檬恩干巴巴地站着,忽然反应过来——自己还背着自习回来的那个书包。她拉了拉书包带,然后走过去对柚一说:“My grandmother was looking for the cat. I didn't expect him to come over here by himself.”(我奶奶在找猫,没想到猫咪自己溜过来了。)
柚一边写作业边应了一声,语气很随意:“He's been here for a while.”(猫咪过来好久了。)
“Sorry,”檬恩说,“I went out to study today, and I didn't close the study door all the way. He must have snuck in.”(不好意思啊,因为今天出门自习有点忙,书房的门没有关好,他就自己过来了。)
柚一的笔忽然停了。他抬起头,像是发现了新大陆一样看着檬恩:“You went out to study? Are you a university student too?”(你出去自习了?你也是大学的学生?)
檬恩摇了摇头:“Not yet. I'm not a university student.”(还不是大学生。)
柚一眨了眨眼睛,语气里带着一点意外和一点促狭:“So you're a high school girl.”(你原来是一个高中生妹妹啊。)
檬恩没有反驳。她弯腰去抱饭团:“I'm going to take the cat back. I won't bother with your homework.”(我把猫咪抱回去了哈,不打扰你写作业了。)
柚一伸手拦了一下,没有让她抱走猫。他看着檬恩,嘴角微微弯起来,语气里带着一点认真和一点玩笑:“Since I helped you take care of the cat……how about helping me with my homework?”(看在我帮你照顾小猫的份上,帮忙看看我的作业?)
檬恩愣了一下:“I don't think our coursework overlaps at all.”(我们学的功课怕是没有什么相似的地方。)
“I've always had a feeling,”柚一说,语气很认真,“that your English is really good. So……I was hoping you could take a look at my English assignment.”(我一直都有一种感觉,就是你的英语非常不错,所以想让你帮忙看的是我的英文作业。)
檬恩犹豫了一下:“I'm not sure I'm qualified to proofread a Japanese university student's English homework.”(我不太清楚我的水平能不能帮你翻译你们日本大学生的作业哦。)
檬恩翻了翻,感觉有一些专业词汇自己确实一窍不通。但很搞笑的是——这本参考教材上面,居然有中文的笔记。字迹工工整整的,像是有人一笔一画认真写上去的。檬恩忍不住笑出了声:“Why do you have this book?”(你为什么有这本书啊?)
柚一老实交代:“I found it at a bookstore. A secondhand one. I thought it looked interesting, so I bought it.”(去逛书店的时候淘到的。)
檬恩点点头,低头又翻了翻:“I can translate the Chinese parts for you. The English……maybe about sixty-five percent. I won't understand all of it.”(中文部分我都可以帮你翻译,英文可能大概能看懂65%。)
“That's more than enough,”柚一说,眼睛亮了一下,“I mostly wanted to know what the Chinese notes say. They look important.”(够了够了,我这也是想看看中文标记的重点。)
柚一安静地听完,忽然问了一句:“What do you think about the fire? The one at Notre Dame. I saw the news.”(最近巴黎圣母院失火的新闻,你是怎么看待的?)
檬恩想了想,说:“Beautiful buildings belong to all of humanity. Of course it’s a loss, and a sad one at that.”(精美的建筑是全人类的文化瑰宝,当然会觉得惋惜。)
柚一沉默了一小会儿。他略微知道一些历史——关于八国联军,关于圆明园。他斟酌了一下措辞,轻声问:“Do you ever feel……like what goes around comes around?”(那你会不会有一种风水轮流转的想法?)
檬恩摇了摇头。她的语气不重,但每一个字都很清楚。
“No,”她说,“I don't think the fire that burned Notre Dame was meant to ease the pain China once felt. That's not how it works.”(我并不会觉得这把燃烧巴黎圣母院的火是为了抚平中国曾经被伤害的情绪。)
她顿了顿,看着柚一的眼睛,继续说:“Chinese culture has lasted for thousands of years because it is inclusive. Because it keeps renewing itself. That's what makes it endure.”(中国悠久的文化一直存在,就是因为无限的包容,推陈出新。)
“I truly believe that,”她的声音轻了下来,但很坚定,“humanity is always moving forward. Toward a global community. Something can exist, and then it can be lost——but we remember it. Not for revenge. Not because we want disaster to fall on others.”(我这样也是真的觉得,人类一直在发展,始终是全球化的理念。有些东西它存在过,那我们就一定会铭记,但是我们铭记也绝不是为了复仇,希望灾难降临什么的。)
她看着那本教材上关于巴黎圣母院的那一段,声音放得更轻了:“The idea my country stands for is peace. A shared future for all of humanity. We cherish the great works of all cultures——architecture, medicine, anything. No matter which country they come from.”(我们国家所传达的理念也是向往和平,人类命运共同体,我们也珍惜全人类的优秀文化,无论是建筑还是医学,也无论是哪个国家。)
柚一点点头,安静了一小会儿,像是在想怎么开口。“Before, when we passed by the shrine and took the boat — you only stayed at the entrance. Was it because you didn't like the building?”(之前我们路过神社坐船那一次。你只是在入口,不进去是因为不喜欢那个建筑吗?)
檬恩摇了摇头,“It's not that I didn't like it. In fact, through that architecture, I could see the excellent architectural history and culture of my country from the Tang Dynasty.”(不是不喜欢。甚至可以说,透过那个建筑,我还能看到我们国家在唐朝时候优秀的建筑历史文化。)
她停了一下,手指无意识地摩挲着书页的边缘。
“But you know……”她的声音轻了下来,“our two countries have a lot of history. Conflicts. I don't deny that you've done a good job preserving and sharing your architectural heritage. But……”(但是你知道的嘛,我们两个国家历史上有不少冲突。我不否认你们有认真弘扬优秀的建筑文化,但是——)
她抬起头,看着柚一。
“There are people enshrined there who once invaded my country. I can't accept that. So I choose to appreciate from the outside, but not to enter. That's my way of protecting myself. As a Chinese person.”(我也接受不了神社里面祭拜的人里有一些是入侵过中国的人。所以啊,我单纯的欣赏却不进入,也是一种作为中国人的情感保护。)
她说完了。安静地看着柚一,眼神里有一点不确定,好像在问:我这样说,你能理解吗?
柚一没有犹豫。他点了点头,语气认真又平静:“Of course I understand. Loving your country is a good thing. A noble quality.”(肯定能理解。毕竟爱国是优秀的品质。)
他顿了顿,声音放轻了一些:“I want peace too. I don't like the militarism in my country's past. But I still love my country. We're the same.”(我也向往和平,我也不喜欢自己国家的军国主义,但是我也爱我的国家。我们俩是一样的。)
“Maybe because……”檬恩想了想,慢慢地说,“I think it's a rare quality——to be able to look at history honestly. Whether your country was the invader or the invaded.”(可能潜意识会觉得能够正视历史是非常好的品质,无论是入侵还是被入侵。)
“The creator of Doraemon,”他说,“the manga artist——he had the same view as you.”(《哆啦A梦》的作者,也是和檬恩一样的想法。)
檬恩微微睁大了眼睛。
“There's a scene,”柚一继续说,“where a character says, ‘Japan was defeated in the war.’ It was based on real history. But some people in my country protested. They didn't want that line in a children's manga.”(画到‘日本投降的时候’也是根据真实存在的历史,没想到国内某些党派提出意见。)
他继续说,“the author changed it. He made the character laugh while saying the same line. But he didn't erase it.”(最后作者把动漫里饱受争议的剧情改成人物大笑着说出来这句话。)
他抬起头,看着檬恩的眼睛。
“That's when I realized——most people really do want peace. They want to move forward. They want to understand each other, not fight.”(那个时候就觉得,大家其实真的很珍惜和平,也非常向往和平友好的发展交流。)
檬恩点了点头,她看着柚一,目光里有一种很深的、不需要再多说任何话的认可。
“I think so too,”她轻声说。(我非常认可。)
讨论完了。两个人继续弄作业。饭团就趴在旁边的榻榻米上,高冷地看着他们,尾巴偶尔甩一下,一副“你们人类真忙”的表情。柚一忽然指着饭团对檬恩说:“Look. I taught him something today.”(你看,今天我教了猫咪一件事。)
柚一倒是认真地重复了一遍:“Translation and International Communication.”他点了点头,“That sounds like it suits you.”(翻译与国际传播。听起来很适合你。)
窗外月光很好。饭团已经换了一个姿势,从趴着变成了侧躺,露出了圆滚滚的肚子。两个人就这么安静地坐了一会儿,谁都没有说话,但空气里有一种很安定的、不需要用语言来填补的妥帖。 柚一的目光落在檬恩摊开的文具盒旁边那本课本上,封面是全英文的。他看了一眼,说:“No wonder all your textbooks are in English.”(怪不得你的课本都是全英文。)
檬恩这才注意到,刚才为了写字舒服,从书包里拿了自己的笔出来,文具盒和旁边的课本就这么摊在桌上,被他看见了。她笑了一下,说:“My major is mostly about communication and practice. I have online classes with foreign teachers. And……”她顿了顿,看了柚一一眼,“talking to you helps too. It's good speaking practice.”(我的课主要还是交流实践啦,上网课的时候和外教交流。还有你,和你交流的时候,我也在锻炼我的口语。)
柚一听完,不经意地挺了挺背,语气里带着一点假装出来的紧张:“Well……I'm the second-best in my class when it comes to English.”(还好我是我们班英语第二名。)
檬恩笑出了声:“Who's first?”(那第一名呢?)
“A British guy,”柚一说,表情很认真。(是一个英国人。)
檬恩扑哧一声笑了出来,顺口问了一句:“You have international students at your university?”(你们学校有留学生?)
柚一点了点头。
檬恩想了想,说:“Studying architecture in Japan——”她斟酌了一下措辞,“might have its limits. Just a little. Have you ever thought about studying abroad?”(你的建筑在国内学,或许可能有那么一点点局限,你也可以尝试留学。)
话一出口,她就有点后悔了。自己是不是下意识觉得“日本小,建筑文化历史也短”了?她赶紧补了一句:“But the internet makes everything easier now. You can learn a lot online too.”(不过网络很便捷,也可以多上网。)
柚一总感觉这句话好熟悉,好像原和爷爷和自己说了什么,自己也是这样回答的。
柚一马上点了点头,语气很认真:“Actually, I am going abroad. My program is 2+2. Two years here, then two years in the UK.”(对的,我的确是要出国的。我的专业是2+2,国内学习两年后,还需要去英国继续学习两年。)
檬恩点点头,真心实意地说:“That's really good. I hope you become a great architect.”(那非常不错呢,希望你成为非常不错的建筑师。)
她低头看了一眼时间,开始收拾东西。“I should go. It's getting late.”(时间差不多啦,我先走了。)
檬恩把课本和文具盒装进书包,拉好拉链。柚一坐在旁边,忽然问了一句:“Are you okay? From the other day. When you fell off the bike.”(你还好吧?骑车那天摔了一跤。)
檬恩拉书包拉链的手停了一下。她抬起头,看着柚一,笑了笑:“I was really well protected that day. By you.”(我那天被你保护得很好。)
她的目光不自觉地落在他手腕上——他还戴着那天的那块表,表带上的叶绿和泥土痕迹已经擦干净了,但细看还是能看出一点淡淡的印子。檬恩忽然在心里叹了口气。哎,早知道今天去市区的时候,就应该把表带买了。 檬恩的手忽然顿了一下。她想了想,有点心虚地开口:“I forgot to bring you a gift this time.”(这一次过来忘记给你准备礼物了。)
柚一愣了一下,还没来得及说什么,檬恩已经从包里翻出了几颗糖。黑糖话梅棒棒糖,圆滚滚的,包装纸是深色的,看起来就很特别。她递给柚一,说:“These are really good. They taste great and they're good for energy too.”(这个是很好吃的糖果,还可以补充体力。)
“I'm glad I had these with me,”檬恩说, “to thank you for taking care of my cat. And for teaching him to shake.”(幸好我还带了糖果,用来表达感谢你照顾我的小猫,还有感谢你教会他握手。)
柚一握了握手里的糖,笑了笑:“Then I should thank you too. Now I finally understand all those Chinese notes in my textbook.”(那我也应该感谢你啊,我现在可以完完全全知道这个教材的中文标记重点了。)
檬恩笑了:“Then let's stop thanking each other.”(那我们都不要客气。)她顿了顿,又补了一句:“But seriously——if you need help with anything, and I'm not busy, just let me know.”(之后如果有需要的也可以喊我,如果我不忙的话。)
柚一点了点头,听她的不客气:“Alright then. Get some rest when you go back. Good night.”(那就不客气啦,回去的话就早点休息,晚安。)