The Coat the Lock Keeper Inherited

The uniform arrived on Bo's first morning in a plastic bag, folded as neatly as a letter. It was a dark green jacket with brass buttons, a pair of trousers, and a cap with the river authority's badge on the front. Everything was one size too large.

制服在博上任的第一天早晨送来了，装在塑料袋里，叠得像一封信一样整齐。那是一件带铜纽扣的深绿色夹克，一条长裤，还有一顶前面缀着河道管理局徽章的帽子。每一件都大了一号。

Bo stood in the little office beside the lock and rolled the sleeves up twice. The jacket hung from her shoulders like a tent, and the trousers collected in soft folds around her boots. When she looked in the cracked mirror on the wall, she saw a child dressed up for a school play.

博站在船闸旁的小办公室里，把袖子卷了两道。夹克像帐篷一样从她的肩膀上垂下来，裤腿在靴子周围堆成一团团柔软的褶皱。她看着墙上那面有裂缝的镜子，看到一个为学校演出打扮起来的孩子。

"It will do for a week," she told herself. "Then you can order your own."

“凑合一个星期，”她对自己说，“然后你就可以订自己的了。”

She had taken the job because the city had given her very little else. A temporary contract, a room above the lock-keeper's store, and a handbook as thick as a brick. The previous keeper had retired the month before, and the authority needed someone to run the gates until a permanent replacement was found. Bo knew rivers well enough to respect them. She did not yet know this particular lock, with its heavy black gates and its stubborn, groaning wheels.

她接下这份工作，是因为这座城市几乎没有给过她别的东西。一份临时合同，一间守闸人仓库楼上的房间，还有一本砖头那么厚的手册。上一位守闸人上个月退休了，管理局需要有人看管闸门，直到找到正式的接替者。博对河流足够了解，懂得敬畏它们。可她还不了解这座特别的船闸，它沉重的黑色闸门，还有那些固执的、吱呀作响的转轮。

The first boat of the day appeared a little after seven. It was a long working barge, low in the water, loaded with sand. A tall man stood at the wheel with a flask of coffee in his hand. When the barge slid into the chamber, he looked up at Bo with an expression she could not read.

当天的第一艘船在七点刚过时出现了。那是一艘长长的运货驳船，吃水很深，装满了沙子。一个高个子男人站在舵轮边，手里拿着一壶咖啡。驳船滑进闸室时，他抬头看着博，神情让她读不懂。

"Morning," he called. "Is the keeper in?"

“早上好，”他喊道，“守闸人在吗？”

"I am the keeper," said Bo, straightening her cap.

“我就是守闸人，”博说着，扶正了帽子。

"Ah." He studied her for a moment, taking in the sleeves, the cap, and the buttons. "I see. Of course. I only meant, is the usual keeper in?"

“啊。”他打量了她片刻，目光扫过袖子、帽子和纽扣。“明白了。当然。我只是想问，原来那位守闸人在吗？”

Bo felt her face stiffen. She had expected people to doubt her, but she had not expected it to happen before breakfast. "The usual keeper has retired," she said. "I'm managing the gates now. I can take you through, if you're ready."

博觉得自己的脸僵住了。她早料到会有人怀疑她，可没想到这么早，连早饭都还没吃。“原来的守闸人退休了，”她说，“现在是我管闸门。如果你准备好了，我可以送你过去。”

"I'm ready. Thank you." He smiled, slightly too widely, and she decided that he was laughing at the coat.

“准备好了。谢谢。”他笑了，笑得有点过分灿烂，她断定他是在笑这件外套。

She closed the lower gates and opened the sluices with a clumsy rush of effort. The water seethed into the chamber, lifting the barge slowly towards the upper level. The man, whose name she saw painted on the boat as Naveen, kept glancing at her over the rail. Each time she caught him doing it, she stiffened and turned her attention to the wheel.

她关上下游闸门，笨拙而费力地打开了水闸。水翻涌着灌进闸室，把驳船缓缓托向上游水位。那个男人，她看到船身上漆着他的名字，纳文，不时隔着栏杆瞟她。每次被她逮到，她就绷紧身子，把注意力转回转轮上。

By the end of the week the same thing had happened four more times. Naveen's barge came through every morning and returned every evening, and every time he asked a variation of the same question.

到这个星期结束，同样的事又发生了四次。纳文的驳船每天早晨过来，每天傍晚返回，每次他都会问同一个问题的不同说法。

"Is the boss in today?"

“今天老板在吗？”

"Is the other keeper back yet?"

“另一位守闸人回来了吗？”

"Will the old coat be coming back, do you think?"

“你觉得那件旧外套还会回来吗？”

Bo's patience wore thin. On Friday she said nothing at all when he arrived, merely pointing at the gate and turning her face away. Naveen waited for a moment, as if hoping that she would speak. Then he sighed and drove the barge into the chamber.

博的耐心渐渐磨光了。星期五他来的时候，她什么也没说，只是指了指闸门，把脸转向别处。纳文等了片刻，似乎希望她开口。然后他叹了口气，把驳船开进了闸室。

That night she sat on the step outside her room and wrote a message to her sister. "Everyone here is lovely except one boatman," she typed. "He keeps asking where the real keeper is. I think he finds my coat funny. I think he finds me funny."

那天晚上，她坐在房间外的台阶上，给姐姐写了一条消息。“这里每个人都很可爱，只有一个船夫例外，”她打字道，“他总是问真正的守闸人在哪里。我觉得他觉得我的外套好笑。我觉得他觉得我好笑。”

Her sister answered within a minute. "Maybe he doesn't. Have you asked him?"

姐姐不到一分钟就回复了。“也许他不是。你问过他吗？”

Bo looked at the message for a long time. It had not occurred to her to ask. It had seemed far easier to be offended, a simple feeling that needed no courage at all.

博盯着那条消息看了很久。她从没想过要问。生气要容易得多，那是一种简单的情绪，一点勇气都不需要。

The next morning she stood by the gate at six, cold and slightly sleepless, and watched the barge approach. When it entered the chamber, she did not wait for the question.

第二天早晨六点，她站在闸门边，又冷又有些没睡好，看着驳船驶近。船进了闸室，她没有等他开口问。

"Before you say anything," she began, "I know the uniform is too big. The authority sent the wrong size, and I couldn't wear anything else. If you have a problem with that, tell me directly."

“你先别说话，”她开口道，“我知道制服太大了。管理局送错了尺码，我也没有别的可穿。如果你对此有意见，请直接告诉我。”

Naveen blinked. For a few seconds the only sound was the water slapping against the stone walls.

纳文眨了眨眼。有几秒钟，唯一的声音是水拍打石墙的声响。

"A problem?" he said. "Why would I have a problem?"

“意见？”他说，“我为什么会有意见？”

"You laugh every time you see me. You keep asking whether the real keeper is in."

“你每次看到我都笑。你一直在问真正的守闸人在不在。”

"I laugh because I am nervous." He put his flask down on the deck. "And I ask because I didn't understand. May I show you something?"

“我笑是因为我紧张。”他把保温壶放在甲板上。“我问是因为我没弄明白。我能给你看样东西吗？”

He disappeared into the little cabin at the back of the barge and returned carrying a flat parcel wrapped in brown paper. His hands, she noticed, were not quite steady.

他钻进驳船尾部的小舱，拿着一个用牛皮纸包着的扁平包裹回来。她注意到，他的手不太稳。

"Last month, before the old keeper left, he asked me to look after this," Naveen said. "He wanted it to go to whoever came next. But nobody told me who that would be, so I kept asking whether the keeper was in. I wanted to give it to the right person."

“上个月，老守闸人离开之前，托我保管这个，”纳文说，“他希望它交给接任的人。可没有人告诉我是谁，所以我才一直问守闸人在不在。我想把它交给对的人。”

Bo took the parcel, though she felt foolish doing so. Inside lay a small leather notebook, its cover worn smooth at the corners. On the first page, in slanting, careful handwriting, was a heading: Things the lock will not tell you.

博接过包裹，虽然这样做让她觉得自己有些傻。里面是一本小小的皮面笔记本，封面的边角已经被磨得光滑。第一页上，用倾斜而工整的字迹写着一行标题：《船闸不会告诉你的事》。

She turned the pages slowly. They were full of small observations. Which gate stuck in the frosty months. Which sluice leaked if it was opened too fast. Which boatmen were in a hurry, which of them were frightened of the dark chamber, and which of them liked to chat. On the last page was one short line. "The coat is always too big. You grow into it."

她缓缓翻着书页。上面满是细小的观察。哪扇闸门在霜冻的月份会卡住。哪个水闸开得太快就会漏水。哪些船夫赶时间，哪些害怕黑暗的闸室，哪些喜欢聊天。最后一页上只有一句简短的话。“这件外套总是太大。你会长进去的。”

For a moment Bo could not speak.

博一时说不出话来。

"He wore that coat for thirty years," said Naveen quietly. "When it first arrived, he said it was so large he could have fitted his dog in the pocket. The first morning I saw you in it, I thought of him, and I couldn't stop smiling. I'm sorry. I should have said so at once."

“他穿这件外套穿了三十年，”纳文轻声说，“它刚送来的时候，他说它大得能把他的狗塞进口袋里。第一天早晨我看到你穿着它，就想起了他，我忍不住一直笑。对不起。我早该直接说的。”

"I thought you were mocking me."

“我还以为你在嘲笑我。”

"I thought you were angry that I kept asking." He rubbed the back of his neck. "We were both being very quiet, weren't we?"

“我还以为你在生我的气，因为我老是问。”他揉了揉后颈。“我们两个都太沉默了，对吧？”

She laughed, an unsteady little laugh, and wiped her eyes with the cuff of her enormous sleeve. Naveen laughed too, with real relief, and the sound bounced off the stone and came back to them twice.

她笑了，笑声有些不稳，用巨大袖子的袖口擦了擦眼睛。纳文也笑了，是真正如释重负的笑，笑声在石壁上弹开，两次回到他们耳边。

Then they worked together, as if the morning had only just begun. She raised the water, and he steadied the barge against the wall with his long hook. The gates opened one by one. The sun was climbing over the trees on the far bank. Its light reached down into the chamber and turned the water to a smooth sheet of gold.

然后他们一起干起活来，仿佛这个早晨才刚刚开始。她抬高水位，他用长钩把驳船稳在墙边。闸门一扇一扇地打开。太阳正爬过对岸的树梢，阳光洒进闸室，把水面变成一片光滑的金色。

When the barge slid out into the upper river, Bo stood at the gate in her borrowed coat, the notebook warm in her pocket. Her sleeves were still too long. She left them as they were, and she watched the wake spread slowly across the water, and flatten, and disappear.

驳船滑进上游河道时，博穿着借来的外套站在闸门边，笔记本在口袋里暖暖的。她的袖子依然太长。她没有再去动它们，只看着船尾的波纹慢慢散开，变平，消失。