Fifty at the Top

The photo on the wall

墙上的照片

Sipho lived in Cape Town with his wife. He was forty-nine, and he was a teacher at a big school.

西波和妻子住在开普敦。他四十九岁，在一所很大的学校当老师。

Every morning, he drove to work under Table Mountain. He looked up at it every day. He never went up.

每天早上，他开车去桌山下上班。他每天都抬头看这座山，但他从来没上去过。

One Sunday evening, his wife sat down next to him on the sofa.

一个星期天晚上，妻子在他身边的沙发上坐了下来。

“Your birthday is in three weeks,” she said. “You’re going to be fifty. What would you like? A big party?”

“还有三个星期就是你的生日了，”她说。“你就要五十岁了。你想要什么？办一个大聚会吗？”

“No party,” said Sipho. “I’d like to walk up Table Mountain.”

“不要聚会，”西波说。“我想走路爬上桌山。”

His wife laughed. “You? You take the car to the shop at the end of the street.”

妻子笑了。“你？你连去街尾的商店都要开车。”

“I know. But I want to do it. With the old group.”

“我知道。但我想去，和以前的老朋友们一起。”

He looked at a photo on the wall. Four thin boys stood on a big rock. Behind them, there was the sea and the whole city.

他看着墙上的一张照片。四个瘦瘦的男孩站在一块大石头上。在他们身后，是大海和整个城市。

It was the top of Table Mountain, in 1994. The boys were eighteen. They finished their last exam that week. The next day, they walked up the mountain.

那是桌山的山顶，是在1994年。男孩们十八岁。那个星期，他们考完了最后一门试。第二天，他们爬上了这座山。

“Thirty-two years,” said Sipho. “I want the same photo. The same four people, at fifty.”

“三十二年了，”西波说。“我想拍一张一模一样的照片。还是我们四个人，在五十岁的时候。”

“When did you last see them?”

“你上次见他们是什么时候？”

Sipho thought about it. “Five years ago. Maybe six.”

西波想了想。“五年前，也许是六年前。”

“Then write to them,” said his wife. “Tonight.”

“那就给他们写信，”妻子说。“今晚就写。”