Every morning at eight, Lenny opens the gate of the car park. It is the car park of the driving-test centre. It has twelve white spaces and one tall lamp. It has a low brick wall.
每天早上八点，莱尼都会打开停车场的大门。这是驾照考试中心的停车场，有十二个白线车位、一盏高高的路灯和一道低矮的砖墙。
Nineteen years is a long time to know one car park. Lenny knows the cracks in the ground. He knows which space gets wet when it rains. His job is small. He sweeps, he paints the lines and he changes the bulbs.
对一个停车场熟悉了十九年，那可真是很长的时间。莱尼知道地面上的每一道裂缝，也知道哪个车位一下雨就会积水。他的工作很简单：扫地、画线、换灯泡。
Today he brings his ladder. It is a green metal ladder with five rungs. He leans it on the lamp post. He tests it with his hand.
今天他带来了梯子。那是一架绿色的金属梯子，有五级横档。他把梯子靠在灯柱上，用手试了试牢不牢。
"The bulb is dead," he says to himself. "Easy."
“灯泡坏了，”他自言自语地说，“小事一桩。”
He climbs. At the fourth rung, the lamp is still far above his head. At the fifth rung, his hand almost reaches the glass. It is the top rung. He stretches. The glass is still a hand's width away.
他往上爬。爬到第四级，灯还远远高在头顶上。爬到第五级，他的手差不多够到玻璃罩了。这已经是最顶上的一级。他使劲伸长手臂，可离玻璃罩还差一掌宽。
He climbs down and looks at the ladder. He looks at the lamp. Then he looks at the ladder again. It is still too short.
他爬下来，看看梯子，又看看路灯，然后再看看梯子。它还是太矮了。
"Too short," he says.
“太矮了。”他说。
"What is too short?" asks a voice behind him.
“什么太矮了？”身后有个声音问。
Vic, the examiner, stands by the wall. He holds a clipboard against his chest. He wears the same grey jacket every day. He fails more people than anyone at the centre. But he does it kindly. Nobody is angry with him for long.
是考官维克，他站在墙边，把记事板抱在胸前。他每天都穿同一件灰夹克。他是考试中心里挂掉人最多的考官，但他挂得很和气，没有人会生他的气太久。
"The ladder," says Lenny. "I bought it in spring. The shop said it was the right size."
“梯子，”莱尼说，“我春天买的。店里说尺寸正合适。”
"Shops say many things," says Vic.
“店里什么话都会说。”维克说。
"Last year my old ladder was fine. Maybe the lamp grows."
“去年我那架旧梯子还够用。也许是路灯长高了。”
"Maybe you shrink," says Vic. He almost smiles.
“也许是你缩水了。”维克说。他几乎笑了一下。
They both look up at the lamp. It stands still and silver against the sky.
两个人一起抬头看着路灯。它静静地立在天空下，银闪闪的。
Lenny has a plan. He goes to the shed and brings back a wooden box. He puts the box under the ladder. Vic holds the ladder with both hands.
莱尼有办法。他走到棚屋里，搬回来一只木箱。他把木箱垫在梯子下面。维克用双手扶住梯子。
"This is not safe," says Vic.
“这样不安全。”维克说。
"It is a little safe."
“有一点点安全。”
"A little safe is the same as not safe."
“有一点点安全，就等于不安全。”
"Then hold harder," says Lenny.
“那你就扶紧一点。”莱尼说。
Vic holds harder. Lenny climbs onto the box. Then he climbs the ladder to the fourth rung. The ladder shakes. His shoes slide. A loud bang comes from the box. The whole thing leans to the left.
维克扶得更紧了。莱尼先踩上木箱，然后爬上梯子的第四级。梯子晃了起来，他的鞋子打滑，木箱发出砰的一声巨响，整个东西向左边倾斜。
"Come down," says Vic, in the voice he uses on the road. "Come down now. Slowly."
“下来，”维克用他在路上考试时的口气说，“马上下来，慢慢地。”
Lenny comes down. His heart is loud in his ears. He sits on the box and breathes.
莱尼下来了。他的耳朵里全是自己的心跳声。他坐在木箱上喘着气。
Just then a door opens across the car park. A young woman walks out. She holds a piece of paper. Behind her come two friends. All three laugh and shout.
就在这时，停车场对面的一扇门打开了。一位年轻女子走了出来，手里拿着一张纸，身后跟着两个朋友。三个人又笑又喊。
"She passed!" calls one friend. "She passed, she passed!"
“她通过了！”一个朋友喊道，“她通过了，她通过了！”
The young woman stops in the middle of the car park. She looks at the paper. Then she looks at the sky. Then she holds the paper over her head. She turns in a circle.
年轻女子在停车场中央停了下来。她看着那张纸，又看看天空，然后把纸举过头顶，原地转了一个圈。
Vic nods. He knows her. She is the quiet one from the nine o'clock test. He likes her calm hands.
维克点了点头。他认得她，是九点那场考试里安安静静的那一位。他很欣赏她那双沉稳的手。
The friends run to a small blue car. Tied to the mirror is a bunch of balloons. Each balloon is a different colour. Yellow, green, white, pink. The friends untie them one by one. They put them in the car.
朋友们跑向一辆蓝色的小车。后视镜上系着一束气球，每个气球的颜色都不一样：黄的、绿的、白的、粉的。朋友们一个一个把它们解下来，放进车里。
One slips. It is a big yellow balloon with a thin gold string. It rises slowly at first. Then it rises fast.
有一个滑脱了。那是一个大大的黄气球，拖着一根细细的金色绳子。它起初升得很慢，然后越升越快。
"No!" shouts one friend. "Our balloon!"
“不！”一个朋友喊道，“我们的气球！”
Everybody in the car park turns to watch. Lenny stands up. Vic stops writing. The balloon floats past the bricks, past the sign, past the lamp.
停车场里所有人都转过头去看。莱尼站了起来，维克停下了笔。气球飘过砖墙，飘过标牌，飘过路灯。
It stops. The gold string catches on the very top of the lamp post. The yellow balloon turns slowly in the air. It floats above the bulb, above the ladder, above everyone.
它停住了。金色的绳子缠在了灯柱的最顶端。黄气球在空中慢慢地转着，悬在灯泡的上方，悬在梯子的上方，悬在所有人的上方。
For a moment nobody speaks.
有一会儿，谁也没有说话。
"I can get it," says Lenny. He picks up the box again.
“我能把它拿下来。”莱尼说。他又拿起了木箱。
"You cannot," says Vic. "You are one rung short."
“你不行，”维克说，“你差一级。”
"I am a hand short."
“我差一掌宽。”
"Then you are short."
“那就是你不够高。”
The young woman starts to laugh. She has paper in one hand. She has a car key in the other. "Leave it," she says. "It is fine. Really. It is a good place for it."
年轻女子笑了起来。她一只手拿着那张纸，另一只手拿着车钥匙。“别管了，”她说，“没关系，真的。放在那儿挺好的。”
"But it is your balloon," says Lenny.
“可那是你的气球啊。”莱尼说。
"It is my first day as a driver," she says. "Something should stay here."
“今天是我当司机的第一天，”她说，“总该有点什么留在这里。”
Her friends look at her. Then they look at the balloon. One of them takes a photo. The other puts an arm around her shoulders.
她的朋友们看着她，又看着气球。其中一个拍了张照片，另一个搂住了她的肩膀。
Then they get in the blue car. The engine starts. The car leaves slowly. She drives like a person who is new at it. She stops at the gate and checks both ways three times.
然后她们上了那辆蓝色的小车，发动了引擎。车子缓缓驶离。她开车的样子像个新手，在大门口停了下来，左右各看了三遍。
Vic watches her go. He tucks his clipboard under his arm. He does not usually say anything after a test. Today he says, "That was good driving."
维克目送她离开。他把记事板夹到胳膊底下。考完试后，他通常什么也不说，今天他却说了一句：“开得不错。”
Lenny pushes the ladder against the wall and sits on the box. He takes a cloth from his pocket and cleans his hands slowly.
莱尼把梯子靠在墙上，坐到木箱上。他从口袋里掏出一块布，慢慢地擦着手。
"I will get a longer ladder tomorrow," he says.
“明天我去买个更长的梯子。”他说。
"Do not hurry," says Vic.
“别着急。”维克说。
"Why not?"
“为什么？”
"The test at ten is a nervous boy. He might like a balloon."
“十点那场考试是个紧张的男孩，他也许会喜欢一个气球。”
Lenny looks up. The yellow balloon turns once on its gold string. There are small black letters on it. From the ground, neither man can read them.
莱尼抬头望去。黄气球在金色的绳子上转了一圈。上面有几个黑色的小字，站在地面上，两个人谁也看不清。
