四个音，十点半

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十月初，伊内斯·罗查搬进了Beco do Relógio，那是里斯本Graça区的一条小巷。这套房子便宜、明亮，离有轨电车站只有十分钟。她只有一个问题：伊内斯在机场工作，凌晨四点半就得起床。所以她每天晚上九点半就上床睡觉。

Inês Rocha moved into the Beco do Relógio at the beginning of October, a small lane in the Graça district of Lisbon. The flat was cheap, bright and only ten minutes from the tram. It had just one problem: Inês worked at the airport and had to get up at half past four. So every evening she went to bed at half past nine.

搬家后的第一个星期，她睡得很沉，什么也没听到。第二个星期，她听到了。每天夜里十点半，有人用小号吹四个音：两个低音，一个高音，还有一个更高的音。然后一切又安静下来。那声音不好听。听起来像一个疲惫的男人在说一个他差点忘掉的词。

In the first week she slept so deeply after the move that she heard nothing. In the second week she heard it. At half past ten, night after night, someone played four notes on a trumpet: two low ones, a high one and an even higher one. Then it was quiet. It did not sound beautiful. It sounded like a tired man saying a word he had almost forgotten.

第三个晚上以后，伊内斯用扫帚敲了敲墙。第五个晚上以后，她两点还醒着，算着自己还能睡几个小时。第二天早上，她红着眼睛站在楼梯间里。

After the third night Inês knocked on the wall with a broom. After the fifth she lay awake until two and worked out how many hours of sleep she had left. The next morning she stood in the stairwell with red eyes.

一楼，阿梅利亚奶奶坐在敞开的门前织毛衣，像每个早上一样。她八十多岁了，巷子里发生的事她都知道。

In front of her open door on the ground floor sat Dona Amélia, knitting, as she did every morning. She was over eighty and knew everything that happened in the lane.

“你看起来气色不好，孩子。”她说。 “我睡得不好。”伊内斯回答，“谁每天夜里在这里吹小号？” “杜阿尔特先生，三楼，对面。从九月初开始的。” “从九月就开始了！难道没有人投诉过吗？” 阿梅利亚奶奶数着针数，笑了笑。“有啊，大家都投诉过。可是没有人去问一问。”

“You look terrible, child,” she said. “I’m sleeping badly,” Inês answered. “Who plays the trumpet here every night?” “Mr Duarte, third floor, across the way. Since the beginning of September.” “Since September! And nobody has complained?” Dona Amélia counted her stitches and smiled. “Yes, everybody has. But nobody has asked.”

下午，伊内斯给房东马托斯先生打了电话。他听完，叹了口气。“我很愿意给杜阿尔特先生写一封信，”他说，“不过管理处只接受有三位邻居签字的投诉。这是规定。”

In the afternoon Inês phoned the landlord, Mr Matos. He listened and sighed. “I’ll gladly write Mr Duarte a letter,” he said. “But the management only accepts complaints that three neighbours have signed. That’s the rule.”

这很容易。二楼的鲁伊和索菲亚马上就签了。“终于有人管了！”索菲亚说。四楼的洛佩斯先生叹着气签了名，用的是一支写不出字的圆珠笔。只有阿梅利亚奶奶拒绝了。“我的眼睛不好。”她说，一边把线穿过一个小小的针眼。

That was easy. Rui and Sofia on the second floor signed at once. “At last!” said Sofia. Mr Lopes on the fourth floor signed with a sigh and a pen that did not want to write. Only Dona Amélia refused. “My eyes are bad,” she said, threading a piece of thread through a tiny needle as she spoke.