Aziz made his promise one morning, in a hurry, with a mouth full of toast. His flatmate Zeke stood in the kitchen doorway holding a cardboard tube as long as an umbrella.
阿齐兹是一天早上许下这个诺言的，当时他赶时间，嘴里塞满了吐司。他的室友泽克站在厨房门口，手里拿着一根像雨伞一样长的纸筒。
"The astronomy club needs a dark place," Zeke said. "Somewhere high, with no street lights and no trees. Your swimming pool has a huge flat roof."
“天文俱乐部需要一个黑暗的地方，”泽克说，“要高处，没有路灯，也没有树。你们游泳池有一大片平坦的屋顶。”
"It's a city pool," Aziz said. "It's next to a car park."
“那是市立游泳池，”阿齐兹说，“就挨着停车场。”
"Exactly. Wide, flat and empty. Please, Aziz. Twelve people have paid for tickets to the star night."
“就是要这样。开阔、平坦、没人。拜托了，阿齐兹。十二个人已经买了星空之夜的票。”
Aziz worked as the evening attendant at the pool. He locked the doors, counted the towels and told teenagers to stop running. He knew the building better than anyone. He also knew that the manager would never allow a crowd on the roof.
阿齐兹在游泳池做晚班管理员。他锁门、清点毛巾，叫青少年别在池边乱跑。这栋楼他比谁都熟。他也知道，经理绝不会允许一群人上屋顶。
"The roof is out of the question," he said. "But the pool deck closes at ten. After that, the building is mine. I can let you in for one hour."
“屋顶绝对不行，”他说，“不过泳池大厅十点关门。那之后，整栋楼就归我管。我可以放你们进来一个小时。”
Zeke's eyes widened. "You promise?"
泽克的眼睛睁大了。“你保证？”
"I promise," Aziz said, and he swallowed his toast. "Twelve people, one hour, no trouble."
“我保证，”阿齐兹说着，把吐司咽了下去。“十二个人，一个小时，不惹麻烦。”
It was the kind of promise that sounds small in a kitchen. By the next evening, it had grown teeth.
这种保证，在厨房里说出来听着很轻巧。到了第二天晚上，它已经长出了牙齿。
First, the manager left a note on the noticeboard. It said that every light in the building must stay on until the last member left. The note had three exclamation marks. Aziz read it and groaned.
首先，经理在布告栏上留了张便条，说在最后一名会员离开之前，楼里所有的灯都必须开着。便条末尾有三个感叹号。阿齐兹读完，长叹了一声。
Second, the big floodlights could only be switched off in the manager's office. The office was locked, and the manager had taken the key home.
其次，那几盏大泛光灯只能在经理办公室里关。办公室锁着，钥匙被经理带回家了。
Third, and worst, there was the swimmer in lane one. She swam forty lengths every night at nine thirty, without fail, and she did not like being hurried. She was fifty, strong as a rope, and completely unafraid of attendants.
第三，也是最糟的，一号泳道上有一位游泳的女士。她每天晚上九点半准时游四十个来回，从不间断，而且不喜欢被人催。她五十岁，身体结实得像一根绳子，对管理员一点也不怕。
At nine fifty-five, Zeke arrived with his club. They came through the staff door in twos and threes. They wore coats and carried folding chairs, flasks and notebooks. One man brought a camera the size of a shoebox. Aziz counted twelve and felt slightly sick.
九点五十五分，泽克带着他的俱乐部到了。他们三三两两地从员工门进来，穿着大衣，带着折叠椅、保温壶和笔记本。有个男人带来一台鞋盒那么大的相机。阿齐兹数了数，十二个，心里有点发慌。
Zeke set up his telescope at the shallow end, between the diving board and the lifeguard chair. It was a beautiful instrument, white and silver, with a tripod like a heron's legs. He had saved for it for two years.
泽克把望远镜架在浅水区一端，在跳板和救生员座椅之间。那是一台漂亮的仪器，白色配银色，三脚架像苍鹭的腿。他为它攒了两年的钱。
"We can't see anything under these lights," he muttered. "Aziz. The floodlights."
“这些灯下面什么都看不见，”他低声说，“阿齐兹，泛光灯。”
"The switch is locked in the office."
“开关锁在办公室里。”
"Then break the door."
“那就把门撞开。”
"I'm not breaking the door!"
“我不撞门！”
At ten o'clock, the loudspeaker clicked and a recorded voice said that the pool was now closed. The swimmer, still in the lane by the wall, did not even slow down. She finished her thirty-sixth length and turned for the thirty-seventh.
十点整，喇叭咔哒一响，一个录好的声音说泳池现在已经关闭。靠墙那条泳道上的女士连速度都没减。她游完第三十六个来回，掉头开始第三十七个。
Aziz walked to the edge and crouched. "Madam, I am sorry. We're closing."
阿齐兹走到池边蹲下。“女士，真抱歉，我们要关门了。”
She lifted her head and pushed her goggles up. "I have four lengths left. Give me three minutes."
她抬起头，把泳镜推到额头上。“我还剩四个来回。再给我三分钟。”
"There is a, um, private event."
“有个，呃，私人活动。”
"Is there?" She looked past him at the twelve strangers, the chairs and the long white telescope. "At my pool?"
“是吗？”她越过他，看了看那十二个陌生人、折叠椅和那架长长的白色望远镜。“在我的泳池里？”
"It's the city's pool," Aziz said weakly.
“这是市里的泳池，”阿齐兹无力地说。
"Then it's partly mine." She put her goggles back on and swam away.
“那就有我的一份。”她把泳镜戴回去，游走了。
Aziz stood up and wiped his face. Behind him, Zeke was already pulling a folded map from his coat. "Let's look at the sky through the skylight," he said. "There's a glass panel in the ceiling. If we turn off the side lights, we can aim up from here."
阿齐兹站起身，抹了一把脸。他身后，泽克已经从大衣里抽出一张折好的星图。“我们透过天窗看天空吧，”他说，“天花板上有一块玻璃。把侧面的灯关掉，我们就可以从这里朝上对准。”
He ran to the wall and flipped every switch he could reach. The side lights went out one by one. The ceiling went dark. The water turned black. The sky appeared in the glass panel above them, a small square full of stars.
他跑到墙边，把够得着的开关全拨了一遍。侧灯一盏接一盏灭了，天花板暗了下来，池水变成了黑色。天空出现在头顶的玻璃板上，一小方天空，布满了星星。
The club gasped. For a moment, it felt like the best idea in the world.
俱乐部的人倒吸了一口气。那一刻，大家都觉得这是世界上最棒的主意。
Then the underwater lamps came on by themselves and lit the whole pool a bright, ghostly green.
然后水下的灯自己亮了起来，把整个泳池照成一片明亮而诡异的绿色。
"What is that?" a man asked.
“那是什么？”一个男人问。
"Safety lights," Aziz said. "They can't be switched off. It's the law."
“安全灯，”阿齐兹说，“关不掉。这是法律规定的。”
Zeke closed his eyes and counted to five. When he opened them, he turned the telescope toward the skylight and began to adjust the tripod. He worked fast, like a man trying to save a ship. At last, he straightened up and pointed.
泽克闭上眼睛，数到五。睁开眼后，他把望远镜转向天窗，开始调整三脚架。他动作飞快，像一个想救下一条船的人。终于，他直起身来，指了指。
"There," he said. "That's Vega. The brightest star in this part of the sky. It's blue-white, and it has a disc of dust around it. You'll see it clearly."
“看，”他说，“那是织女星。这一片天空里最亮的星。它是蓝白色的，周围有一圈尘埃盘。你们会看得很清楚。”
One by one, the club members climbed the little ladder to look. Each of them gave a small, happy sigh.
俱乐部的成员们一个接一个爬上小梯子去看。每个人都发出一声小小的、满足的叹息。
"It's beautiful," said the woman with the notebook.
“真美，”拿笔记本的女士说。
"I can see the colour," said a young boy. "It's blue."
“我看见颜色了，”一个小男孩说，“是蓝色的。”
Aziz watched them and felt the knot in his stomach loosen. Zeke caught his eye across the deck and gave him a grateful nod. For the first time all evening, nothing seemed to be going wrong.
阿齐兹看着他们，觉得胃里那个结松开了。泽克隔着泳池大厅与他对上目光，感激地点了点头。整个晚上，头一次，似乎没有什么在出错。
The swimmer finished her fortieth length at a quarter past ten. She climbed the steps, wrapped herself in a towel and walked slowly to the telescope. Nobody stopped her.
十点一刻，那位女士游完了第四十个来回。她爬上台阶，裹上毛巾，慢慢走向望远镜。没有人拦她。
"What are you all looking at?" she asked.
“你们都在看什么？”她问。
"Vega," Zeke said proudly. "Please, take a look."
“织女星，”泽克自豪地说，“请您看一看。”
She bent over the eyepiece. A long silence followed. Then she straightened up and looked at the glass panel. She looked back at the tube, then at the panel again.
她俯身凑到目镜上。接着是一阵长长的沉默。然后她直起身子，看向那块玻璃板。她回头看看镜筒，又看看玻璃板。
"That's a nice star," she said carefully. "But it's not Vega."
“这颗星不错，”她小心地说，“可它不是织女星。”
Zeke's smile cracked. "I'm sorry?"
泽克的笑容裂开了。“您说什么？”
"Vega is higher at this time of year. I teach a night class about the sky, young man. I have taught it for twenty years." She pointed up, a little to the left. "That bright one is Altair. Yours is a different one altogether."
“一年里的这个时候，织女星的位置要更高。年轻人，我教一门关于星空的夜校课，已经教了二十年。”她朝上指了指，稍微偏左一点。“那颗亮的是牛郎星。你对准的是另一颗。”
The pool went completely silent.
整个泳池彻底安静了。
Aziz looked at Zeke. Zeke looked at the telescope. A very small, very sad sound came out of him, like air leaving a balloon.
阿齐兹看看泽克。泽克看看望远镜。他发出一声很轻很轻、很难过的声音，像气球漏气。
"I aimed it at the wrong star," he whispered. "Twelve people. Two years of saving. And I aimed it at the wrong star."
“我对错了星星，”他低声说，“十二个人，攒了两年的钱，我对错了星星。”
"Which star is it, then?" asked the boy with the sharp eyes.
“那它到底是哪颗星？”眼睛尖尖的男孩问。
The swimmer checked the sky again. "I think it's Deneb. It's very bright, and very far away. Some people say it is one of the most distant stars you can see without help."
女士又核对了一下天空。“我觉得是天津四。它很亮，也很遥远。有人说它是不用仪器就能看到的最遥远的星星之一。”
"Is it any good?" the boy asked.
“它好看吗？”男孩问。
"It's magnificent," she said. "Most people never look at it."
“壮丽极了，”她说，“大多数人从来不看它。”
Nobody spoke. Then the woman with the notebook began to laugh. The laughter was soft at first, then louder. In a few seconds, every member of the club was laughing. Zeke put his face into his hands, and his shoulders shook.
没有人说话。接着，拿笔记本的女士笑了起来。起初很轻，然后越来越响。几秒钟后，俱乐部里的每个人都在笑。泽克把脸埋进双手，肩膀直抖。
"I promised you a star," Aziz said to him, gently. "I never promised which one."
“我答应过给你们一颗星星，”阿齐兹轻声对他说，“我可没答应是哪一颗。”
"That's a terrible excuse."
“这个借口太糟了。”
"It's the only one I have."
“我就只有这一个。”
They stayed for the full hour, and then for a little longer. The swimmer took a folding chair and sat at the head of the group. She named every star in the glass panel. She told them where each one would be in three months. The underwater lamps painted her face green, and nobody cared.
他们待满了整整一个小时，后来又多待了一会儿。那位女士搬了张折叠椅，坐在大家的最前面。她把玻璃板里每颗星都叫出了名字，还告诉他们三个月后每一颗会在什么位置。水下的灯把她的脸染成绿色，没有人在意。
At eleven, the club packed up and went out into the night, whispering. Zeke carried the telescope on his shoulder. The swimmer walked beside him, still talking about Deneb.
十一点，俱乐部的人收拾东西，低声说着话走进夜色。泽克把望远镜扛在肩上。那位女士走在他身旁，还在谈着天津四。
Aziz switched off the last lamp he was allowed to touch and locked the staff door. He stood alone beside the pool for a minute. The water lay flat and quiet, with one small square of sky floating on its surface. A single bright star moved gently in it.
阿齐兹关掉了最后一盏他有权碰的灯，锁上员工门。他独自在泳池边站了一分钟。水面平静无声，水上漂着一小方天空，一颗明亮的星星在里面轻轻移动。
