It was a quarter to six. He had to get going, now.

5:45。他必須馬上走了。

Peng Li sighed again. He could see it was useless to try to dissuade Lao Dao. He was old enough to feel lazy and tired of everything, but he remembered how he had felt as a younger man and he would have made the same choice as Lao Dao. Back then, he didn’t care about going to prison. What was the big deal? You lost a few months and got beaten up a few times, but the money made it worthwhile. As long as you refused to divulge the source of the money no matter how much you suffered, you could survive it. The Security Bureau’s citation was nothing more than routine enforcement.

彭蠡又嘆口氣，知道勸也沒用。他已經(jīng)上了年紀，對事懶散倦怠了，但他明白，自己在五十歲前也會和老刀一樣。那時他不在乎坐牢之類的事。不過是熬幾個月出來，挨兩頓打，但掙的錢是實實在在的。只要抵死不說錢的下落，最后總能過去。秩序局的條子也不過就是例行公事。

Peng Li took Lao Dao to his back window and pointed at the narrow path hidden in the shadows below.

他把老刀帶到窗口，向下指向一條被陰影覆蓋的小路。

“Start by climbing down the drain pipe from my unit. Under the felt cloth you’ll find hidden footholds I installed back in the day—if you stick close enough to the wall, the cameras won’t see you. Once you’re on the ground, stick to the shadows and head that way until you get to the edge. You’ll feel as well as see the cleft. Follow the cleft and go north. Remember, go north.”

“從我房子底下爬下去，順著排水管，氈布底下有我原來安上去的腳蹬，身子貼得足夠緊了就能避開攝像頭。從那兒過去，沿著陰影爬到邊上。你能摸著也能看見那道縫。沿著縫往北走。一定得往北。千萬別錯了?！?/strong>

Then Peng Li explained the technique for entering First Space as the ground turned during the Change. He had to wait until the ground began to cleave and rise. Then, from the elevated edge, he had to swing over and scramble about fifty meters over the cross section until he reached the other side of the turning earth, climb over, and head east. There, he would find a bush that he could hold onto as the ground descended and closed up. He could then conceal himself in the bush. Before Peng had even finished his explanation, Lao Dao was already halfway out the window, getting ready to climb down.

彭蠡接著解釋了爬過土地的訣竅。要借著升起的勢頭，從升高的一側(cè)沿截面爬過五十米，到另一側(cè)地面，爬上去，然后向東，那里會有一叢灌木，在土地合攏的時候可以抓住并隱藏自己。老刀沒有聽完，就已經(jīng)將身子探出窗口，準備向下爬了。

Peng Li held onto Lao Dao and made sure his foot was securely in the first foothold. Then he stopped. “I’m going to say something that you might not want to hear. I don’t think you should go. Over there … is not so great. If you go, you’ll end up feeling your own life is shit, pointless.”

彭蠡幫老刀爬出窗子，扶著他踩穩(wěn)了窗下的踏腳。彭蠡突然停下來?！罢f句不好聽的，”他說，“我還是勸你最好別去。那邊可不是什么好地兒，去了之后沒別的，只能感覺自己的日子有多操蛋。沒勁?！?/strong>

Lao Dao was reaching down with his other foot, testing for the next foothold. His body strained against the windowsill and his words came out labored. “It doesn’t matter. I already know my life is shit without having gone there.”

老刀的腳正在向下試探，身子還扒著窗臺?！皼]事?！彼f得有點費勁，“我不去也知道自己的日子有多操蛋。”

“Take care of yourself,” Peng Li said.

“好自為之吧?！迸眢蛔詈笳f。

Lao Dao followed Peng Li’s directions and groped his way down as quickly as he dared; the footholds felt very secure. He looked up and saw Peng Li light up a cigarette next to the window, taking deep drags. Peng Li put out the cigarette, leaned out, and seemed about to say something more, but ultimately he retreated back into his unit quietly. He closed his window, which glowed with a faint light.

老刀順著彭蠡指出的路徑快速向下爬。腳蹬的位置非常舒服。他看到彭蠡在窗口的身影，點了根煙，非常大口地快速抽了幾口，又掐了。彭蠡一度從窗口探出身子，似乎想說什么，但最終還是縮了回去。窗子關(guān)上了，發(fā)著幽幽的光。

Lao Dao imagined Peng Li crawling into his cocoon-bed at the last minute, right before the Change. Like millions of others across the city, the cocoon–bed would release a soporific gas that put him into deep sleep. He would feel nothing as his body was transported by the flipping world, and he would not open his eyes again until tomorrow evening, forty–hours later. Peng Li was no longer young; he was no longer different from the other fifty million who lived in Third Space.

老刀知道，彭蠡會在轉(zhuǎn)換前最后一分鐘鉆進膠囊，和整個城市數(shù)千萬人一樣，受膠囊定時釋放出的氣體催眠，陷入深深睡眠，身子隨著世界顛倒來去，頭腦卻一無所知，一睡就是整整40個小時，到次日晚上再睜開眼睛。彭蠡已經(jīng)老了，他終于和這個世界其他五千萬住在第三空間的人一樣了。

Lao Dao climbed faster, barely touching the footholds. When he was close enough to the ground, he let go and landed on all fours. Luckily, Peng Li’s unit was only on the fourth story, not too far up. He got up and ran through the shadow cast by the building next to the lake. He saw the crevice in the grass where the ground would open up.

老刀用自己最快的速度向下，一蹦一跳，在離地足夠近的時候縱身一躍，匍匐在地上。彭蠡的房子在四層，離地不遠。爬起身，沿高樓在湖邊投下的陰影奔跑。他能看到草地上的裂隙，那是翻轉(zhuǎn)的地方。

But before he reached it, he heard the muffled rumbling from behind him, interrupted by a few crisp clangs. Lao Dao turned around and saw Peng Li’s building break in half. The top half folded down and pressed toward him, slowly but inexorably.

還沒跑到，就聽到身后在壓抑中轟鳴的隆隆和偶爾清脆的嘎啦聲。老刀轉(zhuǎn)過頭，高樓攔腰截斷，上半截正從天上倒下，緩慢卻不容置疑地壓迫過來。

Shocked, Lao Dao stared at the sight for a few moments before recovering. He raced to the fissure in the ground, and lay prostrate next to it.

老刀被震住了，怔怔看了好一會兒。他跑到縫隙，伏在地上。

The Change began. This was a process repeated every twenty–four hours. The whole world started to turn. The sound of steel and masonry folding, grating, colliding filled the air, like an assembly line grinding to a halt. 

轉(zhuǎn)換開始了。這是24小時周期的分隔時刻。整個世界開始翻轉(zhuǎn)。鋼筋磚塊合攏的聲音連成一片，像出了故障的流水線。

The towering buildings of the city gathered and merged into solid blocks; neon signs, shop awnings, balconies, and other protruding fixtures retracted into the buildings or flattened themselves into a thin layer against the walls, like skin. Every inch of space was utilized as the buildings compacted themselves into the smallest space.

高樓收攏合并，折疊成立方體。霓虹燈、店鋪招牌、陽臺和附加結(jié)構(gòu)都被吸收入墻體，貼成樓的肌膚。結(jié)構(gòu)見縫插針，每一寸空間都被占滿。

The ground rose up. Lao Dao watched and waited until the fissure was wide enough. He crawled over the marble–lined edge onto the earthen wall, grabbing onto bits of metal protruding out of the soil. As the cleft widened and the walls elevated, he climbed, using his hands as well as feet. At first, he was climbing down, testing for purchase with his feet. But soon, as the entire section of ground rotated, he was lifted into the air, and up and down flipped around.

大地在升起。老刀觀察著地面的走勢，來到縫的邊緣，又隨著縫隙的升起不斷向上爬。他手腳并用，從大理石鋪就的地面邊緣起始，沿著泥土的截面，抓住土里埋藏的金屬斷茬，最初是向下，用腳試探著退行，很快，隨著整快土地的翻轉(zhuǎn)，他被帶到空中。

Lao Dao was thinking about last night.

老刀想到前一天晚上城市的樣子。

He had cautiously stuck his head out of the trash heap, alert for any sound from the other side of the gate. The fermenting, rotting garbage around him was pungent: Greasy, fishy, even a bit sweet. He leaned against the iron gate. Outside, the world was waking up.

當時他從垃圾堆中抬起眼睛，警覺地聽著門外的聲音。周圍發(fā)酵腐爛的垃圾散發(fā)出刺鼻的氣息，帶一股發(fā)腥的甜膩味。他倚在門前。鐵門外的世界在蘇醒。

As soon as the yellow glow of the streetlights seeped into the seam under the lifting gate, he squatted and crawled out of the widening opening. The streets were empty; lights came on in the tall buildings, story by story; fixtures extruded from the sides of buildings, unfolding and extending, segment by segment; porches emerged from the walls; the eaves rotated and gradually dropped down into position; stairs extended and descended to the street. 

當鐵門掀開的縫隙透入第一道街燈的黃色光芒，他俯下身去，從緩緩擴大的縫隙中鉆出。街上空無一人，高樓燈光逐層亮起，附加結(jié)構(gòu)從樓兩側(cè)探出，向兩旁一節(jié)一節(jié)伸展，門廊從樓體內(nèi)延伸，房檐延軸旋轉(zhuǎn)，緩緩落下，樓梯降落延伸到馬迷途上。

On both sides of the road, one black cube after another broke apart and opened, revealing the racks and shelves inside. Signboards emerged from the tops of the cubes and connected together while plastic awnings extended from both sides of the lane to meet in the middle, forming a corridor of shops. The streets were empty, as though Lao Dao were dreaming.

步行街的兩側(cè)，一個又一個黑色立方體從中間斷裂，向兩側(cè)打開，露出其中貨架的結(jié)構(gòu)。立方體頂端伸出招牌，連成商鋪的走廊，兩側(cè)的塑料棚向頭頂延伸閉合。街道空曠得如同夢境。

The neon lights came on. Tiny flashing LEDs on top of the shops formed into characters advertising jujubes from Xinjiang, lapi noodles from Northeast China, bran dough from Shanghai, and cured meats from Hunan.

霓虹燈亮了，商鋪頂端閃爍的小燈打出新疆大棗、東北拉皮、上?？钧熀秃吓D肉。

For the rest of the day, Lao Dao couldn’t forget the scene. He had lived in this city for forty–eight years, but he had never seen such a sight. His days had always started with the cocoon and ended with the cocoon, and the time in between was spent at work or navigating dirty tables at hawker stalls and loudly bargaining crowds surrounding street vendors. This was the first time he had seen the world, bare.

整整一天，老刀頭腦中都忘不了這一幕。他在這里生活了四十八年，還從來沒有見過這一切。他的日子總是從膠囊起，至膠囊終，在臟兮兮的餐桌和被爭吵縈繞的貨攤之間穿行。這是他第一次看到世界純粹的模樣。

Every morning, an observer at some distance from the city—say, a truck driver waiting on the highway into Beijing—could see the entire city fold and unfold.

每個清晨，如果有人從遠處觀望——就像大貨車司機在高速北京入口處等待時那樣——他會看到整座城市的伸展與折疊。

At six in the morning, the truck drivers usually got out of their cabs and walked to the side of the highway, where they rubbed their eyes, still drowsy after an uncomfortable night in the truck. Yawning, they greeted each other and gazed at the distant city center. 

清晨六點，司機們總會走下車，站在高速邊上，揉著經(jīng)過一夜潦草睡眠而昏沉的眼睛，打著哈欠，相互指點著望向遠處的城市中央。

The break in the highway was just outside the Seventh Ring Road, while all the ground rotation occurred within the Sixth Ring Road. The distance was perfect for taking in the whole city, like gazing at an island in the sea.

高速截斷在七環(huán)之外，所有的翻轉(zhuǎn)都在六環(huán)內(nèi)發(fā)生。不遠不近的距離，就像遙望西山或是海上的一座孤島。

In the early dawn, the city folded and collapsed. The skyscrapers bowed submissively like the humblest servants until their heads touched their feet; then they broke again, folded again, and twisted their necks and arms, stuffing them into the gaps. 

晨光熹微中，一座城市折疊自身，向地面收攏。高樓像最卑微的仆人，彎下腰，讓自己低聲下氣切斷身體，頭碰著腳，緊緊貼在一起，然后再次斷裂彎腰，將頭頂手臂扭曲彎折，插入空隙。

The compacted blocks that used to be the skyscrapers shuffled and assembled into dense, gigantic Rubik’s Cubes that fell into a deep slumber.

高樓彎折之后重新組合，蜷縮成致密的巨大魔方，密密匝匝地聚合到一起，陷入沉睡。

The ground then began to turn. Square by square, pieces of the earth flipped 180 degrees around an axis, revealing the buildings on the other side. The buildings unfolded and stood up, awakening like a herd of beasts under the gray–blue sky. The island that was the city settled in the orange sunlight, spread open, and stood still as misty gray clouds roiled around it.

然后地面翻轉(zhuǎn)，小塊小塊土地圍繞其軸，一百八十度翻轉(zhuǎn)到另一面，將另一面的建筑樓宇露出地表。樓宇由折疊中站立起身，在灰藍色的天空中像蘇醒的獸類。城市孤島在橘黃色晨光中落位，展開，站定，騰起彌漫的灰色蒼云。

The truck drivers, tired and hungry, admired the endless cycle of urban renewal.

司機們就在困倦與饑餓中欣賞這一幕無窮循環(huán)的城市戲劇。