The Interpreter at the Clinic

On Tuesdays, Ahmet volunteered as an interpreter at the community clinic, wearing a lanyard that was a size too big for him. Most weeks the work was simple: allergies, forms, a child's cough.

每周二，艾哈迈德都在社区诊所做志愿翻译，脖子上挂着一条对他来说大了一号的工作牌。大多数时候，工作很简单：过敏、表格、孩子咳嗽。

That afternoon, however, the doctor had warned him in advance. The patient was an elderly man who had worked as a tailor for fifty years. His hip needed an operation, and afterward there would be months of rehabilitation.

不过那天下午，医生事先提醒过他。病人是一位老人，做了五十年裁缝。他的髋关节需要手术，术后还要康复好几个月。

Ahmet was reading the notes in the corridor when the man's daughter, Hanne, stopped him. Her eyes were red. "Could you make it sound smaller?" she asked. "Please. Tell him it's a minor repair. He has been worrying about everything lately."

艾哈迈德正在走廊里看病历，老人的女儿汉娜拦住了他。她的眼睛红红的。“你能不能说得轻一点？”她问，“求你了。就说是个小修小补。他最近什么事都发愁。”

Family members were not allowed to interpret at the clinic, because they tended to protect the patient. Ahmet understood the rule better now than he had that morning.

诊所规定家属不能当翻译，因为他们往往会想保护病人。艾哈迈德现在比早上更懂这条规定了。

"I know why you're asking," he said gently. "But if I made it sound smaller, he would plan the next year around something untrue. Then you would be the one to explain."

“我知道你为什么这么问，”他温和地说，“可要是我说得轻描淡写，他就会按一个不真实的情况去安排接下来这一年。到时候要去向他解释的人，就是你。”

Hanne looked at the floor for a while. Then she nodded.

汉娜低头看了好一会儿地面。然后她点了点头。

In the consulting room, the doctor spoke in short sentences, and Ahmet passed each one on at the speed the old man could follow. "He says the hip is badly worn and you need an operation. It is a serious one, but the surgeons do it every week."

在诊室里，医生说话用的都是短句，艾哈迈德按老人能跟上的速度，一句一句转述。“他说你的髋关节磨损得很厉害，需要做手术。这是个大手术，不过外科医生们每周都在做。”

The man listened with a flask of tea held between his knees. Then he held up his palms a few inches apart, the way a tailor shows the width of a hem. "How long until I can stand at my cutting table?"

老人把一个保温壶夹在两膝之间，认真地听着。然后他把两只手掌举起来，相隔几英寸，就像裁缝比划裤脚边的宽度。“我还要多久才能站到我的裁剪台前？”

Ahmet translated the question. The doctor explained that walking with a frame would begin within days, but standing for hours would take about four months.

艾哈迈德翻译了这个问题。医生解释说，借助助行架走路几天内就能开始，但要站上几个小时，大约需要四个月。

Ahmet repeated it in exactly those words, "four months," and then he stopped talking. He had learned that a pause could be part of the translation.

艾哈迈德一字不差地重复了“四个月”，然后就不再说话了。他学到过，停顿也可以是翻译的一部分。

The old man looked at his daughter, then at the window. He spoke quietly, and Ahmet waited until he was sure the sentence was finished.

老人看看女儿，又看看窗外。他轻声说了几句，艾哈迈德一直等到确定他说完了才开口。

"He says four months is longer than he hoped," Ahmet told the doctor, "but shorter than he feared."

“他说四个月比他希望的要长，”艾哈迈德对医生说，“但比他担心的要短。”

Beside him, Hanne let out a breath she had been holding since the corridor. Ahmet wondered whether he should have warned her more gently, but she did not look angry.

在他身旁，汉娜长长地呼出一口气，那口气她从走廊里就一直憋着。艾哈迈德心想，自己是不是该更委婉地提醒她，但她看上去并没有生气。

Before they left, the man spoke once more. "He asks whether the doctor could write the dates down," Ahmet said. "He wants to count the days."

离开之前，老人又说了一次话。“他问医生能不能把日期写下来，”艾哈迈德说，“他想数着日子过。”

The doctor pushed a pen and a blank form across the desk. The old man took them both and turned the form over. Then he began to draw a calendar, with the long, steady lines of a man who had spent his life cutting straight.

医生把一支笔和一张空白表格推过桌子。老人把两样东西都接了过去，把表格翻到背面。然后他开始画一本日历，线条又长又稳，那是一个一辈子都在裁直线的人才有的手笔。