第47页

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我在汉堡的一家小书店工作了两年。书店叫“书页”，卖旧书。老板是伯格先生。他今年78岁，总是穿着一件绿色的外套，每天正好喝三杯茶。

I’ve been working in a small bookshop in Hamburg for two years. It’s called “Seitenweise” and sells old books. The owner is Mr Berger. He’s 78, always wears a green jacket, and drinks exactly three cups of tea every day.

我喜欢这份工作。这里很安静，有纸的味道，而且有时能在旧书里发现东西：一张明信片、一张车票，或者一朵干花。

I love this job. It’s quiet, it smells of paper, and sometimes you find something in the old books: a postcard, a ticket, a dried flower.

但星期二那天，我发现了别的东西。

But on Tuesday I found something else.

我把一本旧小说放回书架。这时，一张小纸条掉了出来。我把它捡了起来。字写得很漂亮，用的是蓝色的墨水：

I was putting an old novel back on the shelf. A small note fell out. I picked it up. The handwriting was beautiful, in blue ink:

“给戴红围巾的女士：第47页，第三句话。”

“For the woman with the red scarf: page 47, third sentence.”

我看了看我的围巾。它是红色的。我的心跳加快了。

I looked at my scarf. It’s red. My heart beat faster.

我翻开第47页，读了第三句话： “有时候答案早就有了，只是没有人问对问题。”

I opened the book at page 47 and read the third sentence: “Sometimes the answer has been there for a long time, but nobody has asked the right question.”

“伯格先生！”我喊道，“昨天是谁拿过这本书？”

“Mr Berger!” I called. “Who had this book in their hands yesterday?”

他耸了耸肩。“很多人，莉娜。外面在下雨。下雨时大家都会来店里。”

He shrugged. “Lots of people, Lena. It’s raining. When it rains, everyone comes into the shop.”

我把纸条放进包里。一整天我都在想它。

I put the note in my pocket. I thought about it all day.