The app calls it "Our Mood," and it has been updating itself every morning for two years. It blends everything Eliot and his partner Kalinda listen to into one playlist. Then it adjusts the mix to how the two of them seem to feel.
这个应用管它叫“我们的心情”，两年来，它每天早晨都会自动更新。它把埃利奥特和他的伴侣卡琳达听的所有歌混成一个歌单，然后根据两人看起来的心情来调整曲目。
Lately, though, something is wrong. Eliot notices it on the bus on Wednesday. The playlist, which used to bounce between her favorite dance tracks and his old rock albums, has turned slow and quiet. Piano. Rain sounds. A singer who whispers about leaving town.
不过，最近有些不对劲。埃利奥特周三在公交车上注意到了。这个歌单以前总在她最爱的舞曲和他的老摇滚专辑之间跳跃，现在却变得缓慢而安静。钢琴声。雨声。一位歌手低声唱着要离开小镇。
He assumes the app has made a mistake. That evening, he opens the listening history to find out what he has been playing, and discovers that he hasn't played any of it. Every sad song is coming from Kalinda's side of the account.
他以为是应用出错了。那天晚上，他打开收听记录，想看看自己都听了什么，结果发现这些歌他一首都没听过。每一首伤感的歌，都来自卡琳达那一边的账号。
He sits with that for a while. She has been getting home late, and she has been quieter at dinner. When he asks if something is wrong, she says she is just tired. He has been choosing to believe her, partly because the alternative is a conversation he doesn't know how to start.
他对着这个发现坐了好一会儿。她回家越来越晚，晚饭时也越来越沉默。他问她是不是有什么不对，她说只是累了。他一直选择相信她，部分原因是，另一种可能意味着一场他不知道怎么开口的谈话。
On Thursday night, he puts the phone on the table between them. "The app thinks we're sad," he says.
周四晚上，他把手机放在两人之间的桌上。“这个应用觉得我们很伤心。”他说。
Kalinda looks at the screen, then at him. "It's not wrong," she says.
卡琳达看看屏幕，又看看他。“它没说错。”她说。
"I looked at the history. These songs are yours."
“我看了收听记录。这些歌是你的。”
"I know." She picks at the edge of a napkin. "I've been listening to them on the train. I didn't think the app would show you."
“我知道。”她揪着餐巾的边角，“我一直在火车上听。我没想到应用会让你看到。”
"It shows everything," Eliot says. "That's what it's for."
“它什么都会显示。”埃利奥特说，“这就是它的用处。”
For a minute, neither of them speaks. Then she tells him about the job in the north. It was offered three weeks ago, and she has been carrying it around ever since. She didn't want to ask him to leave the city. She didn't want to give up the offer either, so she said nothing and let the music do her thinking.
有一分钟，两个人都没说话。然后她告诉他北边那份工作的事。那是三周前给她的机会，从那以后她一直把它揣在心里。她不想要求他离开这座城市。她也不想放弃这个机会，于是什么也没说，让音乐替她思考。
"If I had told you sooner," she says, "you would have said it was fine, and I wouldn't have believed you."
“要是我早点告诉你，”她说，“你会说没关系，而我不会相信你。”
"You might be right," he admits. "I would have said it was fine."
“你说得也许对。”他承认，“我会说没关系。”
They talk until the soup goes cold. Nothing is decided, but several things are said that should have been said weeks earlier.
他们谈到汤都凉了。什么也没有决定，但有好几件本该几周前就说出口的事，终于说了出来。
Around midnight, the app refreshes itself and asks, in small gray letters, how the mood has changed. Eliot hands her the phone. She chooses "mixed," and the first song to come out of the speaker is a loud, ridiculous tune from the summer they met.
午夜前后，应用自动刷新了，用灰色的小字问他们心情有什么变化。埃利奥特把手机递给她。她选了“复杂”，从扬声器里传出来的第一首歌，是一首吵闹而荒唐的曲子，来自他们相识的那个夏天。
Neither of them reaches for the skip button.
两个人谁也没有去按跳过键。
