Leopold arrived at the restaurant ten minutes early and chose a table near the window. He had been looking forward to this date all week. Esra's profile photo showed a woman with long dark hair, a red coat and a huge smile. According to her profile, she loved hiking and bad jokes. He had read it three times.
利奥波德提前十分钟到了餐厅，选了一张靠窗的桌子。这一整个星期他都在期待这次约会。埃斯拉的头像照片上是一位长黑发的女士，穿着红外套，笑容灿烂。她的个人资料上写着，她喜欢徒步，也喜欢冷笑话。他已经读了三遍。
At exactly seven o'clock, a woman with short, grey-streaked hair and glasses stopped beside his table. "Leopold?" she asked. "Hi. I'm Esra."
七点整，一位短发、发间夹杂着灰白、戴着眼镜的女士在他桌边停了下来。“利奥波德？”她问，“你好。我是埃斯拉。”
He stood up too quickly and knocked over his water. For a second he could only stare. The woman in the photo had looked about thirty, and this woman was clearly past forty. Leopold felt a hot, annoyed feeling rise in his chest. Why hadn't she told him? If she had been honest, he would have understood.
他站起来太急，碰翻了水杯。有那么一会儿，他只能呆呆地看着她。照片里的那个女人看起来大约三十岁，而眼前这位显然已经过了四十。利奥波德觉得胸口涌起一股滚烫的恼火。她为什么不告诉他呢？如果她坦白说了，他是会理解的。
They sat down. The conversation was polite but stiff. He kept comparing her face with the picture in his head, and she noticed. After the soup arrived, she put down her spoon.
他们坐了下来。交谈很客气，却有些生硬。他不停地拿她的脸和脑海里的照片比较，她也发觉了。汤端上来之后，她放下了勺子。
"Let me guess," Esra said calmly. "The photo is a bit old."
“让我猜猜，”埃斯拉平静地说，“照片有点旧了。”
"A bit?" Leopold began, and then he stopped. His own profile photo had been taken at his cousin's wedding, eleven years ago. In it, he had thick brown hair and no glasses. Tonight he was wearing a hat to hide his bald patch.
“有点？”利奥波德刚开口，就停住了。他自己的头像照片是在表哥的婚礼上拍的，已经是十一年前了。照片里，他有一头浓密的棕发，也没戴眼镜。今晚，他戴着一顶帽子，遮住秃了的那一块。
"Ten years, I think," she said. "I never found a better one. I hate being photographed."
“我想有十年了，”她说，“我一直没找到更好的。我讨厌被人拍照。”
Leopold slowly took off his hat. "Mine is eleven years old," he said. "I should have told you first."
利奥波德慢慢摘下帽子。“我的已经十一年了，”他说，“我应该先告诉你的。”
Esra looked at his head, and then she started to laugh, and so did he. They laughed until the waiter came to ask whether everything was all right.
埃斯拉看了看他的头，然后笑了起来，他也笑了。他们一直笑到服务员过来问是不是一切都还好。
"Everything is great," Esra said. "We are just two very old pictures having dinner."
“一切都很好，”埃斯拉说，“我们只是两张很老很老的照片，在一起吃晚饭。”
After dessert, they asked the waiter to take a photo of them together. The hat sat on a chair beside the table. It was not a perfect picture, but it was true. "Send it to me," Leopold said, "and tell me more about the hiking."
吃完甜点，他们请服务员给他们拍了一张合影。帽子放在桌边的椅子上。这不是一张完美的照片，却是一张真实的照片。“发给我吧，”利奥波德说，“再多跟我讲讲徒步的事。”
Esra was already typing his number into her phone.
埃斯拉已经在手机里输入他的号码了。
