叮叮
「 上唔到 咪 等 下 一 班 囉 ， 『 叮叮 』 係 咁 慢 㗎 啦 —— 」
Can't go up|||||||Ding ding|||||
「 一早 講咗 搭 巴士 ， 你 又係 都 要 坐 電車 。 」
|said||||again||||tram
"I talked about taking the bus early in the morning, but you still have to take the tram."
「 我哋 又 唔係 趕 時間 ， 咁 急 做咩 啫 。 」
|||rushing||||what to do|
We're not in a hurry, so why rush?
其實 佢 噉 講 又 冇 錯 嘅 ， 電車 本身 就 好 慢 ， 如果 趕 時間 我哋 一早 坐 咗 巴士 啦 ……
Actually, they're not wrong. The tram is inherently slow, if we're in a hurry, we could have taken the bus earlier...
叮── 叮──
ding|
Ding—Ding—
我哋 由 鰂魚涌 出發 ， 一直 坐 到 去 西營盤 。
||Quarry Bay||||||Sai Ying Pun
阿莎 又 好似 平時 噉 上去 上層 坐 車尾 個 位 。
Asha||||||upper level||back seat||
Asha seemed to go to the upper deck and sit at the back of the bus again, like usual.
電車 冇 窗 ， 啲 風 係噉 由 外面 吹 入嚟 ， 撞正 夏天 ， 啲 風 係 熱 嘅 ， 而且 我 成日 覺得 電車 入面 有 浸 罨 味 ， 但 又 講 唔 出 具體 係 咩 味 。
||||||||||hit against|summer|||||||||||||sweaty|damp|smell||||||specific|||
The tram has no windows, so the wind comes in from outside. It's summer, and the wind is hot. Furthermore, I always feel that the tram has a damp smell inside, but I can't quite pinpoint what it is.
呢 架 老嘢 真係 好 慢 ， 我哋 放工 已經 六點 幾 ， 由 公司 行 到 電車站 已經 熱 到 我 成 件 恤衫 濕 晒 。
||old thing|||||||||||||tram station|||||||shirt||
This old thing is really slow. By the time we finished work, it was already past six. By the time we walked from the office to the tram station, my shirt was completely soaked from the heat.
望 住 窗外 一 架 一 架 巴士 喺 身邊 駛 過 ， 我 開始 燥 燥 地 。
||outside the window||||||at||||||getting restless||
Looking out the window, one bus after another passes by, and I start to feel restless.
「 喂 ， 嚟 吖 ， 我 幫 你 影 張 相 。 」
Hey, come here, I'll help you take a picture.
阿莎 走咗 去 我 對面 坐低 ， 然後 拎 起 菲林 相機 對 住 我 。
Asha|went|||||then|||film|camera|||
Asa walked over and sat down opposite me, then picked up the film camera and pointed it at me.
「 又 影 呀 ？
你 啲 技術 得 唔 得 㗎 …… 」
||skills||||
Is your technique good or not...?
「 畀 啲 反應 先 啦 你 ， 你 啲 動作 好 遲鈍 呀 。 」
||||||||||slow|
Give some feedback first, your movements are very sluggish.
「 配合 返 架 電車 啫 。 」
scheduling||||
Just coordinate with the tram.
咔嚓 ──
snap
其實 我 一直 都 唔 知 佢 影 成 點 ， 因為 佢 影 咁 耐 相 ， 一 張 都 冇 俾 我 睇 過 。
||||||||||||||||||||give|||
Actually, I have never known how well he takes pictures because he has been taking photos for so long and hasn't shown me a single one.
每 次 問 佢 拎 返嚟 睇 ， 佢 都 話 未 拎去 曬 。
||||||||||||sunny
Every time I ask him to bring some back to look at, he always says he hasn't picked them up yet.
不過 睇 佢 揸 機 個 動作 就 知 唔 會 影 得 靚 —— 佢 連 自己 隻 手指 入 咗 鏡 都 唔 知 。
|||driving||||||||||||||||||the mirror|||
However, just by looking at the way he holds the camera, I can tell he won't take good pictures — he doesn't even realize that his own finger is in the frame.
影 完 我 之後 ， 阿莎 又 好 快 轉 返 身 ， 對住 條 街 亂 影 一通 。
||||Asha||||||||||||a lot
After I finished taking pictures, Ah Sha quickly turned around and started taking pictures all over the street.
我 由細到大 都 好 憎 坐 電車 ， 不過 阿莎 就 好 鍾意 。
I have hated taking the tram since I was small, but Ah Sha really likes it.
我哋 都 係 住 西營盤 ， 以前 基本上 日日 都 坐 電車 返學 ， 就算 就嚟 遲到 都 好 ， 阿莎 都 要 坐 電車 ， 佢 對 電車 有 種 奇怪 嘅 執著 。
||||||basically|||||||||||||||||||||strange||obsession
We both live in Sai Ying Pun, and in the past, we basically took the tram to school every day, even if we were running late, Ah Sha still had to take the tram; she has a strange obsession with trams.
「 你 唔 覺得 電車 係 香港 嘅 清泉 嚟 嘅 咩 ？
|||||||clear spring|||
Don't you think the trams are like the clear springs of Hong Kong?
個個 做乜 都 趕 住 去 投胎 噉 ， 係 得 佢 堅持 慢慢 行 ， 細細 欣賞 身邊 嘅 事物 。 」
||||||reincarnate||||||||quietly||||
Everyone is in such a hurry to get on with their lives, but he insists on walking slowly and appreciating the things around him.
「 係 呀 係 呀 ， 就 連 啲 阿伯 都 係 香港 嘅 清泉 添 。
|||||||uncles|||||spring|
Yes, yes, even the old men are like the clear springs of Hong Kong.
今日 實 遲到 喇 ， 我哋 留堂班 見 啦 八婆 。 」
|really||||detention class|||bitch
出嚟 做嘢 之後 ， 咁啱 我哋 又 係 喺 鰂魚涌 返工 ， 於是 又 變 返 中學 嗰陣 噉 成日 一齊 坐車 ， 只不過 今次 唔係 返學 ， 而 係 放工 。
|||so coincidentally|||||Quarry Bay|||||||||||take the bus|||||||
After coming out to work, coincidentally we are back to working in Quarry Bay, so it has turned into the time when we were in high school, always taking the bus together. The only difference is this time we are not going to school but returning from work.
諗 落 原來 我哋 由 小學 開始 ， 計計埋埋 都 識 咗 十幾 年 ， 周圍 嘅 人 都 以為 我哋 拍 緊 拖 ， 但 其實 我哋 只係 住 得 近 ， 加上 我 阿媽 又 係 阿莎 阿媽 啲 雀友 ， 我哋 先 成日 一齊 。
|||||||calculating||||||the people around||||||||dating|||||||close|||||||||birdwatching friends||||
Thinking back, it turns out we have known each other for over ten years since elementary school. People around us think we are dating, but actually, we just live close to each other. Plus, my mom is friends with her mom's bird friends, which is why we always hang out together.
叮── 叮──
ding|
Ding—Ding—
電車 終於 到 站 ， 呢 段 時間 嘅 西營盤 好多 人 ， 成 條 街 都 好 逼 。
|finally||station|||||Sai Ying Pun|||||street|||crowded
落 車 之後 ， 阿莎 伸 咗 隻 食指 出嚟 對 住 我 —— 呢個 係 我哋 細個 嗰陣 嘅 慣性 動作 ， 因為 阿莎 小學 嗰陣 好 細粒 ， 試 過 喺 條 街 度 逼逼 下 唔見 咗 人 ， 返 到 屋企 之後 我 俾 阿媽 鬧 到 痴線 ， 話 我 做咩 唔 睇 住 佢 。
||||stretched|||index finger|||||||||||habitual action|||||back then||small|||||street||pointing||||||||||||||crazy angry|||what||||
After getting off the bus, Asha stretched out her index finger towards me — this was our habitual action when we were little, because Asha was very small during elementary school. Once, while we were out on the street, she got lost, and when we got home, I got scolded by my mom for being careless and not watching over her.
於是 後來 就 出現 咗 呢個 拉 食指 嘅 動作 ， 以防 佢 走失 。
|later|||||pulling||||in case||get lost
So later on, this action of pulling out the index finger appeared to prevent her from getting lost.
我 望 咗 望 ， 冇 畀 反應 。
|||||give|
I took a look but did not respond.
「 喂 ， 唔好 咁 遲鈍 得唔 得 ？
hey|||slow|can or not|
」 阿莎 長嘆 一 口 氣 。
|sighs|||breath
「 仲 細 呀 ？
」 我 表示 嫌棄 。
|express|disdain
I express disdain.
「 唔拉 就算 。 」
not pulling|
It doesn't matter if you don't pull.
阿莎 好 快 收 返 起 隻 手 。
Asa quickly puts her hand back up.
而家 諗 返 起 ， 自從 中學 之後 我哋 就 再 冇 噉做 。
|||||||||||doing this
Now that I think back, since high school, we haven't done anything like this again.
最 令 我 後悔 嘅 係 ， 當時 嘅 我 冇 意識 到 ， 原來 嗰 日 係 我 最後 一 次 機會 可以 拉 住 佢 隻 手 。
|make||regret||is|||||awareness||||||||||||hold||||
The thing I regret the most is that I didn't realize at the time that it was my last chance to hold her hand.
幾 年 之後 ， 我 收到 阿莎 喺 英國 寄 返嚟 嘅 信 ， 係 之前 影 落 嘅 菲林 相 —— 同 我 預期 嘅 一樣 ， 全部 out 晒 fo ， 而且 每 張 都 影 到 佢 隻 手指 。
||||||in|the UK|sent|back||letter||||||||||expected||the same||out|out||||||||||finger
A few years later, I received a letter from Asha in the UK, with the film photos taken before - just as I expected, they were all out of focus, and every photo captured her finger.
同埋 可能 因為 少 咗 隻 腳 ， 我 阿媽 呢 幾 年 打 少 咗 麻雀 ； 我 放工 之後 都 冇 再 搭 過 電車 返 屋企 —— 因為 「 叮叮 」 真係 好 慢 ， 而 時間 係 快 到 唔等人 㗎 ……
|possible||less||||||||||||mahjong|||||||take|||||||||||||||can't wait|particle indicating a statement
