The greenhouse module of Station Larkspur was the quietest room in space. It had forty shelves of plants and one long window. The light was soft and green. A big clock hung on the far wall. It showed only minutes. Orla loved it more than any other place on the station.
飞燕草空间站的温室舱，是太空里最安静的房间。这里有四十层架子的植物和一扇长长的窗户。光线柔和，泛着绿色。远处的墙上挂着一只大钟，上面只显示分钟。在这个空间站上，奥拉最爱的就是这个地方。
She was fifteen, and she was the youngest crew member. Her job was to care for one plant. It was a night orchid called Pearl.
她十五岁，是全体船员里最年轻的一个。她的工作是照料一株植物，一株名叫珀尔的夜兰花。
Pearl was famous on the station. She had one flower, and the flower opened once every thirty days. It stayed open for one minute only. During that minute, someone had to touch it with a tiny brush. Without the brush, Pearl made no seeds.
珀尔在空间站里很有名。她只有一朵花，每三十天才开一次，每次只开一分钟。在那一分钟里，必须有人用一支小小的刷子去碰触花朵。没有刷子，珀尔就结不出种子。
"Do not miss it," said Cordelia, the station gardener. She was twenty. She wore a hat with a leaf pinned to it. "Pearl has no more chances this month."
“可别错过了，”空间站的园丁科迪莉亚说。她二十岁，戴着一顶别着一片叶子的帽子。“珀尔这个月没有第二次机会了。”
"I will not miss it," said Orla.
“我不会错过的。”奥拉说。
"Do you have a clock?" Cordelia asked.
“你有钟吗？”科迪莉亚问。
Orla held up her wrist. There was no clock there. Instead, she showed an old brass stopwatch. It hung on a string around her neck.
奥拉举起手腕，那里没有表。她拿出来的是一只旧的黄铜秒表，用一根细绳挂在她的脖子上。
"It came with the room," said Orla. "It is older than the station."
“这是房间里本来就有的，”奥拉说，“比空间站还要老。”
"Does it work?" asked Cordelia.
“还能用吗？”科迪莉亚问。
"I think so," said Orla. "It runs a little slow. But it works."
“我想能，”奥拉说，“走得有点慢，不过能用。”
On the day of the flower, Orla woke very early. She put on clean gloves. She took the small brush from its box. She set the stopwatch in her left hand. Then she sat on a stool in front of Pearl. She waited for the bud to move.
开花那天，奥拉起得很早。她戴上干净的手套，从盒子里取出那把小刷子，把秒表握在左手里，然后在珀尔面前的凳子上坐下，等着花苞动起来。
The bud was shut, round, and silver. At ten o'clock it trembled. A thin line appeared along its side.
花苞紧闭着，圆圆的，银色的。十点钟，它颤动起来，侧面出现了一条细细的缝。
"Now," Orla whispered. She pressed the button on the stopwatch.
“现在。”奥拉小声说。她按下了秒表上的按钮。
The petals opened like a white hand. A soft blue light spread across the shelf. The flower smelled of cold water and honey. Orla raised the brush. She looked at the stopwatch. The hand showed only twenty seconds.
花瓣像一只白色的手那样张开了。一片柔和的蓝光洒满了整层架子。花散发着冷水和蜂蜜的气味。奥拉举起刷子，看了一眼秒表，指针才指到二十秒。
"Plenty of time," she told herself.
“时间多得很。”她对自己说。
She moved the brush with great care. She wanted every touch to be perfect. The flower trembled, and a little gold dust fell from its middle. The hand on the stopwatch showed forty seconds. Orla smiled.
她非常小心地挪动刷子，想让每一次触碰都恰到好处。花朵颤了颤，从花心落下一点金色的粉末。秒表的指针指到四十秒。奥拉笑了。
Then the petals began to close.
接着，花瓣开始合拢了。
"No, no, no," Orla said. She leaned forward and touched the flower again and again. The petals folded one by one. The blue light faded. Pearl became a small silver bud once more.
“不，不，不。”奥拉说。她俯身向前，一下又一下地碰触花朵。花瓣一片一片地折了起来，蓝光渐渐暗下去。珀尔又变回了一个小小的银色花苞。
She checked the time. The stopwatch said forty seconds.
她看了看时间。秒表上写着四十秒。
Cordelia ran into the room. "How did it go?"
科迪莉亚冲进了房间。“怎么样了？”
"It closed early," Orla said sadly. "I still had twenty seconds."
“花合得太早了，”奥拉难过地说，“我明明还有二十秒。”
Cordelia looked at the bud and then at the stopwatch. She bit her lip.
科迪莉亚看看花苞，又看看秒表，咬住了嘴唇。
"Did you touch her enough?" she asked.
“你碰得够多吗？”她问。
"Maybe," said Orla. "But I do not know. The flower was too fast."
“也许吧，”奥拉说，“但我不知道。花太快了。”
"The flower was not fast," said Cordelia. "Your watch was slow."
“花并不快，”科迪莉亚说，“是你的表慢了。”
She took the stopwatch. She held it next to the big clock on the wall. They both watched. The big clock moved one whole minute. The stopwatch showed only forty seconds.
她拿过秒表，把它举到墙上的大钟旁边。两个人一起看着。大钟走过了整整一分钟，秒表却只走了四十秒。
"It is not a little slow," said Cordelia. "It loses a third of every minute."
“它不是慢一点点，”科迪莉亚说，“它每分钟都要少走三分之一。”
Orla put her face in her hands. "So Pearl made no seeds?"
奥拉双手捂住了脸。“那珀尔没有结种子吗？”
"A few, maybe," said Cordelia. "But not enough. We have to try again."
“也许结了几颗，”科迪莉亚说，“但不够。我们得再试一次。”
"In thirty days?" Orla asked. "That is a long time."
“再等三十天吗？”奥拉问，“那太久了。”
"We do not have to wait," said Cordelia.
“我们不用等。”科迪莉亚说。
She pointed at the shelf. Next to Pearl, a second small bud sat in a pot. It was pale, and it was only the size of a pea.
她指向架子。在珀尔旁边，一个花盆里还有第二个小花苞，颜色很淡，只有豌豆那么大。
"Her sister," said Cordelia. "She opens in three days. If you touch her well with the brush, we get many seeds."
“她的妹妹，”科迪莉亚说，“三天后开花。要是你能用刷子好好碰触她，我们就能得到很多种子。”
"And if I miss again?"
“要是我又错过了呢？”
"Then we will have a very sad greenhouse," said Cordelia.
“那我们的温室就会非常难过了。”科迪莉亚说。
For three days, Orla did not sleep well. She thought about the stopwatch. She thought about the twenty lost seconds. She tried a new watch from the station store. It stopped working in an hour. She tried to count aloud, but she lost her place every time.
接下来的三天，奥拉睡得很不好。她一直想着那只秒表，想着丢掉的二十秒。她从空间站的商店里试了一块新表，不到一个小时就停了。她试着大声数数，可每次都数乱。
On the third night, she sat in the greenhouse. The old brass watch was in her hand. At last she had a different idea.
第三个晚上，她坐在温室里，手里握着那只旧黄铜表，终于想到了另一个办法。
In the morning, she told Cordelia.
早晨，她告诉了科迪莉亚。
"I will not fight the watch," she said. "I will use it as it is."
“我不跟这只表较劲了，”她说，“我就照它本来的样子用。”
"What do you mean?" Cordelia asked.
“你是什么意思？”科迪莉亚问。
"The watch loses a third of every minute," said Orla. "That never changes. So the flower's whole minute is only forty seconds on my watch. I will plan my work in forty seconds, not sixty."
“这只表每分钟少走三分之一，”奥拉说，“这一点永远不会变。所以花开的整整一分钟，在我的表上只有四十秒。我就按四十秒来安排我的工作，而不是六十秒。”
Cordelia tilted her head. "That is clever."
科迪莉亚歪了歪头。“这很聪明。”
"It is only counting," said Orla. "From the start, the left petals. At ten, the right petals. At twenty, the middle. At thirty-eight, I stop."
“只是在数数而已，”奥拉说，“从开始起，先碰左边的花瓣。到十秒，换右边的花瓣。到二十秒，碰中间。到三十八秒，我就停手。”
"And the big clock?" Cordelia asked.
“那大钟呢？”科迪莉亚问。
"It shows no seconds," said Orla. "Only my watch can count them."
“它不显示秒，”奥拉说，“只有我的表能数秒。”
The second bud trembled at ten that morning. The petals opened, and a pale gold light filled the room. Orla pressed the button. She did not hurry. She brushed the left petals in slow, even lines. At ten seconds, she moved to the right. At twenty, she touched the middle with the tip of the brush.
第二个花苞在那天早上十点颤动起来。花瓣张开，一片淡金色的光充满了房间。奥拉按下按钮。她不慌不忙，用缓慢而均匀的线条轻刷左边的花瓣。到十秒，她挪到右边。到二十秒，她用刷尖碰触中间。
Gold dust rose into the air and sparkled around her glove.
金色的粉末升到空中，在她的手套四周闪闪发亮。
At thirty-eight seconds, she stopped. She held the brush still.
到三十八秒，她停下了，把刷子稳稳地举着不动。
At forty, the petals began to close.
到四十秒，花瓣开始合拢。
Orla did not move. She watched the flower fold, one petal after another. Soon only a small silver bud was left. The blue light faded from the shelf.
奥拉一动不动。她看着花一片接一片地折起来。不一会儿，只剩下一个小小的银色花苞。架子上的蓝光渐渐消失了。
"Did it work?" Cordelia whispered from the door.
“成功了吗？”科迪莉亚在门口小声问。
Orla checked the stopwatch. Then she looked at the pale bud. A tiny gold seed already grew at its base.
奥拉看了一眼秒表，然后看着那个淡淡的花苞。一颗小小的金色种子，已经在花苞的底部长了出来。
"Yes," she said. "Every petal. Every second."
“成功了，”她说，“每一片花瓣，每一秒钟。”
Cordelia clapped her hands. "You did it. You really did it."
科迪莉亚拍起手来。“你做到了，你真的做到了。”
"The watch did most of the work," said Orla.
“大部分功劳是这只表的。”奥拉说。
Cordelia took the brass stopwatch off its string. She looked at it for a long moment. Then she hung it around her own neck.
科迪莉亚把黄铜秒表从绳子上取了下来。她看了它很久，然后挂在了自己的脖子上。
"At last," she said, "a clock that makes my meetings shorter. I will wear it everywhere."
“终于有了一个能让我的会议变短的钟，”她说，“我要戴着它到处走。”
