When Margit was eight months pregnant, she and Kasimir sat on the sofa with two sheets of paper. Each of them had written a list of names, and they had agreed to compare them that evening.
玛吉特怀孕八个月的时候，她和卡西米尔坐在沙发上，手里拿着两张纸。他们各自写了一份名字清单，约好那天晚上对照一下。
It took about thirty seconds. They had no names in common. Not one.
只花了大约三十秒。他们没有一个相同的名字。一个也没有。
Margit's list was full of long, old-fashioned names. Kasimir's list was full of short, modern ones. "Yours all sound like grandmothers," he said. "Yours all sound like robots," she answered. They argued for an hour, not angrily, but very stubbornly.
玛吉特的清单上全是又长又老派的名字。卡西米尔的清单上全是又短又时髦的名字。“你的听起来都像奶奶辈的，”他说。“你的听起来都像机器人，”她回答。他们争了一个小时，不是生气地争，而是非常固执地争。
Then Kasimir had an idea. "What if we stop trying to choose? We only cross out. Each of us crosses out one name we hate, and we take turns. Whatever is left at the end wins."
然后卡西米尔想到了一个主意。“要不我们别再想着选了，只划掉。我们每人划掉一个自己讨厌的名字，轮流来。最后剩下的就赢了。”
"And if nothing is left?"
“要是什么都不剩呢？”
"Then we get a dog instead."
“那我们就养条狗。”
Margit laughed, and the argument was over. They crossed out names for two evenings. Some were easy to lose. Some hurt a little. Margit crossed out one that she had loved since she was twelve, and she pretended it didn't matter. By Sunday, both lists were almost empty, and the baby kicked as if she had an opinion.
玛吉特笑了，争论也就结束了。他们划了两个晚上的名字。有些很容易舍掉。有些让人有点难受。玛吉特划掉了一个她从十二岁起就喜欢的名字，还假装无所谓。到了星期天，两份清单都快空了，宝宝踢了一脚，好像她也有自己的想法。
"We should stop," Margit said. "If we keep going, our daughter will have no name at all."
“我们该停了，”玛吉特说，“再这样下去，我们的女儿就没有名字了。”
"We could call her Baby," Kasimir said. "It's short, it's modern, and everyone already knows it."
“我们可以叫她宝宝，”卡西米尔说，“又短又时髦，而且每个人都已经知道了。”
Three weeks later, they were sitting on plastic chairs in the hospital, waiting for a check. There was a big poster on the wall, with pictures of wildflowers and each name printed underneath. To pass the time, Kasimir read them one by one. In the corner, there was a small purple flower.
三个星期后，他们坐在医院的塑料椅子上，等着做检查。墙上有一张大海报，上面是野花的图片，每种花的名字印在下面。为了打发时间，卡西米尔一个一个地念。角落里有一朵小小的紫色花。
"Iris," he said.
“艾瑞丝，”他说。
"Say it again," Margit said.
“再说一遍，”玛吉特说。
He did. It wasn't on his list. It wasn't on hers. It wasn't long and old, and it wasn't short and trendy. It was simply a name that felt right.
他又说了一遍。它不在他的清单上，也不在她的清单上。它不是又长又老派，也不是又短又时髦。它只是一个听起来就对的名字。
"Don't cross anything out," Margit said. "That's the one."
“什么都别划，”玛吉特说，“就是它了。”
Their daughter was born ten days later. When the nurse asked for the name for the form, Margit began to answer. Kasimir was already saying it too, and they finished the word together.
十天后，他们的女儿出生了。护士来问表格上要填的名字时，玛吉特开口回答。卡西米尔也已经在说了，他们一起把这个名字说完。
