Emre started the night shift at ten o'clock. The call centre was cold and quiet. Forty desks stood in long rows. Only six of them had people.
埃姆雷晚上十点开始上夜班。呼叫中心又冷又安静。四十张办公桌排成长长的几行，只有六张桌前有人。
Emre was nineteen. This was his second week. He worked for a water company. People called when a pipe broke or a tap did not stop.
埃姆雷十九岁。这是他上班的第二周。他在一家自来水公司工作。人们会在水管破裂或水龙头关不上的时候打电话来。
He sat down at desk nine, by the window. Then he saw the duck.
他在靠窗的九号桌坐下。然后他看见了那只鸭子。
It was a small yellow rubber duck. It sat next to his screen. Its beak was a little open.
那是一只小小的黄色橡皮鸭。它蹲在他的屏幕旁边。它的嘴微微张着。
"Is this yours?" Emre asked.
“这是你们谁的？”埃姆雷问。
Wilf looked up from desk four. Wilf was the night leader. He had a big cup of coffee and a sleepy face.
威尔夫从四号桌抬起头。威尔夫是夜班组长。他端着一大杯咖啡，一脸困倦。
"Not mine," Wilf said. "It was not there yesterday."
“不是我的，”威尔夫说，“昨天它还不在这儿。”
"Then who put it here?"
“那是谁放在这儿的？”
"No idea. People leave strange things in this room. Last month, it was a shoe."
“不知道。人们总爱在这间屋子里留些奇怪的东西。上个月是一只鞋。”
Emre laughed. He picked up the duck. It was warm, like a cup of soup. On its bottom, in small black letters, was one word. It said, "Listen."
埃姆雷笑了。他拿起那只鸭子。它是温的，像一杯热汤。鸭子的底部有一个词，是小小的黑字。上面写着：“听。”
He put the duck back. Then he put on his headset and took his first call.
他把鸭子放了回去。然后戴上耳麦，接了第一个电话。
A woman said her kitchen floor was wet. Emre kept his voice calm.
一位女士说她家厨房的地板湿了。埃姆雷让自己的声音保持平静。
"Look under the sink," he said. "Find the small tap on the pipe."
“看看水槽下面，”他说，“找到水管上的那个小阀门。”
"I see it."
“我看到了。”
"Turn it to the right. Turn it all the way."
“往右拧。一直拧到底。”
There was a short quiet. Then the woman said, "It stopped! Thank you!"
安静了一小会儿。然后女士说：“停了！谢谢你！”
"You're welcome," Emre said. "A worker comes in the morning."
“不客气，”埃姆雷说，“明早会有师傅上门。”
He wrote his notes. He took another call, and then another. The night went by slowly. At midnight, he ate a sandwich at his desk. The other people typed and talked in low voices.
他记下了笔记。又接了一个电话，接着又一个。夜晚过得很慢。午夜时分，他在桌前吃了一块三明治。其他人敲着键盘，低声说话。
At one o'clock, the duck squeaked.
凌晨一点，鸭子叫了一声。
Nobody touched it. Emre was sure of that. He turned his head, and the duck was still. Its black eyes shone in the light of the screen. Then a very small voice came out of it. It sounded like paper in the wind.
没有人碰它。埃姆雷很确定这一点。他转过头，鸭子一动不动。它黑色的眼睛在屏幕的光里闪着亮。接着一个非常小的声音从它里面传出来。听起来像风中的纸片。
"The blue door," the voice said.
“蓝门，”那个声音说。
Emre looked around the room. Wilf read a magazine. The others had their headsets on. Nobody heard anything.
埃姆雷环顾房间。威尔夫在看杂志。其他人都戴着耳麦。没有人听到什么。
"Hello?" Emre said softly.
“喂？”埃姆雷轻轻地说。
The duck said nothing more. He squeezed it. It made a normal squeak. He looked for a hole, a switch or a wire. There was nothing. He felt a little silly. He put the duck down and went back to work.
鸭子再没有说话。他捏了捏它。它发出一声普通的吱响。他找了找有没有小孔、开关或者电线。什么也没有。他觉得自己有点傻。他把鸭子放下，回去干活。
At three o'clock, every screen in the room went black.
三点钟，屋里所有的屏幕都黑了。
The phones went quiet at the same time. It was like a big door closing. For a moment, nobody spoke.
电话也在同一时刻安静下来。像一扇大门关上了。有那么一会儿，没人说话。
"No, no, no," Wilf said. He stood up so fast that his chair fell over.
“不，不，不，”威尔夫说。他站得太猛，椅子倒了。
"What happened?" Emre asked.
“怎么了？”埃姆雷问。
"The phone system is down. The whole thing. Nobody can call us now."
“电话系统瘫了。整个系统。现在没人能打进来了。”
Wilf took out his own mobile phone. He called the repair man and listened. His face grew more and more worried.
威尔夫掏出自己的手机。他给维修师傅打了电话，听着。他的脸色越来越担忧。
"Forty minutes," he said when he finished. "He lives far away."
“四十分钟，”他挂断后说，“他住得很远。”
"Forty minutes is a long time," said the woman at desk two.
“四十分钟太久了，”二号桌的女士说。
"I know." Wilf rubbed his eyes. "A pipe may break in someone's house right now. They dial our number, and they hear nothing."
“我知道。”威尔夫揉了揉眼睛。“此刻说不定就有谁家的水管破了。他们拨我们的号码，什么也听不到。”
Everyone looked at the black screens. Nobody had an idea.
大家望着一片漆黑的屏幕。谁也想不出办法。
Emre turned to the duck. It sat next to his dead screen, small and yellow. His heart beat faster.
埃姆雷转向那只鸭子。它蹲在他那块黑屏旁边，又小又黄。他的心跳得更快了。
"The blue door," he said, very quietly.
“蓝门，”他非常轻地说。
"What?" said Wilf.
“什么？”威尔夫说。
"Is there a blue door in this building?"
“这栋楼里有扇蓝色的门吗？”
Wilf frowned. "At the end of the hall. It's the cleaners' cupboard. Why?"
威尔夫皱起眉头。“走廊尽头。是清洁工的储物间。怎么了？”
"I'm not sure," Emre said. "Can I look?"
“我不确定，”埃姆雷说，“我可以去看看吗？”
"Take a torch. The hall lights are off too." Wilf gave him a small torch from his drawer.
“带支手电筒。走廊的灯也灭了。”威尔夫从抽屉里拿出一支小手电筒递给他。
Emre picked up the duck without knowing why. He put it in his pocket.
埃姆雷拿起鸭子，也不知道为什么。他把它放进了口袋。
The hall was long and dark. His shoes made a loud sound on the floor. At the end, there was a door with blue paint. The paint was old. Emre pulled the handle, and the door opened with a creak.
走廊又长又黑。他的鞋子踩在地上声音很响。尽头有一扇漆成蓝色的门。漆已经旧了。埃姆雷拉动把手，门吱呀一声开了。
Inside, he saw brushes and boxes. On a low shelf sat a grey metal box. It was the size of a suitcase. All its small lights were dark.
里面是刷子和箱子。一个低矮的架子上放着一只灰色的金属盒子。有手提箱那么大。它上面所有的小灯都是暗的。
He moved the torch along the floor. A thick black cable lay there. One end was not in the wall. It lay on the tiles like a sleeping snake.
他把手电筒的光沿着地面移动。一根粗粗的黑电缆躺在那里。一头没有插在墙上。它横在瓷砖上，像一条睡着的蛇。
"A cleaner hit it," he said to himself.
“是清洁工碰掉的，”他对自己说。
He knelt down. He pushed the plug into the wall as hard as he could. Click.
他跪下来。使劲把插头按进墙里。咔哒。
Nothing happened. The grey box stayed dark.
什么也没发生。灰色的盒子依然是暗的。
Emre looked at the duck. "Now what?" he asked.
埃姆雷看着那只鸭子。“现在怎么办？”他问。
The duck stayed silent. But on the front of the box, he saw a round button. It had a tiny picture of a moon. He pressed it and held it. One, two, three, four, five.
鸭子一言不发。但他看到盒子正面有一个圆形按钮。上面有一个小小的月亮图案。他按住了它。一，二，三，四，五。
A green light came on. Then another. The box began to hum like a happy cat.
一盏绿灯亮了。接着又亮了一盏。盒子开始像一只快乐的猫一样嗡嗡作响。
Far away, down the hall, a phone began to ring. Then another. Then ten more together.
远远的，走廊那头，一部电话响了起来。接着又一部。然后是十部一起响。
Emre ran back with the torch jumping in his hand. The screens were bright again. Every desk had a light that flashed orange. Calls waited in a long line.
埃姆雷跑回去，手电筒在手里晃个不停。屏幕又亮了。每张桌子上都有一盏闪着橙色的灯。来电排成了长长的队。
"You did it!" Wilf shouted. "How?"
“你成功了！”威尔夫喊道，“你是怎么做到的？”
"Later," Emre said. "A cable was out of the wall." He sat down, pulled on his headset and pressed a key.
“回头再说，”埃姆雷说，“有根电缆从墙上掉出来了。”他坐下，戴上耳麦，按了一个键。
"Water company. How can I help?"
“自来水公司，请问有什么可以帮您？”
A man was very worried. Water filled his bathroom. Emre told him where to find the tap. He told him to stay calm. Behind him, the whole room was busy again. Six people talked at once.
一个男人非常着急。水漫进了他的浴室。埃姆雷告诉他阀门在哪儿。他让他保持冷静。他身后，整间屋子又忙碌起来。六个人同时在说话。
The calls did not stop until the sky outside grew pale. At six o'clock, the day workers came in. They had bags and loud voices. The night people yawned and put on their coats.
电话一直不断，直到窗外的天空发白。六点钟，白班的人来了。他们带着包，嗓门很大。夜班的人打着哈欠，穿上外套。
Wilf stopped at desk nine. He put his hand on the back of Emre's chair.
威尔夫在九号桌旁停了下来。他把手搭在埃姆雷的椅背上。
"I told the repair man about the cable," he said. "He says that is very strange. And you found it in five minutes."
“我把电缆的事告诉维修师傅了，”他说，“他说这太奇怪了。而你五分钟就找到了。”
"I was lucky," Emre said.
“我运气好，”埃姆雷说。
"Nobody is that lucky. How did you know?"
“没有人会这么走运。你是怎么知道的？”
Emre took the duck from his pocket. He felt silly, but he said it anyway.
埃姆雷从口袋里拿出鸭子。他觉得自己很傻，但还是说了。
"It told me. At one o'clock. It said, 'The blue door.'"
“是它告诉我的。凌晨一点。它说：‘蓝门。’”
Wilf looked at the duck for a long time. He did not laugh. He took it from Emre's hand and squeezed it. It squeaked, a normal squeak.
威尔夫盯着鸭子看了很久。他没有笑。他从埃姆雷手里接过它，捏了捏。它吱了一声，一声普通的吱响。
"It's only a duck," Wilf said slowly.
“这只是一只鸭子，”威尔夫慢慢地说。
"I know."
“我知道。”
"Then I'm going home to sleep." Wilf gave the duck back. At the door, he turned. "Bring it again tomorrow. Just in case."
“那我回家睡觉了。”威尔夫把鸭子还给他。到了门口，他转过身。“明天再带来吧。以防万一。”
Emre was alone at his desk. The window was full of pink light. He turned the duck over to look at the bottom once more.
埃姆雷一个人坐在桌前。窗户里满是粉红色的光。他把鸭子翻过来，再看看底部。
The word "Listen" was gone. In the same small black letters, there was a new word.
“听”字不见了。同样是小小的黑字，出现了一个新词。
It said, "Tomorrow."
上面写着：“明天。”
