Alba worked at the school library on Thursdays. She was sixteen. Her job was easy. She stamped books and put them on the shelves.
阿尔芭每个星期四在学校图书馆做事。她十六岁。工作很简单：给书盖章，再把书放上书架。
One Thursday, she opened a book about the sea. It was a returned book. A tiny dot sat under a letter on page ten. The letter was Y.
一个星期四，她翻开一本关于大海的书。这是一本刚还回来的书。第十页上，有一个小小的点，点在一个字的下面。那个字是“你”。
Alba smiled. Some readers made marks in books. She turned the page. Another dot sat under a letter on page eleven. The letter was O.
阿尔芭笑了笑。有些读者会在书上做记号。她翻到下一页。第十一页上，又有一个点，点在一个字的下面。那个字是“能”。
She looked at page twelve. A dot sat under the letter U. Alba stopped smiling. This was not a mistake. Someone made these dots on purpose.
她看第十二页。有一个点点在“做”字下面。阿尔芭不笑了。这不是失误，是有人故意点的。
She took a piece of paper and a pencil. She went through the book, page by page. She wrote each letter in a line.
她拿了一张纸和一支铅笔，一页一页地翻完了整本书，把每个字依次写成一行。
Y. O. U. C. A. N. D. O. I. T.
你。能。做。到。的。
Alba read the line three times. "You can do it," she said in a small voice.
阿尔芭把这一行读了三遍。“你能做到的，”她小声说。
On the last page, there was one more dot. It sat under the word "friend."
最后一页上还有一个点，点在“朋友”这个词下面。
Alba felt a little shiver. Who wrote this? And why?
阿尔芭感到一阵轻轻的战栗。这是谁写的？为什么要写？
She carried the book to the desk. The librarian was there, with her glasses on her head.
她把书拿到柜台前。管理员在那里，眼镜架在头顶上。
"Look at this," Alba said. She showed the paper.
“你看这个，”阿尔芭说，把那张纸给她看。
The librarian read the letters. Her eyes grew wide. "How lovely," she said. "I have never seen it before."
管理员读着那些字，眼睛睁大了。“真可爱，”她说，“我以前从没见过。”
"Who had the book last?" Alba asked.
“谁最后借过这本书？”阿尔芭问。
"Let us look at the card," said the librarian.
“我们来看看借书卡，”管理员说。
Inside the back cover, there was a paper card. It had names and dates. Alba counted five names. She read the oldest name. It said "Nia." The date was three years ago.
后封面的里面有一张纸卡，上面有名字和日期。阿尔芭数了数，一共五个名字。她读了最早的那个，写的是“妮娅”，日期是三年前。
"Nia," said the librarian. "I remember her. She was a quiet girl. She always read about the sea."
“妮娅，”管理员说，“我记得她。她是个安静的女孩，总是读关于大海的书。”
"Is she still at this school?" Alba asked.
“她还在这所学校吗？”阿尔芭问。
"No. She finished last year. She works at a school far away now. But her brother is in class eight."
“不在了。她去年毕业了，现在在很远的一所学校工作。不过她弟弟在八年级。”
Alba found him at lunch. He sat alone at a long table. He ate an apple.
午饭时，阿尔芭找到了他。他一个人坐在一张长桌旁，吃着一个苹果。
"Excuse me," she said. "Is your sister Nia?"
“打扰一下，”她说，“你姐姐是妮娅吗？”
The boy nodded. "Yes. Why?"
男孩点点头。“是啊，怎么了？”
Alba showed him the paper. The boy read it. Then he laughed out loud.
阿尔芭把那张纸给他看。男孩读完，哈哈大笑起来。
"This is Nia," he said. "She did this every time she felt afraid. Before a test, before a race, before a big day. She put dots in a book. Then she gave the book to the next reader."
“这是妮娅，”他说，“她每次害怕的时候都会这样做。考试前，比赛前，重要的日子前。她在书里点上点，然后把书交给下一个读者。”
"Why?" Alba asked.
“为什么？”阿尔芭问。
"A book can talk to a stranger," he said.
“一本书可以对陌生人说话，”他说。
"That is what she said."
“她就是这么说的。”
"She wanted that stranger to feel brave."
“她想让那个陌生人感到勇敢。”
Alba thought about the message. She had a hard math test on Monday. She felt afraid of it. Now the words were a warm stone in her bag.
阿尔芭想着那条留言。星期一她有一场很难的数学考试，她为此感到害怕。现在，这几个字像一块暖暖的石头，放在她的书包里。
That afternoon, the library was quiet. Alba sat at the big table with the sea book. She took her pencil and opened to page twenty. She made a small dot under the letter S.
那天下午，图书馆里很安静。阿尔芭坐在大桌子旁，面前放着那本大海的书。她拿起铅笔，翻到第二十页，在“你”字下面点了一个小点。
She found an O on the next page. Then C, A, N, Y, O, and U.
她在下一页找到了“也”字，接着是“可”和“以”。
"So can you," she said to nobody.
“你也可以，”她对着空气说。
She closed the book. She stamped it and walked to the shelf. She put it back, ready for the next reader.
她合上书，盖了章，走到书架前。她把书放了回去，等着下一个读者。
