Didi woke in a mountain spring, cold and clear and very small. Around him, stones wore coats of moss, and ferns leaned over the water like curious neighbors. “Where are you going?” asked a beetle. “Down,” said Didi, because every drop in the spring was going down.
滴滴在一眼山泉里醒来，又冷又清，而且非常小。他周围，石头上长着青苔，蕨类植物像好奇的邻居一样俯身探向水面。“你要去哪儿？”一只甲虫问。“往下。”滴滴说，因为泉水里的每一滴水都在往下走。
He slipped over a ledge and became part of a stream. He passed roots, a lost button, and a paper boat that had somehow survived the journey. By afternoon the stream joined a river, and the river carried him toward a town he had only heard in the voices of birds.
他滑过一道石台，汇进了小溪。他经过树根、一颗丢失的纽扣，还有一只居然一路都没沉的纸船。到了下午，小溪汇入河流，河水带着他流向一座小镇——他只从鸟的叫声里听过那个地方。
The river entered a dark pipe, and Didi's world became a long echo. He rushed past bends and ladders, past the hum of a pump, until a bright opening swallowed him. He landed in a kettle. A hand turned a dial, and warmth spread through him until he rose as steam.
河水进入了一根黑色的水管，滴滴的世界变成了一声长长的回音。他冲过弯道和铁梯，经过水泵的嗡嗡声，直到一个明亮的出口把他吞了进去。他落进一只水壶。一只手拧开开关，热气在他身体里散开，直到他化作蒸汽升了起来。
From the ceiling he could see a kitchen: a girl doing homework, a grandfather slicing ginger, a cat asleep on a chair. Didi clung to the window, then drifted outside, lighter than a thought. Above the roofs, the air was cool, and other drops gathered around him like travelers at a station.
从天花板上，他能看见一间厨房：一个女孩在做作业，一位爷爷在切姜，一只猫在椅子上睡觉。滴滴贴在窗户上，然后飘到外面，比一个念头还轻。屋顶上方，空气很凉，其他水滴聚到他身边，像车站里的旅客。
All night the drops climbed. By morning they had become a gray cloud that bumped against the mountain and finally broke apart. Didi fell as rain onto the same mossy stones. He sank into the spring, where the beetle was waiting, older and unimpressed.
整整一夜，水滴们都在往上爬。到了早晨，他们变成了一朵灰色的云，撞上山峰，终于散开了。滴滴变成雨，落回那些长满青苔的石头上。他沉进山泉，那只甲虫正在那里等着，老了一些，也见怪不怪。
“Back already?” it asked. Didi laughed, which in water sounds like a small bell. Later that day, the girl from the kitchen filled a cup at the tap and drank. She did not know how far the water had traveled, but she drank slowly, as if she did.
“已经回来了？”它问。滴滴笑了，在水里，那声音像一只小铃铛。那天晚些时候，厨房里的女孩在水龙头下接了一杯水喝。她不知道这水走了多远，但她喝得很慢，好像她知道似的。