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.
瓦尔和往常一样背着他的那个蓝色背包，里面装着他那本还没写完的小说（这是我的理解），以及一些随身补给品：格兰诺拉麦片棒、饼干和爆米花。他是我女友十二岁的儿子，我希望他能喜欢我。我们俩此时正排在一条很长的队的尽头。似乎每个人都跟我们一样来动物园看小皮平了。皮平是一种濒危的猴子，可能很快就会灭绝了。
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.
此时，我们已经排了将近一个小时的队了，但连5米的距离都没能向前挪动。天气很炎热，非常非常炎热。所有这些都令人筋疲力尽。我已经做好了放弃并回家的准备了，但他妈妈说过，能看到皮平“会令他非常高兴”。瓦尔之前做了很多关于皮平的功课，了解了关于这种动物的智力和饮食的所有知识，以及它们野生环境下枝繁叶茂的栖息地。坦白地说，我不想再听到有关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，”我尽量控制着自己的语气，避免透露出我此时内心中无聊的情绪，“跟我说说你的小说。”瓦尔抬头看着我，感觉就像我刚刚要他去碾死一只仓鼠一样。“首先，”他说，“这并不是一本小说，而是一个电影剧本。”“哦，”我说，“对不起，我一直觉得那是一本小说。它是关于什么的故事？”男孩叹了口气，说：“嗯，你可能理解不了它。”他把他的背包递给了我。“你继续排队。我马上回来。”我看着他朝洗手间的方向走去。
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.
我随着队向前蹭了几步，顺便看了一眼手表——还有两个小时动物园就关门了。我从瓦尔的背包里搜刮了一些糖果。他的背包里放着一些薄荷糖和半袋桃子味的软糖。我从中抓了一把，自顾自吃了起来。但是，我还是忍不住把目光停留在了他的电影剧本上。我心想：真的，我一开始打开这个包，只是为了偷偷看它一眼。
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.
这是一个关于时间旅行的故事。故事的男主角是一位著名科学家的儿子。第一个场景，这名科学家就死在了她自己的实验室里。男主角的母亲设计出了一种穿越时空的方式。很快，男主角便利用他母亲的笔记，穿越到了青铜器时代。那里的每个人都出乎意料地讲着英语。故事的反派是个部落首领，他把男主角的母亲作为俘虏囚禁了起来。没错，她还活着。接着往下读，我已经可以毫不费力地弄清楚故事情节是怎样发展的了。显然，那个反派就是我，而且我很可能会在电影结尾之前死掉。我想，我本该不喜欢这剧本，但又觉得我的形象能完全融入其中还多少有些荣幸。
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.”
我们的队终于又开始向前挪动了。我可以看到小型哺乳动物馆的入口了，但是瓦尔去哪了？我扫视了一下人群。在公共动物园里，让一个12岁的孩子独自走开，是不是我犯下的一个错误？他已经离开二十多分钟了。“您二位不介意帮我占一下我的位置吧？”我问在我身后的一对夫妇。女人回答说当然不介意，但我的请求让那个男人有些不爽。“好吧，”他补充道，“我们尽量。”

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.
我离开队，朝洗手间的方向走去。到处都是手里抱着毛绒动物玩具，吃着棉花糖和花生在人群中穿行的孩子。我开始感到恐慌。我的脑海中出现了那个男孩被困在绑匪的汽车后备箱里的场景，又出现了他躺在救护车里的场景。我加快了脚步。也许动物园过会儿就得通过大喇叭发布那条多少年来一直让许多父母感到羞愧的公告。不过，瓦尔最终找到了我。
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？”他问。“我正在找你。”我回答说。我这颗悬着的心终于放下了，但再次看到他又有点生气。“我挺好的，”他说，“好极了。我让你自己呆十分钟。我表达得还不够清楚吗？”他说我不顶用、不可救药，还说了更难听的话。“实际上，有人在帮我们占着位置。”当我想起这件事时，便喊了回去。即便瓦尔听到了我的话，他也没有做出任何回应。当我们回到队所在的位置时，那对帮我们占位置的夫妇已经进去了。瓦尔感到绝望。“你可知道这是次临时展览吗？”
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，似乎情况不可能变得更糟了，一位动物园官员宣布动物园即将关门，并祝愿等待进入展馆的每个人下次能有更好的运气。今天，任何人都不许再进入小型哺乳动物馆参观皮平了。但是，瓦尔并没听从劝阻。他开始奔向展馆的入口门，但动物园官员马上拦在了他面前，阻止他进入。“抱歉，孩子，已经关门了。”这位官员对他说，然后锁上了入口门。
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?”
“把门打开！”瓦尔说。他拖着那个男人的手臂，与此同时第一次用期许的眼神望着我。他的泪水似乎一触即发。我觉察到这是个机会。毕竟，部落首领有可能不必在瓦尔的电影结尾时死掉了。“先等等，”我对官员说，“我们能谈谈吗？”
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.”
我把他拉到足够远处，以防瓦尔听到我们的谈话。“听我说，“ 我说，”事情是这样的，他不是我的孩子。他是我女友的孩子，他不喜欢我，您懂吧？但是听着，他必须进去看那些猴子。请帮帮我。”官员摇了摇头。“他首先需要道歉。”“是的，当然。”我说，“那是肯定的。”我们一起走向瓦尔。瓦尔一直没放弃尝试自己把门打开。“瓦尔，向这位先生道个歉。”我说。瓦尔正要开口说话，我确信会是攻击性的语言，于是向他做了个鬼脸，希望他能理解我的意思。感谢上帝，他史无前例地理解了我的意思。“好吧，”他说，抬头看着官员，“很抱歉。是我的错。我刚刚有些激动。”
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.
“他可以进去，”动物园官员说，然后转向我，“但只有他能进。您必须在外面等。”“为什么？”我问道，“我们是一起的。”“要么他一个人进去，要么一起走人，”那个男人说，“我们只能再放一个人进去。” 瓦尔抬头看着我，露出胜利的表情。我决定顺势而为，选择了妥协。“很坦率地说，我并不介意你好好谢谢我，伙计。”我说。“谢啦。”他说。他真是个不讨人喜欢的孩子。他走进展馆，连句“谢谢你” 或者“在出口见”这样的话都没对我说一句。就好像我根本不在场，就好像他已经把我忘得一干二净了。