Hamid’s Promise

The snow comes on Saturday at three o’clock. By five the city is white.

星期六下午三点下雪了。五点,城市是白的。

Snow on Line 24 is slow. The bus is slow. The people are slow. Everybody is cold and angry. At the stop by the river a man shouts at me. I am six minutes late, because of the snow. I don’t shout back.

下雪天,24路车很慢。车慢,人也慢。大家又冷又生气。在河边的站,一个男人对我大喊。因为下雪,我晚了六分钟。我不喊回去。

At 9:15 Jonas gets on. There is snow on his dark coat and in his long hair.

九点十五分,Jonas上车。他的深色大衣上有雪,长头发里也有雪。

“Good evening,” he says.

“晚上好,”他说。

“Good evening.”

“晚上好。”

Then nothing. He sits in the first seat with his case. He looks out of the window.

然后什么都没有。他坐在第一排,箱子放在腿上。他看着窗外。

I want to talk about last night. The sound, the light, his white face. I open my mouth. I close it. I talk about the snow. He says “Yes.” I talk about the angry man by the river. He says nothing.

我想说昨天晚上。那个声音,那盏灯,他白白的脸。我张开嘴。我又闭上。我说雪。他说:“是。”我说河边那个生气的男人。他什么都不说。

Then I stop. I have nothing to say. Me! Rosa Ferreira, with nothing to say. Twenty-five minutes, and only the sound of the engine.

然后我不说了。我没有话说。我!Rosa Ferreira,没有话说。二十五分钟,只有发动机的声音。

At the last stop he gets off. “Good night.”

到了最后一站,他下车。“晚安。”

“Jonas...”

“Jonas……”

But the door is closed. He is gone, across the white square.

可是门关了。他走了,走过白白的广场。

At 11:50 I am on the square for the last time. Tonight I don’t stop next to the church. I stop next to Hamid’s shop.

十一点五十分,我最后一次在广场上。今天晚上我不停在教堂旁边。我停在Hamid的店旁边。

Hamid is at his door with his broom. He is cleaning the snow from his step.

Hamid在门口,拿着扫把。他在扫门前台阶上的雪。

I get off the bus. “Good evening, Hamid.”

我下车。“晚上好,Hamid。”