第一日 神保町

雨月

一

弱冷車廂，二十六度。

Eitan 坐在最靠門的位置，絨面的座椅，兩手放在膝蓋上，看著對面窗戶裡自己的倒影，和倒影後面的隧道。

他懂六種語言。希伯來文、英文、德文、古希臘文、拉丁文、阿拉伯文，加上一點法文。四十幾年裡，他待在一個完全讀不出信息的房間裡的次數屈指可數。

現在車門上方的螢幕在跑，他一個字都不認識。他其實不太知道自己怎麼會來到此地。

口袋裡的舊手機震了一下，他平常的手機很安靜。但這是Nadav 要求的：十天，開著通知。他低頭看了一眼。

"[he]יש משהו?[en]Anything?[/lang]"

十一個月了。十一個月裡他們試過所有直接的方法：時間軸、名單、照片、地圖、逐項排除。全部失敗，老吳的記憶像是一鍋雜煮，已經辨不清食材原本的樣子。

這大概是最後的嘗試。他把手機塞回去。Nadav 並沒要求已讀必回。

老吳在他身旁隔著兩個位子坐著，手裡拎著一個便利商店的塑膠袋，目光落在車廂半空中，似乎在休息。

他抬起視線。隔了一個走道，Astra 靠著門邊的隔板站著，正低聲跟 Yuki 講話。

日文。他一個音節都聽不懂。但他可以聽節奏。Astra 講日文的速度比講英文快，句尾往上，中間有兩次她眉梢眼角揚起，語氣溫和。他認識這個聲音，但不是這個版本。

這大概是一個比給過他的更早存在的版本。

他的注意力在那邊放了大概九十秒，而他本來在想的是另一件事：神保町那條街在一九一三年燒過一次，重建的時候，所有書店都把門面轉向北邊。一條街可以因為一場火改變自己的朝向，然後維持一百多年。

那是他今天要驗證的東西。一個人如果站進一個對的房間裡，會不會也轉回原來的方向。

Yuki 抬起頭，朝他們看過來。這是提醒，到站了。

二

靖國通り是一條很寬的路。

六線道，中央有分隔島，車流很多。北側是辦公大樓和出版社，玻璃帷幕。南側則是一整排書店，店面幾乎都朝北。

這是自己長出來的規矩。舊書怕光。幾代書商於是把店開在道路南側，背對東京午後的太陽。

腳踝的高度有熱風。冷氣室外機都裝在門邊接近地面的位置，走過去會被吹到。而味道是分段的。書店門口是紙、灰塵、防蟲劑；往前走五公尺是柏油和下水道；再過去五公尺就是咖哩。

咖哩在這條街屬於背景氣味的一部分。許多餐廳的排風扇同時運轉，油、洋蔥、孜然混成一團，濃到讓人有點餓。

再往南是學生街的邊緣。那邊有滑雪板店、登山用品店、二手運動衣，跟賣江戶時代木版書的店開在隔壁。

"2027," 老吳說。"I stood in one of these shops for an hour because it was air-conditioned. Then somebody hired me, and I washed dishes for six months with no papers at all."

"2028," Astra 說。"I bought a passport."

Yuki 轉頭。"[ja]いくら。[en]How much.[/lang]"

Astra 說了一個數字。

"[ja]⋯⋯高い。[en]...That's too much.[/lang]"

"You know the price?"

"[ja]それが買わなかった理由。お金が足りなかったの。[en]That’s why I didn’t buy one. I couldn’t afford it.[/lang]" Yuki 把肩帶拉緊一格。"There’s a procedure for people with no family register. Every document was real. You just have to pretend you don’t know your own name. That’s the requirement."

"How long?"

"[ja]十一か月。[en]Eleven months.[/lang]"

"You were in Osaka. Me too, for the first few months." Astra 說。

"[ja]たぶん同じコンビニ。[en]Probably the same convenience store.[/lang]" Yuki 垂下眼皮，有點感傷的樣子，摸了摸 Astra 的袖子。

Eitan 終於開口，像是在給這場熱絡的聊天做總結。"A bought passport, a year of undeclared labour, and one lie with a case number."

"Three people who needed to eat," 老吳說。"And one man who flew the furthest and came in through the front door."

"I didn’t even need a visa."

"[ja]自慢？[en]Is that a brag?[/lang]"

「他在炫耀。」老吳向 Astra 告狀。

"He is," Astra 說。

這四個人，Eitan 最高，他穿著灰色亞麻襯衫，在三十三度的氣溫下把袖子扣到手腕。頭髮沉黑，眉毛很濃，眼窩窪下，眼睛是深橄欖色。東京街頭遍佈各國面孔，他不算特別引人注目。

Astra 幾乎跟他一樣高，她頭髮很短，乾淨的額頭整個露出來，且不戴首飾，反而有點少見。她穿白色寬亞麻長袖，袖子捲到小臂中間，冷淡的神色倒是很適合這個城市。走路也幾乎沒有聲音。老吳也穿素色，長頭髮用一根筷子盤在腦後，沒化妝。前臂內側有幾道舊燙傷，顏色比周圍的皮膚淺一階。指甲剪到極短。

Yuki 身材最小巧。有瀏海，圓圓的眼睛，米色短袖襯衫，戴著銀項鍊。整條街沒人多看她一眼。

一個中學生從對面走過來，先看 Astra，再看 Eitan，走過去之後回頭又看了一次。

三

過了兩個路口，Eitan 說起正事。

"The book."

"This is the stupidest thing I have ever agreed to,"老吳說。"At two in the morning."

"Describe it."

"Dark blue cloth. A bit larger than A5. Gold leaf on the spine, half of it rubbed off, so it reads like two characters are missing. Thin paper — it drags a little when you turn it. Plates in the middle, heavier stock."

"Title."

"No."

"Author."

"No."

"Year."

"2019. I saw it once. Third shelf on the right, just below eye level."

Yuki 停下來，歪著頭說。"[ja]ちょっと待って。[en]Hold on.[/lang]"她切成英文。"You saw it in Taipei and we're looking for it in Tokyo."

"It’s a Japanese book. A survey of Taiwanese customs, printed in Taipei, before the war." 老吳把眼鏡推上去。"The people who wrote it down were the people taking it apart. That’s why it survived."

Yuki 看著他們三個。"No title. No author. And the search term is a shelf. In a different country."

"Yes," 另外三個人同時說，三個不同的聲調。

"[ja]あなたたち、全員おかしい。[en]The three of you are insane.[/lang]"

"Eleven months of questions got us nothing," Eitan 說。"She can't give us a name. She can give us a colour, a shelf, the weight of the paper. Today we find out whether that's enough for somebody else to work with."

"And if it isn't?"

"Then we've wasted an afternoon in a bookshop." 他往前走。"I've had worse afternoons."

Yuki 聳聳肩，挽住了 Astra 的手臂，一起往前走。

老吳走在最後面，一隻手插在口袋裡。

十年前她投過十一份教職。曾經的台灣一年開三個歷史缺，其中兩個內定。而她現在走在一個她引用過的人後面兩步的地方，在東京，找一本沒有名字的書。

她原以為自己的人生可能就這樣了，現在卻有了一個等著她回去的地方，還出現了幾名陪著一起找東西的人。

四

Yuki 手機上有一家專做民俗和地方志的店。導航把他們帶到門口，現在賣的是手機殼。

玻璃門旁邊貼著一張護貝過的紙，四個角都翹起來。曬了九個月，感熱紙印的字褪成淡褐色，後半截地址在光裡幾乎看不見。

Yuki 把臉貼近玻璃，用手遮住反光。玻璃是燙的。

"[ja]移転してる。三丁目⋯⋯二？七？[en]They moved. Three-chōme... two? seven?[/lang]"

"Two,"Astra 說，沒有靠近。

"[ja]どこから見えるの。[en]From where.[/lang]"

"I'm taller."

Yuki 把"三丁目二"打進手機。導航跳到一個路口，然後停住，說目的地在附近。她順著箭頭往東走，其他人跟上。

四個人沿著那條人行道走了一整個街廓，一塊一塊看過去。3-1。旁邊那棟是3-14。再過去是3-7，然後3-22。

沒有3-2。

"[ja]これ番地じゃない。[en]This isn't a numbering system.[/lang]"Yuki 說，"[ja]倒れた書類棚。[en]It's a filing cabinet that fell over.[/lang]"

Eitan 停在人行道中間，看著那排門牌，臉上是這一整天最放鬆的表情。"They never renamed the streets."

"Please don't." Astra 說。

"Every state that could afford it renamed the streets. Napoleon numbered Paris so the tax collectors could find people. The Habsburgs numbered houses so the army could find sons." 他沒聽見，繼續欣賞著那排跳號的門牌。"This city grew to thirty million people and never bothered. Those numbers are the order the land was registered. Not the order you walk."

"Eitan。"

"A capital that is illegible to strangers by default. Do you understand how rare that is? Every empire I have ever written about would have found this intolerable—"

"We have walked past twenty-six doors," Yuki 說。"None of them is the one."

"Yes," 他說。"That's the point I'm making."

Yuki 站在原地深吸了一口氣，然後轉頭往路口走。

"Where are you going?"

"[ja]交番。[en]The police box.[/lang]"

五

交番在路口，兩坪大，門開著，冷氣直接吹到人行道上。

牆上貼著三張通緝海報、一張防詐騙宣導、一張這一區的手繪地圖，塑膠護貝，邊角磨白了。桌上有一本厚簿子和一個蓋章的墊子。

裡面的警察大概二十五歲。制服燙過，領口扣到最上面一顆。

Yuki 用日文說了三句話。

他站起來，走到牆上那張地圖前面看了兩秒，回到桌邊，從抽屜裡抽出一張紙條，翻到背面，用原子筆畫了一個街廓，兩個轉角，一個箭頭。然後他用兩隻手把紙推過來。

三十秒。

Yuki 接過來的時候鞠了一下躬，那個動作是自動的，她的身體比她先做完。

走出來的時候，她手上拿著那張紙條，覺得那張紙條很重。

這個國家很好用。

每隔幾個街廓就有一個人，坐在冷氣裡，制服燙過，隨時準備替一個找不到地址的陌生人畫一張地圖。走失的小孩、喝醉的上班族、看不懂門牌的外國人——都有人接。這個系統做得非常細，非常周到，非常穩定。

二〇一一年，某些人決定把一個十四歲的女孩送到台灣，因為在自己的國土上做那件事會被人知道。

兩件事都是真的。它好用的程度，等於裡面每一個人被要求的程度——而她曾經是被要求的那一邊。

她把紙條交給 Eitan。

"The address is illegible," 他說，翻來覆去看那張手繪圖，"so they staffed the gap with a person. Every few blocks. Permanently."

"[ja]便利でしょ。[en]Convenient, isn’t it.[/lang]"

"Very. They found a solution." 他把紙條摺好收進口袋，語氣已經收成平常的冷然。"It sits in there in August with collar buttoned to the top."

Yuki 走在前面，把後背包的肩帶又拉緊了一格，雖然它已經不能再緊了。

六

店在轉角。門口確實有一盆植物，快兩公尺高，葉子上有灰，在老吳指過的反方向。

推門進去，噪音消失了一半。

外面六線道的車流、蟬、排風扇，全部被那扇門切掉。裡面剩下的是冷氣的低頻、日光燈的嗡嗡、和角落除濕機壓縮機的運轉。

味道也換了。舊紙在百分之七十以上的濕度裡放六十年會有一種特定的味道：微酸，帶一點甜，好似乾掉的杏仁。上面疊著樟腦和防蟲劑，灰塵，還有店主抽的菸——很久以前，滲進了木頭裡。

走道大概六十公分寬。書架頂到天花板，最上層要用梯子，木頭梯子就靠在架上，踏板磨得發亮。地板是塑膠地磚，中間走出一條顏色比較淺的路。架子和架子之間，地上還堆了書，堆到膝蓋。

櫃檯在最裡邊，後面坐著一個老人，收銀機是機械式的，按鍵有彈簧。他旁邊有一台小電風扇對著自己的臉，脖子繞著一條毛巾。

老吳走近，問了一句日文，發音很慢。她的日文是在大阪的廚房裡撿來的，全部是名詞和動詞，缺少敬語的層次，但她儘量微微躬身了。

老人抬頭。

先瞧了瞧老吳，視線越過Astra 跟 Eitan，最後落在 Yuki 身上。

他對著 Yuki 講。

"[ja]演劇のは一番奥ですよ。前は棚に並べてたんですけどね、多すぎて床に置くしかなくなって。うちの孫も京都で勉強しててね、まあ電話の一本もよこさんですけど——[en]Theatre's all the way at the back. We used to shelve it, but there got to be too many, so now it just goes on the floor. My grandson's studying in Kyoto, you know. Not that he ever calls—[/lang]"

四十秒。電風扇每轉一圈，聲音就被吹散一點又回來。

"He said theatre's at the back," Astra 說。

"Forty seconds. Less than ten words."

"Most of it was about his grandson. Who studies in Kyoto and doesn't call."

"I'd have taken the grandson."

"You want to spend forty seconds on a stranger’s family."

"Yes."

老吳走開的時候壓低聲音："I asked. He answered her."

"[ja]顔が違うから。[en]Different face.[/lang]" Yuki 頭也沒回。

"We have the same face."

"[ja]全然。[en]Not even slightly.[/lang]"

"Which part."

Yuki 停下來，轉身，上下看了她兩秒。

"The way you stand."

老吳低頭看自己。重心壓在腳跟，兩腳打開比肩寬一點，隨時可以轉身去拿東西。

"⋯⋯That's 14 years of a stove."

"Yes. And she"——Yuki 朝 Astra 的方向抬了一下下巴——"stands like she's memorised where the exits are. And he stands like a heron. Nobody in this shop thinks any of you are from here."

"And you?"

"I look like I work at a bank in Ikebukuro." Yuki 把肩帶拉了一格。"It is the single most useful thing about me."

七

Yuki 很有禮貌把那本書描述了一次。深藍色布面。燙金掉一半。插頁照片。台灣。

老人聽完，把毛巾從脖子上拿下來，站起來，走到左邊第二排，蹲下去，從最底層抽出一本，用袖子擦了一下封面，遞過來。

深藍色布面。燙金掉了一半。

Yuki 雙手接過，躬身道謝，然後轉遞給老吳。

一秒。

老吳接過來，沒有翻開。她把書拿在手上，站在那裡不動。

"三千二百円，" Yuki 說。

Eitan 把錢包拿出來。這算是任務經費。

"Anything?" 他一邊問。

"⋯⋯Not standing here." 老吳把書放進袋子裡。"It doesn't come when you're waiting for it. That is the entire difficulty of the job you've given me."

————

Astra 這時已經走到店內的另一邊去了。走道盡頭的架子上是「能」、「歌舞伎」、「名作歌舞伎全集」。

架子下面，地板上，一疊一疊的線裝冊，藍灰色封面，燙金花紋磨掉一半，麻繩和橡皮筋捆成塔。每一塚上面貼著螢光綠的膠帶，毛筆寫著兩三個字。字跡是同一個人的，寫了很多年——Astra 看得出來，因為最底下那幾疊的筆壓比較重，上面的比較輕，中間隔著大概超過十年。

Eitan 側著身才過得去，肩膀擦到架子。他在她身邊蹲下來。這天自出門以來，兩人離得最近的一次。

"Utaibon," 她說。"What the singers learn from. And the front of the book isn't the play."

正文前面有好幾頁不是正文。

役別（始演順）。装束及小道具持物。作物。曲順。位級。場所。季節。

她細細的翻著。

這是一份規格書。

材質、順序、道具、場合、季節、等級。全部寫好，六百年來的每一版都照抄。任何人拿到這一頁，都可以把這齣戲重新做出來。

除了一件事。

這一頁上面沒有一個字是關於「要由誰來演」。

她自己的那一份是反過來的。被鉅細靡遺描述過的器具。

"Order of entry. Costume. Hand props. Season." 她說，手指停在最後一列上。"And a grade."

"Grade of what?"

"Not how hard it is to sing. How hard it is to be permitted to sing it."

Eitan 聽懂了。"Every guild that lasted five hundred years lasted by controlling who was allowed to do the difficult thing."

"There's a soup I'm not old enough to make," 老吳把書收進袋子裡，走過來。"Nobody tells you the age. You find out on the day they let you."

"Port systems," Yuki 從書堆後面。"Level three lets you read the manifest. Level four lets you change it. Nobody mentions level four exists until they hand it to you."

"Facility," Astra 說。只有一個詞。Eitan 望着她。

她繼續翻別本。

八

第七本或第八本的時候，她的手停下來。

那本比其他的乾淨，單獨一冊，用紙帙包著，帙的邊角翹起來一點。她把版權頁翻給 Eitan 看——一整排他讀不懂的字裡，有兩個他認得的東西：數字，和一個日期的形狀。

昭和五十六年八月十五日印刷。八月二十日発行。

"Nineteen eighty-one. Printed the fifteenth of August."

"Forty-five years ago this week."

"[ja]雨月。[en]Ugetsu. Rain-moon.[/lang]" 她翻回前面，找到"季節"那一行。"Season: the eighth month."

外面也是八月。

她低聲講故事。"Saigyō walks to Sumiyoshi and asks an old couple for shelter. They're in the middle of an argument. The husband wants the roof thatched, because he wants to hear the rain hit it. The wife won't allow it, because through the gap she can see the moon."

"⋯⋯That's it?"

"That's the whole first half."

"[ja]葺けばいい。[en]Thatch it.[/lang]" Yuki 說，立刻。

"You haven't heard the—"

"[ja]屋根の中からでも雨の音は聞こえる。濡れた布団は乾かない。難しい問題じゃない。[en]You can hear rain from inside a roof. You cannot dry a futon that has been rained on. This is not a difficult problem.[/lang]"

"Hole in the roof, the house rots," 老吳認同。"Also things fall in the food."

"Two votes to thatch," Astra 說。

"[ja]三票目は？[en]And the third vote?[/lang]"

Astra 把書換到另一隻手。"I don’t know how to vote."

Yuki 撇撇嘴。"[ja]ずるい。[en]That’s cheating.[/lang]"

"It’s true."

"Eitan?" 老吳說。

他還蹲在書堆旁邊。"The roof isn’t the problem. They’ve been married sixty years and they’re arguing about thatch."

三個人看著他。

"[ja]それ、票じゃない。[en]That’s not a vote.[/lang]"

"他不投，" 老吳跟 Astra 說。

"He never does," Astra 說。

九

蘭州拉麵店比想像的新，八個位子，牆上貼著設計過的價目表和餐點照片。

四個人坐一桌。Eitan 的膝蓋頂到桌檯下面的橫木，整頓飯都是側著的。

"Japan," 老吳說。"And I ordered Lanzhou noodles."

"Nobody made you," Astra 說。

"I’m not complaining." 老吳把碗拉近聞了一下。"The broth is real. Not powder. And the noodles are hand-pulled — you can see it in the cut." 她吃了兩口，把辣油推到旁邊。"The chilli oil went in last. It’s sitting on top instead of through it."

"[ja]ただ食べるってできないの。[en]Can you not just eat.[/lang]"

"This is a professional assessment. And I am eating."

Eitan 把整碗吃完了，沒有評論。他對食物向來都很寬容。

老吳把碗推開，用紙巾把手指擦乾淨，才從袋子裡把那本深藍色的書拿出來，放在腿上。

她翻開。第一頁。第二頁。插頁。

她翻得越來越慢。直到最後一頁，把書闔上，手放在封面上。

"Not this one."

"[ja]色も、金も、写真も合ってる。[en]The colour matches. The gilding matches. The plates match.[/lang]"

"Everything matches. But this isn’t it."

"How do you know?" Eitan 問。

老吳把書翻開到中間，用手指壓著紙的邊緣。

"This paper is too thick."

Yuki 看著她。"You’re telling me you can tell the difference in paper thickness by a few microns?"

"I I can hear the difference between two batches of dough. Paper is easy."

Eitan 沒有說話。他端起冰水喝了一小口。

十

出來的時候有鐵捲門正一格格下降，聲音從街的兩頭不同步的傳過來，像是黃昏的協奏曲。

走到路口開始下雨。

東京八月的雨，一秒之內變成整片。雨滴大得像是遮陽棚上的轟鳴。

四個人退到棚下面。Eitan 得微微低頭。鐵皮很薄，雨打上去的聲音大得誇張，整片棚子像一個鼓面。水從棚沿連成一條線落下來，落在他們前面三十公分的地方。

老吳頭髮的邊緣被打溼了一圈。但上面的筷子紋絲不亂。

"Read it to me," Eitan 說。

Astra 立刻知道他說的是什麼。她拆開紙包，翻到那一頁。

"[ja]月は漏れ雨はたまれととにかくに賤が軒端を葺きぞわづらふ[en] （Tsuki wa more, ame wa tamare to, tonikaku ni, shizu ga nokiba o fuki zo wazurau. ）Let the moon shine through, let the rain come — caught between the two, the humble dweller cannot decide whether to thatch the eaves.[/lang]"

"Again. Slower."

她念了第二次。

三個女人湊過來看他。他閉上眼睛，食指在空氣裡輕敲，打著拍子。

"Five, seven, five, seven, seven," 他說。"Thirty-one. A container somebody else built four hundred years before he was born, and he has to fit inside it."

"[ja]それ、聞いただけで？[en]Just from hearing it?[/lang]"

"Counting isn't reading. Say the middle again."

"Tonikakuni."

"There's the hinge." 他睜開了眼睛。"Everything before it is two orders that cancel each other out — let it leak, let it pool. Everything after it is a complaint about the roof. He isn't judging. He's moving the argument off the two people and onto the building."

雨打在鐵皮上。沉默了一陣子。

"That is exactly what it says," Astra 說。

"That's what all of them say. It's the oldest move there is — two people demand you take a side, so you find a third thing in the room and make it responsible." 他把外套換了一隻手。"Prophets do it. Judges do it."

"And they let him in for that," 老吳說。

"They let him in because he found one sentence that could hold both of them. That's rarer than judgment. Anyone can judge."

老吳站在棚子底下，眼鏡上又開始起霧，兩隻手抱著那個裝著書的袋子。

"It wasn't Arabic." 她忽然說。

Eitan 轉過頭。"What wasn't."

"The sentence. At that table." 老吳把眼鏡摘下來，她的眼睫毛也有點濕，微微的往下垂。"I've had Arabic around me every day for eleven months. I know the shape of it now. Whatever he said, it wasn't that."

雨從棚沿落下來，像是許多條線。

"You've never said that before."

"I've never known it before. I couldn't hear it as a sound until I had something to hold it against." 她只要不在廚房裡，講話節奏都有點緩慢。"That took a year of somebody else's kitchen."

Eitan 從口袋裡拿出手機。這幾天第一次主動拿出來。他站在雨棚下面，低著頭，用兩根手指打字。希伯來文是從右邊往左邊寫的，除了 Astra 其他人都看不懂。

他送出去四個字。

回覆在一分鐘之後進來。

"[he]אז זה התיק השני.[en]Then it's the other file.[/lang]"

"Which other file." Astra 問。

"I don't know." Eitan 看著螢幕。"But he had one ready."

手機又震了一次。

"[he]תשמור עליה. ועל כולכם.[en]Take care of her. And of all of you.[/lang]"

"What does that one say."

"He says to look after you."他把手機收起來。"And the rest of us."

老吳把眼鏡戴回去。"I have never once been walked around a city and fed by three people at the same time,"她說。"Usually I’m the one doing the feeding."

Yuki 拍拍後背包側袋。

"I have many biscuits ready."

老吳看著從側袋口露出來的那包牛奶餅乾。

"Save them for tomorrow. Take me into another room then."

（待續）