Uri worked the night shift at the town pool. The pool closed to the public at nine. After that, only a few swimmers booked a private hour. Uri sat in the tall white chair and watched the water.
乌里在镇上的游泳池上夜班。泳池九点对公众关闭，之后只有少数几位游泳的人预订私人时段。乌里坐在那把高高的白色椅子上，望着水面。
It was a quiet job. He liked it that way.
这是一份安静的工作。他喜欢这样。
On his first night, he found a guitar in the lifeguard chair. It was old. The wood had deep scratches, and the strings were dull. On the back, someone carved a name with a knife. The letters were rough and small.
上班的第一个晚上，他在救生员椅子上发现了一把吉他。它很旧，木头上有很深的划痕，琴弦也黯淡无光。琴背上有人用刀刻了一个名字，字母粗糙而细小。
The guitar was wet. Water ran from the bottom and dripped on the floor.
吉他是湿的。水从底部流下来，滴在地板上。
Uri dried it with a towel. He put it in the office. The next night, it was back in the chair, wet again.
乌里用毛巾把它擦干，放进了办公室。第二天晚上，它又回到了椅子上，又是湿的。
He tried it five more times. The guitar always came back. After a week, he stopped moving it. He just sat next to it, and it dripped on the floor.
他又试了五次。吉他总是会回来。一周后，他不再挪动它了，只是坐在它旁边，任它滴水到地板上。
"I cannot play," he told it one night. "I am sorry. I only know how to swim."
“我不会弹，”一天晚上他对它说，“对不起。我只会游泳。”
The guitar said nothing. But a string made a low sound. It was as if a hand touched it.
吉他什么也没说。但有一根弦发出了低低的声音，仿佛有只手碰了它一下。
At the start of the second week, a new swimmer came. His name was Oded. He was tall and thin, about forty years old. He held a small bag in front of him with both hands.
第二周伊始，来了一位新的游泳者。他叫奥德，高高瘦瘦的，四十岁上下。他双手在身前攥着一个小包。
"I booked the late hour," he said. "Alone, please. I am a little shy about this."
“我订了晚一点的时段，”他说，“请只有我一个人。我对这件事有点害羞。”
"No problem," said Uri. "Can you swim at all?"
“没问题，”乌里说，“你会游泳吗？”
"Never." Oded looked at the water. "My friends think I can swim. I told them a lie ten years ago. Now they want to go on holiday by the sea."
“从来不会。”奥德望着水面。“我的朋友们以为我会。十年前我撒了个谎。现在他们想去海边度假了。”
Uri smiled. "Then we have a lot of work."
乌里笑了。“那我们有很多事要做。”
They started in the shallow end. Uri showed Oded how to hold the wall. He showed him how to breathe out under water. Then he showed him how to lie flat. Oded was nervous. His arms shook. But he listened to everything.
他们从浅水区开始。乌里教奥德怎么扶着池壁，教他怎么在水下呼气，然后教他怎么平躺。奥德很紧张，胳膊发抖，但他把每句话都听进去了。
After twenty minutes, he could float for three seconds.
二十分钟后，他能漂三秒钟了。
"Three seconds!" he said. He stood up and wiped his face. "That is good, yes?"
“三秒！”他说着站起来，抹了把脸。“这很好，对吧？”
"It is very good. Tomorrow, five seconds."
“非常好。明天五秒。”
Then Oded saw the guitar. It stood in the chair, wet and dark. His face changed.
这时，奥德看见了那把吉他。它立在椅子上，湿漉漉的，颜色深沉。他的脸色变了。
"Who owns that?" he asked.
“那是谁的？”他问。
"I do not know. It comes back every night. I cannot stop it."
“我不知道。它每天晚上都回来，我拦不住。”
Oded walked slowly to the chair. He did not touch the guitar. He bent down and looked at the name on the back.
奥德慢慢走到椅子旁。他没有碰吉他，而是弯下腰，看着琴背上的名字。
"Can I turn it around?" he asked.
“我能把它翻过来吗？”他问。
"Of course."
“当然。”
Oded lifted the guitar. He turned it over with both hands. He read the name for a long time. Then he made a small noise.
奥德抬起吉他，双手把它翻转过来。他盯着那个名字看了很久，然后发出一声轻轻的叹息。
"What does it say?" Uri asked.
“上面写了什么？”乌里问。
"Nothing important." Oded gave a quick laugh. "I knew a boy with that name. A long time ago. He loved the water. Do you play?"
“没什么要紧的。”奥德匆匆笑了一声。“我认识一个男孩，就叫这个名字。很久以前了。他爱水。你会弹吗？”
"Not at all."
“完全不会。”
"But it is here on your chair every night," Oded said. "That is strange. A guitar wants to be played."
“可它每天晚上都在你的椅子上，”奥德说，“这很奇怪。吉他是想被人弹的。”
"It is only a thing," said Uri.
“它只是一件东西，”乌里说。
"No." Oded shook his head. He held the guitar against his chest. His fingers moved to the neck without any thought. "No, I think it wants something."
“不。”奥德摇摇头。他把吉他抱在胸前，手指不假思索地移到了琴颈上。“不，我觉得它想要什么。”
He sat on the edge of the pool. His feet were in the water. The guitar looked small in his hands. He pressed his fingers on the neck and played one soft chord.
他坐在池边，双脚浸在水里。吉他在他手里显得很小。他把手指按在琴颈上，弹出一个轻柔的和弦。
The sound was soft, but clear. It filled the whole hall, from the diving board to the roof.
声音轻柔，却很清澈。它充满了整个大厅，从跳水板一直传到屋顶。
"You play!" Uri said.
“你会弹！”乌里说。
"A little. I stopped when I was young." Oded looked down at his hands. "He was my best friend. After that day, I did not touch a guitar. I did not touch water, either." He stopped. "This is the first time in twenty years. I do not know why my hands remember."
“会一点。年轻的时候就不弹了。”奥德低头看着自己的手。“他是我最好的朋友。那天之后，我再没碰过吉他，也没碰过水。”他停住了。“这是二十年来的第一次。我不知道为什么我的手还记得。”
Uri sat next to him. "Can you teach me?"
乌里在他旁边坐下。“你能教我吗？”
Oded stared at him. "You want to learn?"
奥德盯着他。“你想学？”
"Yes. I do." Uri felt strange saying it. "The guitar comes to me every night. Maybe it wants me to play, not you. I teach swimming. I do not teach songs. But I can learn."
“想。”乌里说出口，自己也觉得奇怪。“吉他每天晚上都来找我。也许它想让弹的人是我，而不是你。我教游泳，不教歌。但我可以学。”
Oded smiled for the first time that evening. "Then we help each other. You teach me the water. I teach you three chords."
奥德今晚头一次笑了。“那我们互相帮忙。你教我水，我教你三个和弦。”
"Three?"
“三个？”
"Three is enough for many songs." He passed the guitar to Uri. "Put your fingers here. Not so hard. The strings are not your enemy."
“三个就够弹很多歌了。”他把吉他递给乌里。“手指放在这里，别那么用力。琴弦不是你的敌人。”
Uri held the guitar. It was heavier than he thought. The wood was wet and cold. He put his fingers on the strings, as Oded showed him.
乌里抱着吉他。它比他想的要重，木头又湿又凉。他按奥德教的，把手指放在琴弦上。
The first sound was terrible. Oded laughed so loudly that the echo came back from the walls.
第一声糟糕透了。奥德笑得那么响，回声从四面墙壁反弹回来。
"Again," he said. "Slower."
“再来，”他说，“慢一点。”
They sat there for an hour. Uri played the first chord, then the second. His fingers hurt. Oded corrected him, and showed him again, and corrected him again. At the end, Uri played three chords in a row. He made no mistake.
他们在那儿坐了一个小时。乌里弹了第一个和弦，又弹第二个。他的手指发疼。奥德纠正他，再示范一遍，又纠正他。最后，乌里连着弹了三个和弦，一个错都没有。
It was not music. But it was close to music.
这还不算音乐，但已经很接近音乐了。
"That was good," Oded said. "You learn fast."
“弹得好，”奥德说，“你学得很快。”
"I had a good teacher."
“我有个好老师。”
They sat in the quiet for a while. The water in the pool was perfectly still. The lights shone on the surface.
他们静静地坐了一会儿。泳池里的水一动不动，灯光照在水面上。
Then something happened in the deep end. Uri saw it first. A single circle moved across the water. It went from the middle to the wall. Then another, and another. Slow, even circles, like someone tapping the floor of the pool.
这时深水区出现了一点动静。乌里最先看到。一个圆圈从水中央荡开，一路荡到池壁。接着又一个，又一个。缓慢而均匀的圆圈，就像有人在敲池底。
Tap. Tap. Tap. In time with the three chords.
咚。咚。咚。恰好和那三个和弦同拍。
"Do you see that?" he whispered.
“你看到了吗？”他低声说。
"I see it," said Oded.
“我看到了，”奥德说。
Neither of them moved. The circles grew wider and then faded.
两个人谁也没动。圆圈越荡越宽，然后淡去了。
Oded looked at the guitar in Uri's hands. He looked at the name carved on the back. His hand moved toward it, and stopped.
奥德看向乌里手里的吉他，看向琴背上刻的名字。他的手朝它伸去，又停住了。
"The last letter is still wet," he said quietly. "Did you notice? The others are dry."
“最后一个字母还是湿的，”他轻声说，“你注意到了吗？其他的都干了。”
Uri turned the guitar over. It was true. All the letters were dry and pale. But the last one shone in the light. It looked new, as if someone cut it a minute ago.
乌里把吉他翻过来。果然如此。所有字母都又干又苍白，唯独最后一个在灯光下闪着亮光。它看起来是新的，像是一分钟前才有人刻上去的。
