Every day at noon, the bell in the village tower rings nine times. Noon should have twelve strokes, and everybody knows it.
每天中午，村里钟楼的钟都会敲九下。中午本该敲十二下，人人都知道这一点。
Calla sweeps the stairs of the tower on Saturdays, and she hates the sound. This morning she stands at the bottom with a broom and looks up at the dark wooden steps.
卡拉每个星期六都会去扫钟楼的楼梯，她讨厌这个声音。这天早晨，她拿着扫帚站在楼梯底下，抬头望着黑漆漆的木头台阶。
"Today is the fair," she says to her friend Pilar. "The traders from the next valley are coming. They hear nine strokes, and they think they are early."
“今天赶集，”她对朋友皮拉尔说，“隔壁山谷的商人要来了。他们一听见九下钟声，就会以为自己来早了。”
"They are not the only ones," Pilar says. "Last week the miller's clock and the bell disagreed for a whole hour."
“不光是他们，”皮拉尔说，“上周磨坊主的钟和这口钟，整整一个小时对不上。”
Calla laughs. "You know what my brother says. He says the bell is alive and it does this on purpose."
卡拉笑了。“你知道我哥哥怎么说吗？他说这口钟是活的，是故意这样的。”
"I say the bell is old and nobody has looked at it for fifty years." Pilar pulls a leather strap and a wooden wheel out of her bag. "So I made a plan. We climb up before noon. We tie the clapper with this strap. Then I turn the wheel by hand, one click for each stroke, and the bell stops at twelve."
“我说这口钟是太老了，五十年没人管过它。”皮拉尔从包里拉出一条皮带和一个木头轮子。“所以我想了个办法。我们中午前爬上去，用这条皮带绑住钟舌。然后我用手转这个轮子，每转一下咔哒一声，就算一响，钟敲到十二下就停。”
"And if it does not stop?"
“要是停不下来呢？”
"Then we try again tomorrow. The ringer is away at a wedding until Monday, so nobody will tell us no."
“那我们明天再试。敲钟人去参加婚礼了，要到星期一才回来，所以没人会拦我们。”
The tower has one hundred and twenty steps. By the time the girls reach the top, Calla's legs shake. A pigeon flies out of the window with an angry sound. The bell hangs in the middle of the room, large and black. A green stain runs around its edge.
钟楼有一百二十级台阶。女孩们爬到顶上时，卡拉的腿在发抖。一只鸽子发着愤怒的叫声从窗口飞了出去。大钟悬在房间中央，又大又黑，边缘有一圈绿色的锈斑。
It does not look alive, but it hums very quietly. Calla feels the sound in her teeth.
它看上去不像是活的，却在低低地嗡鸣。卡拉感到那声音震得牙齿发麻。
"It is eleven forty," Pilar says. "We have twenty minutes."
“十一点四十了，”皮拉尔说，“我们还有二十分钟。”
They work fast. Calla holds the heavy clapper with both hands. Pilar ties the strap around it in a tight knot. Then Pilar holds the wooden wheel ready and checks it twice.
她们动作很快。卡拉用双手抓住沉重的钟舌，皮拉尔把皮带绕在上面，打了个紧紧的结。然后皮拉尔拿好木轮，又检查了两遍。
"If the strap holds, the bell will stay quiet until I let go," she says. "Then I count to twelve, and everything is perfect."
“只要皮带撑得住，我不松手，钟就会一直安静，”她说，“然后我数到十二，一切就完美了。”
At eleven fifty-nine, the humming gets louder. The strap begins to tremble. Calla steps back and holds her breath.
十一点五十九分，嗡嗡声变大了。皮带开始颤抖。卡拉退后一步，屏住了呼吸。
Pilar touches the wheel. At that moment, the strap snaps with a sharp crack, and the clapper swings free. The bell rings.
皮拉尔刚碰到木轮，皮带啪的一声断了，钟舌自由地荡了出去。钟响了。
One. Two. Three. The sound is so loud that the pigeons rise from every roof in the village. Pilar covers her ears and shouts something, but Calla cannot hear her. Four, five, six, seven, eight.
一，二，三。那声音大得让村里每一个屋顶上的鸽子都飞了起来。皮拉尔捂住耳朵，喊着什么，但卡拉听不见。四，五，六，七，八。
Nine.
九。
Then the bell is silent again. The strap lies on the floor in two pieces, and the wheel spins slowly by itself.
接着钟又安静了。皮带断成两截躺在地上，木轮自己慢慢地转着。
"That did not work," Pilar says at last. Her voice sounds small in the quiet room. "I was so sure."
“没成功，”皮拉尔终于说。安静的房间里，她的声音显得很小。“我本来那么有把握。”
Calla sits down on the dusty floor. "Maybe we are wrong about the bell. Maybe it does not make a mistake. Maybe it rings nine because it means nine."
卡拉在布满灰尘的地板上坐下来。“也许我们对这口钟有误会。也许它没有出错。也许它敲九下，是因为它的意思就是九。”
"Nine what?"
“九什么？”
"I don't know yet." Calla thinks hard. "Last week, when the bell rang four times at noon, what happened?"
“我还不知道，”卡拉使劲地想。“上周中午，钟敲了四下，发生了什么事？”
Pilar frowns. "The mill door fell off, and four people carried it into the yard. I helped. We all complained that the bell was wrong again."
皮拉尔皱起眉头。“磨坊的门掉了，四个人把它抬进了院子，我也去帮忙了。我们都抱怨这口钟又敲错了。”
"And the week before, it rang six, and six of us pulled the goat out of the well." Calla jumps up. "It rings the number of helpers somebody needs. It rings the wrong time because it does not care about time."
“再上一周，它敲了六下，我们六个人把山羊从井里拉了出来。”卡拉跳了起来。“它敲的是别人需要的帮手人数。它敲错了时间，因为它根本不在乎时间。”
"That is a crazy idea." Pilar looks at her for a moment. Then she looks out of the window. "Calla. Come here."
“这想法太疯狂了，”皮拉尔看了她一会儿，然后望向窗外。“卡拉，过来。”
From the top of the tower, they see the whole road to the stone bridge. A farmer's wagon stands in the middle of the bridge, full of heavy barrels. One wheel hangs over the edge, and the donkey sits on the stones and refuses to move. The farmer waves both arms at the empty fields.
从钟楼顶上，她们能看到通往石桥的整条路。一辆农夫的马车停在桥中间，装满了沉重的木桶。一个轮子悬在桥边外面，驴子坐在石头上，不肯动弹。农夫朝着空荡荡的田野挥舞着双臂。
"Nobody can hear him," Calla says. "The fair is on the other side of the village."
“没人能听到他，”卡拉说，“集市在村子的另一头。”
"A wagon like that needs nine people to lift," Pilar says slowly. "Nine helpers."
“这样的马车，要九个人才抬得动，”皮拉尔缓缓地说，“九个帮手。”
"Nine strokes." Calla grabs her friend's arm. "Our plan went wrong, but the bell did its job. Now we have to do ours."
“九下钟声。”卡拉抓住朋友的胳膊。“我们的计划失败了，可钟做了它该做的事。现在轮到我们做我们的事了。”
They run down the stairs two at a time. At the bottom, Calla stops and thinks. If they run to the bridge, they are only two. If they go to the fair, they will lose precious minutes.
她们两级并作一级地跑下楼梯。到了底下，卡拉停下来想了想。如果直接跑去桥边，她们只有两个人；如果先去集市，又会浪费宝贵的时间。
"We need seven more," she says. "Pilar, take the wheel. Turn it as fast as you can and make a loud noise at the market gate."
“我们还需要七个人，”她说，“皮拉尔，你拿着轮子，使劲转，在集市门口弄出大声响。”
"And you?"
“那你呢？”
"I am going to ask the whole fair for help."
“我去请整个集市的人帮忙。”
Pilar runs one way, spinning the wooden wheel like a rattle. The sound is dry and sharp across the square. Calla runs the other way and climbs onto the fountain at the edge of the market. The traders stop and look at her.
皮拉尔朝一个方向跑去，把木轮像拨浪鼓一样转着，那声音在广场上又干又脆。卡拉朝另一个方向跑，爬上了集市边的喷泉。商人们停下来看着她。
"Please listen!" she shouts. "The bell did not make a mistake. It rang nine because a wagon is stuck on the stone bridge, and the farmer needs nine helpers. We are only two. We need seven more!"
“请大家听我说！”她喊道，“钟没有出错。它敲九下，是因为石桥上有一辆马车卡住了，农夫需要九个帮手。我们只有两个人，还需要七个人！”
For a moment, nobody moves. A trader with a cart of apples laughs. Then a woman in a long coat puts down her basket and says, "Seven? That is easy." Three men from the fair follow her, and a boy runs ahead of them.
一时间，没有人动。一个推着苹果车的商人笑了起来。接着，一位穿长外套的女人放下篮子，说：“七个？这容易。”集市上的三个男人跟着她，一个男孩跑在了他们前头。
By the time Calla reaches the bridge, five more people are running behind her. Pilar arrives with the wheel in her hand and a girl from the school. The farmer looks at them with wet eyes.
等卡拉跑到桥边时，身后已有五个人在跑。皮拉尔也到了，手里拿着轮子，还带着一个学校里的女孩。农夫含着泪看着他们。
"Everybody take a place," Calla says. "On three, we lift."
“大家各就各位，”卡拉说，“数到三，我们一起抬。”
They stand around the wagon in a circle. Calla counts the people with her finger. There are nine, with the farmer among them. She takes a breath.
他们围着马车站成一圈。卡拉用手指点着人数，包括农夫在内，正好九个。她深吸了一口气。
"One, two, three!"
“一，二，三！”
The wagon lifts. The donkey stands up in surprise, and the wheel rolls back onto the bridge. The barrels do not lose a single drop. The farmer shakes everybody's hand twice.
马车抬了起来。驴子吃惊地站起身，车轮滚回了桥面。木桶里一滴也没洒。农夫跟每个人都握了两次手。
"I have crossed this bridge for thirty years," he says. "No one has ever come this fast."
“我在这座桥上走了三十年，”他说，“从来没有人来得这么快。”
On the way back, Pilar walks beside Calla and carries the broken strap. "I still want to fix the bell," she says. "Just not today."
回去的路上，皮拉尔走在卡拉身边，拿着那条断了的皮带。“我还是想把钟修好，”她说，“只是不是今天。”
"Maybe never," Calla answers. "Maybe a bell that tells the truth is better than a bell that tells the time."
“也许永远不修，”卡拉回答，“也许一口说真话的钟，比一口报时间的钟更好。”
Behind them, high in the tower, the bell gives one more stroke, soft and clear and short.
在他们身后，高高的钟楼里，那口钟又敲了一下，轻轻的，清清楚楚，短短的。
Dong.
当。
