Dalia is always in a hurry. She works at a flower shop in the morning. In the afternoon, she delivers parcels by bike. In the evening, she cleans an office. She eats lunch on her bike. She sleeps for six hours.
达莉娅总是匆匆忙忙。早上她在一家花店工作，下午骑自行车送包裹，晚上打扫一间办公室。她骑在车上吃午饭，每天只睡六个小时。
Today is Tuesday. It is three o'clock. Dalia is on the main street. She has four parcels in her basket. The big clock tower in the square starts to ring. Dalia counts the bells without thinking. One, two, three.
今天是星期二，下午三点。达莉娅在大街上，篮子里有四个包裹。广场上的大钟楼开始敲钟。达莉娅不假思索地数着钟声。一，二，三。
She counts to twelve. Then she hears one more. "Thirteen?" she says. She stops her bike and looks up at the tower. The old clock face shines in the sun. Nothing looks strange. But the thirteenth bell is still in the air.
她数到十二。然后她又听到一声。“十三？”她说。她停下自行车，抬头看着钟楼。老钟的表盘在阳光下闪着光，看上去一切正常。可是第十三声钟还在空气里回响。
A man stands at the foot of the tower. It is Goran, the clock keeper. He is old, and he wears a blue work coat. He looks at Dalia and smiles. "You heard it," he says. "The clock is wrong," Dalia says.
一个男人站在钟楼脚下。他是戈兰，管钟人。他年纪很大，穿一件蓝色的工作服。他看着达莉娅，笑了笑。“你听到了，”他说。“这钟不对。”达莉娅说。
"The clock is never wrong. It only rings thirteen on one day every few years. The old people in town have a rule. You hear the thirteenth bell? Stop everything for one hour."
“这钟从来不会错。每隔几年，它只有一天会敲十三下。镇上的老人有个规矩：听到第十三声钟，就把手头的一切停下来一个小时。”
Dalia laughs. "I cannot stop. I have four parcels."
达莉娅笑了。“我不能停。我有四个包裹。”
"Everyone says that," Goran says.
“每个人都这么说，”戈兰说。
"Then they try to go on."
“然后他们就继续往前赶了。”
"I will go on," Dalia says. She waves at him and pushes her bike away.
“我要继续赶路。”达莉娅说。她朝他挥挥手，推着自行车走了。
On the first street, many cars block the road. A truck stands in the middle. Dalia waits. Five minutes pass. She takes another street. A small boy and his grandmother cross it, very slowly. Dalia waits again. Then she turns to the park. A duck walks across the path in front of her. It stops and looks at her bike.
在第一条街上，很多车堵住了路，一辆卡车停在中间。达莉娅等着，五分钟过去了。她换了另一条街。一个小男孩和他的奶奶正非常缓慢地过马路。达莉娅又等了一会儿。然后她拐向公园。一只鸭子大摇大摆地走过她面前的小路，停下来看着她的自行车。
"Please, go," Dalia says. The duck sits down.
“请走吧。”达莉娅说。鸭子坐了下来。
Dalia groans. She tries a fourth way. At the corner, the traffic light turns red. It stays red for a very long time. She looks at her watch. It is ten past three. She loses ten minutes. She still has all four parcels. "This is silly," she says.
达莉娅哼了一声。她试了第四条路。在街角，红灯亮了，而且亮了很久很久。她看了看手表，已经三点十分了。她浪费了十分钟，四个包裹还都在手上。“真傻。”她说。
She leans her bike against a wall. Next to her, there is a bench under a tree. The sun makes the wood warm. On the bench lies a pear, round and yellow. Nobody is near. A card is tied to the stem. It says, "For whoever needs it."
她把自行车靠在墙上。旁边有一条长椅，在一棵树下。阳光把木头晒得暖暖的。长椅上放着一个梨，圆圆的，黄黄的，附近没有人。梨柄上系着一张卡片，上面写着：“送给需要它的人。”
Dalia reads the card twice. Then she looks at the clock tower far away. Goran is a small blue dot at its foot. He lifts one hand.
达莉娅把卡片读了两遍。然后她望向远处的钟楼。戈兰在楼脚下是一个蓝色的小点，他举起了一只手。
She sits down. She takes the pear and eats it slowly. It is sweet, and juice runs down her fingers. For the first time in months, she hears birds. A soft wind moves the leaves above her. Her legs feel heavy. Her back relaxes against the bench.
她坐了下来，拿起梨，慢慢地吃。梨很甜，汁水顺着她的手指流下来。几个月来第一次，她听到了鸟叫。一阵轻风吹动头顶的树叶。她的腿觉得沉沉的，背靠在长椅上放松了下来。
She does not think about parcels. She does not think about the office. She watches the clouds. One looks like a fish. One looks like a boat. After an hour, the church clock rings four. Dalia stands up. Her head feels light and quiet. She looks at the light, and it turns green.
她没有想包裹，没有想办公室。她看着云。一朵像一条鱼，一朵像一条船。一个小时后，教堂的钟敲了四下。达莉娅站了起来。她的头脑轻盈而平静。她看向红绿灯，灯变成了绿色。
She rides to the first address. The woman at the door says, "You are early!" The next customer is not at home. She leaves the parcel next door. The third is a short ride. The fourth is next door to the third. In forty minutes, all four parcels are delivered.
她骑到第一个地址。门口的女人说：“你来得真早！”下一位顾客不在家，她把包裹留给了邻居。第三个地址很近，第四个就在第三个隔壁。四十分钟后，四个包裹全都送到了。
On her way home, Dalia passes the clock tower. Goran closes the door. He looks at her and does not ask anything. "It was a good pear," she says.
回家的路上，达莉娅经过钟楼。戈兰正在关门。他看着她，什么也没问。“那个梨很好吃。”她说。
"I know," says Goran.
“我知道，”戈兰说。
"I put it there."
“是我放在那儿的。”
