Frida was fifteen, and she hated waiting.
弗丽达十五岁，她讨厌等待。
She hated slow phones. She hated slow friends. Most of all, she hated the lift at Hillside Zoo.
她讨厌慢吞吞的手机。她讨厌慢吞吞的朋友。最讨厌的，是山坡动物园的那部电梯。
The zoo was small. It sat on a hill, and it had three levels. The kitchen was at the bottom. The lemur garden was at the top. Between them was one old lift for food carts.
动物园不大。它坐落在一座小山上，有三层。厨房在最底层。狐猴园在最高层。两者之间只有一部运送食物推车的旧电梯。
The lift took four whole minutes to go up. It made a low, sleepy hum all the way. Nothing else in the zoo moved so slowly.
电梯上楼要整整四分钟。一路上它都发出低低的、昏昏欲睡的嗡嗡声。园里没有别的东西动得这么慢。
Frida came every Saturday to help. Her job was to wash buckets. She washed forty buckets each week. Then she stood by the lift and watched the numbers crawl.
弗丽达每个星期六都来帮忙。她的工作是刷水桶。每周她要刷四十个水桶。然后她站在电梯旁，看着数字一格一格地爬。
Dina, the head keeper, wore big boots and a green cap. She had a calm voice. She never ran, and she never shouted.
饲养员组长迪娜穿着大靴子，戴着绿帽子。她说话声音沉稳。她从不奔跑，也从不大喊。
One Saturday, Frida could not wait any more.
一个星期六，弗丽达再也等不下去了。
"Dina, please fix this lift," she said. "It is so slow. My wish is a fast lift."
“迪娜，求你把这部电梯修一修，”她说。“它太慢了。我的愿望是一部快电梯。”
Dina laughed. "You wish for a lot of things."
迪娜笑了。“你的愿望可真不少。”
"My second wish is to feed the animals," said Frida. "I am tired of buckets."
“我的第二个愿望是喂动物，”弗丽达说。“我刷水桶刷腻了。”
"One wish at a time," Dina said. "I will call the repair man. We will talk about the feeding later."
“一次一个愿望，”迪娜说。“我会叫修理工来。喂食的事我们以后再谈。”
On Monday, the repair man came with a heavy bag. He worked all day. He changed a part and oiled a wheel. By evening, the old lift was ready.
星期一，修理工带着一个沉甸甸的包来了。他干了一整天。他换了一个零件，给一个轮子上了油。到傍晚，旧电梯修好了。
The next Saturday, Frida ran into the kitchen. The lift stood open and shiny. She pushed the food cart inside and pressed the button.
下个星期六，弗丽达跑进厨房。电梯敞着门，亮闪闪的。她把食物推车推进去，按下按钮。
Whoosh! The lift flew up. It took only forty seconds.
嗖！电梯飞快地升上去。只用了四十秒。
"Yes!" Frida shouted. "At last!"
“太棒了！”弗丽达喊道。“终于！”
The doors opened at the top. Dina stood there with a smile. Frida pushed the cart into the lemur garden and looked around.
门在顶层打开了。迪娜站在那里，面带微笑。弗丽达把推车推进狐猴园，环顾四周。
The garden was empty.
园子里空空的。
There were no lemurs at the fence. There were no black and white tails on the rocks. The grapes sat in the bowls, and nobody came.
围栏边没有狐猴。岩石上没有黑白相间的尾巴。葡萄躺在碗里，没有谁来。
"Where are they?" Frida asked.
“它们在哪儿？”弗丽达问。
"Let us wait," said Dina.
“我们等等看，”迪娜说。
They waited five minutes. Nothing moved. Then Frida saw them. The lemurs sat high in the big tree. They stayed far from the food.
她们等了五分钟。什么也没动。然后弗丽达看见它们了。狐猴们坐在大树的高处。它们离食物远远的。
The youngest one was Biscuit. He looked down at the cart and made a small, worried noise. Then he looked at the lift.
最小的那只叫比斯基。他低头看着推车，发出一声轻轻的、忧虑的叫声。然后他看向电梯。
"Are they sick?" Frida asked.
“它们生病了吗？”弗丽达问。
"No," said Dina. "They are confused."
“没有，”迪娜说。“它们是糊涂了。”
"Why?"
“为什么？”
Dina sat on a box by the gate. "Tell me about the old lift," she said. "What did it do?"
迪娜在大门边的一只箱子上坐下来。“跟我说说旧电梯，”她说。“它是怎么回事？”
"It was slow," Frida said. "It hummed."
“它很慢，”弗丽达说。“它会嗡嗡响。”
"And what did the lemurs do when it hummed?"
“那它嗡嗡响的时候，狐猴们做什么？”
Frida opened her mouth. Then she closed it again. She remembered the old Saturdays. First the hum began. Then, one by one, the lemurs came down from the trees. By the time the lift arrived, they all sat at the fence. They waited like a small, hungry crowd.
弗丽达张了张嘴。然后又闭上了。她想起了过去的那些星期六。先是嗡嗡声响起来。然后，狐猴们一只接一只从树上下来。等电梯到的时候，它们都已经坐在围栏边了。它们等在那里，像一小群饥肠辘辘的观众。
"The hum was a bell," Frida said slowly. "The hum told them: dinner is coming."
“嗡嗡声是一声铃，”弗丽达慢慢地说。“嗡嗡声告诉它们：开饭了。”
"And the four minutes gave them time to come," Dina said.
“而那四分钟给了它们过来的时间，”迪娜说。
Frida looked at the shiny lift. It was quiet now. It had no hum and no warning. Food just appeared, and the lemurs did not trust it.
弗丽达看着那部亮闪闪的电梯。它现在静悄悄的。没有嗡嗡声，也没有预告。食物就这么凭空出现，而狐猴们不信任它。
"I made it worse," she said.
“是我把事情弄糟了，”她说。
"You made it faster," Dina said. "That is not the same."
“你让它变快了，”迪娜说。“这和弄糟不是一回事。”
Frida felt her stomach go cold. "Can the repair man put the old part back?"
弗丽达觉得胃里一阵发凉。“修理工能把旧零件装回去吗？”
"He kept it in his van. But he cannot come until Monday."
“他把它留在他的货车里了。可他要到星期一才能来。”
"Then what do we do today?"
“那我们今天怎么办？”
Dina shrugged. "You tell me. You wanted to feed the animals."
迪娜耸耸肩。“你来告诉我。你想喂动物的。”
Frida looked at the tree. Biscuit looked back at her. His hungry eyes went from the grapes to the lift.
弗丽达看着那棵树。比斯基也回望着她。他饥饿的眼睛在葡萄和电梯之间来回看。
She thought for a long time. Then she walked to the gate and stood very still. She took a slow breath.
她想了很久。然后她走到大门边，一动不动地站着。她缓缓吸了一口气。
Then she began to hum.
然后她开始哼了起来。
It was a low note, deep in her chest. It was not pretty. It was not a song. It was only a long, sleepy sound, just like the old lift.
那是一个低沉的音，从胸腔深处发出。它不好听。它不是歌。它只是一个长长的、昏昏欲睡的声音，和旧电梯一模一样。
Nothing happened for one minute. Her face felt silly. She kept humming.
一分钟里什么也没发生。她觉得自己的脸傻透了。她继续哼着。
After two minutes, a branch moved. A lemur climbed down and sat on a rock.
两分钟后，一根树枝动了。一只狐猴爬下来，坐在一块岩石上。
After three minutes, there were four of them. They watched her with their orange eyes. Their tails curled over their backs like question marks.
三分钟后，有了四只。它们用橙色的眼睛看着她。它们的尾巴弯在背上，像一个个问号。
Frida wanted to stop. Her throat was dry. She wanted to run and put the grapes down. But she remembered Dina's calm voice. So she took another breath and hummed on.
弗丽达想停下来。她的喉咙发干。她想跑开，把葡萄放下。可是她想起了迪娜沉稳的声音。于是她又吸了一口气，继续哼下去。
After four minutes, the whole group sat at the fence. Biscuit came last. He walked along the wall, and he stopped at her feet.
四分钟后，整群狐猴都坐在了围栏边。比斯基最后一个来。他沿着墙边走过来，在她脚边停住了。
Frida stopped humming. Her heart beat fast. Slowly, she put a grape in the little hand.
弗丽达停止了哼声。她的心怦怦直跳。她慢慢地把一颗葡萄放进那只小手里。
Dina stood up and put a bucket in Frida's arms. "That is your wish, then," she said. "Every Saturday at four o'clock. Do not be late."
迪娜站起来，把一只水桶放进弗丽达怀里。“那这就是你的愿望了，”她说。“每个星期六四点钟。别迟到。”
"But on Monday the old lift will come back," Frida said.
“可是星期一旧电梯就回来了，”弗丽达说。
"Yes. And on Monday, you can ride it with me." Dina smiled. "But today, somebody had to be the lift."
“对。星期一，你可以和我一起坐它。”迪娜笑了。“不过今天，总得有人来当电梯。”
Frida laughed. She turned back to the fence, where forty bright eyes watched her. She gave out the grapes one at a time.
弗丽达笑了。她转回围栏边，那里有四十只明亮的眼睛看着她。她一次一颗地分发葡萄。
"Mmm," she hummed, and waited for the next one.
“嗯——”她哼着，等待着下一只。
