Leona has been a carpenter for only a year. This is her first job without her boss standing behind her. An elderly woman needs a new door for her kitchen. The old one has stuck in its frame for as long as she can remember. Leona measures twice, cuts once, and sands the edges until they feel smooth as silk.
莉奥娜当木匠才一年。这是她第一次没有师傅站在身后的活儿。一位年长的女士需要为厨房换一扇新门。旧门卡在门框里，卡了多少年，她自己都记不清了。莉奥娜量两遍，锯一刀，又把边缘打磨得像丝绸一样光滑。
By late afternoon the door hangs in the frame, and it looks beautiful. The wood is pale and warm, and the handle shines. The old woman has been sitting at the table with a cup of tea, watching quietly.
临近傍晚，门装进了门框，看上去漂亮极了。木头颜色浅浅的，暖暖的，把手闪着光。老太太一直坐在桌边，捧着一杯茶，静静地看着。
"It is lovely," she says. "Shall I close it?"
“真可爱，”她说，“我可以把它关上吗？”
Leona nods. But as the door swings shut, she hears a small scrape. The bottom corner catches the frame, and the door stops a finger's width before it closes. She pushes harder. It does not move.
莉奥娜点点头。可是门一合上，她就听到轻轻的一声刮擦。门的下角卡住了门框，在离关上还差一指宽的地方停住了。她用力推了推，门纹丝不动。
Her stomach drops. She knows what has happened. One hinge sits a little too deep, and it pulls the door down. If she leaves now, she will be home by six, and the woman might never complain. It is only a small gap. Nobody would notice it from across the room.
她的心一下子沉了下去。她知道是怎么回事：有一个合页装得稍微深了一点，把门往下拽。如果现在就走，六点前就能到家，老太太也许永远不会抱怨。不过是一条小缝而已，从房间另一头根本看不出来。
Then she remembers her boss, who always says that a job is finished when nobody notices the work. "I need two more hours," she tells the woman. "The door isn't right yet, and I want to fix it."
这时她想起了师傅。师傅总说，活儿要做到没人注意到手艺才算完工。“我还需要两个小时，”她对老太太说，“门还不太对，我想把它修好。”
"Take all the time you need," the woman says, and she pours Leona a cup of tea too.
“你尽管慢慢来，”老太太说，还给莉奥娜也倒了一杯茶。
Leona lifts the door off its hinges. She moves the hinge plates and fills the old screw holes with little wooden pegs. Then she tests the fit again and again. Her hands shake a little at first. She planes a thin curl from the edge, then hangs the door once more.
莉奥娜把门从合页上卸下来。她挪动合页片，用小木钉填住旧的螺丝孔。然后她一遍又一遍地试装。起初她的手有点发抖。她从门边刨下一小卷薄薄的木花，再把门挂了回去。
This time it swings closed with a soft, solid click. The old woman laughs, opens it, and closes it three times, like a child with a new toy.
这一次，门轻轻地关上了，发出一声柔和又结实的“咔哒”。老太太笑了，打开门，又关上，一连开关了三次，像个得到新玩具的孩子。
"I watched you the whole time," she says. "Most people would have gone home. Three of my friends have doors that stick, you know. May I give them your number?"
“我一直看着你呢，”她说，“大多数人早就回家了。告诉你，我有三个朋友家的门也卡住了。我可以把你的电话号码给她们吗？”
Leona tears a page from her notebook, writes her number in big, clear digits, and hands it over.
莉奥娜从笔记本上撕下一页，用又大又清楚的数字写下自己的号码，递了过去。
