On the first Saturday of every month, the community hall fills with broken things: lamps, radios, a bicycle without wheels, a doll with one arm.
每个月的第一个星期六，社区活动室都会堆满坏掉的东西：台灯、收音机、一辆没有轮子的自行车、一个少了一条胳膊的娃娃。
Volunteers sit at long tables. A retired electrician named Mr. Okafor fixes a toaster. A seamstress mends a coat. Nobody gets paid, though someone always brings soup.
志愿者们坐在长桌旁。退休电工奥卡福先生在修烤面包机。一位裁缝在补外套。没有人拿报酬，不过总有人带汤来。
A teenage girl arrives with a music box that no longer plays. She says it belonged to her grandmother. Mr. Okafor opens it carefully, finds a bent spring, and bends it back.
一个十几岁的女孩带来一个不再响的音乐盒。她说那是外婆留下的。奥卡福先生小心地打开它，发现一根弯曲的弹簧，又把它轻轻掰正。
The music returns, thin and slightly out of tune. The girl covers her mouth. Everyone at the table stops to listen, and for a minute the hall feels like a living room.
音乐回来了，声音细细的，还有点走调。女孩捂住了嘴。桌旁的人都停下来听，有那么一分钟，活动室像一间客厅。
She asks what she owes. Mr. Okafor smiles. “Bring something next month that you can fix.” She looks around the crowded hall and nods slowly.
她问要付多少钱。奥卡福先生笑了：“下个月带一样你能修好的东西来。”她环顾热闹的活动室，慢慢点了点头。