Every morning before the sun, Ansel pushes his flat boat to market. He uses a long pole. He ties up in his old place. A rope seller's boat sits on one side. A spice boat sits on the other. The spice boat belongs to Hendrik.
每天太阳升起之前，安塞尔就用一根长竹篙撑着他的平底船去集市。他把船系在老位置。一边是绳索商的船，另一边是香料船。香料船是亨德里克的。
Ansel sells mangoes, limes and small sweet bananas. Hendrik sells pepper, dried chili and bags of star anise. They sell different things. Still, they fight over every customer.
安塞尔卖芒果、青柠和小小的甜香蕉。亨德里克卖胡椒、干辣椒和一袋袋八角。他们卖的东西不一样，可是为了每一个顾客，他们还是争个不停。
For six years, they fight. Hendrik hangs a bright lamp over his boat. Ansel hangs a brighter one. Hendrik paints his prices on a board. Ansel paints his on a bigger board.
六年来，他们一直在争。亨德里克在船上挂了一盏明亮的灯。安塞尔就挂一盏更亮的。亨德里克把价格漆在一块木板上。安塞尔就漆在一块更大的板子上。
"Your mangoes are small," Hendrik says each day.
“你的芒果太小了，”亨德里克每天都这么说。
"Your pepper is old," Ansel says back. "Even the flies leave it alone."
“你的胡椒是陈的，”安塞尔回敬道，“连苍蝇都不愿理它。”
The market wakes slowly. Boats bump softly together. Cooks call out. Smoke rises from the little stoves. The water smells of ginger and wet wood.
集市慢慢醒来。船只轻轻地互相碰撞。厨子们吆喝着。小炉子里升起炊烟。水面上有一股姜和湿木头的气味。
This morning, Ansel has a new toy. It is a round gray robot vacuum, no bigger than a pizza. A cousin sent it from the city. Ansel hates peels on his deck. He hopes the robot can clean them.
今天早上，安塞尔有了一件新玩意儿。那是一台灰色的圆形扫地机器人，不比一个比萨大。是城里的一位表亲寄来的。安塞尔最讨厌甲板上的果皮。他希望这个机器人能把它们清扫干净。
He puts it down and presses the button. The robot makes a happy sound. It rolls over the deck and eats a banana skin. Ansel claps.
他把它放下，按下按钮。机器人发出一声欢快的响声。它在甲板上滚动，吃掉了一张香蕉皮。安塞尔拍起手来。
Then the robot turns. It rolls straight to the back left corner of the boat. It stops there. It beeps three times and does not move.
然后机器人转了个弯。它径直滚向船尾的左后角，在那里停住，嘀嘀嘀响了三声，就不动了。
"Not that way," Ansel says. He picks it up and sets it in the middle again.
“不是往那边，”安塞尔说。他把它拿起来，又放回中间。
The robot rolls back to the same corner. Beep, beep, beep.
机器人又滚回同一个角落。嘀，嘀，嘀。
Hendrik watches from his boat and laughs. "Your robot has good taste," he says. "It wants to leave your boat."
亨德里克在他的船上看着，大笑起来。“你的机器人品味不错，”他说，“它想离开你的船。”
"Be quiet."
“闭嘴。”
"Maybe it does not like your fruit."
“也许它不喜欢你的水果。”
Ansel says something rude. He puts the robot in a box under a table. The box beeps all morning.
安塞尔骂了一句难听话。他把机器人放进一只箱子，塞到桌子底下。那只箱子整个早晨都在嘀嘀响。
By nine o'clock, the market is full. Tourists crowd the little boats with cameras and big hats. Ansel sells mangoes as fast as he can cut them. He is happy, and he forgets the robot.
到九点钟，集市上已经挤满了人。游客们戴着大帽子，拿着相机，涌上一条条小船。安塞尔把芒果切得飞快，也卖得飞快。他很高兴，把机器人忘得一干二净。
Then his foot feels cold.
这时，他的脚感到一阵凉。
He looks down. Water covers his sandal. It is a thin, clear skin on the deck. It spreads from the back left corner. The same corner.
他低头一看。水漫过了他的凉鞋。甲板上有薄薄的一层清水，像一层透明的皮。它是从船尾的左后角漫开的。又是那个角落。
"No," he says.
“不会吧，”他说。
He runs to the corner and kneels. A board there is dark and soft. At its edge, a bubble of water pushes up between two boards. The boat has a leak, and it is not small.
他跑到那个角落跪下来。那里有一块木板又黑又软。板边上，两块木板之间有一个水泡在往上冒。船漏水了，而且漏得不小。
Ansel grabs a bucket and starts to throw water out. For every bucket he throws out, the river sends back two. His fruit crates stand close to the corner. Soon the bottom crate is wet.
安塞尔抓起一只桶，开始往外舀水。他每舀出去一桶，河里就灌进来两桶。他的水果箱就放在离那个角落很近的地方。很快，最下面的一只箱子就湿了。
"Hendrik!" he shouts. "Help me!"
“亨德里克！”他喊道，“来帮我！”
Hendrik looks over. For a moment, his face is hard. He opens his mouth to say something clever.
亨德里克望过来。一时间，他的脸绷得很紧。他张开嘴，想说句俏皮话。
Then he sees the water.
然后他看见了那些水。
"Wait," he says. He jumps across the gap. He lands next to Ansel. "Where is the hole?"
“等着，”他说。他跳过两船之间的缝隙，落在安塞尔身边。“洞在哪儿？”
"Under this board. I cannot see it."
“在这块板子底下。我看不见。”
"We must tip the boat. Move your crates to the other side."
“得把船倾斜过来。把你的箱子挪到另一边去。”
"My fruit is heavy," says Ansel.
“我的水果很重，”安塞尔说。
"Then move it fast."
“那就快点挪。”
They work together without a word. Ansel lifts crates, and Hendrik takes them from his hands. They stack mangoes on the right side of the boat. Slowly, the back left corner rises out of the water.
他们一声不吭地合力干起来。安塞尔搬起箱子，亨德里克从他手里接过去。他们把芒果堆在船的右边。慢慢地，船尾的左后角从水里升了起来。
The leak sits above the river now. It only drips.
漏洞现在离开了河面，只是滴滴答答地渗水。
"I have tar," Hendrik says. He runs to his boat. He comes back with a small tin and a flat knife. "And cloth."
“我有柏油，”亨德里克说。他跑回自己的船，拿回来一只小铁罐和一把扁刀。“还有布。”
"I have wax," Ansel says. "For the knife handles. It keeps water out."
“我有蜡，”安塞尔说，“是上刀柄用的。它能防水。”
He gets the wax. Hendrik cuts a strip of cloth. They press the cloth on the hole. They spread tar over it. Then they rub wax on top. Their hands turn black and sticky. Their shirts are wet to the elbow.
他去拿来了蜡。亨德里克剪下一条布。他们把布按在洞上，在上面抹了柏油，然后又在最上面擦了一层蜡。他们的手变得又黑又黏，衬衫湿到了胳膊肘。
"Hold it," Hendrik says. "Hold it for one minute."
“按住，”亨德里克说，“按住一分钟。”
Ansel holds. Hendrik holds beside him. They do not look at each other. They look only at the corner.
安塞尔按着。亨德里克也在他身边按着。他们谁也不看谁，只盯着那个角落。
The water stops. The cloth stays dry.
水不再冒了。布是干的。
Ansel sits back. His heart beats hard. "It worked," he says.
安塞尔向后坐了下去，心跳得厉害。“成了，”他说。
"For today," says Hendrik. "You need a new board. This one is old and soft."
“只管今天，”亨德里克说，“你得换一块新板子。这块又老又软。”
"I know. I did not see it."
“我知道。我当时没看出来。”
"The robot did."
“机器人看出来了。”
Ansel looks at the box under the table. It is quiet now. He pulls it out and opens it. The little gray machine sits inside, patient and round.
安塞尔看向桌子底下的箱子。它现在安静了。他把它拖出来打开。那台灰色的小机器待在里面，耐心而圆滚滚的。
"It tried to tell me," Ansel says softly. "All morning. The floor goes a little lower there. The robot just rolls to the low place."
“它想告诉我，”安塞尔轻声说，“整整一个早晨。那里的地板低了一点。机器人只是滚向低的地方。”
Hendrik starts to laugh. It is not a mean laugh this time. It is tired and warm. Ansel laughs too. They sit on the wet deck with black hands. They laugh until the tourists stare.
亨德里克笑起来。这一次不是嘲笑，而是疲惫而温暖的笑。安塞尔也笑了。他们坐在湿漉漉的甲板上，两手黑黑的，一直笑到游客们都盯着他们看。
A woman in a big hat leans over the rail. "Excuse me," she says. "Are these your mangoes? And are those your spices? They look wonderful together."
一位戴大帽子的女士探身趴在栏杆上。“打扰一下，”她说，“这些是你们的芒果吗？那些是你们的香料吗？放在一起看起来真棒。”
The two men look at each other.
两个男人面面相觑。
"Yes," Hendrik says. "A mango and a pinch of pepper. It is our local favorite."
“是的，”亨德里克说，“一个芒果，再加一撮胡椒。这是我们当地人的最爱。”
Ansel opens his mouth to correct him. Then he closes it.
安塞尔张嘴想要纠正他。然后他又闭上了。
"One box of each," he says. "Half price today. For our first customers."
“每样来一盒，”他说，“今天半价。送给我们的第一批顾客。”
They sell more that day than ever before. Hendrik tears a board in two. He writes one new sign in thick black tar. It says, MANGO AND PEPPER. TWO BOATS, ONE PRICE.
那天，他们卖得比以往任何时候都多。亨德里克把一块木板撕成两半，用浓黑的柏油写了一块新招牌。上面写着：芒果配胡椒。两条船，一个价。
When the market closes, Ansel puts the robot in the middle. He presses the button. The little machine rolls forward and eats a banana skin. It turns left, then right. It crosses the whole dry boat. It passes the corner without a stop.
集市收摊后，安塞尔把机器人放在船中间，按下按钮。小机器向前滚动，吃掉了一张香蕉皮。它先向左转，再向右转。它穿过了整条干爽的船。它经过那个角落，没有停下。
At last, it comes back to the middle and stops.
最后，它回到了中间，停住了。
Beep.
嘀。
