The Name Badge at the Toll Booth

Wanda arrived at the Long Bridge toll booth at ten to six. She had a coffee in one hand and a name badge in the other. The badge was blue plastic with white letters. It said WANDA, and under that, in smaller print, TRAINEE. She tried to pin it to her jacket, but the pin bent twice and fell on the floor.

旺达在五点五十分到了长桥收费亭。她一只手拿着咖啡，另一只手拿着一枚名牌。名牌是蓝色塑料的，印着白字。上面写着“旺达”，下面用小一点的字写着“实习生”。她想把它别在外套上，可别针弯了两次，掉在了地上。

"Let me help you," said the woman inside the booth. She was about forty, with short black hair and a mug that said WORLD'S OKAYEST COLLEAGUE. "I'm Dina. I've been here nine years, and I still bend my pins. Use a safety pin."

“我来帮你，”亭子里的女人说。她四十岁上下，一头黑色短发，拿着一只写着“世界上勉强还行的同事”的马克杯。“我叫迪娜。我在这儿干了九年，别针还是照样弄弯。用安全别针吧。”

"Thank you," said Wanda. She stepped inside and looked around. The booth was smaller than she had expected. There was a cash tray, a screen for the card reader and a big button for the barrier. A little fridge hummed in the corner. Outside the window, the bridge stretched over the dark water like a long grey ribbon.

“谢谢你，”旺达说。她走进亭子，环顾四周。亭子比她预想的要小。有钱盘，有一个读卡器的屏幕，还有一个控制栏杆的大按钮。墙角一台小冰箱嗡嗡作响。窗外，大桥像一条长长的灰色缎带，横跨在黑沉沉的水面上。

Dina showed her the log book and the spare coins. She explained that cars paid at the window and lorries paid double. Nobody ever won an argument with the barrier. Then she stopped in the middle of a sentence. She put a hand on one jacket pocket, and then on the other.

迪娜给她看了登记簿和备用的硬币。她解释说，小汽车在窗口付钱，货车要付双倍。跟栏杆吵架，从来没有人赢过。然后她话说到一半停住了。她把一只手按在一侧的外套口袋上，又按在另一侧。

"Oh no," she said.

“哦，糟了，”她说。

"What's wrong?" asked Wanda.

“怎么了？”旺达问。

"My badge. It's on my kitchen table, next to my keys." Dina sat down heavily on the stool. "And a man from head office is coming at seven to check every booth."

“我的工牌。在我家厨房桌上，挨着钥匙。”迪娜重重地坐到凳子上。“而且总公司有个人七点钟要来检查每一个收费亭。”

"Is that a problem?"

“这有问题吗？”

"The rule is simple. Everyone in the booth wears a badge. I forgot mine in March, and again in June. After the third time, they move you to the night shift." Dina looked at the fridge. "I hate the night shift. The bridge is empty and that fridge hums at me."

“规定很简单。亭子里的每个人都得戴工牌。三月我忘带了一次，六月又忘了一次。第三次以后，他们就会把你调去上夜班。”迪娜看着那台冰箱。“我讨厌夜班。桥上空荡荡的，那台冰箱还对着我嗡嗡叫。”

Wanda thought about it. She had been in the job for ten minutes, and she already wanted to fix something. "Then we should call the office," she said. "They can send a spare badge before seven."

旺达想了想。她才上班十分钟，就已经想去解决点什么了。“那我们应该打电话给办公室，”她说，“他们可以在七点前送一枚备用的来。”

"A spare takes two hours," said Dina. "And they will ask why I need one."

“备用的要两个小时，”迪娜说，“而且他们会问我为什么要。”

"Then you tell them why. It's only a badge."

“那你就告诉他们为什么。不过是一枚工牌。”

"It's never only a badge." Dina shook her head. "I have a better plan. You work the window, and I wait in the supply cupboard. The man stays twelve minutes. He sees one person with one badge, and everybody is happy."

“从来都不只是一枚工牌。”迪娜摇摇头。“我有个更好的主意。你守窗口，我躲在储物柜里。那个人会待十二分钟。他看到一个人，一枚工牌，大家都皆大欢喜。”

"But that's a lie," said Wanda. "He will ask who is training me."

“可那是撒谎，”旺达说，“他会问谁在带我。”

"Then say I'm on my break."

“那就说我在休息。”

"On the first morning of a new trainee?"

“新实习生上班的第一个早晨？”

Dina laughed, but she did not look happy about it.

迪娜笑了，可她看上去并不高兴。

They did not finish the argument, because the morning would not wait. At six, the cars began to line up on the bridge. Wanda counted coins, tapped cards and handed out receipts. A cyclist paid with a bag of small change and apologised twice. A lorry driver asked her to repeat the price, and then asked again.

她们没有吵完，因为早晨不等人。六点，车辆开始在桥上排起队来。旺达数硬币，刷卡，递收据。一个骑自行车的人用一袋零钱付了款，还道歉了两次。一个货车司机让她把价钱再说一遍，然后又问了一遍。

Between the cars, the two women talked in low voices, like people at a very polite meeting.

在两辆车的间隙里，两个女人压低声音交谈，就像参加一场非常客气的会议。

"I don't want you to lose your job," said Dina.

“我不想让你丢了工作，”迪娜说。

"I won't lose it. I haven't started it yet," said Wanda. "But I can't hide you in a cupboard. If he asks, I will have to say something, and I am a terrible liar."

“我丢不了。我还没开始呢，”旺达说，“可我没法把你藏进柜子里。他要是问起来，我就得说点什么，而我撒谎很糟糕。”

"I have noticed," said Dina. "You blink when you almost say it."

“我注意到了，”迪娜说，“你快要说出口的时候会眨眼。”

Wanda blinked and decided not to answer.

旺达眨了眨眼，决定不作回答。

At twenty to seven, a delivery van stopped at the window. The driver counted out his coins one by one and looked from face to face. "You two look serious," he said. "Is this a robbery?"

差二十分钟七点，一辆送货的面包车停在窗口。司机一枚一枚数出硬币，在两张脸之间来回看。“你们俩看上去很严肃，”他说，“这是要抢劫吗？”

"We are planning a badge," said Dina.

“我们在策划一枚工牌，”迪娜说。

"That sounds harder." He glanced at the dashboard. A roll of white sticky labels lay there, next to a fat black marker. "I write on these all day. Take them, if they help."

“那听上去更难，”他瞥了一眼仪表板。那里放着一卷白色的不干胶标签，旁边是一支粗粗的黑色记号笔。“我整天在上面写字。要是有用，你们拿去吧。”

He pushed the roll and the marker through the window and drove off before they could thank him.

他把那卷标签和记号笔从窗口递了进来，没等她们道谢就开车走了。

Dina picked up the label roll and turned it over. "Here is my new plan," she said. "I write DINA on one. I stick it on my jacket. The man is in a hurry, and he will never look closely."

迪娜拿起标签卷，翻过来看。“我有个新主意，”她说，“我在一张上写‘迪娜’，贴在外套上。那个人很赶时间，不会仔细看的。”

"He will look. That is why he's coming," said Wanda.

“他会看的。他来就是干这个的，”旺达说。

"Then what do you suggest?"

“那你有什么建议？”

Wanda took the marker. She tore off a label and held it flat against the edge of the cash tray. She wrote slowly, in neat capital letters, and then she held it up.

旺达拿过记号笔。她撕下一张标签，平按在钱盘的边上。她写得很慢，用工整的大字，然后举了起来。

It said: DINA. REAL BADGE IS ON MY KITCHEN TABLE.

上面写着：迪娜。真工牌在我家厨房桌上。

Dina read it twice. "You want me to wear a sign that says I forgot?"

迪娜读了两遍。“你想让我戴一块写着我忘带了的牌子？”

"I want you to wear a sign that says the truth. It is better than a cupboard."

“我想让你戴一块写着实话的牌子。这比躲柜子好。”

"A cupboard has a door," said Dina.

“柜子有门，”迪娜说。

"A cupboard also has mops."

“柜子里还有拖把。”

Dina made a noise that was half a laugh and half a groan. She took the label and looked at it for a long moment. Outside, two cars honked, and she pressed the button without looking.

迪娜发出一种半是笑、半是呻吟的声音。她接过标签，看了很久。外面，两辆车按了喇叭，她看也不看就按下了按钮。

"It's honest," she said at last. "But it makes me sound like a child who lost her gloves. If I wear this, it must say something else too."

“这很诚实，”她终于说，“可是这让我听起来像个丢了手套的小孩。我要是戴这个，上面就得再写点别的。”

"Like what?"

“比如什么？”

Dina took the marker and wrote a second line, in her own sloping hand. Then she showed it to Wanda. It said: NINE YEARS, NEVER LATE.

迪娜拿起记号笔，用她自己倾斜的字迹写了第二行。然后给旺达看。上面写着：九年，从未迟到。

Wanda smiled. "That's not a badge. That's a small speech."

旺达笑了。“这不是工牌。这是一小段演讲。”

"It's a very good speech," said Dina. "Nobody argues with it."

“这是一段很棒的演讲，”迪娜说，“没人会反驳它。”

Neither of them had expected this. Wanda had come with a plan to follow every rule. Dina had come with a plan to hide. Now they stood side by side with a piece of sticky paper that obeyed no rule at all.

她们俩谁也没有料到会这样。旺达是带着遵守每一条规定的打算来的。迪娜是带着躲起来的打算来的。现在，她们并肩站着，面前是一张不遵守任何规定的不干胶纸。

Dina pressed the label onto her jacket and smoothed it down with her thumb. Wanda straightened her own crooked safety pin.

迪娜把标签按在外套上，用拇指抚平。旺达把自己那枚歪了的安全别针别正。

At seven, a small tidy man in a dark coat stopped his car by the booth. He carried a clipboard and had the face of a person who had heard many excuses. He checked Wanda's badge and nodded. Then he looked at Dina's jacket, and his eyes stopped moving.

七点，一个穿深色大衣、整洁的小个子男人把车停在了亭子边。他拿着一块写字夹板，脸上是一副听过无数借口的人的神情。他查看了旺达的工牌，点了点头。然后他看向迪娜的外套，目光不动了。

Dina held her breath. The fridge hummed in the corner.

迪娜屏住了呼吸。墙角的冰箱嗡嗡响着。

The man read the label from top to bottom. He read it a second time. Then he took out a pen and made a small tick on his list.

男人从上到下读了一遍标签。他又读了第二遍。然后他拿出一支笔，在名单上画了一个小小的对勾。

"Nine years, never late," he said. "Is that true?"

“九年，从未迟到，”他说，“这是真的吗？”

"Ask the log book," said Dina.

“去查登记簿，”迪娜说。

"I will." He tapped his clipboard. "Bring the proper badge tomorrow, please. And I will say this once, as a favour. Your trainee has beautiful handwriting."

“我会的。”他敲了敲夹板。“请明天把正式的工牌带来。还有，我只说一次，就当是帮个忙：你的实习生字写得真漂亮。”

"Thank you," said Wanda. "It was a team effort."

“谢谢，”旺达说，“这是团队合作的成果。”

When the man had gone, the booth was very quiet. Dina let out a long breath and sat down on the stool. Then she took a safety pin from her pocket and fixed the label firmly to her jacket. She pressed the button for the next car.

男人走了以后，亭子里很安静。迪娜长长地呼出一口气，坐在凳子上。然后她从口袋里掏出一枚安全别针，把标签牢牢地别在外套上。她按下按钮，放行下一辆车。