The kite shop stood in a narrow building at the end of the sea wall. For three weeks it had been the scene of a war with no weapons. On one side was Damir, who had worked there for two summers. On the other side was Vasco, who had arrived in July with a rucksack and a smile that Damir did not trust.
风筝店开在防波堤尽头一栋狭窄的楼里。三个星期以来，这里一直上演着一场没有武器的战争。一边是达米尔，他已经在这里干了两个夏天。另一边是瓦斯科，他七月份背着一个背包、带着一副达米尔不信任的笑容来到这里。
The war was kept on a whiteboard behind the counter. Every kite sold was marked beside a name. The owner had drawn the board herself, and she had made one promise about it. Whoever sold more kites by the night before the festival would fly the shop's giant kite on the beach, in front of the whole town.
这场战争记录在柜台后面的白板上。每卖出一只风筝，名字旁边就记一笔。白板是店主亲手画的，她还为此许下了一个承诺。谁在庆典前夜卖得更多，谁就能在海滩上、当着全镇人的面，放飞店里那只巨大的风筝。
By Friday evening the score was thirty-eight to thirty-eight.
到星期五傍晚，比分是三十八比三十八。
"This is ridiculous," Vasco said, leaning on the counter. "You sold that last diamond kite to your own cousin."
“这太荒唐了，”瓦斯科靠在柜台上说，“你把最后一只菱形风筝卖给了你自己的表哥。”
"And you sold a box of string to a man who only wanted directions," Damir said.
“你卖了一盒线给一个只是想问路的人。”达米尔说。
"He wanted the string."
“他要的是线。”
"He wanted the pier."
“他要的是码头。”
The owner interrupted them by dropping a heavy metal ring on the counter. It held nine keys, and eight of them wore small paper labels in her neat handwriting: Front Door, Till, Cellar, Bike Lock, Store. The ninth key was longer and darker than the others, and its label had worn away completely. A blank square of grey card hung from it.
店主把一串沉重的金属环往柜台上一扔，打断了他们。环上挂着九把钥匙，其中八把都系着她用工整字迹写的小纸标签：前门、收银柜、地窖、车锁、储藏室。第九把钥匙比其他的更长更暗，它的标签已经完全磨掉了。上面只挂着一块空白的灰色小卡片。
"I have to drive to the next town at dawn to collect the festival order," she said. "I will meet you on the beach at noon. The giant kite is in the loft, and the lines are in the locker on the sea wall. Do not lose the keys. Do not break anything. And do not kill each other."
“我天一亮就得开车去隔壁镇取庆典的订货，”她说，“中午在海滩上跟你们碰面。巨大的风筝在阁楼里，线在防波堤上的储物柜里。别弄丢钥匙。别弄坏东西。也别互相掐死对方。”
"Which key opens the loft?" Damir asked.
“哪把钥匙开阁楼？”达米尔问。
"You are clever boys. You will work it out."
“你们都是聪明孩子。自己会想明白的。”
She left before either of them could point out that this was not an answer.
她在两人指出这不算回答之前就走了。
The morning of the festival arrived bright and breezy, and the first problem arrived with it. The loft door had a brass padlock, and neither of the two boys could find the key for it. Damir tried the keys in the order he thought made sense. Vasco tried them in the opposite order, because he refused to do anything Damir did. Neither of them bothered with the labels for other rooms: Store, Cellar and Till.
庆典那天的早晨明亮而有风，第一个问题也随之而来。阁楼的门上有一把黄铜挂锁，两个男孩谁也找不到开它的钥匙。达米尔按他认为合理的顺序试钥匙。瓦斯科按相反的顺序试，因为他拒绝做达米尔做的任何事。他们谁也没去管那些写着别的房间的标签：储藏室、地窖和收银柜。
By nine o'clock they had both tried every other key twice, and the padlock hung there like a stubborn tooth.
到九点，他们已经把每一把其他钥匙都试了两遍，挂锁像一颗顽固的牙齿一样挂在那里。
"It must be the blank one," Vasco said.
“一定是那把空白的。”瓦斯科说。
"Obviously it is the blank one. I tried it first."
“显然就是空白的那把。我第一个就试了它。”
"You tried it upside down."
“你是倒着试的。”
"I did not try it upside down."
“我没有倒着试。”
Vasco took the ring, turned the blank key the other way, and pushed it into the lock. It stopped halfway. He pulled and twisted, and then he swore quietly, a word that was very mild and very Vasco. The lock did not move.
瓦斯科拿过钥匙环，把空白钥匙转了个方向，插进锁里。它插到一半就卡住了。他又拉又拧，然后低声骂了一句，那话很温和，也很有瓦斯科的风格。锁纹丝不动。
For a few minutes they argued in the narrow hallway, close enough to hear each other breathe. Then Damir stopped in the middle of a sentence.
在狭窄的走廊里，他们争论了几分钟，近得能听见彼此的呼吸。然后达米尔在一句话说到一半时停住了。
"Wait," he said. "Say that again."
“等等，”他说，“再说一遍。”
"Say what?"
“说什么？”
"The part about the blank key. You said it stops halfway."
“关于那把空白钥匙的部分。你说它插到一半就停了。”
"Because it is the wrong key."
“因为它是把错的钥匙。”
"Or because it is not for this lock," Damir said slowly. He took the ring from Vasco's hand. For the first time that summer he looked at the key properly instead of looking at the person who held it. "The owner said the lines are in the locker on the sea wall. We never opened the locker. We assumed the old key was for the loft, but the loft is a normal padlock. This one is a long barrel key. I have seen a lock like that. It is the locker."
“或者因为它根本不是开这把锁的，”达米尔慢慢地说。他从瓦斯科手里拿过钥匙环。这个夏天里，他第一次认真地看那把钥匙，而不是看握着它的人。“店主说线在防波堤的储物柜里。我们从没打开过那个柜子。我们以为这把旧钥匙是开阁楼的，可阁楼是普通挂锁。这把是长长的筒形钥匙。我见过这样的锁。它是开储物柜的。”
Vasco looked at him for a moment without his usual smile. "Fine. You go and open the locker. I will find the loft key."
瓦斯科看了他一会儿，脸上没有了平时的笑容。“好。你去开储物柜。我来找阁楼的钥匙。”
"You already tried them."
“你已经试过了。”
"I tried them as a person who was angry at you. Give me ten minutes."
“我是以一个生你气的人的身份试的。给我十分钟。”
It was not an apology, and Damir knew it, but it was close enough to be useful.
这不算道歉，达米尔知道，但已经足够接近，也足够有用了。
He ran out to the sea wall with the ring jangling in his fist. The locker was a grey steel box bolted into the stone, half hidden by a rusty life ring, and the blank key fitted it perfectly. Inside lay six coils of kite line, a pair of gloves and a canvas bag with the shop's name printed on it. Damir carried the bag to the shop. There he found Vasco kneeling in front of the loft door with a pencil and a page of the owner's old receipts.
他攥着叮当作响的钥匙环，跑到了防波堤上。储物柜是一个灰色钢箱，用螺栓固定在石头里，被一个生锈的救生圈遮住了一半，那把空白钥匙正好合适。里面放着六卷风筝线、一副手套，还有一个印着店名的帆布袋。达米尔把袋子拎回店里。他看到瓦斯科跪在阁楼门前，手里拿着一支铅笔和一叠店主的旧收据。
"Look," Vasco said. "She writes everything down. The loft key is on the list under Store, not Loft. She never changed the label. It is that one."
“你看，”瓦斯科说，“她什么都记下来。阁楼的钥匙在清单上写在‘储藏室’下面，而不是‘阁楼’。她从来没改过标签。就是那一把。”
The padlock opened with a small, ordinary click.
挂锁打开了，发出一声小小的、平常的咔嗒。
It took them another twenty minutes to carry the giant kite down the narrow stairs. It was three metres wide, built of orange sailcloth and thin white poles, and every corner of the staircase seemed designed to catch it. Damir took the front. Vasco took the back. They stopped arguing about who should walk backwards, and then they simply took turns.
他们又花了二十分钟，才把巨大的风筝从狭窄的楼梯抬下来。它有三米宽，用橙色帆布和细细的白色杆子做成，楼梯的每一个拐角似乎都是为了勾住它而设计的。达米尔在前面。瓦斯科在后面。他们不再争论谁该倒着走，接着，他们干脆轮流来。
At twenty to twelve they arrived on the beach, breathless, with a kite that smelled of dust and old wood. The festival was already bright with colours. Children ran across the sand dragging paper dragons. Somebody had set up a loudspeaker. Half the town seemed to be there, and the owner stood at the front with her arms folded and an expression nobody could read.
十二点差二十分，他们气喘吁吁地到了海滩，带着一只闻起来有灰尘和旧木头味的风筝。庆典上已经色彩缤纷。孩子们拖着纸龙在沙滩上奔跑。有人架起了扩音器。镇上似乎来了一半的人，店主站在最前面，双臂抱在胸前，表情谁也读不懂。
"You found the loft," she said.
“你们找到阁楼了。”她说。
"We found the loft," Damir said, "and the locker."
“我们找到了阁楼，”达米尔说，“还有储物柜。”
"Good." She looked at the blank tag on the ring. "I meant to write that label last week. I forgot."
“很好。”她看着钥匙环上的空白标签，“我上个星期就打算写那个标签的。忘了。”
"You forgot?" Vasco said.
“你忘了？”瓦斯科说。
"I am a kite maker, not a locksmith." She almost smiled. "Which of you is flying it?"
“我是做风筝的，不是锁匠。”她几乎笑了，“你们谁来放它？”
The two boys looked at each other. The whiteboard in the shop still said thirty-eight to thirty-eight, and they both knew it.
两个男孩互相看了一眼。店里的白板上仍然写着三十八比三十八，他们两个都清楚。
"It needs two people," Vasco said. "Look at the size of it."
“这得两个人，”瓦斯科说，“看看它有多大。”
"Somebody has to launch and somebody has to hold the line," Damir said. "It is not a one-person kite."
“得有人负责放飞，有人负责拉线，”达米尔说，“这不是一个人的风筝。”
"No," the owner said. "It never was."
“是的，”店主说，“它从来都不是。”
They carried it down to the water's edge, where the wind came in steady from the sea. Damir held the line. Vasco lifted the kite over his head, ran six steps across the wet sand, and let go. For a heartbeat it hung there, heavy and undecided. Then the wind caught the orange sail, and the line pulled hard against Damir's gloves, and the whole kite rose.
他们把它抬到水边，那里的风从海上稳稳地吹来。达米尔握着线。瓦斯科把风筝举过头顶，在湿沙上跑了六步，然后松开手。有那么一瞬间，它悬在那里，沉重而犹豫不决。接着风抓住了橙色的帆，线猛地绷紧，拉着达米尔的手套，整只风筝升了起来。
The crowd cheered, and the loudspeaker crackled. Neither boy heard any of it.
人群欢呼起来，扩音器发出噼啪声。两个男孩一个字也没听见。
Later, when the festival was over, they sat together on the sea wall with the ring of keys between them. The giant kite flew far out over the water, a small orange shape against the last light, and the line hummed softly in their hands.
后来，庆典结束了，他们并肩坐在防波堤上，钥匙环放在两人中间。巨大的风筝飞在远远的海面上，在最后的暮光中是一个橙色的小小身影，线在他们手中轻轻地嗡鸣。
