The Mislabeled Boxes

Miriam and Julian had spent the whole weekend packing their apartment. By Sunday night, forty boxes stood in neat rows by the door. Each one was marked with a black marker: kitchen, bedroom, office, bathroom.

米里亚姆和朱利安花了整个周末打包公寓里的东西。到星期天晚上，四十个箱子整整齐齐地排在门边。每个箱子上都用黑色记号笔写着：厨房、卧室、书房、浴室。

The movers arrived early Monday morning, and everything went smoothly, or so it seemed. Boxes were carried out quickly. Within two hours, the truck was loaded and on its way to the new house.

搬家工人星期一一大早就到了，一切看似都很顺利。箱子被很快搬了出去。不到两个小时，卡车就装好了货，驶向新家。

That evening, tired but hopeful, Miriam opened the box labeled "kitchen" first. Instead of plates and pans, she found a tangle of phone chargers. There was also an old alarm clock and a drawer full of pens. "Julian," she called, "this isn't the kitchen box."

那天傍晚，两人虽然疲惫，却满怀希望。米里亚姆先打开了标着“厨房”的箱子。里面没有盘子和锅，而是一团乱糟糟的手机充电线，还有一个旧闹钟和满满一抽屉的笔。“朱利安，”她喊道，“这不是厨房的箱子。”

Julian came over, confused. He opened the box marked "office" and found towels and a shower curtain inside. "This is the bathroom stuff," he said, frowning. "I think we mixed up the labels while we were packing."

朱利安困惑地走过来。他打开标着“书房”的箱子，发现里面是毛巾和浴帘。“这是浴室的东西，”他皱着眉说，“我想我们打包的时候把标签弄混了。”

They opened three more boxes, and the pattern continued. The labels didn't match the contents at all. Someone, in the rush of the weekend, had clearly written the wrong word on several boxes.

他们又打开了三个箱子，情况依旧如此。标签和里面的东西完全对不上。显然是周末手忙脚乱的时候，有人在好几个箱子上写错了字。

"Okay, we need a system," Miriam said, pulling out a notepad. "Let's open every box, check what's inside, and relabel it properly."

“好吧，我们得有个办法，”米里亚姆一边说，一边拿出一本记事本，“把每个箱子都打开，看看里面是什么，再重新贴好标签。”

It took them nearly two hours. Julian opened each box and called out the contents. Miriam crossed out the old label and wrote a new one that actually matched. Some boxes held a strange mix of items from two or three rooms at once.

他们花了差不多两个小时。朱利安打开每个箱子，报出里面的东西。米里亚姆划掉旧标签，写上真正对得上的新标签。有些箱子里装着奇怪的混合物，同时来自两三个房间。

"How did we even manage this?" Julian asked, laughing as he found a single shoe inside a box labeled "books."

“我们到底是怎么搞成这样的？”朱利安在一个标着“书”的箱子里发现了一只孤零零的鞋，笑着问。

"We were exhausted and packing at midnight," Miriam reminded him. "I'm honestly impressed we labeled anything correctly."

“我们当时累坏了，又是半夜打包，”米里亚姆提醒他，“说实话，我们居然还有标对的，我都佩服自己。”

By the time they finished, every box had a new, accurate label. A rough map of the new house was taped to the fridge. It showed which room each box belonged in.

等他们全部弄完，每个箱子都有了准确的新标签。冰箱上贴着一张新家的简略地图，标明了每个箱子该放进哪个房间。

"There," Miriam said, taping the last label shut. "Now let's actually unpack the kitchen box that has real dishes in it."

“好了，”米里亚姆一边说，一边把最后一张标签贴牢，“现在我们来拆那个真正装着碗碟的厨房箱子吧。”