橋的那一邊 On the Other Side

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.

走進奧馬爾的商店時，我已經忘記要買什麼了。假如一個鄰居問我爲什麼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，他家的家用產品沒啥特別，價格似乎還偏高。

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

奧馬爾每天穿着同樣的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，上面印着五個黃色的印刷體單詞。

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.

那幾個詞是：“我不叫奧馬爾。”當然這是個玩笑，或者至少我是這樣認爲的，因爲每個顧客都叫他“奧馬爾”。午夜過後，他的店裏幾乎沒什麼客人。

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.

奧馬爾看到我走向櫃檯，他放下正在讀的書，對我微笑了一下，遞給我一杯綠茶。“茶對你的健康有益，”他好心地提醒我。我點點頭，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，我想自己永遠也不會告訴他。

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，一邊閒聊起來。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。“我告訴過你我怎樣來到這個國家的嗎？”我心不在焉地點點頭，試圖表現得興趣缺缺。

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].

這是我們的遊戲的一部分。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麼不同。

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.”

事實上，奧馬爾不太會講故事，除了結尾。他通常都用同樣的語句結尾。“我的父母待在那裏，在戰爭中死去。我的兄弟和朋友也待在那裏，冬天時要捱餓。我獨自一人來到這裏。”

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[神祕的] airs, checking that we are alone.

到了那時，我又喝了點茶，就會問出奧馬爾一直期待的問題。“可是，是什麼讓你決心離開呢？”奧馬爾神祕地朝商店四周看看，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麼，”奧馬爾俯過櫃檯悄聲說道。“那就是我跨過那座橋，來到這個國家的原因，爲了看看另一邊有什麼。”

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.

後來我回到家查看口袋，看看我從奧馬爾的商店買了什麼。今晚是大蒜。奧馬爾的橋每晚都會出現在我的夢中。在夢中，跨過那座橋的總是我。然後，就在我到達橋的那一邊時，夢就醒了。