The Same Saturday

Monday

星期一

Yasmin was twenty-seven. She was an engineer at the water company in Cairo.

亚斯敏二十七岁。她是开罗自来水公司的一位工程师。

Her office was on the fifth floor of a big grey building near the Nile.

她的办公室在一座靠近尼罗河的灰色大楼里，在五楼。

On Monday, she arrived at half past seven, before everyone. She made a coffee and turned on her computer.

星期一，她在七点半到了公司，比所有人都早。她做了一杯咖啡，打开了电脑。

There was a message from her sister. “Good morning! Five days to the party! Are you ready?”

妹妹发来了一条信息：“早上好！离派对还有五天！你准备好了吗？”

Yasmin smiled. Her sister Nour was twenty-four. On Saturday, there was a big party at their parents’ flat. It was Nour’s engagement party. Her boyfriend’s family planned to come and meet her family.

亚斯敏笑了。她的妹妹努尔二十四岁。星期六，她们父母的公寓里会有一场大派对。那是努尔的订婚派对。她男朋友的家人打算来见她的家人。

Two months ago, Yasmin made a promise. “I’ll plan everything,” she said. “The food, the flowers, the chairs, the cake. You don’t have to do anything.”

两个月前，亚斯敏做出了承诺。她说：“我来安排一切。吃的、花、椅子、蛋糕。你什么都不用做。”

Now she had a list with thirty things on it.

现在她的单子上写了三十件事。

She wrote back. “Of course I’m ready. Don’t worry. It’s going to be a perfect day.”

她回复了：“我当然准备好了。别担心。这会是完美的一天。”

Then she looked at the schedule on the wall. It was a busy week for her team.

然后她看了看墙上的日程表。对她的团队来说，这是忙碌的一周。

Monday, nine o’clock: team meeting. Tuesday: a visit to the water station in Giza. Wednesday: the night shift, from eight in the evening to eight in the morning. Thursday, ten o’clock: the big presentation for the ministry.

星期一九点：团队开会。星期二：去吉萨的水厂。星期三：上夜班，从晚上八点到早上八点。星期四十点：给部里做重要的汇报。

The presentation was the most important thing. Yasmin worked on it for a year. It was a plan for new water pipes in the old city.

汇报是最重要的事。亚斯敏为此工作了一年。那是给老城换新水管的计划。

“Some streets there only get water for two hours a day,” she often said. “We can change that.”

她常说：“那里的有些街道一天只有两小时有水。我们可以改变这个情况。”

At nine, the team met in the meeting room. Her boss sat at the end of the table. He was a tall man with a loud voice.

九点，团队在会议室集合。她的老板坐在桌子的一头。他个子很高，声音很大。