Camila had grown tomatoes in the community garden for two summers. This year, though, something strange kept happening. Every few mornings, she would arrive to find one or two tomatoes missing from the vine. They were always the reddest, ripest ones.
卡米拉在社区菜园里种了两个夏天的番茄。可是今年，总有怪事发生。每隔几个早晨，她来到菜园，就会发现藤上少了一两个番茄。少的总是最红、最熟的那几个。
At first she blamed birds. But birds usually left marks or torn leaves behind. Her plants looked untouched except for the missing fruit. She began checking her plot every single morning before work, just to see how much had disappeared overnight.
起初她怀疑是鸟干的。可鸟通常会留下啄痕或者弄破叶子。她的植株除了少了果实，看上去一点也没被碰过。她开始每天早上上班前都去查看自己的那块地，想看看一夜之间又少了多少。
After a week of this, she mentioned it to another gardener. His name was Farid, and he tended the plot next to hers. "It might be raccoons," he said. "They're clever, and they know exactly which tomatoes are ripe."
这样过了一个星期，她把这件事告诉了另一位菜农。他叫法里德，种的地就在她隔壁。“可能是浣熊，”他说，“它们很聪明，清楚地知道哪些番茄熟了。”
Camila wasn't fully convinced, since raccoons usually left the vines a mess. She decided to find out for herself. One evening, she brought a folding chair and a book. She waited quietly near her plot until it got dark.
卡米拉并不完全相信，因为浣熊通常会把藤蔓弄得一团糟。她决定自己查个明白。一天傍晚，她带了一把折叠椅和一本书，安静地坐在自己那块地旁边，一直等到天黑。
Around eight o'clock, she heard a rustle near the fence. A small boy, maybe seven years old, was carefully climbing through a gap in the fence. He walked straight to her tomato plants and picked the two ripest ones, just like every other night.
八点左右，她听到围栏边有沙沙的声响。一个小男孩，大概七岁，正小心翼翼地从围栏的一个缺口爬进来。他径直走到她的番茄植株前，摘下最熟的两个，就像之前的每个晚上一样。
Camila stood up slowly so she wouldn't scare him. "Hi there. These are my tomatoes, you know."
卡米拉慢慢站起来，免得吓到他。“你好呀。这些是我的番茄，你知道吧。”
The boy froze, clearly embarrassed. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "My mom says we can't afford good vegetables right now, and yours always look so nice."
男孩一下子僵住了，显得很难为情。“对不起，”他小声说，“我妈妈说我们现在买不起好蔬菜，而你的番茄看起来总是那么好。”
His name was Milo, and he lived in the apartments across the street. Camila felt her frustration melt away completely. She showed him how to tell when a tomato was truly ready to pick. She also offered to let him take a few each week, as long as he asked first.
他叫米洛，住在街对面的公寓楼里。卡米拉心里的恼火一下子完全化开了。她教他怎么看一个番茄是不是真的熟了、可以摘了。她还提出，只要他先问一声，每周可以拿几个。
From that point on, Milo visited her plot openly. Camila found she enjoyed the company almost as much as the tomatoes themselves.
从那以后，米洛光明正大地来她的菜地。卡米拉发现，有他做伴，她开心得几乎不亚于收获那些番茄本身。
