Nina planted a row of sunflower seeds along the fence between her garden and Mr. Vale’s greenhouse. She measured the spacing with a ruler and watered each seed at the same hour. “They will all face east,” she told her little brother, pointing toward the sunrise. For two weeks, nothing happened except tiny green shoots that looked exactly alike.
妮娜沿着自家花园和维尔先生温室之间的栅栏，种下一排向日葵种子。她用尺子量好间距，又在同一时间给每颗种子浇水。“它们都会朝东。”她对弟弟说着，指向日出的方向。两个星期里，除了冒出几株一模一样的小绿芽，什么也没发生。
Then the stems began to lean. By July, every flower turned its face toward Mr. Vale’s side of the fence. Nina was puzzled. She had expected a neat row of suns looking east, but her garden seemed to be staring at her neighbor. Mr. Vale noticed too. He frowned through the glass and tapped on his greenhouse door. “Your flowers are invading my property,” he said.
后来，花茎开始倾斜。到了七月，每一朵花都把脸转向栅栏那边维尔先生的地界。妮娜很困惑。她本以为会看到一排整齐朝东的小太阳，可她的花园却像在盯着邻居家。维尔先生也注意到了。他隔着玻璃皱起眉，敲了敲温室的门。“你的花正在侵占我的地方。”他说。
That evening, Nina sat in the garden with a notebook. She drew the fence, the greenhouse, and the sun’s path across the sky. At breakfast, the flowers leaned one way. By dusk, they leaned back again. Nina chewed her pencil. The flowers were not trying to annoy Mr. Vale; they were following the light, which spent most of the afternoon above his glass roof.
那天傍晚，妮娜拿着笔记本坐在花园里。她画下栅栏、温室，还有太阳划过天空的路线。吃早饭时，花朵朝一边倾斜；到了黄昏，它们又倾回另一边。妮娜咬着铅笔。向日葵并不是想惹维尔先生生气；它们是在追随阳光，而午后的大部分时间，阳光都照在他家玻璃屋顶上方。
The next morning, she showed Mr. Vale her drawing. He studied it for a long time. “I thought they were reaching through the fence to steal my sunlight,” he admitted. Nina laughed. “Maybe they just like your roof.” They measured the shadows and moved the next row farther away. Mr. Vale brought a bench, and they watched the flowers turn together.
第二天早上，她把画拿给维尔先生看。他研究了很久。“我还以为它们伸过栅栏，是要偷走我的阳光。”他承认道。妮娜笑了。“也许它们只是喜欢你的屋顶。”他们量了影子的范围，把下一排种子种得更远一些。维尔先生搬来一张长凳，他们一起坐着看花朵转动。
In September, the sunflowers grew taller than the fence. Their heavy heads bent toward the east, where the morning light returned each day. Mr. Vale opened his greenhouse and invited the whole street to harvest seeds. Nina’s brother climbed a ladder with a paper bag, while Mr. Vale told everyone which flowers had the strongest stems.
到了九月，向日葵长得比栅栏还高。沉甸甸的花盘朝东低垂，清晨的光每天从那里回来。维尔先生打开温室，邀请整条街的人来收种子。妮娜的弟弟提着纸袋爬上梯子，维尔先生则告诉大家哪些花的花茎最结实。
That evening, Nina nailed a small sign to the fence. It read: “These flowers follow the sun. Please enjoy them from both sides.” Mr. Vale read it and smiled. “Next spring,” he said, “let’s plant a row on my side as well.” Nina nodded. The fence still stood between their gardens, but it no longer divided them. The sunflowers had turned a disagreement into a shared harvest.
那天傍晚，妮娜在栅栏上钉了一块小牌子，上面写着：“这些花追随太阳，请从两边一起欣赏。”维尔先生读后笑了。“明年春天，”他说，“我们也在属于我的一边种一排吧。”妮娜点点头。栅栏仍立在两座花园之间，却不再把他们分开。向日葵把一场争执变成了一次共同收获。