Chapter 4 1

Of course there must be many ways to tell twin sisters apart.Unfortunately, I don't know even one of them.Not only the looks, the voice, the hairstyle, everything was the same, but there were no moles or birthmarks, so I had to throw up my hands in surrender.What a flawless replica.Not only do they have the same reaction to certain stimuli, but they also eat, drink, sing, sleep, and even have the same physiological period. What kind of situation the so-called twins are, is really a question beyond my imagination.But if I had a twin brother and everything was the same for both of us, then I think I would be in a horrible mess, maybe because of something wrong with me?

But the two of them lived an extremely stable life. When they found out that I couldn't tell them apart, they were very surprised and even very angry. It's totally different! I didn't say a word, just shrugged. I don't know how much time has passed since the two of them came into my room.Since living with them, my inner sense of time has seen a decline.That might be the same feeling that living things that are dividing and proliferating have about time. ◇ My friend and I rented a house in a building on the ramp from Shibuya to the south platform, and opened a translation office.The money was provided by a friend's father, but it's not an amazing amount. In addition to the house deposit, I only bought three steel desks, a dozen dictionaries, a telephone, and half a dozen bourbon whiskey That's all.With the rest of the money, I ordered an iron signboard, engraved a random name on it and hung it at the door. After the advertisement was published in the newspaper, the two of them put their legs on the table, drank whiskey, and waited for the guests to come to the door. , this happened in the spring of 1972.

After a few months, we discovered that we had dug a rich mine. An astonishing amount of commissioned translation documents poured into our small office, and we used the proceeds to buy an air conditioner, a refrigerator, and a home bar combination. We are successful.A friend said so. I was so satisfied that my heart ached. For the first time in my life, I heard someone say such touching words to me. My friend was in charge of negotiating with the printing factory, and took care of all the translation documents that needed to be printed, and even took kickbacks.On the other hand, I summoned a few highly capable students at the University of Foreign Languages, and asked them to help with the complicated first translation. A girl with long legs and a careful heart who graduated from high school, except for humming PENNY LANE twenty times a day (and omitting all coloratura trills), she really has no shortcomings.My friend also said that this tune is the right way!So we paid her 150% of the average company salary, a five-month bonus, and ten days off in summer and winter.In this way, the three of us lived contentedly and happily.

The working room has 2DK (two rooms with dining room and kitchen), but the wonderful thing is that the dining room and kitchen are sandwiched between the two rooms.We drew lots with matchsticks, and I got the one inside, and my friend took the front one by the entrance, while the girl sat in the central dining room, singing Penny Lane while sorting out the account books, whiskey with bubbles and ice cubes, Or spray cockroach medicine. I bought two file cabinets with the necessary funds and put them on both sides of the desk. On the left side, I put the untranslated files, and on the right side, I piled up the translated ones.

The types of documents and the owners entrusted are also really diverse.From the American Scientific Record on the pressure resistance of ball bearings, the 1972 National Cocktail Almanac, William Styron's essays, to the instructions for safety razors, etc., I put them in a folder. The labels that expired on a certain day of the month are piled up on the left table, and after a necessary period of processing, they are moved to the right.And every time you finish one piece, you drink up a finger-width worth of whiskey. There is nothing to think about, because the translation in our paragraphs has this advantage, the coin is held in the left hand, and it is folded on the right hand with a snap, the left hand is empty, and the coin is left in the right hand, that's all.

Arrive at the office at ten o'clock and leave the office at four o'clock.On Saturdays, the three went to a nearby disco, drinking J&B and dancing to the sound of Santana's band. The income is not bad. The company’s income deducts office rent, a small management and sales fee, the girl’s salary, the wages of the work-students, and taxes, and the rest is divided into ten equal parts. He takes one, and I take four.Although primitive, it is a joy to spread cash on the table.Reminiscent of the poker scene in The Prodigal Son where Steve McQueen and Edward Robinson play a poker game.

He gets five and I get four, which I think is quite appropriate.Business practices were deflected to him, and he tolerated me without complaint when I drank too much whiskey.What's more, my friend has a sick wife, a three-year-old son, and a VW car with a faulty radiator, so he always complains about the lack of expenses. I am also raising two twin girls.One day I tried to say that, of course he wouldn't believe it.So he still gets five and I get four. In this way, the seasons around my twenty-five years passed by like this.Every day is as peaceful as the shadow of the afternoon sun.

Anything written by human hands cannot exist unless it is understood.is the grand-sounding title of our three-color printed brochure. The three of us stood in front of Shibuya Station as soon as the dreaded vacancy period, which came every six months, was distributing this instruction booklet in a utter boredom. ◇ How much time has slipped away?I think so.I walked on in endless silence.Back at the apartment after work, while drinking the strong coffee made by the twins, he read "Critique of Pure Reason" again and again. Sometimes, what happened yesterday feels like what happened last year, and what happened last year feels like what happened yesterday.Even when it is serious, next year's events feel like yesterday's events.Sometimes while translating Ganesh Tynan's "On Polanski" published in the September 1971 issue of Esquire, I kept thinking about ball bearings.

For months, years, I just continued to sit in the deep pool by myself.warm water and soft light, then silence, then silence ◇ There is only one way to tell twins apart.That's the long-sleeved sweatshirt they were wearing.On the front of the completely faded navy blue shirt, printed with reversed numbers, one was 208, the other 209. 2 on the right nipple, 8 or 9 on the left. 0 is right in the middle. What exactly does that number mean?I asked both of them the first day.They mean nothing. It seems to be the manufacture number of the machine. what do you mean?a question. That is to say, there are many people like you, number 208 and number 209.

How can this happen? 209 said. There are only two of us at birth. 208 said.And this sweatshirt is from collar. Where?I said. To commemorate the opening of the supermarket, the first few people who arrive can give it away for free. I am the 209th guest. 209 said. I am the 208th guest. 208 said. The two of us bought three packs of toilet paper. OK, that's it.I said, I call you 208, I call you 209.This can be separated.I took turns pointing at them. It's useless.one said. Why? The two took off their shirts silently, exchanged each other and put on their hoods again. I'm 208. 209 said.

I'm 209. 208 said. I sighed. Even so, when I had to tell them apart, I still had to rely on numbers.Because there is hardly any way to identify them otherwise. Apart from the shirt, the two of them had almost no other clothes.They probably walked into other people's rooms during their walks and stayed like that.And that's probably what it actually is.I always give them a little money at the beginning of the week to buy some necessary things, but they only buy coffee and biscuits besides the necessary food. Isn't it troublesome to have no clothes?I try to ask. No trouble. 208 answers. We are not interested in clothes. 209 said. Once a week they lovingly wash the long-sleeved shirt in the bathroom.I was reading "Critique of Pure Reason" on the bed and accidentally looked up, and saw two naked people washing shirts side by side on the bathroom tiles.At that time, I really felt that I had come to a faraway place.For some reason, I've been feeling this way ever since I lost my denture under the swimming pool diving board last summer. When I come back from work, I can often see the number 208 and 209 shirts fluttering like flags by the south-facing window, and I am on the verge of tears. ◇ Why do you come to live in my house?How long are you going to live in?First and foremost, what are you guys?What about age?Where were you born?I didn't ask anything.They didn't say anything either. The three of us drank coffee and went for a walk on the golf course in the evening to find the lost ball.They flirt with each other and make noise in bed, and live like this every day.The main highlight program is the news commentary, and I spend an hour every day explaining the news to them.Both of them were surprisingly ignorant.Even Myanmar and Australia are not clear.It took three days to understand that Vietnam was divided into two parts and was at war.It took another four days to justify Nixon's bombardment of Hanoi. Which side do you support? 208 questions. which side? That's the south and the north. 209 said. Well, I don't know either. Why? 208 questions. Because I don't live in Vietnam. Both were unimpressed by my answer.Even I can hardly accept it. Is it right to fight because you think differently? 208 pursued again. The same can be said. Does that mean there are two opposing ideas? 208 said. Yes.But there are about 1.2 million opposing thoughts on this earth.No, there may be more! You mean you can hardly be friends with anyone? 209 said. I guess so.I said: It is almost impossible to become friends with anyone. That was the pattern of my life in the 1970s.Dostoevsky predicted, and I confirmed.