At twenty past four, Una opened the first-aid kit. There was a gap where the silver wrap should be.
四点二十分，乌娜打开了急救箱，银色绷带该放的位置空了一块。
She checked the box twice. The bandages were there. So were the scissors, the blue ointment and the little jar of crushed moonroot. But the roll of silver wrap was gone. Only that roll could hold a griffin's broken wing in place.
她把箱子检查了两遍。绷带在，剪刀在，蓝色药膏在，装着捣碎月根的小罐子也在，可那卷银色的包扎带不见了。只有那一卷，才能固定住狮鹫断掉的翅膀。
"Valerio," she called. "Come here, please."
“瓦莱里奥，”她喊道，“请过来一下。”
Valerio came out of the feed store with a bucket in each hand. He was twenty-two and had worked at the Hollow Lane Zoo for only five weeks. He still walked around the paths like a visitor who was afraid to touch things.
瓦莱里奥提着两只桶，从饲料店里走出来。他二十二岁，在空巷动物园才干了五个星期，走在小路上仍像个怕碰坏东西的游客。
"Did you move the silver wrap?" Una asked.
“你动过那卷银色包扎带吗？”乌娜问。
"No. I have not touched the kit." He put down the buckets. "Is it important?"
“没有，我没碰过急救箱。”他放下桶，“很重要吗？”
"It is the most important thing in the zoo this week."
“是这个星期动物园里最重要的东西。”
The zoo was small. It had two otters, a family of long-armed monkeys and a sleepy bear. It also had two lamp owls whose eyes glowed gold after dark. But its true treasure lived in the stone pen at the back. It was a young griffin with a torn wing and a temper like a kettle.
这座动物园很小，有两只水獭，一家长臂猴，还有一头爱打瞌睡的熊。园里还有两只灯笼猫头鹰，天黑后它们的眼睛会发出金色的光。不过，真正的宝贝住在最后面的石头围栏里：一只受了伤的年幼狮鹫，翅膀撕裂了，脾气像水壶一样一点就着。
The griffin had arrived eleven days earlier in a crate. It was the size of a large dog. It had a sharp curved beak, a lion's back legs and feathers the colour of wet sand. For three days it refused to eat anything at all.
这只狮鹫十一天前装在木箱里运来。它有一条大狗那么大，长着尖利弯曲的喙，后腿像狮子，羽毛的颜色像湿沙子。头三天，它什么都不肯吃。
On the fourth evening, Una had sat down on a stool in front of the pen. She had lit her old brass lantern. Then she had read the feeding log aloud, in a slow, ordinary voice. The chick had watched her with one angry eye. Then it had walked to the bowl and eaten every piece of meat.
第四天傍晚，乌娜在围栏前的一只凳子上坐下，点亮了她那盏旧黄铜提灯，然后用缓慢而平常的声音，大声念起了喂食记录。小狮鹫用一只愤怒的眼睛盯着她，然后走到食盆边，把每一块肉都吃光了。
"I will be here every evening," she had told it that night. "At feeding time, until your wing is strong. That is a promise."
“我每天傍晚都会来，”那天夜里她对它说，“喂食时间，一直到你的翅膀恢复力气。我保证。”
Now it was almost half past four. Feeding time was at five. And the wing needed a fresh wrap before then. If the bones slipped, the damage would be permanent.
现在已快四点半。喂食时间是五点，而翅膀在这之前需要重新包扎。要是骨头滑了位，伤就是永久的了。
"Think," Una said. "Who has been near the kit today?"
“想想，”乌娜说，“今天谁靠近过急救箱？”
They searched the store, the paths and the tool shed. At the monkey house, Valerio pointed through the wire.
他们找遍了饲料店、小路和工具棚。到了猴舍，瓦莱里奥指着铁丝网。
"Look."
“你看。”
High in the corner of the enclosure was a messy nest of branches and rags. A thin silver line ran through the middle of it, shining like a spider's thread. The monkeys sat nearby with calm and innocent faces.
围场的高角落里，有一个用树枝和破布搭的乱糟糟的窝。一条细细的银线穿过窝的中间，像蜘蛛丝一样闪着光。猴子们坐在旁边，脸上一副平静又无辜的样子。
"They have been using it as a decoration," Una said. "And they will never give it back. I know them."
“它们拿它当装饰了，”乌娜说，“而且绝不会还回来。我了解它们。”
"Could we trade for it? With fruit?"
“能拿水果跟它们换吗？”
"If we had two hours, perhaps. We have thirty minutes." She breathed out slowly. "The clinic on the other side of the river keeps a spare roll. If I run, I can be back by half past five."
“如果有两个小时，也许行。可我们只有三十分钟。”她缓缓地呼出一口气，“河对岸的诊所有备用的一卷。我要是跑着去，五点半能回来。”
"But the feeding is at five," Valerio said.
“可是五点要喂食，”瓦莱里奥说。
"I know."
“我知道。”
For a moment, neither of them spoke. A lamp owl called from the roof, a soft sound like someone blowing across a bottle.
有一会儿，两个人谁也没说话。屋顶上，一只灯笼猫头鹰叫了一声，那是一种柔和的声音，像有人对着瓶口吹气。
"If the chick does not eat tonight, it will grow weaker," Una said. "But if the wing slips, it may never fly. I cannot choose between those. I have to do the wrap first."
“要是小狮鹫今晚不吃东西，它会变得更虚弱，”乌娜说，“可要是翅膀滑了位，它也许再也飞不起来。这两样我没法选，必须先把包扎做好。”
She took the brass lantern from its hook and held it out to him.
她从钩子上取下黄铜提灯，递给他。
"Light this at five. Sit on my stool. Read the log aloud, anything at all, in a calm voice. Put the bowl in front of the pen and do not rush."
“五点钟把它点亮，坐在我的凳子上。大声念记录，念什么都行，语气要平静。把食盆放在围栏前，别着急。”
"I am afraid of that animal," Valerio said quietly. "It hissed at me on Tuesday."
“我怕那头动物，”瓦莱里奥小声说，“星期二它朝我嘶了一声。”
"It hisses at everyone."
“它对谁都嘶。”
"It looked at me as if I was lunch."
“它看我的眼神，像在看午饭。”
"Then talk slowly." Una put a hand on his arm. "You will be fine. I will run fast."
“那你就说得慢一点，”乌娜把一只手放在他的胳膊上，“你不会有事的，我会跑得很快。”
And she ran.
然后她跑了起来。
The path to the river was long and crowded with visitors going home. Una pushed through them with quick apologies, her bag bumping against her hip. At the footbridge she slowed down, and her heart dropped. A long orange barge was passing underneath, and the middle of the bridge had lifted into the air.
通往河边的路很长，挤满了回家的游客。乌娜一边匆匆道歉一边从人群中挤过，背包撞在髋部。到了人行桥，她慢了下来，心头一沉：一艘长长的橙色驳船正从桥下经过，桥中间已经升到了半空。
"How long?" she called to the bridge keeper.
“要多久？”她朝守桥人喊道。
"Ten minutes," he said. "Maybe fifteen. It is a big one."
“十分钟，”他说，“也许十五分钟。这条船很大。”
She looked at the water and at the clock on the opposite bank. Four forty-nine. She would reach the clinic by five past five, find the roll and run back. It would be six before she saw the stone pen.
她看看河水，又看看对岸的钟。四点四十九分。她要到五点零五分才能赶到诊所，找到那卷包扎带，再跑回来，见到那座石头围栏就得六点了。
She had broken her promise already. She just had not heard the sound of it yet.
她已经食言了，只是还没听到食言的声音。
Back at the zoo, Valerio lit the lantern at five o'clock exactly. His fingers shook so badly that he used three matches.
回到动物园，瓦莱里奥在五点整点亮了提灯。他的手指抖得厉害，用掉了三根火柴。
The path to the back of the zoo was quiet. The sun was low and orange between the trees. At the pen, the griffin chick was standing by the wall. Its injured wing was held awkwardly against its side. It looked at him with sharp amber eyes and opened its beak in a slow, rattling hiss.
通往动物园后面的小路很安静。太阳低低地挂在树间，橙红色的。围栏里，小狮鹫站在墙边，受伤的翅膀别扭地贴着身侧。它用锐利的琥珀色眼睛看着他，张开喙，缓缓发出一声沙沙的嘶鸣。
Valerio stopped. His legs wanted to turn round.
瓦莱里奥停住了，他的腿想要转身就走。
Then he remembered the stool. He pulled it forward and sat down, holding the lantern in his lap. He put the bowl of meat on the ground in front of the bars.
然后他想起了那只凳子。他把它拉过来坐下，把提灯放在腿上，又把装肉的食盆放在栏杆前的地上。
"Hello," he said, and his voice came out thin. "I am not Una. I am sorry about that. She will come back as soon as she can."
“你好，”他说，声音又细又弱，“我不是乌娜。对不起。她会尽快回来的。”
The griffin did not move.
狮鹫一动不动。
He picked up the feeding log. Una kept it in a battered green notebook, and he opened it at random. It listed dates, weights and short notes in her small handwriting. He began to read.
他拿起喂食记录。乌娜把它写在一本破旧的绿色笔记本里，他随手翻开。上面用她小小的字迹记着日期、体重和简短的备注。他开始念。
"Tuesday. Chick refused the first piece, took the second. Watched the lantern for a long time."
“星期二。小狮鹫拒绝了第一块肉，吃了第二块。盯着提灯看了很久。”
The griffin tilted its head.
狮鹫歪了歪头。
"Wednesday. Slept in the corner. Ate a little. Did not hiss at Valerio." He stopped. "That is not true. It hissed at me. Una wrote that to be kind."
“星期三。在角落里睡觉。吃了一点。没有对瓦莱里奥嘶叫。”他停了下来，“这不是真的。它朝我嘶了。乌娜这么写，是为了照顾我的面子。”
The chick made a low sound in its throat. It was not quite a hiss any more.
小狮鹫喉咙里发出一声低低的响动，已经不太像嘶叫了。
He kept reading. When the log ran out of pages, he began to talk about his own day. He talked about the feed store and the strange noise the cold tap made. He told it how he had called the otters by the wrong names for a whole week. His voice grew steadier. The griffin took one step toward the bowl, and then another.
他接着念。记录念完了，他就讲起自己这一天：饲料店，冷水龙头发出的怪声。他告诉它，自己整整一个星期都把水獭的名字叫错了。他的声音越来越平稳。狮鹫朝食盆迈了一步，又一步。
By the time the lantern burned low, the bowl was empty. The chick had settled on the straw. Its good wing was folded neatly, and its eyes were half closed.
提灯快烧完的时候，食盆已经空了。小狮鹫在干草上卧了下来，没受伤的翅膀整齐地收拢，眼睛半闭着。
Una arrived at twenty to six, out of breath. The new roll of silver wrap was in her fist. She slowed down as she came round the corner. She saw the light first, and then the stool. Valerio sat on it with the green notebook open on his knee.
乌娜五点四十分赶到，上气不接下气，拳头里攥着新的银色包扎带。转过拐角时，她放慢了脚步。她先看到光，然后看到凳子。瓦莱里奥坐在上面，绿色笔记本摊在膝盖上。
The griffin lay at his feet, as close to the bars as it could get. Its beak rested on the ground beside his boot.
狮鹫趴在他脚边，尽可能贴近栏杆，喙搁在他靴子旁的地上。
"I promised that I would be here," Una said softly.
“我答应过我会在这里的，”乌娜轻声说。
"You were," said Valerio. "I only borrowed your stool."
“你在的，”瓦莱里奥说，“我只是借用了你的凳子。”
