1. Like always, Val had on his blue backpack that contained what I understood to be his novel in progress, plus his supply of granola bars, cookies, and popcorn. He was my girlfriend’s twelve-year-old son, and I wanted him to like me. We were at the end of a very long line. It seemed that everyone was at the zoo to see the baby Pippins too. They were endangered monkeys, and probably would go extinct soon.
瓦爾和往常一樣背著他的那個藍色背包，里面裝著他那本還沒寫完的小說（這是我的理解），以及一些隨身補給品：格蘭諾拉麥片棒、餅干和爆米花。他是我女友十二歲的兒子，我希望他能喜歡我。我們倆此時正排在一條很長的隊的盡頭。似乎每個人都跟我們一樣來動物園看小皮平了。皮平是一種瀕危的猴子，可能很快就會滅絕了。
2. By this point we’d been waiting for almost an hour and had not even moved further in line for 5 meters. It was hot, very hot. All of this was exhausting. I was ready to give up and go home, but seeing the pippins ‘would make him so happy’, his mother had said. Val had studied up on Pippins and knew all there was to know about their intelligence and diet, and their leafy forest home in wherever it was. Frankly, I didn’t want to hear any more about the godforsaken Pippins.
此時，我們已經排了將近一個小時的隊了，但連5米的距離都沒能向前挪動。天氣很炎熱，非常非常炎熱。所有這些都令人筋疲力盡。我已經做好了放棄并回家的準備了，但他媽媽說過，能看到皮平“會令他非常高興”。瓦爾之前做了很多關于皮平的功課，了解了關于這種動物的智力和飲食的所有知識，以及它們野生環境下枝繁葉茂的棲息地。坦白地說，我不想再聽到有關倒霉的皮平的任何事情了。
3. “So,” I said, trying not to sound bored, “tell me about your novel.” Val looked up at me like I’d just asked him to squash the family hamster. “First of all,” he said, “it’s not a novel. It’s a screenplay.” “Oh,” I said. “Sorry, I was under the impression it was a novel. What’s it about?” The boy sighed. “Well, you probably won’t get it” he said. He gave me his backpack. “Don’t get out of line. I’ll be right back.” I watched him go toward the bathrooms.
“那么，”我盡量控制著自己的語氣，避免透露出我此時內心中無聊的情緒，“跟我說說你的小說。”瓦爾抬頭看著我，感覺就像我剛剛要他去碾死一只倉鼠一樣。“首先，”他說，“這并不是一本小說，而是一個電影劇本。”“哦，”我說，“對不起，我一直覺得那是一本小說。它是關于什么的故事？”男孩嘆了口氣，說：“嗯，你可能理解不了它。”他把他的背包遞給了我。“你繼續排隊。我馬上回來。”我看著他朝洗手間的方向走去。
4. I checked my watch as we shuffled forward. The zoo would close its gates in two hours. I searched Val’s backpack for some candy. He had some peppermints and half a bag of peach gummies, and I helped myself to a handful of those. I also couldn’t resist looking at his screenplay. I suppose that’s why, really, I’d opened the bag in the first place. Just to have a quick peek.
我隨著隊向前蹭了幾步，順便看了一眼手表——還有兩個小時動物園就關門了。我從瓦爾的背包里搜刮了一些糖果。他的背包里放著一些薄荷糖和半袋桃子味的軟糖。我從中抓了一把，自顧自吃了起來。但是，我還是忍不住把目光停留在了他的電影劇本上。我心想：真的，我一開始打開這個包，只是為了偷偷看它一眼。
5. The story was about time travel. Val’s hero was the son of a famous scientist, who in the first scene turned up dead in her lab. The hero’s mother had figured out a way to move through time. Soon, using his mother’s notes, the hero was whipped back to the Bronze Age. Miraculously everyone spoke English. The villain was some sort of tribal chief who was holding the mother captive. Yes, she was still alive. Reading further, I had no trouble working out what was going on. The villain was me, clearly, and I was probably going to die before the end of the movie. I should have hated the script, I suppose, but partly I was honoured to be included at all.
這是一個關于時間旅行的故事。故事的男主角是一位著名科學家的兒子。第一個場景，這名科學家就死在了她自己的實驗室里。男主角的母親設計出了一種穿越時空的方式。很快，男主角便利用他母親的筆記，穿越到了青銅器時代。那里的每個人都出乎意料地講著英語。故事的反派是個部落首領，他把男主角的母親作為俘虜囚禁了起來。沒錯，她還活著。接著往下讀，我已經可以毫不費力地弄清楚故事情節是怎樣發展的了。顯然，那個反派就是我，而且我很可能會在電影結尾之前死掉。我想，我本該不喜歡這劇本，但又覺得我的形象能完全融入其中還多少有些榮幸。
6. We were finally moving now. I could see the entrance to the Hall of Small Mammals, but where was Val? I scanned the crowds. Had I been wrong to let a twelve-year-old go off on his own at a public zoo? He’d been gone for more than twenty minutes. “Would you mind holding my place?” I asked a couple behind me. The woman said of course they wouldn’t mind, but my request agitated the man. “Well,” he added, “we can try.”
我們的隊終于又開始向前挪動了。我可以看到小型哺乳動物館的入口了，但是瓦爾去哪了？我掃視了一下人群。在公共動物園里，讓一個12歲的孩子獨自走開，是不是我犯下的一個錯誤？他已經離開二十多分鐘了。“您二位不介意幫我占一下我的位置吧？”我問在我身后的一對夫婦。女人回答說當然不介意，但我的請求讓那個男人有些不爽。“好吧，”他補充道，“我們盡量。”

7. I set off for the bathrooms. Children streamed by eating cotton candy and peanuts and hugging plush animal toys—. I was beginning to panic. I imagined the boy in the trunk of a kidnapper’s car. I imagined him lying in the back of an ambulance. I walked faster. Maybe the zoo was going to have to make one of those announcements over the loudspeaker that has shamed so many parents over the years. In the end though, Val was the one who found me.
我離開隊，朝洗手間的方向走去。到處都是手里抱著毛絨動物玩具，吃著棉花糖和花生在人群中穿行的孩子。我開始感到恐慌。我的腦海中出現了那個男孩被困在綁匪的汽車后備箱里的場景，又出現了他躺在救護車里的場景。我加快了腳步。也許動物園過會兒就得通過大喇叭發布那條多少年來一直讓許多父母感到羞愧的公告。不過，瓦爾最終找到了我。
8. “What are you doing?” he asked. “I was looking for you,” I said. I was relieved but also a little irritated to see him again. “Just great,” he said. “Wonderful. I leave you alone for ten minutes. Was I not clear enough?“ He called me useless. He called me hopeless and worse. “Actually,” I yelled back to him when I remembered it, “someone is holding our place in line.” If Val heard me, he gave no indication. When we got back to the line, the couple holding our place had already gone inside. Val despaired. “You do realize this is a temporary exhibit?” he said.
“你在做什么？”他問。“我正在找你。”我回答說。我這顆懸著的心終于放下了，但再次看到他又有點生氣。“我挺好的，”他說，“好極了。我讓你自己呆十分鐘。我表達得還不夠清楚嗎？”他說我不頂用、不可救藥，還說了更難聽的話。“實際上，有人在幫我們占著位置。”當我想起這件事時，便喊了回去。即便瓦爾聽到了我的話，他也沒有做出任何回應。當我們回到隊所在的位置時，那對幫我們占位置的夫婦已經進去了。瓦爾感到絕望。“你可知道這是次臨時展覽嗎？”
9. And as if it could not have gotten any worse, a zoo official announced that the zoo was about to close, and wished everyone who was waiting to go into the hall better luck next time. Nobody was allowed to enter the Hall of small mammals and see the pippins anymore today. Val however, was not dissuaded. He started running towards the entrance gate of the hall, but the zoo official jumped in front of him and stopped him from entering. “Sorry buddy, closed.” the official said to him, and locked the entrance gate.
而且，似乎情況不可能變得更糟了，一位動物園官員宣布動物園即將關門，并祝愿等待進入展館的每個人下次能有更好的運氣。今天，任何人都不許再進入小型哺乳動物館參觀皮平了。但是，瓦爾并沒聽從勸阻。他開始奔向展館的入口門，但動物園官員馬上攔在了他面前，阻止他進入。“抱歉，孩子，已經關門了。”這位官員對他說，然后鎖上了入口門。
10. “Open the gate!” Val said, and tugged at the man’s arm, and for the first time ever, he gazed hopefully over at me. He seemed to be on the verge of tears. I sensed an opportunity. Maybe the tribal chief wouldn’t have to die at the end of Val’s movie after all. “Now, wait a minute,” I said to the official. “Can we talk?”
“把門打開！”瓦爾說。他拖著那個男人的手臂，與此同時第一次用期許的眼神望著我。他的淚水似乎一觸即發。我覺察到這是個機會。畢竟，部落首領有可能不必在瓦爾的電影結尾時死掉了。“先等等，”我對官員說，“我們能談談嗎？”
11. I took him aside far enough so that Val could not hear us. “Listen. “ I said. ” The thing is, he’s not mine. He’s my girlfriend’s kid, and he hates me, okay? But listen, he’s got to see these monkeys. Please, help me with this.” The official shook his head. “He first of all needs to apologize,” he said. “Yes, of course,” I said. “Definitely.” We walked over to Val, who had never stopped trying to open the gate himself. “Val, apologize to this gentleman,” I said. Val was about to say something—something offensive, I was sure of it—so I made a face that I hoped he would understand. Thank God he did for once. “Okay,” he said, and looked up at the official. “Sorry. I am. I was just excited.”
我把他拉到足夠遠處，以防瓦爾聽到我們的談話。“聽我說，“ 我說，”事情是這樣的，他不是我的孩子。他是我女友的孩子，他不喜歡我，您懂吧？但是聽著，他必須進去看那些猴子。請幫幫我。”官員搖了搖頭。“他首先需要道歉。”“是的，當然。”我說，“那是肯定的。”我們一起走向瓦爾。瓦爾一直沒放棄嘗試自己把門打開。“瓦爾，向這位先生道個歉。”我說。瓦爾正要開口說話，我確信會是攻擊性的語言，于是向他做了個鬼臉，希望他能理解我的意思。感謝上帝，他史無前例地理解了我的意思。“好吧，”他說，抬頭看著官員，“很抱歉。是我的錯。我剛剛有些激動。”
12. “He can go in,” the zoo official said, then turned to me. “But just him. You’ll have to wait outside.” “Why?” I asked. “We’re together.” “Take it or leave it,” the man said. “I’m only letting in one more person.” Val looked up at me victoriously. I decided to let it slide and stepped back. “To be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t mind a little more appreciation, pal.” I said. “Thanks for that,” he said. He was such an easy kid to dislike. He walked into the hall. He didn’t say thank you or I’ll see you on the other side or anything else. He acted like I wasn’t even there, like he’d already forgotten me.
“他可以進去，”動物園官員說，然后轉向我，“但只有他能進。您必須在外面等。”“為什么？”我問道，“我們是一起的。”“要么他一個人進去，要么一起走人，”那個男人說，“我們只能再放一個人進去。” 瓦爾抬頭看著我，露出勝利的表情。我決定順勢而為，選擇了妥協。“很坦率地說，我并不介意你好好謝謝我，伙計。”我說。“謝啦。”他說。他真是個不討人喜歡的孩子。他走進展館，連句“謝謝你” 或者“在出口見”這樣的話都沒對我說一句。就好像我根本不在場，就好像他已經把我忘得一干二凈了。