箱子。附密码。内容未知。五英镑。”
The man at the next stall watches her with interest. His name is Naveen, and he sells bicycle parts. He has been at the field every Sunday for a month. They have nodded at each other four times and said hello twice. Today he finally leans over the gap between their tables.
隔壁摊位的男人饶有兴趣地看着她。他叫纳文，卖自行车零件。这个月的每个星期天他都在这块场地上。他们互相点过四次头，打过两次招呼。今天，他终于隔着两张桌子之间的空隙探过身来。
"Contents unknown?" he asks. "Is that a joke?"
“内容未知？”他问，“这是开玩笑吗？”
"No joke. I have never opened it." Gabi shrugs. "I like to think it is full of treasure. It is probably full of dust."
“不是玩笑。我从没打开过。”加比耸耸肩。“我愿意相信里面全是宝藏。多半是一箱灰尘。”
"Then it is the best thing on this field." He pulls a five-pound note from his pocket. "I will take it."
“那它就是这块场地上最好的东西了。”他从口袋里掏出一张五英镑的钞票。“我要了。”
Gabi laughs. "You have not even seen the code yet."
加比笑了。“你连密码都还没看到呢。”
She unties the tag from the handle to read it to him. The pencil is so faded that she can hardly see the numbers. She squints, copies them onto a sticky note, and presses it into his hand. A customer is already asking about the lamps, so she does not check her work. "Good luck," she says over her shoulder.
她从把手上解下标签，读给他听。铅笔字褪得太厉害，她几乎看不清数字。她眯着眼睛，把数字抄在一张便利贴上，按到他手里。有位顾客已经在问台灯了，所以她没有再核对。“祝你好运，”她回头说。
Naveen carries the chest back to his stall like a prize. He sets it on a crate between a pile of wheels and a box of brake cables. Then he kneels down and begins to turn the little brass dials.
纳文像捧着奖品一样把箱子抱回自己的摊位，放在一只板条箱上，夹在一堆车轮和一盒刹车线之间。然后他跪下来，开始拨动那些小小的黄铜转盘。
For the next hour, Gabi sells three lamps, a coffee pot, and half of her board games. Between customers, she watches Naveen from the corner of her eye. He turns the dials, pulls the lock, and frowns. He tries again, first slowly and then fast. Twice he looks up at her and shakes his head. Each time, she gives him a hopeful smile.
接下来的一个小时，加比卖掉了三盏台灯、一把咖啡壶和一半的桌游。顾客的间隙里，她用眼角的余光看着纳文。他拨动转盘，拉一拉锁，皱起眉头。他又试一次，先是慢慢地，后来越来越快。有两次，他抬头看她，摇了摇头。每一次，她都对他露出一个满怀希望的微笑。
"It does not open," he calls across the gap at last.
“打不开，”他终于隔着空隙喊道。
"Try again," she says. "Maybe it is stiff."
“再试试，”她说，“也许是太紧了。”
He tries again. Nothing happens. A customer buys his last bicycle bell, and he returns to the chest with a determined face. Gabi notices that she is smiling more than the situation needs.
他又试了一次，没有动静。一位顾客买走了他最后一只自行车铃，他带着一脸的执着回到箱子前。加比发觉自己笑得比这件事应有的程度更多了。
Around ten o'clock, the field becomes quieter. Gabi sits on a folding chair and finds the old paper tag in her pocket. She wants to throw it away. But the sun is higher now, so she holds it up to the light. The pencil looks much clearer. She reads the numbers once more, and her stomach drops.
快到十点，场地安静了下来。加比坐在一把折叠椅上，在口袋里摸到了那张旧纸标签。她想把它扔掉，但太阳已经升高了，于是她把它举到光线下。铅笔字清楚多了。她又读了一遍那几个数字，心一下子沉了下去。
The tag says one, nine, six, eight. The sticky note in Naveen's hand says one, six, nine, eight. In the poor light of the early morning, she wrote the middle digits in the wrong order. For two hours, a patient neighbour has been trying a code that cannot work.
标签上写的是一、九、六、八。纳文手里的便利贴上写的是一、六、九、八。早晨光线不好，她把中间两位数字的顺序写反了。整整两个小时，一位耐心的邻居一直在试一个根本打不开的密码。
"Oh, no," she says aloud. A woman at the next table gives her a strange look.
“哦，不，”她大声说。旁边桌子的一位女士奇怪地看了她一眼。
Gabi jumps up and walks across the gap. Naveen sits on the crate with the chest on his knees, turning the dials with patient concentration. A paper cup of coffee cools beside him. A few coins lie on the lid, as if he is bribing the lock.
加比一跃而起，穿过空隙走过去。纳文坐在板条箱上，箱子放在膝头，正全神贯注而耐心地拨动转盘。旁边的一杯纸杯咖啡已经凉了。盖子上放着几枚硬币，像是在贿赂那把锁。
"I have bad news," she says. "It is my fault."
“我有个坏消息，”她说，“是我的错。”
He looks up. "The box is empty?"
他抬起头。“箱子是空的？”
"No. I mean, I do not know." She holds out the tag. "I gave you the wrong code. I wrote the middle numbers the wrong way round. It is one, nine, six, eight, not one, six, nine, eight."
“不，我是说，我不知道。”她递出标签。“我给你的密码是错的。我把中间的数字写反了。应该是一、九、六、八，不是一、六、九、八。”
Naveen stares at the tag. Then he stares at the sticky note. Then he starts to laugh, so hard that he nearly drops the chest. "Two hours," he says. "I tried every code I could think of. I even tried my own birthday, in case you were a witch."
纳文盯着标签，又盯着便利贴，然后大笑起来，笑得差点把箱子摔了。“两个小时，”他说，“我把能想到的密码都试了一遍。我甚至试了我自己的生日，怕你是个女巫。”
"I am so sorry." Gabi covers her mouth, but she is laughing too. "You could have come to ask me."
“真对不起。”加比捂着嘴，但她也在笑。“你可以来问我的。”
"I was too proud to ask." He wipes his eyes. "I thought a clever person would open it in five minutes."
“我不好意思问。”他擦了擦眼睛。“我以为聪明人五分钟就能打开。”
"A better person would not have copied it wrong." She kneels beside him on the grass. "Give it back, and I will refund you."
“一个更靠谱的人就不会抄错了。”她在草地上跪到他身边。“还给我吧，我退你钱。”
"Absolutely not." He hugs the chest to his jacket like a baby. "It is mine. I paid for it. Besides, I did not spend two hours with this lock to hand it back now."
“绝对不行。”他把箱子像抱婴儿一样抱在夹克上。“它是我的，我付了钱。再说，我在这把锁上花了两个小时，现在可不会把它交回去。”
He sets the dials with careful fingers. Gabi watches them turn: one, nine, six, eight. A small, warm silence settles between them in the middle of the noisy field. The padlock gives a soft click and falls open in his palm.
他用小心的手指拨好转盘。加比看着它们转动：一、九、六、八。一阵小小的、温暖的安静，落在他们之间，落在喧闹的场地中央。挂锁发出轻轻的咔哒一声，掉在他的手心里。
Neither of them moves. The lid sits on the box, quiet and closed. A ray of morning sun runs across the brass hinges.
两个人都没有动。盖子安静地合在箱子上。一缕晨光掠过黄铜合页。
"Do you want to know something?" Naveen says. "My hands are shaking."
“你想知道一件事吗？”纳文说，“我的手在发抖。”
"So are mine." Gabi puts her fingers beside his on the lid. "I think I want to know what is inside more than I thought I did."
“我的也是。”加比把手指放到盖子上，挨着他的手。“我发现，我比自己以为的更想知道里面是什么。”
"Even though it is probably dust?"
“哪怕里面多半是灰尘？”
"Even then." She takes a breath. "Maybe it was a bad idea to sell it."
“哪怕是灰尘。”她深吸了一口气。“也许把它卖掉是个坏主意。”
"Then it is lucky that you sold it to someone who tries for two hours." He grins and lifts the lid just one finger's width. A faint smell of old paper and cedar drifts out into the air. He looks at the narrow dark gap, and then he looks at her. "Shall we find out what is inside together?"
“那还好你是卖给了一个愿意试两个小时的人，”他咧嘴一笑，把盖子掀开了一指宽。一股旧纸和雪松的淡淡气味飘到空气里。他看着那道窄窄的黑缝，然后看向她。“我们一起来看看里面是什么，好吗？”
