Ten Kilometres

A joke on the list

名单上的玩笑

Funmi lived in Lagos. She was forty-one, and she was an accountant. She worked for a big company in the city centre.

芬米住在拉各斯。她四十一岁，是一名会计。她在市中心的一家大公司工作。

She sat at her desk from eight in the morning until six in the evening. She liked numbers. Numbers were quiet.

她从早上八点到晚上六点坐在办公桌前。她喜欢数字。数字很安静。

On Monday morning, an email came from the boss. Funmi read it with her first coffee.

星期一早上，老板发来了一封电子邮件。芬米边喝第一杯咖啡边看邮件。

“Dear team,” it said. “Our company is going to run in the Lagos race. It’s ten kilometres, and it’s in six weeks. Here are our ten runners.”

“亲爱的团队，”邮件写道，“我们公司要去参加拉各斯的跑步比赛。全长十公里，在六个星期后。这是我们的十位跑步选手。”

Funmi looked at the list of names. The last name on the list was her name.

芬米看了看名单。名单上的最后一个名字是她的名字。

She read it again. Then she stood up and walked to the next desk.

她又读了一遍。然后她站起来，走向旁边的办公桌。

Tunde was twenty-six. He was younger than everybody in the office. He ran every morning, and he talked about it every day.

通代二十六岁。他比办公室里的所有人都年轻。他每天早上跑步，每天都在聊跑步。

“Tunde. Did you write my name on this list?”

“通代，你把我的名字写在这个名单上了吗？”

Tunde laughed. “It was a joke! I’m sorry. Then the boss sent the list to everyone.”

通代笑了。“那是个玩笑！对不起。然后老板就把名单发给所有人了。”

“A joke,” said Funmi.

“一个玩笑，”芬米说。

“Come on, Funmi. You’ve never run in your life. Have you?”

“算了吧，芬米。你这辈子从来没跑过步。对吧？”

“No,” said Funmi. “I have never run. Not even for a bus.”

“对，”芬米说。“我从来没跑过。连追公交车都没跑过。”

Other people in the office looked up from their desks. Some of them smiled.

办公室里的其他人从办公桌前抬起头来。有些人笑了。