By the time I enter Omar’s shop, I have already forgotten what I wanted to buy. If one of my neighbors asked me why I go so often to Omar’s, I wouldn’t know what to answer.

走進(jìn)奧馬爾的商店時(shí)，我已經(jīng)忘記要買什么了。假如一個(gè)鄰居問我為什么常常光顧奧馬爾的商店，我也回答不出來。

Omar’s groceries are just fine, his household products are nothing special, and his prices tend to be on the high side.

奧馬爾的雜貨店只是還可以，他家的家用產(chǎn)品沒啥特別，價(jià)格似乎還偏高。

Omar wears the same T-shirt every day, although I suspect that he has several of them, exact replicas[復(fù)制品] of each other. It’s a red T-shirt with five words printed in yellow block letters[印刷體字母].

奧馬爾每天穿著同樣的T恤，雖然我懷疑他有好幾件這樣的T恤。那件T恤是紅色的，上面印著五個(gè)黃色的印刷體單詞。

The five words read: “My name is not Omar.” It’s a joke, of course, or at least, that’s what I believe, since every customer calls him Omar. After midnight, customers become scarce[稀少的] in his shop.

那幾個(gè)詞是：“我不叫奧馬爾?！碑?dāng)然這是個(gè)玩笑，或者至少我是這樣認(rèn)為的，因?yàn)槊總€(gè)顧客都叫他“奧馬爾”。午夜過后，他的店里幾乎沒什么客人。

When Omar sees me approach[接近] the counter, he puts down whatever book he is reading, smiles at me, and offers me a cup of green tea. “Tea is good for your health,” he reminds me kindly. I nod, take a small sip[一呷之量], and let the cup warm up my hands. I have never told Omar how much I hate green tea and I suspect I never will.

奧馬爾看到我走向柜臺(tái)，他放下正在讀的書，對(duì)我微笑了一下，遞給我一杯綠茶。“茶對(duì)你的健康有益，”他好心地提醒我。我點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭，呷了一小口，讓茶杯溫暖我的雙手。我從沒告訴奧馬爾我有多討厭綠茶，我想自己永遠(yuǎn)也不會(huì)告訴他。

We drink our tea slowly while we make some small talk. Omar soon picks up the teapot, offers me a second cup, and asks me his usual question. “Did I tell you how I arrived in this country?” I nod distractedly[心不在焉地], trying to look uninterested.

我們一邊慢慢地喝茶，一邊閑聊起來。很快奧馬爾拿起茶壺，給我倒了第二杯茶，問了我和平常一樣的問題?！拔腋嬖V過你我怎樣來到這個(gè)國(guó)家的嗎？”我心不在焉地點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭，試圖表現(xiàn)得興趣缺缺。

It’s part of our game. Omar pretends that he has never told me his story before and I pretend that his story is not the real reason for my visit to his shop. Omar’s story is no different from that of other immigrants[移民].

這是我們的游戲的一部分。奧馬爾假裝他之前從沒向我傾訴過自己的故事，而我則假裝他的故事不是我光顧這店子的真正原因。奧馬爾的故事和其他移民者的沒什么不同。

In fact, Omar is a clumsy[笨拙的] storyteller, except for the end. He always closes with the same words. “My parents stayed there and died in the war. My brother and my friends also stayed there and starved during the winter. I came here alone.”

事實(shí)上，奧馬爾不太會(huì)講故事，除了結(jié)尾。他通常都用同樣的語(yǔ)句結(jié)尾?！拔业母改复谀抢铮趹?zhàn)爭(zhēng)中死去。我的兄弟和朋友也待在那里，冬天時(shí)要挨餓。我獨(dú)自一人來到這里。”

At that point, I drink some more tea and ask the question that Omar is expecting. “But what made you decide to leave?” Omar looks around the shop with mysterious[神秘的] airs, checking that we are alone.

到了那時(shí)，我又喝了點(diǎn)茶，就會(huì)問出奧馬爾一直期待的問題?！翱墒牵鞘裁醋屇銢Q心離開呢？”奧馬爾神秘地朝商店四周看看，確定除了我倆沒有別人。

“Since I was a kid, I wanted to know what was on the other side of the bridge,” Omar whispers over the counter. “That’s why I crossed the bridge, that’s why I came to this country, to see what’s on the other side.”

“我從小就想知道橋的那一邊有什么，”奧馬爾俯過柜臺(tái)悄聲說道。“那就是我跨過那座橋，來到這個(gè)國(guó)家的原因，為了看看另一邊有什么?！?

Later, when I arrive home, I check my pockets to see what I have bought in Omar’s shop. Tonight, it was garlic[大蒜]. Images of Omar’s bridge appear in my dreams every night. In my vision, it’s always me who crosses the bridge. And then, as soon as I get to the other side, I wake up.

后來我回到家查看口袋，看看我從奧馬爾的商店買了什么。今晚是大蒜。奧馬爾的橋每晚都會(huì)出現(xiàn)在我的夢(mèng)中。在夢(mèng)中，跨過那座橋的總是我。然后，就在我到達(dá)橋的那一邊時(shí)，夢(mèng)就醒了。