Eero sits behind a small desk at the stage door. He checks names. He hands out keys. He knows every actor by the sound of their shoes.
埃罗坐在后台门口的一张小桌子后面。他核对名字，发放钥匙。每一位演员，他都能从脚步声里听出来。
It is six forty on opening night. The curtain goes up at seven thirty. The hall is full of noise and the smell of paint.
现在是首演之夜的六点四十分。七点半开幕。大厅里满是嘈杂声和油漆味。
The door bangs open. Zosia runs in. One hand holds a clipboard. The other holds a phone. She is the stage manager. She never runs, so Eero sits up.
门砰的一声被撞开。佐西娅冲了进来。她一只手拿着记事板，另一只手拿着手机。她是舞台监督，从来不跑，所以埃罗坐直了身子。
"Eero, did you see a glove?" she says.
“埃罗，你看见一只手套了吗？”她说。
"A glove?" Eero says. "What kind of glove?"
“手套？”埃罗说，“什么样的手套？”
"A long white one. Soft. Right hand." Zosia puts both hands on the desk. "The duchess needs it in the first scene."
“一只长长的白色手套，很软，右手的。”佐西娅双手撑在桌上。“公爵夫人第一场就要用。”
Eero looks at his desk. He sees a cup, a stapler and a sleepy plant. He sees no glove. "Sorry," he says. "Nothing here."
埃罗看了看自己的桌子。他看见一只杯子、一个订书机和一盆没精打采的植物，没看见手套。“抱歉，”他说，“这里没有。”
"Then we have a problem," Zosia says. "We have one white glove and a lot of worry."
“那我们就有麻烦了，”佐西娅说，“我们只有一只白手套和一大堆担心。”
She tells him the story fast. The lead actress plays the duchess. She came in at six. She put on the costume. She had two gloves for the first scene. At six thirty, she opened her bag. She found only the left one. The right one was gone.
她飞快地讲了经过。女主演扮演公爵夫人，六点钟到的，换上了戏服。第一场她有两只手套。六点半，她打开包，只找到了左边那只，右边的不见了。
"She looked in the dressing room," Zosia says. "She looked in the bathroom. She looked in her car."
“她去化妆间找过，”佐西娅说，“去洗手间找过，还去她的车里找过。”
"What does she say?" Eero asks.
“她怎么说？”埃罗问。
"She says she cannot walk on the stage," Zosia says. "She says one glove is not enough. She says the duchess is nothing without both."
“她说她没法上台，”佐西娅说，“她说一只手套不够，说没有两只手套，公爵夫人就什么都不是。”
Eero stands up. "I will look," he says. He checks the floor. He checks the bin. He looks under the plant. He looks inside the stapler. That makes no sense, but he looks anyway.
埃罗站了起来。“我去找找。”他说。他查看地板，查看垃圾桶，看了植物底下，又看了订书机里面。这毫无道理，但他还是看了。
Nothing.
什么也没有。
Zosia's phone rings. She listens for ten seconds and says, "Yes, I know. I will fix it." Then she looks at Eero. "I have two ideas. Tell me which one is better."
佐西娅的手机响了。她听了十秒钟，说：“是的，我知道。我会解决的。”然后她看着埃罗。“我有两个主意，你告诉我哪个更好。”
"Why me?" Eero asks.
“为什么问我？”埃罗问。
"Because you are calm," Zosia says. "And because everyone else shouts."
“因为你冷静，”佐西娅说，“还因为别人都在大喊大叫。”
Eero sits down again. "Go on."
埃罗重新坐下。“你说吧。”
"Idea one," Zosia says. "We take a glove from the costume room. There is a long black lace glove from an old play. It fits the right hand. But it does not match the white one."
“主意一，”佐西娅说，“从服装间拿一只手套。有一只旧戏里用过的黑色长蕾丝手套，右手能戴，但和白的不配。”
"Idea two?" Eero asks.
“主意二呢？”埃罗问。
"Idea two. The duchess wears no gloves at all. She plays the whole show with bare hands. Everything matches, and nothing looks strange."
“主意二，公爵夫人一只手套都不戴。她光着手演完整场戏。一切都协调，也不会显得奇怪。”
Eero thinks about it. Both ideas sound fine to him. One is odd. One is plain. He cannot say which is right.
埃罗想了想。两个主意在他听来都不错，一个古怪，一个平淡。他说不出哪个对。
"What is the play about?" he asks.
“这出戏讲的是什么？”他问。
"It is a comedy," Zosia says. "The duchess is very rich, very proud and a bit silly. She forgets things. She wears her hat the wrong way. In the first scene, she waves her gloves at everyone."
“是喜剧，”佐西娅说，“公爵夫人非常有钱，非常骄傲，还有点傻乎乎的。她老忘事，帽子也会戴反。第一场里，她对着所有人挥舞她的手套。”
"So she waves them a lot," Eero says.
“所以她要挥很多次。”埃罗说。
"Yes. She waves them in five scenes."
“对，五场戏里她都要挥。”
Eero smiles. "Then you know your answer," he says.
埃罗笑了。“那你已经有答案了。”他说。
Zosia looks at the floor. She looks at her clipboard. She looks at the clock on the wall. It says six forty-eight.
佐西娅看看地板，看看记事板，又看看墙上的钟。钟上是六点四十八分。
"Black lace," she says. "I choose the black one."
“黑蕾丝，”她说，“我选黑的。”
"Why?" Eero asks, because he wants to hear her say it.
“为什么？”埃罗问，因为他想听她亲口说出来。
"Because bare hands are safe, and safe is dull," Zosia says. "The duchess is not a safe woman. She puts on one white glove and one black one. She does not notice. The audience will notice. They will love it."
“因为光着手很保险，而保险就是乏味，”佐西娅说，“公爵夫人可不是个保险的女人。她戴一只白手套、一只黑手套，自己还没发觉，观众会发现的，他们会爱死的。”
"Good," Eero says.
“好。”埃罗说。
"But the actress will hate it," Zosia says.
“可是女演员会讨厌的。”佐西娅说。
"Then tell her it is her idea," Eero says.
“那就告诉她，这是她自己的主意。”埃罗说。
Zosia laughs for the first time that night. She runs to the costume room. She comes back with a long black glove. Then she runs to the dressing room. Eero hears her shoes on the stairs. Then he hears a distant voice, and a door.
佐西娅笑了，这是她那天晚上第一次笑。她跑向服装间，拿回一只黑色长手套，然后又跑向化妆间。埃罗听见她的鞋踩在楼梯上的声音，接着听见远处的说话声，还有一扇门响。
At seven thirty, the show starts. Eero cannot watch from the stage door. But a small speaker on the wall brings him the sound. First he hears music. Then he hears the duchess walk on.
七点半，演出开始了。埃罗没法在后台门口看戏，但墙上的一个小喇叭把声音传给了他。他先听到音乐，接着听到公爵夫人走上台来。
There is a short silence. Then he hears one laugh. Then ten. Then the whole hall.
有一小会儿的寂静。然后他听见一个人笑，接着是十个人，接着是整个大厅。
Eero grins at the speaker. Zosia is right. The audience loves the duchess and her odd gloves.
埃罗对着喇叭咧嘴笑了。佐西娅是对的。观众爱上了公爵夫人和她那古怪的手套。
Every few minutes, the audience laughs again. In scene three, the laugh is so loud that the plant shakes. In scene five, the duchess says, "You have lovely gloves." The audience laughs until it cannot stop.
每隔几分钟，观众就会再笑一次。第三场里，笑声大得连那盆植物都在抖。第五场里，公爵夫人说：“你有一副漂亮的手套。”观众笑得停不下来。
At the break, Zosia comes back to the stage door. Her hair is a mess. Her clipboard has a coffee stain.
中场休息时，佐西娅回到后台门口。她头发一团乱，记事板上有一块咖啡渍。
"They love it," she says. "The actress loves it too. She says it was her idea."
“他们爱死了，”她说，“女演员也爱死了。她说这是她的主意。”
"Good," Eero says. "Everyone is happy."
“好，”埃罗说，“大家都高兴。”
"Everyone except me," Zosia says. "I still want to know where the white glove is. Gloves do not walk away by themselves."
“除了我，”佐西娅说，“我还是想知道那只白手套到底在哪儿。手套是不会自己走掉的。”
"No," Eero says. "They do not."
“是啊，”埃罗说，“不会。”
He thinks about the evening again. He thinks about six o'clock, when the actress arrived. She signed the book. She had her bag on one arm. She held a coffee in one hand. She held the white glove in the other.
他又回想了一遍这个晚上。他想到六点钟，女演员到的时候。她在登记簿上签了名。她一条胳膊挎着包，一只手拿着咖啡，另一只手拿着那只白手套。
"Hold this, please," she said, and gave him the glove. She needed both hands to sign her name.
“请帮我拿一下。”她说着，把手套递给了他。她需要两只手来签名。
He put it in his coat pocket and forgot it.
他把它放进了外套口袋，然后就忘了。
He stands up very slowly.
他非常缓慢地站了起来。
"Zosia," he says. "Is the glove long and soft?"
“佐西娅，”他说，“那只手套是又长又软的吗？”
"Yes," she says. "Why?"
“是啊，”她说，“怎么了？”
Eero puts his hand into the pocket of his coat. He feels his keys. He feels a sweet wrapper. Then he feels something long and soft and silky.
埃罗把手伸进外套口袋。他摸到了钥匙，摸到了一张糖纸，然后摸到了一样又长又软又滑的东西。
He pulls it out. It is a white glove.
他把它拿了出来。那是一只白手套。
They both look at it.
两个人都看着它。
"Oh," Eero says.
“哦。”埃罗说。
Zosia says nothing. She looks at the glove. She looks at Eero. She looks up at the speaker on the wall. The audience still laughs.
佐西娅什么也没说。她看看手套，看看埃罗，又抬头看看墙上的喇叭。观众还在笑。
"Do not give it to her," she says. "Not tonight."
“别给她，”她说，“今晚不行。”
"Not tonight," Eero says. He puts the glove on the desk, next to the sleepy plant.
“今晚不行。”埃罗说。他把手套放在桌上，放在那盆没精打采的植物旁边。
"Oops," he says.
“哎呀。”他说。
