Harald found the first note on a Monday morning. It was taped to the chore chart on the fridge. It was written in angry green ink: "BATHROOM: HAS ANYONE CLEANED IT IN WEEKS? SOME OF US LIVE HERE TOO." Underneath, someone had drawn a small, sad sponge. He knew the handwriting. It was Sheila's.
周一早上，哈拉尔德发现了第一张字条。它贴在冰箱上的家务表上，是用愤怒的绿墨水写的：“浴室：有人打扫过吗，都好几个星期了？我们有些人也住在这里。”下面，有人画了一块小小的、哭丧着脸的海绵。他认得这笔迹。是希拉的。
He read it twice. Then he looked at the chart. His name stood next to "Bathroom" every Tuesday and Friday. The little boxes beside it were completely empty. He decided that the note was unfair. He wrote a short reply under it: "I'm doing my share!"
他读了两遍。然后他看了看家务表。每个星期二和星期五，“浴室”旁边都是他的名字。旁边的小格子全是空的。他觉得这张字条不公平。他在下面写了一句简短的回复：“我在做我该做的那份！”
The next morning, there was a second note. "Then why is the chart empty?" it asked. On Wednesday, there was a third one: "Four weeks, Harald. Four." By Thursday, the sponge had a tiny speech bubble that said, "Please."
第二天早上，出现了第二张字条。“那为什么表是空的？”上面问。周三，又来了第三张：“四个星期了，哈拉尔德。四个。”到周四，那块海绵冒出了一个小小的对话框，里面写着：“拜托。”
Harald did not know what to do. He was not a person who usually argued. He worked at a bakery supplier's office, and he left the apartment before seven every morning. In the evenings, he was too tired to explain anything, so he just left more short notes.
哈拉尔德不知道该怎么办。他平时不是爱争吵的人。他在一家面包原料供应商的办公室工作，每天早上不到七点就出门。晚上，他累得什么都解释不动，所以他只是再多留几张短字条。
On Friday night, Sheila was waiting for him in the kitchen with her arms crossed. The chart lay on the table between them.
周五晚上，希拉抱着双臂在厨房里等他。家务表放在他们两人之间的桌上。
"I have been very patient," she said. "But you cannot write that you are doing your share when you are clearly not."
“我已经非常有耐心了，”她说，“可你明明没做，就不能写说你在做你的那份。”
"But I am," Harald said. "I clean it every Tuesday and Friday."
“可我真的做了，”哈拉尔德说，“每个星期二和星期五我都打扫。”
"I would have seen you."
“我会看见你的。”
"You wouldn't. I do it at six in the morning, before work, while you are asleep."
“你看不见。我是早上六点做的，上班之前，你还在睡觉的时候。”
Sheila stared at him. "You get up at six to scrub a bathroom?"
希拉瞪着他。“你六点起床去刷浴室？”
"It is the only time I have. At night, I am too tired. And I am quiet, I promise. I even use the sink very softly."
“这是我唯一有的时间。晚上我太累了。而且我很安静，我保证。我连用水池都很轻很轻。”
"Then why are the boxes empty?"
“那为什么格子是空的？”
Harald looked at the chart, and then he started to laugh. "Because the pen lives in your room," he said. "It has lived there for a month. I did not want to wake you up."
哈拉尔德看了看家务表，然后笑了起来。“因为那支笔放在你房间里，”他说，“它在那儿放了一个月了。我不想吵醒你。”
For a second, Sheila did not move. Then her face changed, and she began to laugh too. She laughed so hard that she had to hold on to the table. "I thought the bathroom was clean because we hardly use it," she said. "I have been angry at a clean bathroom for four weeks."
有那么一会儿，希拉一动不动。接着她的表情变了，也笑了起来。她笑得那么厉害，不得不扶住桌子。“我还以为浴室是干净的，是因为我们很少用，”她说，“我对着一间干净的浴室生了四个星期的气。”
"And I have been writing back to a sponge," Harald said.
“而我一直在回复一块海绵。”哈拉尔德说。
Sheila wiped her eyes. She took the green pen from her pocket and bent over the chart. Then she ticked six boxes in a row.
希拉擦了擦眼睛。她从口袋里掏出那支绿笔，俯身在表上。然后她一连打了六个勾。
