The Library Book Return

Noah started getting strange messages from the school library. Twice in one week, he received a notice saying a book was overdue. But he had never even checked it out. The first time, he assumed it was a simple computer error and ignored it. When the second notice arrived, with a small fine attached, he decided to act. He went to sort it out in person.

诺亚开始收到学校图书馆发来的奇怪消息。一个星期里，他两次收到通知，说有一本书逾期未还。可他根本没有借过。第一次，他以为只是电脑出了个小错误，就没理它。第二次通知来的时候，还附带了一笔小额罚款，他决定行动起来，亲自去把事情弄清楚。

The librarian looked up his student number and frowned. "According to our system, you borrowed a book called Coastal Birds of the Northeast last Tuesday," she said.

图书管理员查了他的学号，皱起了眉头。“根据我们的系统，你上周二借了一本叫《东北部的海岸鸟类》的书，”她说。

"I've never even been to the science section," Noah told her. "I don't think I've read a book about birds since I was maybe eight."

“我连科学区都没去过，”诺亚对她说，“我想我大概从八岁以后就没读过鸟类的书了。”

The librarian checked the record again and noticed something odd. The student number listed was almost identical to Noah's, except for one digit. "It looks like there might be a mix-up with another student's ID," she said.

管理员又查了一遍记录，注意到一件奇怪的事。记录上的学号和诺亚的几乎一样，只差一位数字。“看起来可能是和另一个学生的号码弄混了，”她说。

She searched the system for numbers close to his. She found a match: a girl named Mira, who was two years above him. Mira's ID had the same last four digits, just reversed. When the librarian called her over, Mira looked confused too.

她在系统里搜索和他相近的号码，找到了一个匹配的：一个叫米拉的女生，比他高两个年级。米拉的学号后四位和诺亚的一样，只是顺序反了。管理员把她叫过来的时候，米拉看上去也一头雾水。

Mira admitted, "I did borrow that book, but I returned it on time. I remember because I had to rush to class right after."

米拉承认：“那本书我确实借过，不过我按时还了。我记得很清楚，因为还完书我就得赶紧跑去上课。”

It turned out that a new part-time staff member had scanned the return. They had accidentally typed Noah's number instead of Mira's. The two IDs were easy to confuse on the small screen. The librarian apologized and cancelled both the notice and the fine.

后来才弄清楚，是一位新来的兼职工作人员扫描了还书。他们不小心输入了诺亚的号码，而不是米拉的。在那么小的屏幕上，这两个号码很容易搞混。管理员向他们道了歉，取消了通知和罚款。

"At least we finally solved it," Noah said, relieved that his record was clean again.

“总算把事情弄清楚了，”诺亚说，他松了一口气，自己的记录又干净了。

Mira laughed. "Next time, maybe I should read your ID more carefully before class."

米拉笑着说：“下次上课前，我也许应该把你的学号看得更仔细一点。”

From then on, the two of them always joked about their nearly matching numbers. It happened whenever they passed each other in the hallway.

从那以后，他们俩总拿两人几乎一样的学号开玩笑。每次在走廊里碰到，他们都会这样。