Magda is a freelance translator, and she works at a small desk by the kitchen window. On Thursday morning, an email arrives from her biggest client. The subject line says "Urgent", and the job is forty pages long.
玛格达是自由译者，她在厨房窗边的一张小桌子前工作。星期四上午，她最大的客户发来了一封邮件。主题写着“紧急”，活儿有四十页。
The deadline is six o'clock that evening. Magda reads the message twice. Her sister's birthday dinner starts at seven, and she promised weeks ago that she would be there.
截止时间是当天晚上六点。玛格达把邮件读了两遍。她姐姐的生日晚宴七点开始，几个星期前她就答应过一定到场。
She does the math. Forty pages in one day is possible, but only if she skips lunch and never stops. If she says yes, she will probably be late for the dinner. She will be too tired to enjoy it. If she says no, the client might never call her again.
她算了算。一天翻四十页是可能的，但前提是不吃午饭，一刻不停。如果她答应下来，晚宴大概会迟到。她也会累得没法好好享受。如果她拒绝，客户可能再也不会找她了。
Magda walks around the kitchen with a cup of tea going cold in her hand. This client pays more than her other three together. When you work alone, a good reputation matters a lot. But her sister has watched her cancel plans too many times this year.
玛格达手里端着一杯渐渐变凉的茶，在厨房里踱来踱去。这个客户付的钱比她另外三个客户加起来还多。一个人干活的时候，好口碑非常重要。可是今年她姐姐已经看着她取消了太多次约定。
"You should ask, not guess," she says out loud. Then she sits down and writes a short, polite email.
“你应该问，而不是猜，”她大声说。然后她坐下来，写了一封简短而礼貌的邮件。
"Thank you for the project. I would be happy to do it, and I want the quality to be excellent. Could I send the translation by nine tomorrow morning instead? If that is not possible, I understand."
“谢谢您的项目。我很乐意接下，并且我希望质量一流。我可以改在明天上午九点前交译稿吗？如果不行，我也理解。”
She reads it once more and presses send before she can change her mind. Then she opens the file and starts working anyway, just in case the answer is no.
她又读了一遍，没等自己改变主意就点了发送。然后她还是打开文件开始工作，以防答复是不行。
At noon, the reply arrives. "Nine tomorrow is fine," the client writes. "Thanks for being honest about your time."
中午，回复来了。“明天九点可以，”客户写道，“谢谢你如实说明你的时间安排。”
Magda laughs and leans back in her chair. She still has a lot of work to do, so she translates until five. Then she closes the laptop. At seven, she is at a table with her sister, her brother-in-law, and a huge chocolate cake.
玛格达笑了，往椅背上一靠。她还有很多活要干，所以一直翻译到五点。然后她合上了笔记本电脑。七点，她坐在一张桌子旁，同桌的是她姐姐、姐夫，还有一个巨大的巧克力蛋糕。
"You came," her sister says, and hugs her. "I thought you would bring your computer."
“你来了，”姐姐说着，抱住了她，“我还以为你会带着电脑来呢。”
"It's at home," Magda says. "It can wait until the morning."
“电脑在家，”玛格达说，“它可以等到早上。”
At six the next morning, she is back at the desk with a fresh cup of tea. By half past eight, she has finished the last page. She reads it one more time and sends it. Then she picks up her phone and writes to her sister: "Great cake. Same time next year?"
第二天早上六点，她又回到桌前，身边是一杯新泡的茶。到八点半，她已经译完了最后一页。她又读了一遍，发了出去。然后她拿起手机，给姐姐写道：“蛋糕真棒。明年同一时间？”
