The Owl That Needed a Hat

Kai stared at the little clay owl on the table. The owl looked fine. The hat on its head looked ridiculous.

凯盯着桌上那只小小的陶土猫头鹰。猫头鹰看上去挺好。头上的帽子却显得很荒唐。

"It's too big," Kai said.

“太大了，”凯说。

Florin walked over from the sink, drying his hands on his apron. He taught the Thursday pottery class, and he had a calm face that nothing seemed to surprise.

弗洛林一边在围裙上擦手，一边从水槽边走过来。他教星期四的陶艺课，一张平静的脸，似乎什么都惊不到他。

"The hat is not too big," he said. "The owl's head is too small."

“帽子并不大，”他说，“是猫头鹰的头太小了。”

"That is the same problem."

“这是同一个问题。”

"Not at all. One of them is much easier to fix." Florin lifted the hat and set it back on the owl. It slid down over both eyes and rested on the beak.

“完全不是。其中一个要容易解决得多。”弗洛林拿起帽子，重新扣在猫头鹰头上。帽子滑下来，盖住了两只眼睛，停在嘴上。

Kai laughed before he could stop himself. The owl looked like a very sleepy detective.

凯没忍住，笑了出来。猫头鹰看上去像一位非常困倦的侦探。

The owl was a present. Kai's sister had just moved into her first flat. She loved owls, and she wore a hat in every season. Kai wanted to give her an owl-shaped pen pot. A tiny hat would be its lid. He had imagined it for weeks. In his head, it was perfect.

这只猫头鹰是件礼物。凯的姐姐刚搬进她的第一套公寓。她喜欢猫头鹰，而且一年四季都戴帽子。凯想送她一只猫头鹰形状的笔筒。一顶小小的帽子就是笔筒的盖子。他已经想象了好几个星期。在他脑海里，一切都很完美。

In real life, the studio smelled of wet earth, and the shelves were full of crooked bowls. Kai had come to the class six times. He could make a decent cup. He had never made anything with a lid.

现实中，工作室里弥漫着湿泥土的气味，架子上摆满了歪歪扭扭的碗。凯来上课已经六次了。他能做出一只像样的杯子。可他从没做过带盖子的东西。

"Try the hat again," Florin said. "If it is smaller, the lid will sit properly. But don't rush."

“再试试做帽子，”弗洛林说，“小一点，盖子才能扣得稳。但别着急。”

Kai did rush. That was his first mistake.

凯偏偏着急了。这是他犯的第一个错。

He took the soft hat and squeezed it between his palms. The clay folded, and the brim bent into a wave. He pushed it back into shape with his thumbs, and then he pushed again. After ten minutes, the hat was smaller. It also looked like a sad pancake with a lump on top.

他拿起那顶软软的帽子，用两只手掌夹住。陶土折了起来，帽檐弯成了波浪。他用拇指把它按回原样，然后又按了一次。十分钟后，帽子是变小了。可它看上去也像一块悲伤的煎饼，顶上还有个疙瘩。

"It's fine," Kai told himself. "Nobody looks closely at a hat."

“没事的，”凯对自己说，“没人会仔细看一顶帽子。”

He wrapped the owl and the hat in plastic and went home. Clay needs a week to dry slowly, so Kai had no choice but to wait.

他用塑料布把猫头鹰和帽子包好，回了家。陶土需要一个星期慢慢阴干，所以凯只能等着。

The next Thursday, he pulled back the plastic and groaned. A long crack ran across the top of the hat like a river on a map. The thin brim had split in two places.

下一个星期四，他掀开塑料布，呻吟了一声。一道长长的裂缝横过帽子顶部，像地图上的一条河。薄薄的帽檐有两处裂成了两半。

"Ah," said Florin, who had appeared behind him. "The clay remembers every squeeze. When you press it too much, it dries unevenly. Then it cracks."

“啊，”弗洛林说，他不知什么时候已经站在凯身后了。“陶土会记住每一次挤压。你按得太多，它干的时候就会不均匀。然后就裂了。”

"So I wasted a week."

“所以我白白浪费了一个星期。”

"You learned something. That is never a waste."

“你学到了东西。那从来不是浪费。”

"That sounds like something teachers say when a student has wasted a week."

“这话听着像老师在学生浪费了一个星期之后会说的话。”

Florin smiled. "It is. But it is also true."

弗洛林笑了。“确实是。但这也是真的。”

Kai sat down and looked at the owl. The owl had survived. Its round body was dry and pale and perfectly fine. Only the hat was ruined.

凯坐下来，看着猫头鹰。猫头鹰毫发无损。它圆圆的身体干透了，颜色发白，完好无缺。坏掉的只有帽子。

The woman at the next table was building a tall vase. She had been coming to the class for years, and her hands never seemed to hurry. She glanced over at the broken hat.

旁边桌子的那位女士正在做一只高高的花瓶。她来上课好多年了，手上的动作从不显得匆忙。她瞥了一眼破掉的帽子。

"You are trying to fix the wrong thing," she said. "Don't shrink the old hat. Make a new one that fits."

“你想修的是错的东西，”她说，“别去缩小那顶旧帽子。重新做一顶合适的。”

"I tried to make it fit the first time."

“我第一次就是想做得合适的。”

"No. You made a hat and hoped. That is different."

“不，你是做了一顶帽子，然后碰运气。这不一样。”

Kai opened his mouth to argue, and then he closed it again. She was right. He had guessed the size by eye, and he had guessed wrong. Then he had punished the clay for his mistake.

凯张开嘴想争辩，随后又闭上了。她说得对。他是凭眼睛估的大小，结果估错了。然后他又为自己的错误惩罚了陶土。

"So how do I measure a head that is made of clay?" he asked.

“那我怎么测量一个陶土做的脑袋呢？”他问。

Florin was already walking to the supply shelf. He came back with a roll of plain paper and a pair of scissors.

弗洛林已经朝材料架走去。他拿着一卷普通的纸和一把剪刀回来了。

"Here is a trick," he said. "Wrap the owl's head in two layers of paper. Then build the hat over the paper, not over the clay. When the hat is dry, you pull the paper out. If any is left, the kiln burns it away. The gap it leaves is exactly the right size."

“有个窍门，”他说，“用两层纸把猫头鹰的头包起来。然后把帽子做在纸上，而不是做在陶土上。帽子干了以后，把纸抽出来。要是还剩一点，窑里会把它烧掉。留下的空隙，大小刚刚好。”

"So the paper makes room for the clay to shrink?"

“所以纸是给陶土留出收缩的地方？”

"Clay shrinks as it dries, and again in the fire. A hat that fits when it is wet is often too tight later. The paper keeps a little space. A hat with a little space is a happy hat."

“陶土干的时候会收缩，烧制时还会再缩一次。湿的时候刚好合适的帽子，往往到后来就太紧了。纸能留出一点空间。留了一点空间的帽子，是一顶快乐的帽子。”

Then Kai started again.

于是凯重新开始了。

This time, he went slowly. He cut a strip of paper and wrapped it around the owl's head. He tied it with a thread. He rolled a flat sheet of fresh clay, as thin as a biscuit. He cut a circle for the top and a long strip for the side.

这一次，他做得很慢。他剪下一条纸带，绕在猫头鹰的头上。又用线把它系住。他擀出一张平整的新陶土片，薄得像一块饼干。他切了一个圆形做顶，又切了一条长条做侧面。

He pressed the strip around the paper and joined the ends with a little water. He did not squeeze. He smoothed the seam with one finger, the way Florin had shown him in the first lesson. Then he added the circle on top and rolled out a thin ring for the brim.

他把长条压在纸的周围，用一点水把两端接在一起。他没有挤压。他用一根手指把接缝抹平，就像弗洛林在第一堂课上教他的那样。然后他在上面加了圆片，又擀出一个薄薄的圆环做帽檐。

It took the whole evening. When Kai finally looked up, the windows were black, and the other students had gone home.

这花了整整一晚上。凯终于抬起头时，窗外一片漆黑，其他学员都已经回家了。

"Careful with the brim," Florin said from across the room. "Thin is good, but not too thin."

“小心帽檐，”弗洛林在房间另一头说，“薄是好事，但不能太薄。”

"I know. I know."

“我知道。我知道。”

"You don't know. You are learning. That is better."

“你不知道。你在学。这样更好。”

Kai lifted the finished hat very carefully and tried it on the owl. It sat on top like a small crown. A tiny gap, as thin as a coin, ran all around. He held his breath and let go. The hat stayed.

凯非常小心地拿起做好的帽子，戴在猫头鹰头上。它像一顶小小的王冠一样落在上面。四周有一道细细的缝隙，薄得像一枚硬币。他屏住呼吸，松开了手。帽子留在了原处。

"It fits," he whispered.

“合适，”他小声说。

"It fits," Florin agreed. "Now leave it alone for a week. No touching. No squeezing. No checking every day."

“合适，”弗洛林附和道，“现在别管它，等一个星期。不许碰。不许捏。不许天天去看。”

"I won't check."

“我不会去看的。”

He checked on Monday. He was not proud of this. He stood in front of the shelf and looked through the plastic. The hat was still there, and it had no cracks.

他星期一就去看了。他对此并不自豪。他站在架子前，隔着塑料布往里看。帽子还在那里，没有一道裂缝。

Two weeks later, after the first firing and the glaze, the owl came out of the kiln. Kai had painted it deep blue with yellow eyes, and the hat was bright green. The glaze had run a little at the brim, which gave the owl a cheerful look.

两个星期后，上完第一次釉、烧完第一遍，猫头鹰从窑里出来了。凯把它涂成了深蓝色，配着黄色的眼睛，帽子是鲜亮的绿色。釉在帽檐处流下来一点，让猫头鹰有了一副开心的样子。

He lifted the hat off and put it back on. It slid into place with a soft click of clay on clay. There was no gap and no wobble. Kai dropped three pens into the owl's body and closed the lid.

他把帽子拿起来，又放回去。它伴着陶土碰陶土的轻轻一声咔嗒，滑进了位置。没有缝隙，也不晃动。凯把三支笔放进猫头鹰的身体里，盖上盖子。

"It's a pen pot with a hat," he said. "That's all I wanted."

“这是一个带帽子的笔筒，”他说，“我想要的就是这个。”

"It is a very good pen pot," said Florin.

“这是一个非常好的笔筒，”弗洛林说。

The woman at the next table stopped working and came over to look. She turned the owl around in her hands and nodded.

旁边桌子的那位女士停下手里的活，走过来看。她把猫头鹰拿在手里转了一圈，点了点头。

"Better than most people's first lid," she said. "You listened. That is rare."

“比大多数人做的第一个盖子都好，”她说，“你听进去了。这很难得。”

"I didn't listen the first time."

“第一次我没有听。”

"But you listened the second time. That is the part that counts."

“但第二次你听了。重要的是这一点。”

Kai wrapped the owl in a soft cloth and put it in his bag. Then he noticed Florin near the sink, wearing a thick woolly hat indoors. It was grey and enormous. It had slid down again, and now it covered his eyebrows.

凯用软布把猫头鹰包好，放进包里。这时他注意到弗洛林站在水槽边，在室内戴着一顶厚厚的毛线帽。帽子是灰色的，大得离谱。它又滑下来了，现在盖住了他的眉毛。

"Is that a new hat?" Kai asked.

“那是新帽子吗？”凯问。

"A present from my brother," Florin said. "He says it is one size fits all."

“我哥哥送的礼物，”弗洛林说，“他说这是均码。”

"It doesn't fit you."

“它不适合你。”

"No. It fits nobody. I think he bought it for a bigger head."

“是不适合。它谁也不适合。我想他是照着一个更大的脑袋买的。”

Kai grinned. He pulled the owl out of his bag. He held the little green hat beside the big grey one.

凯咧嘴笑了。他从包里拿出猫头鹰。他把那顶绿色小帽子举到那顶灰色大帽子旁边。

"I could make you a smaller one," he said. "I know a good method."

“我可以给你做一顶小一点的，”他说，“我知道一个好办法。”

Florin pushed his hat up with one finger and looked at the owl for a long moment.

弗洛林用一根手指把帽子往上推了推，盯着猫头鹰看了好一会儿。

"Don't bother," he said. "I will borrow the owl's hat instead. It fits me better than this one."

“不用麻烦了，”他说，“我借猫头鹰的帽子好了。它比这顶更适合我。”