The challenge came home in Kenji's school bag on a Friday: one week, no plastic bags. His mother read the sheet twice. His father looked at the cupboard under the sink, where a fat bundle of bags hung from a hook like a strange white fruit. “We will fail by Tuesday,” he said. Kenji wrote the rules on the fridge in marker.
星期五，挑战跟着健二的书包回了家：一周不用塑料袋。妈妈把通知读了两遍。爸爸看了看水槽下面的柜子，那里有一只钩子，挂着一大团袋子，像一颗奇怪的白色果实。“我们星期二就会失败，”他说。健二用马克笔把规则写在冰箱上。
Saturday was easy. They went to the bakery with a cloth bag and came home proud. Sunday was harder. The noodle shop gave them a bag before anyone could speak, and Kenji's father accepted it out of politeness, then carried it home looking guilty. They wrote ONE on the chart. By Monday evening, the number was four.
星期六很容易。他们带着布袋去面包店，骄傲地回了家。星期天就难了。面馆在他们开口之前就递来了袋子，健二的爸爸出于礼貌接了过来，然后一脸愧疚地拎回家。他们在表格上写下“一”。到星期一晚上，数字变成了四。
Tuesday brought rain, and the market was crowded and wet. Vegetables were wrapped in plastic, then put in thinner plastic, then offered in a bag. Kenji's mother stood in line with her basket and felt the eyes of the woman behind her. “It is only one bag,” the woman said. “It is only one bag each,” Kenji's mother answered.
星期二下雨，市场里又挤又湿。蔬菜先被塑料包一层，再套一层更薄的塑料，然后还要再装进袋子。健二的妈妈提着篮子排队，感觉背后那位女士在看她。“就一个袋子而已，”那位女士说。“每个人都只是就一个而已，”健二的妈妈回答。
They came home soaked and pleased. The chart on the fridge said ONE. Kenji's father had bought a fish and carried it in a bucket borrowed from the fish seller, promising to return it. That evening they discovered that the bucket had a small hole, and that the hallway now smelled of the sea. Nobody minded as much as they expected.
他们浑身湿透地回到家，却很开心。冰箱上的表格写着一。健二的爸爸买了鱼，用卖鱼人借给他的水桶拎着，答应会还回去。那天晚上他们发现桶底有个小洞，走廊里现在有一股海的味道。大家并没有像预想的那样介意。
On the last day, their neighbour Mrs. Oka showed them the shelf outside her door. It held jars, rubber bands, and a tower of folded cloth bags she had sewn from old curtains. “Take one, leave one,” she said. “That is all it takes.” Kenji's father brought down the bundle from under the sink and hung it on the shelf, then took a green bag.
最后一天，邻居冈田太太给他们看了她门口的那个架子。上面放着玻璃罐、橡皮筋，还有一摞用旧窗帘缝成的布袋。“拿一个，留一个，”她说，“就这么简单。”健二的爸爸把柜子下面那一大团袋子搬下来，挂在架子上，然后拿了一个把手歪歪的绿色袋子。
They did not reach zero. The chart said seven, and Kenji's teacher said seven was honest. But on Sunday the family went shopping with cloth bags, a bucket, and a basket, and no one offered them plastic because no one needed to. Kenji added a line at the bottom of the chart: the bag is not the hard part. The hand is.
他们没能做到零。表格上写着七，健二的老师说七很诚实。但星期天，一家人带着布袋、水桶和篮子去买东西，没有人再递给他们塑料袋，因为根本不需要。健二在表格最下面加了一行：难改的不是袋子，是那只手。