13号房间

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第一天晚上，我以为是弄错了。第二天晚上，我以为是有人在开玩笑。到了第三天晚上，我开始感到害怕了。

On the first night I thought it was a mistake. On the second night I thought someone was playing a joke. On the third night I started to be afraid.

不过，我还是从头说起吧。我叫约纳斯，今年二十九岁。十月份，我在林德旅馆找到了一份夜班前台的工作。林德旅馆很小：四层楼，二十二个房间，是一栋位于克罗伊茨贝格安静街道上的老房子。住客大多是想省钱的游客，或者是第二天一早要去机场的商务人士。

But I’d better tell it from the beginning. My name is Jonas, I’m twenty-nine years old, and in October I got a job as night porter at the Hotel Linde. The Hotel Linde is small: four floors, twenty-two rooms, an old building on a quiet street in Kreuzberg. The guests are mostly tourists who don’t want to spend much money, or business people who have to get to the airport early the next morning.

我很高兴能得到这份工作，因为我晚上本来就睡不好。再说，我已经写了三年博士论文了，前台晚上特别安静，很适合工作。反正老板凯斯勒太太是这么说的。她是一位六十岁左右的女士，留着灰色短发，眼神仿佛能看穿一切。

I was glad to take the job, because I don’t sleep well at night anyway. Besides, I’ve been writing my doctoral thesis for three years, and at night the reception is so quiet that you can work well. At least, that’s what the boss said, Frau Kessler, a woman of about sixty with short grey hair and a look that sees everything.

“这里几乎从不出事，”她第一天晚上跟我解释说，“有时会有客人从机场很晚才到。有时会有客人喝醉了。那时候您要保持友好，必要时就报警。还有一件事：别去地下室。下面有旧暖气设备，很危险。”

“Almost nothing ever happens,” she explained to me on the first evening. “Sometimes a guest arrives late from the airport. Sometimes a guest is drunk. Then you stay friendly and call the police if necessary. And one more thing: don’t go into the basement. The old heating system is down there, and it’s dangerous.”

我点了点头。我没多想什么。

I nodded. I didn’t think anything of it.

第一天晚上，正好是2点13分，前台的电话响了。那是一部老式电话，灰色，沉甸甸的，带有一个绿色的小显示屏。我在屏幕上看到了拨出电话的房间号码。上面写着：13。

On the first night, at exactly 2:13, the phone at reception rang. It was an old phone, grey and heavy, with a small green display. On the display I could see the number of the room the call was coming from. It said: 13.

我看了看墙上的名单。11号房，12号房，14号房。林德旅馆没有13号房。很多旅馆都没有，因为客人们很迷信。

I looked at the list on the wall. Room 11, room 12, room 14. The Hotel Linde has no room 13. Many hotels don’t, because guests are superstitious.

电话一直在响。我拿起了听筒。

The phone kept ringing. I picked up the receiver.