Aziz worked at the observatory on the hill. One night each year, the doors opened to everyone. It was open night, and Aziz was the guide.
阿齐兹在山上的天文台工作。每年有一个晚上，大门向所有人敞开。今天是开放夜，阿齐兹是向导。
He wore a blue jacket with a silver star on the back. He carried a clipboard and a small torch. He loved his job.
他穿着一件背后有银色星星的蓝夹克，拿着记事板和一支小手电筒。他热爱自己的工作。
The big telescope sat under a round roof. Tonight it pointed at the Moon. The Moon looked huge and bright and close.
大望远镜架在圆形的屋顶下。今晚它对准了月亮。月亮看上去又大又亮，仿佛近在眼前。
By eight o'clock, the queue was very long. It went up the stairs and along the hall. It reached the front door. Families waited with coffee and cake. Children jumped and asked questions.
到八点，队伍已经很长了。它爬上楼梯，沿着走廊延伸，一直排到了前门。一家家人拿着咖啡和蛋糕等着。孩子们蹦蹦跳跳，问个不停。
"Welcome," Aziz said to the first family. "Please look for one minute. Then the next person can look."
“欢迎，”阿齐兹对第一家人说，“请看一分钟。然后下一位可以看。”
One minute was not enough for anybody. A man looked for ten minutes. He said the Moon looked like cheese. A woman took twenty photos with her phone. A boy asked if he could touch it.
对谁来说，一分钟都不够。一个男人看了十分钟。他说月亮看起来像奶酪。一位女士用手机拍了二十张照片。一个男孩问他能不能摸一摸。
Aziz checked his watch again and again. The queue grew longer. He wanted every visitor to be happy. But he also wanted to go home before morning.
阿齐兹一遍又一遍地看表。队伍越来越长。他希望每位访客都开心，可他也想在天亮前回家。
Koji walked past with a bucket. Koji was the caretaker. He fixed the lights, the doors and the heating. He fixed almost everything in the building.
浩二提着一只桶走过。浩二是管理员。他修灯、修门、修暖气，这栋楼里几乎什么都是他修。
He did not fix his own bucket. It had a round hole in the bottom. The hole was the size of a coin. For a year, it sat under a dripping pipe. Now the pipe was fixed, and the bucket was empty.
他没有修自己的桶。桶底有个圆洞，有硬币那么大。一年来，它一直放在一根滴水的管子下面。现在管子修好了，桶是空的。
"You look worried," Koji said.
“你看起来很发愁，”浩二说。
"The line is too long," Aziz said. "Nobody wants to leave the telescope."
“队伍太长了，”阿齐兹说，“没人愿意离开望远镜。”
"People love the Moon," Koji said. "That is a good problem."
“人们喜欢月亮，”浩二说，“这是个好问题。”
"It is still a problem," Aziz said.
“可它还是个问题，”阿齐兹说。
Then a small girl pulled his jacket. She held her mother's hand. Her hat had two round bear ears.
这时，一个小女孩拽了拽他的夹克。她牵着妈妈的手。她的帽子上有两只圆圆的熊耳朵。
"Excuse me," she said. "My brother says there is a black hole here. I want to see it."
“打扰一下，”她说，“我哥哥说这里有个黑洞。我想看看。”
Aziz bent down. "I am sorry," he said. "Nobody can see a black hole. It is black. It gives no light."
阿齐兹弯下腰。“对不起，”他说，“没有人能看见黑洞。它是黑的。它不发光。”
"Not even with this big telescope?" the girl asked.
“用这么大的望远镜也不行吗？”女孩问。
"Not even with this one," Aziz said.
“连这架也不行，”阿齐兹说。
The girl looked at her shoes. "I wish I could see one," she said. "Just one. Then I could tell my class."
女孩低头看着自己的鞋。“我真希望能看到一个，”她说，“就一个。这样我就能告诉我的同学了。”
Her mother smiled at Aziz and shrugged. Aziz felt terrible. He had a Moon, a map of the stars and a clipboard. He did not have a black hole.
她妈妈对阿齐兹笑了笑，耸了耸肩。阿齐兹觉得难受极了。他有月亮，有星图，有一块记事板。他没有黑洞。
Koji put a hand on his bucket. "Wishes are my job," he said. "I fix things."
浩二把一只手放在桶上。“愿望是我的活儿，”他说，“我修东西。”
"Koji, please," Aziz said. "We cannot fool a child."
“浩二，别这样，”阿齐兹说，“我们不能骗小孩。”
"I will not fool her," Koji said. "I will show her something true. Come with me, small friend."
“我不会骗她，”浩二说，“我要给她看一样真的东西。跟我来，小朋友。”
Koji led the girl and her mother to the cloakroom. It was small and quiet and full of coats. He closed the door and switched off the light. Then he turned on a tiny lamp.
浩二领着女孩和她妈妈去了衣帽间。那里小小的，安安静静，挂满了外套。他关上门，关了灯。然后打开一盏小小的灯。
He took off his big black coat. He wrapped it around the open end of the bucket. He tied the sleeves tight. Now the bucket was dark inside. Only the hole in the bottom was open.
他脱下自己的黑色大外套，把它裹在桶的开口那一端，把袖子扎紧。现在桶里一片漆黑，只有桶底那个洞是开着的。
"Put your eye here," Koji said. "Look through the hole."
“把你的眼睛贴在这儿，”浩二说，“从洞里看。”
The girl bent down and looked. She looked for a while.
女孩弯下身去看。她看了一会儿。
"I see nothing," she said.
“我什么也看不到，”她说。
"Exactly," Koji said. "Nothing comes out. Not even light. That is how a black hole works. It is not a real black hole, but it shows the idea."
“没错，”浩二说，“什么也出不来。连光也出不来。黑洞就是这样的。这不是真的黑洞，但它能展示这个道理。”
"So it is a bucket," the girl said.
“所以它是个桶，”女孩说。
"It is a very small black hole," Koji said. "I made it with my own hands."
“它是一个非常小的黑洞，”浩二说，“是我亲手做的。”
The girl pushed one finger into the hole. "It ate my finger!" she shouted. She pulled it out and counted her fingers. All five were still there. She laughed so hard that the bear ears on her hat shook.
女孩把一根手指伸进洞里。“它吃了我的手指！”她大喊。她把手指抽出来，数了数自己的手指。五根都还在。她笑得那么厉害，帽子上的熊耳朵都抖了起来。
Outside the door, some children heard the noise. They came into the cloakroom. Soon there were ten of them, then twenty. Koji held up the bucket like a prize.
门外，几个孩子听到了响动。他们走进衣帽间。很快有了十个，然后是二十个。浩二像举着奖品一样举起那只桶。
"One at a time," he said. "Do not feed it big things."
“一个一个来，”他说，“不要喂它大东西。”
Meanwhile, Aziz went back to the telescope. The room was almost empty. Only one man stood at the eyepiece. He was asleep, standing up. Aziz looked around, surprised. Where did everyone go?
与此同时，阿齐兹回到了望远镜那边。房间里几乎空了。只有一个男人站在目镜前，站着睡着了。阿齐兹惊讶地四处看看。大家都去哪儿了？
He followed the noise down the hall. The cloakroom now had its own queue. Children looked into the bucket and screamed with joy. Then they pulled back their fingers. Parents took photos of the hole. Koji sat on a chair like a king.
他顺着声音走过走廊。衣帽间现在有了自己的队伍。孩子们往桶里看，高兴地尖叫，然后缩回手指。家长们给那个洞拍照。浩二坐在一把椅子上，像个国王。
"What is all this noise?" a voice asked.
“这是在吵什么？”一个声音问。
It was the director of the observatory. She wore a long grey coat and a serious face. She was in charge of everything.
是天文台台长。她穿着一件灰色长外套，神情严肃。这里的一切都归她管。
Aziz swallowed. "Koji shows the visitors a black hole," he said.
阿齐兹咽了口唾沫。“浩二在给访客们看一个黑洞，”他说。
"A black hole," the director said. "In my cloakroom."
“黑洞，”台长说，“在我的衣帽间里。”
"A small one," Koji said. He held out the bucket.
“一个小的，”浩二说。他把桶递了过去。
The director bent down and looked through the hole. She stayed there for a minute. Then she stood up, and her serious face broke into a smile.
台长弯下身，从洞里往里看。她在那儿待了一分钟。然后她直起身，严肃的脸上绽开了笑容。
"Nothing," she said. "I see absolutely nothing."
“什么也没有，”她说，“我什么都看不见。”
"Thank you," Koji said.
“谢谢，”浩二说。
"That is the best explanation I ever saw," the director said. "Our telescope cost a lot of money. It cannot show nothing this well."
“这是我见过的最好的讲解，”台长说，“我们的望远镜花了很多钱，可它展示不出这么彻底的‘什么都没有’。”
Aziz laughed. He could not stop. He laughed until the sleepy man came to see why.
阿齐兹大笑起来。他停不下来。他笑啊笑，直到那个睡着的男人醒过来，走过来看是怎么回事。
At ten o'clock, the visitors went home. The girl with the bear ears left last. She waved at Koji from the door.
十点钟，访客们回家了。戴熊耳朵的女孩最后一个离开。她在门口向浩二挥手。
"I will tell my class," she said. "I saw a black hole, and I fed it my finger."
“我会告诉我的同学，”她说，“我看见了黑洞，还用手指喂了它。”
"Good," Koji said.
“好，”浩二说。
"I know it is a bucket," she whispered. "But the hole is real."
“我知道它是个桶，”她小声说，“但那个洞是真的。”
Koji smiled. "That is the best part," he said.
浩二笑了。“这是最棒的部分，”他说。
When the hall was empty, Aziz sat down on a chair. His feet hurt. His voice was almost gone. He looked at the bucket on the floor.
大厅空了以后，阿齐兹在一把椅子上坐下。他的脚很疼，嗓子几乎哑了。他看着地上的那只桶。
"We need a sign," he said. "Moon this way. Black hole that way."
“我们需要一块牌子，”他说，“月亮往这边，黑洞往那边。”
"The telescope cost a lot," Koji said. "The bucket cost nothing. And which one had the longest queue?"
“望远镜花了很多钱，”浩二说，“桶什么都没花。而哪一个排的队最长？”
Aziz looked at the bucket for a moment.
阿齐兹看了桶一会儿。
"Next year," he said, "we need two queues."
“明年，”他说，“我们需要两条队伍。”
