去观测站的路从学校后面穿过。
The way to the observatory passed behind the school.
学校还在上课。窗口坐着几个孩子，老师拿一根木杆指黑板上的地图。Clay 走过去时，听见一个孩子说，昨天这条路画在右边。老师停了一会儿，把木杆放下，让他把自己的地图拿到前面来。
Lessons were still in progress. Several children sat by the window while the teacher pointed a wooden rod at a map on the blackboard. As Clay passed, he heard a child say that yesterday this road had been drawn on the right. The teacher paused, lowered the rod, and asked him to bring his own map to the front.
伊沃没有往里看，脚步却慢了些。
Ivo did not look inside, but his pace slowed.
“我妹妹以前也在那间教室。”他说。
“My sister used to be in that classroom,” he said.
“现在呢？”
“Where is she now?”
“外港做工。昨晚我母亲问她什么时候回来，我说等船。”
“Working in the outer harbor. Last night my mother asked when she was coming back. I said, when there’s a boat.”
他把肩上的袋子往上提了提，没有再说。Clay 想起堤边那个已经收好背包的女人。留在镇上的人并不是全都想留下，也不是每个留在外面的人都不愿回来。
He hitched the bag higher on his shoulder and said no more. Clay thought of the woman on the breakwater with her backpack already packed. Not everyone who remained in town wanted to stay. Not everyone outside wanted to be away.
午后的光照着一条长长的石阶。两侧杂草高过膝盖，许多草从台阶接缝里钻出来，根下露着细线。伊沃俯身看了两处，把线重新塞回保护管，没急着往上跑。
Afternoon light fell across a long flight of stone steps. Weeds grew above knee height on either side. Many sprouted from the joints between steps, with thin wires showing beneath their roots. Ivo bent to inspect two places and tucked the wires back into their protective conduits instead of hurrying uphill.
Clay 拿着诺拉给的一小包食物。她说，不知道上面有没有人，带一点总比空着手好。Miso 吃完午饭就趴下了，没再要求跟来。Clay 留了纸条，注明去山顶、傍晚回来，写完还让诺拉看了一眼。
Clay carried a small parcel of food from Nora. She had said that since they did not know whether anyone was up there, bringing something was better than going empty-handed. Miso had lain down after lunch and made no further request to join them. Clay had left a note saying he was going to the hilltop and would be back by evening, and had shown it to Nora before leaving.
旧观测站顶上有一只风向标，尾部弯成鱼形。它原来总朝南，如今转到了东北。窗户从里面遮着，门上没有锁，门缝却塞了一根横木。
A fish-tailed weather vane stood above the old observatory. It used to point south all the time; now it had turned northeast. The windows were covered from inside. There was no lock on the door, but a timber bar had been wedged behind it.
屋里果然有人在报天气。
Someone was indeed reading the weather inside.
是一个平静的女声，先说日期，再说近海风向、能见度和浪高。说到最后，声音被一阵尖锐的杂音划断，随后又从日期开始。
A calm woman’s voice gave the date, then the offshore wind direction, visibility, and wave height. Near the end, a sharp burst of interference cut across it. Then it began again with the date.
伊沃敲门。
Ivo knocked.
天气声停了。
The weather report stopped.
“我们带来一张纸。外面的船转交给这里的。”
“We brought a strip of paper. A boat outside sent it here.”
里面没有回应。
There was no answer.
Clay 退开一步，让自己不正对门缝，把纸带交给伊沃。他们等了足足半分钟，门后才响起缓慢的拖动声。
Clay stepped back so he no longer faced the crack in the door and gave Ivo the strip. They waited a full half-minute before a slow scraping came from inside.
“放在下面。”
“Put it underneath.”
声音低而发闷，像隔着一只箱子。
The voice was low and muffled, as though coming through a box.
伊沃把纸带从门底塞进去。纸刚露出一半，就被一只戴白手套的手抽走。又过了一会儿，门闩抬起，门只开到刚好能伸出一条胳膊。
Ivo slid the paper beneath the door. When it was halfway through, a white-gloved hand pulled it away. After another pause, the bar lifted. The door opened only wide enough for an arm.
那只白手套递出来，手心放着两枚不属于镇上的硬币。
The white glove emerged, two coins unfamiliar to the town lying in its palm.
“多少钱？”
“How much?”
“不是给你送货。”伊沃说。
“We’re not making a delivery for you,” Ivo said.
“那为什么来？”
“Then why are you here?”
Clay 看着门缝里面的黑色玻璃。玻璃很圆，映出他的脸与半截天空。他起初以为是一面挂在门后的镜子，随后镜子向后移了一点，他才看见玻璃两边厚厚的白色边框。
Clay looked at the black glass inside the gap. It was round, reflecting his face and half the sky. At first he thought it was a mirror hanging behind the door. Then it moved backward, revealing thick white edges on both sides.
有人戴着头盔。
Someone was wearing a helmet.
“渡轮回来的信里夹着它。”Clay 说，“我想知道你收到的报时，和船上的是不是同一种。”
“It was in the ferry’s reply,” Clay said. “I want to know whether the time signals you receive are the same kind as the ones aboard.”
头盔转向他。
The helmet turned toward him.
“你从船上来？”
“You came on the boat?”
“昨天。”
“Yesterday.”
“你记得船开来的地方吗？”
“Do you remember where it came from?”
“记得。”
“Yes.”
门又开了一点。
The door opened a little farther.
“说一件没有写在地图上的事。”
“Tell me something that isn’t on a map.”
Clay 想了想。
Clay thought.
“外港码头有家卖早餐的。老板说他的面包每天新做，但前一天卖不掉的，会放到右手边篮子里。你想买软一点的，要从左边拿。”
“There’s a breakfast stall at the outer-harbor docks. The owner says his bread is fresh every day, but what he doesn’t sell goes in the right-hand basket the next morning. If you want softer bread, take it from the left.”
伊沃转头看他，似乎怀疑这算不算答案。
Ivo turned toward him, apparently doubtful that this counted as an answer.
门后的头盔却往下低了一下。
But the helmet behind the door dipped.
“我想听这种。”她说。
“That’s the sort of thing I want to hear,” she said.
她让开门。
She stepped aside.
观测站里比外面暖，空气却带着长时间不通风的酸味。桌上摊着各种纸，沿墙挂着湿衣服，一只水壶底下垫了厚书。窗边放着两把椅子，其中一把拆掉靠背，固定着一套很小的仪器。
The observatory was warmer than outside, but the air had the sourness of a room long shut up. Papers covered the table. Damp clothes hung along the wall, and a thick book supported a kettle. Two chairs stood by the window; one had lost its back and now held a small instrument fastened to it.
白色宇航服就穿在她身上。膝盖和肘部有灰黑色磨痕，胸前原先似乎印着姓名，如今那块布被人整齐剪掉了。她左手的手套大了一点，拿纸时要用指尖反复夹住。
She was wearing the white spacesuit. Gray-black scuffs marked its knees and elbows. A name seemed once to have been printed on the chest, but someone had neatly cut that strip of cloth away. Her left glove was slightly too large. She had to pinch repeatedly with her fingertips to hold the paper.
Clay 不知道该看哪里，最后看向她的鞋。鞋底很厚，不适合走镇上的窄台阶。
Clay did not know where to look and finally settled on her boots. Their soles were thick, unsuited to the town’s narrow steps.
“你一直穿着？”
“Do you wear that all the time?”
“里面穿着你不认识的衣服，你还是会问别的问题。”
“If I wore clothes underneath that you didn’t recognize, you’d just ask different questions.”
她走到窗边，关掉一只正在嘶响的接收盒，将天气纸带与桌上的旧纸并排。两张纸上同一个观测站编号，日期不同，风向和气压也不同。
She went to the window, switched off a hissing receiver, and laid the weather strip beside an older one. They bore the same observation-station number, but different dates, wind directions, and pressures.
“不是同一段在重复。”她说。
“It isn’t the same recording repeating,” she said.
Clay 把船长的信展开。她先看报时，再看灯向图，停了很久，才抬起手，松开头盔边缘的扣子。
Clay unfolded the captain’s letter. She looked first at the times, then at the sketch of the beams. After a long pause, she raised her hands and undid the catches around her helmet.
她将头盔取下来，放到桌上。
She lifted it off and placed it on the table.
头发短，额前被汗压成几绺。脸比 Clay 想象中年轻，也比声音显得疲倦。鼻梁两侧留下密封垫压出的红痕。她抬手揉了揉耳后，像每次摘下头盔都要适应声音重新变大。
Her hair was short, damp strands flattened against her forehead. Her face was younger than Clay had expected and more tired than her voice suggested. The seal had left red marks beside her nose. She rubbed behind her ears, as though every removal meant adjusting to the world becoming louder again.
伊沃指了指椅子，等她点头才坐。
Ivo pointed to a chair and waited for her nod before sitting.
“你叫什么？”
“What’s your name?”
她没有立即回答，而是把那两枚硬币收回一只布袋。
She did not answer immediately. She put the two coins back in a cloth pouch.
“现在叫岚。”
“Lan, now.”
“现在？”
“Now?”
“报天气的人说到这个字，我喜欢。我可以自己选一个。”
“The weather reader used that word. Mountain mist. I liked it. I can choose one myself.”
Clay 点头。
Clay nodded.
“我叫 Clay。这是伊沃。”
“I’m Clay. This is Ivo.”
“你就是那个守灯人。”
“You’re the lighthouse keeper.”
“以前是。”
“I used to be.”
“他们说你不在了。”
“They said you were gone.”
Clay 看了一眼窗外。“他们的说法最近不太一致。”
Clay glanced out of the window. “Their accounts haven’t agreed much lately.”
岚嘴角动了一下，很短，随即又看回纸面。
The corner of Lan’s mouth moved briefly before she looked back at the papers.
她记不得自己原来的名字。醒来时就在观测站底下的石坡上，头盔还扣着，左腿被一条固定带缠住。她不知道自己掉了多远，也不知道在那之前去过哪里。头盔里有几段声音，起初她以为是同伴，听久了才发现，每一段都在相同地方停顿，连同一声咳嗽也重复。
She could not remember her original name. She had woken on the rocky slope below the observatory, her helmet still fastened, a securing strap wrapped around her left leg. She did not know how far she had fallen or where she had been before. There were fragments of voices inside the helmet. At first she thought they were companions. After listening long enough, she realized each fragment paused in exactly the same place. Even a cough repeated.
镇上的人第一次看见她，是在一个雾很重的晚上。她站在坡边，把头盔里的声音开到最大，想让回应她的人找到自己。第二天有人说观测站闹鬼。
The townspeople first saw her on a very foggy evening. She stood on the slope with the helmet’s voices at full volume, hoping whoever answered would find her. The next day, someone said the observatory was haunted.
“后来他们叫我闹鬼的宇航员。”她说。
“Then they started calling me the haunted astronaut,” she said.
伊沃低头看着自己的鞋。
Ivo looked down at his boots.
“我听过。”
“I’ve heard that.”
“我知道。我在楼上，能听见他们在下面说。”
“I know. From upstairs, I can hear them talking below.”
她把袖口上的泥刮掉一块，接着说，她会读压力表，会处理漏气，会根据星星的位置估方向。但别人问她第一次做这些事是在什么地方，她没有答案。有一次一个女人递给她一条毛巾，她知道应该说谢谢，却突然想不起自己上一条毛巾是什么颜色。
She scraped some mud from her cuff and continued. She could read pressure gauges, deal with leaks, and find her direction by the stars. But when people asked where she had first done these things, she had no answer. Once, a woman handed her a towel. She knew she should say thank you, yet suddenly could not remember the color of the last towel she had owned.
“我还以为颜色会更容易。”
“I thought a color would be easier.”
Clay 看向被剪去的姓名条。
Clay looked at the missing name strip.
岚顺着他的目光低下头。
Lan followed his gaze.
“不是烧掉的。上面有字，我不确定是不是我的。我剪下来放着了。”
“It wasn’t burned off. There was writing, but I wasn’t sure it was mine. I cut it off and kept it.”
“可以——”
“Could we—”
Clay 停住。
Clay stopped.
她看着他。
She watched him.
“你不想给我们看，就先别看。”他说。
“If you don’t want to show us, leave it for now,” he said.
岚把手从胸前移开。
Lan moved her hand away from her chest.
“谢谢。”
“Thank you.”
诺拉准备的食物仍在 Clay 手里。他放到桌上，问她是否吃过午饭。岚说吃过，却盯了纸包一眼。伊沃直接拆开，把面包和煮蛋分成三份，自己先拿了一份。
Clay still held Nora’s parcel. He put it on the table and asked whether she had eaten lunch. Lan said yes, but glanced at the package. Ivo opened it, divided the bread and boiled eggs into three portions, and took one himself first.
他们吃东西时，接收机又响起来。
While they ate, the receiver began speaking again.
这一次报时比刚才晚了半小时，女声念出了新的风向。岚迅速放下面包，记数，随后打开靠海的窄窗，让风吹进屋里。风向标在窗外转动，鱼尾从东北偏到了东。
This time the announced time was half an hour later, and the woman read a new wind direction. Lan quickly put down her bread, recorded the figures, and opened the narrow seaward window. Wind entered the room. Outside, the vane turned, its fish tail shifting from northeast toward east.
“外面发生的变化，到这边有延迟。”她说，“我想知道延迟是不是固定的。”
“Changes outside reach here after a delay,” she said. “I want to know whether the delay stays the same.”
Clay 拿出独立钟的记录。岚很快看懂两列的区别，在空白处写下船长信上的时间，又在旁边画了三条短线。
Clay produced the independent-clock records. Lan quickly understood the distinction between the columns. In a blank space she added the times from the captain’s letter, then drew three short lines beside them.
“不能只拿一只镇上的表，跟另一只镇上的表比。”她说。
“You can’t only compare one town clock with another town clock,” she said.
“我们昨天才开始把它们放到一起。”Clay 说。
“We only started putting them together yesterday,” Clay said.
她看了他一眼，没有说他太晚。
She looked at him without saying he was late.
伊沃站起身，去看固定在椅子上的仪器。岚叫住他，让他别碰那块黑胶带。他立刻停手。那是她用来标记一处松接头的，只要椅子往左歪，声音就会断。
Ivo stood to inspect the instrument fastened to the chair. Lan stopped him, telling him not to touch the black tape. He withdrew his hand at once. It marked a loose connection. Whenever the chair leaned left, the sound cut out.
“我可以给你换一把稳的椅子。”伊沃说。
“I could get you a steadier chair,” Ivo said.
“先在这把底下加点东西。我不想让它挪位置。”
“Put something underneath this one first. I don’t want it moved.”
伊沃找来两片木楔，征得同意后垫好。天气声没有断。岚听着，肩膀明显松了下来。
Ivo found two wooden wedges and, with her permission, fitted them beneath it. The weather report continued uninterrupted. Listening, Lan visibly relaxed her shoulders.
Clay 看见她在窗台上放着十二颗小石头，每颗底下都有一个日期。最前面一颗被手指磨得很亮。
Clay noticed twelve small stones on the windowsill, each with a date beneath it. The first had been polished bright by fingers.
“十二天？”
“Twelve days?”
“我醒来以后。”
“Since I woke up.”
“这里有人来照看你吗？”
“Has anyone come to look after you?”
“有。送吃的，问睡得好不好。还有人劝我去主塔，说那边的机器也许能帮忙。”
“Yes. They bring food, ask whether I’ve slept. Some suggested the main tower. They said the machines there might help.”
她将最后一块面包放进纸包，没有吃完。
She put the last piece of bread back in its paper without finishing it.
“我去了两次。”
“I went twice.”
“然后呢？”
“And?”
“他们问我同样的问题。记不记得出发前的人、家、路线。我不会回答的那些。”
“They asked the same questions. Did I remember the people before I left, my home, the route? The things I can’t answer.”
Clay 想到诺拉面前的相册，没再往下追。
Clay thought of the album in front of Nora and did not press further.
他望了望这间潮湿的屋子，想说面包店还有房间，可以带她下去住。话出口时只剩一句：“你愿意下山吗？”
He surveyed the damp room. He wanted to say there were rooms at the bakery and offer to take her down. What came out was only, “Would you like to come down the hill?”
岚看向接收机。
Lan looked at the receiver.
“现在不。”
“Not now.”
“我们可以把它带着。”
“We could bring it.”
“这里收到的最好。”她说，“我不是不知道楼下有床。”
“Reception is best here,” she said. “I know there are beds down there.”
Clay 点头。他仍觉得她一个人住在这里不合适，却没有资格用自己的不放心替她做决定。
Clay nodded. He still thought she should not be living alone up here, but his worry gave him no right to decide for her.
“那我们明天还来。”
“Then we’ll come again tomorrow.”
“来做什么？”
“What for?”
“把你记的时间、伊沃测的路和船上看到的灯放到一起。找一条能走的路。”
“To put your times together with Ivo’s road measurements and the lights seen from the ferry. Find a way through.”
岚沉默了一阵。
Lan was silent for a while.
“别答应送我回家。”她说，“你还不知道我家在哪里。”
“Don’t promise to get me home,” she said. “You don’t know where my home is.”
“好。先找能走的路。”
“All right. First, a way through.”
她把气象纸带和船信分别抄了一份，原件还给两人。随后从桌子下面拿出一块小木牌，在上面写下岚这个字，摆到门内。写完觉得从门外看不见，又把牌翻了个面。
She copied the weather strip and the ferry letter, returning the originals. Then she took a small wooden sign from beneath the table, wrote her chosen name on it, and set it just inside the door. Realizing it could not be seen from outside, she turned it around.
伊沃帮她找到两枚钉子，她自己钉在门框上。
Ivo found her two nails. She nailed the sign to the doorframe herself.
正要下楼时，石阶上出现一个提篮子的人。
As they were about to go down, someone carrying a basket appeared on the steps.
Dr. T 穿着浅灰色外套，裤脚卷到脚踝，手里除了篮子还拿着一只旧水壶。他比 Clay 记得的瘦些，头发向后梳，眼镜挂在胸前，不是工作时戴的那副。
Dr. T wore a pale gray coat, his trouser cuffs rolled to his ankles. Besides the basket, he carried an old kettle. He was thinner than Clay remembered. His hair was combed back, and spectacles hung against his chest, a different pair from the ones he wore at work.
他先看见伊沃，再看见 Clay，脚步停在最后一级台阶上。
He saw Ivo first, then Clay, and stopped on the final step.
“你真的回来了。”他说。
“You really came back,” he said.
Clay 没有立刻回答。他想起自己外套口袋里的许可副本，手指碰了一下折角。
Clay did not answer at once. He thought of the permit copy in his coat pocket and touched its folded corner.
Dr. T 把篮子放下，看向他的绷带。
Dr. T put down the basket and looked at the bandage.
“后街的人我听说了。他怎么样？”
“I heard about the man on the back street. How is he?”
“能走路。”伊沃说。
“He can walk,” Ivo said.
Dr. T 点点头，拿出篮里的饭盒，问岚今天是否吃过。她说吃过，指了指桌上的纸包。他没有再劝，只把饭盒留给她，又将漏水的旧壶换成手里那只。
Dr. T nodded, took a food tin from the basket, and asked whether Lan had eaten. She said yes and pointed to the paper parcel. He did not press her, but left the tin and exchanged her leaking kettle for the one he had brought.
动作熟悉得像已经来过很多次。
His movements were as familiar as though he had been here many times.
Clay 看着他，想起他们以前值夜时也这样交换东西：修好的壶，剩下的饭，忘在另一间屋的手套。那时候他几乎从没怀疑过眼前的人。
Watching him, Clay remembered how they used to exchange things on night duty: a repaired kettle, leftover food, gloves forgotten in another room. In those days, he had almost never doubted the man before him.
“你签过我的续期。”Clay 说。
“You signed my renewals,” Clay said.
Dr. T 的手在壶把上停了一下。
Dr. T’s hand paused on the kettle handle.
“我知道你会问。”
“I knew you’d ask.”
“我现在问。”
“I’m asking now.”
屋里安静下来，接收机里的天气声仍在继续。Dr. T 没有看伊沃，也没有让他出去。他把空篮子提起来。
The room fell quiet, though the receiver kept reporting the weather. Dr. T neither looked at Ivo nor told him to leave. He picked up the empty basket.
“下山吃顿饭吧。你们都来。原始记录在主塔，吃完我们去看能给你看的部分。”
“Come down for supper. All of you. The original records are at the main tower. Afterward we can look at the parts I can show you.”
“为什么是部分？”
“Why only parts?”
“因为里面还有别人的事。”
“Because other people’s lives are in them too.”
Clay 盯着他。这个理由不是完全没有道理，正因为如此，才让他更难答应。
Clay stared at him. The reason was not entirely unreasonable, which made it harder to accept.
岚在身后关掉接收机，确认笔记已经抄好，拿起那两枚外来的硬币。
Behind him, Lan switched off the receiver, checked that her notes were copied, and picked up the two foreign coins.
“我一起去。”她说，“这回让我把问题问完。”
“I’m coming,” she said. “This time let me finish asking.”