第一夜：星空下的约定 | Night One: A Promise Under the Stars
第一夜：星空下的约定
Night One: A Promise Under the Stars
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那一年的夏天，整个北京城都沉浸在一种奇妙的兴奋之中。
那一年的夏天，北京城裡洋溢著一種奇妙的興奮氛圍。
「今晚！今晚就是英仙座流星雨的極大值！」李明把鼻子贴在窗户上，呼出的气让玻璃蒙上一层薄薄的雾气。他在心裡默默数着——还有六个小時，太阳就会落山，天空就会变成一块缀满钻石的黑丝绒布。
"TONIGHT! Tonight is the peak of the Perseid meteor shower!" Li Ming pressed his nose against the window, his breath forming a thin mist on the glass. He counted silently in his heart—six more hours until the sun went down and the sky would transform into a piece of black velvet scattered with diamonds.
十二岁的李明瘦瘦高高，有着一双特别大的眼睛，像是两颗被星光擦亮的黑宝石。他的房间里贴满了各种星座图——猎户座的三颗腰带星、大熊座的北斗七星、还有那条横贯天空的银河。他知道天上每一颗亮星的名字，就像知道班里每一个同学的名字一样。
At twelve years old, Li Ming was tall and thin, with particularly large eyes that looked like two black jewels polished by starlight. His room was plastered with all kinds of star charts—Orion's three belt stars, the Big Dipper of Ursa Major, and the Milky Way stretching across the sky. He knew the name of every bright star in the heavens, just like he knew the names of every classmate.
「妈妈，我可以去天文馆吗？」早餐的时候，李明已经问了第三遍。
"Mom, can I go to the observatory?" This was the third time Li Ming had asked at breakfast.
「李明，你已经问过了。」妈妈无奈地放下筷子，「爸爸已经帮你问过了，今晚天文馆有特别活动，但是——」
"Li Ming, you've already asked." Mom put down her chopsticks helplessly. "Dad already asked around. There's a special event at the observatory tonight, but—"
「但是什么？」李明的心提到了嗓子眼。
"But what?" Li Ming's heart jumped into his throat.
「但是票早就卖完了。」爸爸摇摇头，从口袋里掏出一张纸，「不过呢，我的好朋友老周叔叔说，他可以带你去他们单位的天文台。那里虽然小，但是位置特别好，而且——」
"But the tickets sold out long ago." Dad shook his head, pulling a piece of paper from his pocket. "However, my good friend Uncle Zhou says he can take you to their unit's observatory. It's small, but the location is perfect, and—"
李明已经听不进去了。他一把抱住爸爸，在他脸上亲了一大口：「太好了！谢谢爸爸！谢谢老周叔叔！」
Li Ming couldn't listen anymore. He threw his arms around his dad and planted a big kiss on his cheek: "Wonderful! Thank you, Dad! Thank you, Uncle Zhou!"
那天下午，李明破天荒地把所有作业都在下午三点之前写完了。他还帮妈妈擦了桌子、洗了碗，把自己的双肩包塞得鼓鼓囊囊——手电筒、备用电池、一袋饼干、一瓶水，还有妈妈硬塞进去的一件外套。
That afternoon, Li Ming finished all his homework before three o'clock for the first time ever. He also wiped the table and washed the dishes for Mom, and stuffed his backpack until it bulged—a flashlight, spare batteries, a bag of cookies, a bottle of water, and a jacket Mom insisted he take.
「你就住那儿了是不是？」妈妈又好气又好笑地看着他。
"Are you planning to move in there?" Mom looked at him with a mixture of anger and amusement.
「万一我半夜冷了呢！」李明理直气壮地说。
"What if I get cold in the middle of the night?" Li Ming said without a trace of guilt.
太阳落山的时候，李明已经坐在老周叔叔的车里了。车子在城里七拐八拐，最后拐进了一条安静的小路。路的尽头是一座红砖砌成的小楼，楼顶上有一个圆圆的白色穹顶，在夕阳下泛着淡淡的金光。
As the sun set, Li Ming was already sitting in Uncle Zhou's car. The car wound through the city and finally turned onto a quiet little road. At the end of the road stood a small building made of red bricks, with a round white dome on the roof that glowed softly golden in the sunset.
「到了。」老周叔叔停下车，「这就是老天文台，有一百多年历史了。以前是皇家观星的地方，后来城市发展起来，光污染太严重，就不怎么用了。不过今晚借给咱们用一晚上。」
"We've arrived." Uncle Zhou stopped the car. "This is the old observatory, over a hundred years old. It was once a royal stargazing spot, but as the city grew, light pollution became too bad, so it fell out of use. But we've borrowed it for tonight."
李明跳下车，仰头看着那座古老的天文台。夕阳的余晖给红砖墙镀上了一层温暖的颜色，墙上的窗户像是一只只沉默的眼睛，似乎在打量着这个对星空充满渴望的男孩。
Li Ming jumped out of the car and looked up at the old observatory. The afterglow of sunset painted the red brick walls in warm colors, and the windows looked like silent eyes, seemingly studying this boy who was so full of longing for the stars.
「李明！」老周叔叔在身后喊他，「先把东西放好，等会儿天黑了叔叔带你上去看。现在先吃饭！」
"Li Ming!" Uncle Zhou called from behind him. "Put your things down first. Once it gets dark, I'll take you up to look around. For now, let's eat!"
可是李明哪里吃得下饭。他胡乱扒了几口老周叔叔带来的盒饭，就忍不住跑到院子里去。院子里种着几棵老槐树，树叶在晚风中沙沙作响。透过树叶的缝隙，李明能看到天边最后一抹红色正在慢慢消退，取而代之的是一片越来越深的靛蓝。
But how could Li Ming possibly eat? He carelessly gobbled down a few bites of the takeout Uncle Zhou brought, then couldn't resist running out to the yard. Several old pagoda trees grew in the yard, their leaves rustling in the evening breeze. Through the gaps in the leaves, Li Ming could see the last trace of red at the horizon slowly fading, replaced by an increasingly deep indigo blue.
第一颗星星亮了。
The first star appeared.
是一颗特别亮的星，挂在东边的天空上。李明认出来了，那是织女星——夏夜星空中最亮的星之一。他记得古书里说，织女是王母娘娘的孙女，她和牛郎的爱情故事感动了无数人。每年七夕，喜鹊会搭成桥，让他们相会一次。
It was an especially bright star, hanging in the eastern sky. Li Ming recognized it—it was Vega, one of the brightest stars in the summer night sky. He remembered from old books that Vega was the granddaughter of the Queen Mother of Heaven, and her love story with the Cowherd moved countless people. Every year on the seventh night of the seventh lunar month, magpies would build a bridge so they could meet once.
「好美啊……」李明轻轻地说。
"So beautiful..." Li Ming murmured softly.
就在这时，他听到了一个声音。
Just then, he heard a voice.
「哇！真的好美啊！」
"Wow! It's truly beautiful!"
那是一个女孩的声音，清脆得像是山间的泉水。李明转头看去，只见院子另一边的老槐树下，站着一个金发碧眼的女孩。她穿着一条白色的连衣裙，裙摆在晚风中轻轻飘动，就像一朵盛开的百合花。
It was a girl's voice, clear as mountain spring water. Li Ming turned and looked toward the old pagoda tree on the other side of the yard, where a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes stood. She wore a white dress, its hem floating gently in the evening breeze like a blooming lily.
女孩似乎也注意到了李明的目光。她转过身来，对着他笑了笑：「你好！我叫Emma！你也是来看流星雨的吗？」
The girl seemed to notice Li Ming's gaze too. She turned around and smiled at him: "Hi! My name is Emma! Did you come to watch the meteor shower too?"
李明愣了一下，然后用他不太熟练的英语回答：「Yes！My name is Li Ming. Nice to meet you!」
Li Ming blinked in surprise, then replied in his not-so-fluent English: "Yes! My name is Li Ming. Nice to meet you!"
「李明？」Emma歪着头想了想，「这是你的中文名字吗？听起来很好听！」
"Li Ming?" Emma tilted her head, thinking. "Is this your Chinese name? It sounds very nice!"
「对，中文名字。」李明点点头，「Emma是你的英文名字对吗？你的中文名字叫什么？」
"Yes, it's my Chinese name." Li Ming nodded. "Emma is your English name, right? What's your Chinese name?"
「我没有中文名字。」Emma摇摇头，「我在英国出生长大，但是我爸爸是研究星星的科学家，他最近被邀请到北京工作，所以我们全家都搬过来了。这是我们在中国过的第一个夏天！」
"I don't have a Chinese name." Emma shook her head. "I was born and grew up in England, but my dad is a scientist who studies stars, and he was recently invited to work in Beijing, so our whole family moved here. This is our first summer in China!"
「你爸爸也是研究星星的？」李明的眼睛亮了起来，「我最喜欢看星星了！我房间墙上贴满了星座图！」
"Your dad studies stars too?" Li Ming's eyes lit up. "I love watching stars! My room walls are covered with star charts!"
「真的吗？」Emma高兴地跳了起来，「我也是！我也超喜欢星座！我爸爸教过我好多星座的故事！」
"Really?" Emma jumped with excitement. "Me too! I love constellations! My dad taught me so many stories about constellations!"
两个孩子在院子里聊了起来，从织女星聊到天鹰座，从牛郎星聊到天琴座。原来Emma的爸爸和Li Ming的老周叔叔是好朋友，今天也借着这个特别的日子，带Emma来天文台看流星雨。
The two children chatted in the yard, talking about Vega and Aquila, about Altair and Lyra. It turned out Emma's dad was good friends with Li Ming's Uncle Zhou, and he had brought Emma to the observatory on this special night too.
「你最喜欢什么星座？」Emma问道。
"What's your favorite constellation?" Emma asked.
「我最喜欢猎户座！」李明说，「你看，它有三颗特别亮的星排成一条线，那是猎户的腰带。旁边还有四颗星，分别是他的肩膀和膝盖。整个星座看起来就像一个举起双臂、准备打猎的巨人！」
"I love Orion the most!" Li Ming said. "Look, it has three especially bright stars in a row—that's Orion's belt. There are four more stars beside them, his shoulders and knees. The whole constellation looks like a giant raising his arms, ready to hunt!"
「那是一个很棒的故事！」Emma点点头，「我最喜欢的是大熊座，就是你们说的北斗七星。它看起来像一个大汤勺，但是古希腊人说，它是一个大熊的形状！」
"That's a wonderful story!" Emma nodded. "My favorite is Ursa Major, the Big Dipper that you Chinese see. It looks like a big ladle, but the ancient Greeks said it was shaped like a great bear!"
「大熊？」李明眨眨眼，「可是它明明是勺子啊！」
"A bear?" Li Ming blinked. "But it clearly looks like a ladle!"
「是啊，但是如果你把勺子想象成熊的身体，勺柄想象成熊的尾巴，那就……」Emma开始比划起来。
"Right, but if you imagine the ladle as the bear's body and the handle as the bear's tail, then..." Emma began gesturing enthusiastically.
两个孩子