On the first Saturday of every month, the church hall smells of solder, coffee and warm dust. This is the repair café. Anyone can bring a broken lamp, a stuck zipper or a toaster that has given up. One of a dozen volunteers will try to bring it back to life for free.
每个月的第一个星期六，教堂礼堂里都弥漫着焊锡、咖啡和温热灰尘的气味。这就是修理咖啡馆。任何人都可以带来一盏坏了的台灯、一条卡住的拉链，或者一台罢工的烤面包机。十几位志愿者中会有人免费试着让它起死回生。
Dominika, who coordinates the volunteers, has learned that the real work isn't fixing things. It is managing the two retired men at the corner table: a former electrician and a former watchmaker. Each is convinced that he is the fastest repairer in the building. A small chalkboard on the wall, which nobody admits to having started, keeps the score.
多米妮卡负责协调志愿者，她已经明白，真正的工作并不是修东西。而是管住角落那张桌子旁的两位退休老人：一位是前电工，一位是前钟表匠。两人都坚信自己是这栋楼里修得最快的人。墙上有一块小黑板，谁也不承认是自己起的头，上面记着比分。
This morning the board reads: Toaster, 11 minutes (electrician). Wristwatch, 9 minutes (watchmaker). Both men glance at it whenever a new customer sits down, the way people glance at a mirror.
今天早上，黑板上写着：烤面包机，11分钟（电工）。手表，9分钟（钟表匠）。每次有新顾客坐下，两个人都会瞥一眼黑板，就像人们瞥一眼镜子。
At ten o'clock, an old woman called Johanna comes in, holding a wooden radio against her chest as if it were a cat. It is the size of a bread box, with a cloth front and a dial that was once lit from behind. "It was my husband's," she says. "He listened to the evening concert on it for forty years. It has been silent since he died."
十点钟，一位名叫约翰娜的老太太走进来，把一台木头收音机抱在胸前，像抱着一只猫。它有面包盒那么大，前面蒙着布，旋钮盘上的刻度曾经是从背后亮起来的。“这是我丈夫的，”她说，“他在上面听了四十年的晚间音乐会。自从他去世，它就一直没出过声。”
The electrician reaches for it first. "Dead capacitor," he announces after thirty seconds, with the confidence of a man who has already pressed his stopwatch. "Twenty minutes, maximum."
电工第一个伸手去拿。“电容坏了，”三十秒后他宣布，语气自信，仿佛已经按下了秒表。“最多二十分钟。”
"The dial cord has snapped," the watchmaker says at the same moment, leaning over. "It wouldn't turn even if the power were on."
“调谐绳断了，”钟表匠同时说，俯身凑了过来，“就算通了电，它也转不动。”
They look at each other. Johanna looks from one to the other, as though she has wandered into a sport she doesn't know.
他们互相看了一眼。约翰娜看看这个，又看看那个，好像误闯进了一项她不懂的运动。
Dominika has been watching from behind the tea urn. She knows exactly what will happen. The electrician will fix the sound, the watchmaker will fix the dial, and each will claim the radio as his own victory. Worse, it would be returned to its owner only half repaired.
多米妮卡一直在茶水桶后面看着。她清楚接下来会发生什么。电工会修好声音，钟表匠会修好旋钮盘，然后各自把这台收音机算作自己的胜利。更糟的是，它只会被修好一半就还给主人。
"Gentlemen," she says, and sets a third chair at their table. "I am changing the rules. This repair gets one score on the board, and it is shared."
“先生们，”她说着，在他们的桌旁加了一把椅子，“我要改规则。这次修理在黑板上只记一个分数，两人共享。”
They grumble. Neither refuses.
他们嘟囔了几句，谁也没有拒绝。
For an hour, the corner table is almost silent. The electrician replaces a small capacitor, tests the wiring with a probe and mutters about the quality of old solder. The watchmaker threads a new cord around the pulley with tweezers, his tongue between his teeth, and loops it three times before it holds. Occasionally one of them says "Hold this," and the other holds it.
一个小时里，角落的那张桌子几乎没有声音。电工换上一个小电容，用探针检查线路，一边嘀咕着老焊锡的质量。钟表匠用镊子把新绳子绕过滑轮，舌头抵在牙齿之间，绕了三圈才绕牢。偶尔，其中一个会说“扶一下这个”，另一个就扶住。
Johanna drinks her tea and says nothing. Once she reaches out and touches the wood of the radio, then takes her hand back.
约翰娜喝着茶，什么也没说。有一次她伸手摸了摸收音机的木头外壳，又把手收了回去。
At twenty to twelve, the electrician switches it on. A hum, then a crackle, then a thin strip of light behind the dial. The watchmaker turns the knob slowly, and the needle slides across the numbers like a swimmer. A voice appears, murmuring through the static, and then a few bars of piano, faint but clear.
十一点四十分，电工打开了开关。先是一阵嗡嗡声，接着是噼啪声，然后旋钮盘后面亮起一道细细的光。钟表匠慢慢转动旋钮，指针像游泳的人一样滑过一个个数字。一个声音出现了，在杂音中喃喃低语，随后是几小节钢琴声，微弱却清晰。
The two men sit back at exactly the same moment. Neither says a word.
两个男人在同一时刻向后靠在椅背上。谁也没有说话。
Johanna presses a hand to her mouth. "That's the one," she says. "That's his concert." She thanks them both and, after some thought, shakes hands with each of them in turn.
约翰娜用一只手捂住嘴。“就是它，”她说，“就是他的音乐会。”她向两人道谢，想了想，又和他们逐一握了手。
When she has gone, Dominika walks to the chalkboard, picks up the chalk and writes: Radio, 1 hour 40 minutes (both). Behind her, the electrician and the watchmaker pretend not to read it.
她走后，多米妮卡走到黑板前，拿起粉笔写道：收音机，1小时40分钟（两人）。她身后，电工和钟表匠假装没有在看。
