On Monday the stream below the school was the color of milky tea. On Tuesday it was worse. The children had been catching minnows there all spring, and now they could not see the bottom at all. Xiao Yu filled a jar and set it on the classroom windowsill. By afternoon the mud had settled into a soft brown layer.
星期一，学校下面的小溪像奶茶一样颜色。星期二更糟。整个春天孩子们都在那里捉小鱼，现在却完全看不见水底。小宇灌了一瓶水，放在教室窗台上。到了下午，泥沙沉下来，积成软软的一层褐色。
The teacher did not pretend to know the answer. 'Something upstream is moving,' she said. 'Water carries what it touches.' The class divided into pairs, and each pair was given a stretch of the stream to walk. Xiao Yu chose the farthest stretch with Hao, who was tall and could see over the bushes. They agreed to meet at the bridge before dark.
老师没有假装知道答案。“上游有什么东西在动，”她说，“水会带走它碰到的一切。”全班分成两人一组，每组负责一段溪流。小宇和个子高、能越过灌木看远处的小浩选了最远的一段。他们说好天黑前在桥上会合。
The stream narrowed as they climbed, and the banks grew steep and shady. Twice they lost the path and had to follow the sound of water. Then Hao stopped and pointed. Ahead, a new footpath cut across the slope, bare and freshly used, and the rain had carried its soil straight down into the stream.
他们往上爬，溪流越来越窄，两岸变得陡峭阴凉。有两次他们走丢了路，只好循着水声前进。忽然小浩停下来，指向前方。一条新踩出来的小路横穿山坡，光秃秃的，还留着新足迹，雨水把它的泥土直接冲进了溪里。
A fallen branch lay across the channel, trapping mud in a thick grey mat. They found an old farmer resting at the top of the path. He listened to their report and sighed. 'People take the shortcut to the market,' he said. 'I have complained, but nobody owns this slope.' Xiao Yu wrote everything in her notebook: the path, the branch, the mud.
一根倒下的树枝横在河道上，把泥沙拦成厚厚一层灰泥。他们在小路顶端找到一位歇脚的老人。他听完他们的讲述，叹了口气。“大家去集市都走这条近路，”他说，“我抱怨过，可这片坡地没人管。”小宇把一切都记在本子上：小路、树枝、泥沙。
At the class meeting, the children did not ask for a fence or a punishment. They drew a plan instead: stones laid across the path to slow the rain, and low plants along the bank whose roots would hold the soil. The farmer agreed to let them work on his land. On Saturday, six families arrived with gloves and shovels.
班会上，孩子们没有要求修围栏，也没有要求惩罚谁。他们画了一个方案：在小路上铺石头，让雨水慢下来；在岸边种低矮的植物，用根留住泥土。老人同意让他们在自己的地里动手。星期六，六个家庭带着手套和铲子来了。
It took three weekends. The stream did not clear at once, and the teacher warned that it might never be perfect. But in June, Xiao Yu saw a minnow flash between two stones and called Hao over to look. They stood on the bridge without saying much. The water was still a little brown at the edges, but it was carrying less than before.
他们干了三个周末。溪水没有立刻变清，老师还提醒说，它也许永远不会完美。可到了六月，小宇看见一条小鱼在石缝间一闪，忙叫小浩来看。他们站在桥上，没说什么话。水边还带着一点褐色，但它带走的泥土比从前少了。