Su He and Azhe had designed their experiment carefully. Three paper cups, three bean seeds, the same soil, and the same amount of water. One cup would sit on the windowsill, one in the dark cupboard, and one on the classroom shelf. They wrote A, B and C on three paper labels and taped them to the cups.
苏禾和阿哲很认真地设计了他们的实验。三个纸杯、三颗豆种、同样的土、同样多的水。一个杯子放在窗台上，一个放在黑暗的柜子里，还有一个放在教室的架子上。他们在三张纸标签上写下A、B、C，贴到杯子上。
On Monday they set the cups in place and drew a table in their notebook. For three days the results were exactly as they had imagined. Then a gust from the open window lifted the labels and scattered them across the floor. By the time the boys caught them, nobody could remember which label belonged where.
星期一，他们把杯子摆好，在笔记本上画了一张表格。头三天，结果和他们想的完全一样。后来，一阵风从敞开的窗户吹进来，把标签卷起，散落一地。等两个男孩把标签捡回来时，谁也记不清哪张标签原来贴在哪里了。
“The tall one is the windowsill,” Azhe said at once. Su He was not sure. The two tall cups leaned toward the light, but the third was pale and bent, with a thin stem. “Maybe that one is the cupboard,” he said. “Or maybe it is the one that got too much water.” They argued until the bell rang.
“高的那个肯定是窗台上的。”阿哲立刻说。苏禾却不肯定。两个高杯子都朝光的方向倾斜，可第三个杯子颜色发白，茎弯着，细细的。“也许那个才是柜子里的，”他说，“也可能是水浇多了的那杯。”他们一直争到上课铃响。
Their teacher, Ms. Wen, listened and asked a simple question: “Which answer can you prove?” The boys were silent. They could describe what they saw, but the labels were gone. Su He turned to a fresh page and wrote: We do not know which cup is which. We only know they grew differently.
他们的老师文老师听完，只问了一个简单的问题：“哪个答案你能证明？”两个男孩沉默了。他们能描述自己看见的，可标签已经没了。苏禾翻到新的一页，写道：我们不知道哪个杯子是哪个。我们只知道它们长得不一样。
At the fair, a judge stopped at their poster. “So your experiment failed?” she asked. Azhe shook his head. “It changed,” he said. “We are starting again with new labels and a ruler.” The judge smiled and wrote something on her clipboard.
在科学展上，一位评委在他们的海报前停下。“所以你们的实验失败了？”她问。阿哲摇摇头。“它变了，”他说，“我们正在用新标签和尺子重新开始。”评委笑了，在写字板上记了些什么。
They did not win a prize. But on Monday, three younger students asked to join the second round. Su He gave each of them a cup and a strip of tape. “Write your name,” he said, “and also write what you expect. Then we will see how wrong we are.” The seeds, patient as ever, said nothing.
他们没有得奖。可到了星期一，三个低年级学生来问能不能加入第二轮。苏禾给他们每人一个杯子和一条胶带。“写上你的名字，”他说，“再写上你猜会怎样。然后我们看看自己错得多厉害。”种子还像往常一样耐心，什么也没说。