A talking goldfish mourns a lake it barely remembers. Xiaokang starts to wonder what last year was really like.
傍晚，十岁的小康提着一个塑料袋走进房间，袋里有一条橙色的小金鱼。他小心地把鱼放进桌上的玻璃缸里，袋子还在滴水。
In the evening, ten-year-old Xiaokang walked into his room carrying a plastic bag. Inside it was a small orange goldfish. He carefully put the fish into the glass bowl on the desk. The bag was still dripping water.
小康坐在桌前，看金鱼游来游去，它的尾巴很漂亮。他从来没养过金鱼，看了很久才打了个哈欠，关灯上床。房间里只剩窗外的月光。
Xiaokang sat at the desk, watching the goldfish swim back and forth. Its tail was very pretty. He had never kept a goldfish before, and he watched it for a long time before he yawned, turned off the light and went to bed. Only the moonlight from outside the window was left in the room.
半夜，小康听见细细的声音：“这个缸又冷又小。”他坐起来，金鱼正贴着玻璃。“你会说话？”小康问。“当然会。去年的湖比这里好多了。”金鱼说。
In the middle of the night, Xiaokang heard a thin little voice: "This bowl is cold and small." He sat up. The goldfish was pressed against the glass. "You can talk?" Xiaokang asked. "Of course I can. The lake last year was much better than here," the goldfish said.
小康并不害怕，还觉得很有意思。第二天早上他喂鱼，它吃了一口就叹气：“去年湖里的虫子好吃多了。”小康没说话。
Xiaokang wasn't afraid at all. He even found it interesting. The next morning he fed the fish. It took one bite and sighed: "The bugs in the lake last year tasted much better." Xiaokang said nothing.
中午，阳光照进房间，鱼缸很亮。金鱼说：“去年湖上的阳光更暖，在这里晒着并不舒服。”小康打开窗户，想让它暖和点，它还是不满意。
At noon, sunlight shone into the room and the bowl was bright. The goldfish said: "The sunshine on the lake last year was warmer. Sitting in the sun here isn't comfortable at all." Xiaokang opened the window to make it a little warmer for the fish, but it still wasn't satisfied.
每天都这样：早上的鱼食、晚上的灯光，它都要跟去年比。它从来不说今天好。小康听了一天又一天，慢慢累了。
It was like this every day: the fish food in the morning, the lamplight in the evening, it compared everything to last year. It never said today was good. Xiaokang listened day after day, and slowly he grew tired.
一个晚上，小康忍不住了，把脸靠近鱼缸问：“去年的湖到底什么样？你讲讲吧。”金鱼愣住了，没想到他这么问。
One evening, Xiaokang couldn't hold back any longer. He brought his face close to the bowl and asked: "So what was last year's lake really like? Tell me about it." The goldfish froze. It hadn't expected him to ask that.
金鱼游了两圈才说：“其实那湖水有点脏。”“还有呢？”小康问。“鱼太多，天天抢吃的。”它的声音越来越小：“那地方本来就没什么特别。”
The goldfish swam around twice before it spoke: "Actually, the lake water was a bit dirty." "What else?" Xiaokang asked. "There were too many fish. We fought over food every day." Its voice grew quieter and quieter: "That place was never anything special."
小康很惊讶：“原来你的湖并不像你说的那么好。”金鱼点点头：“我本来以为去年什么都好，可那里又脏又挤，我早忘了它真正的样子。”
Xiaokang was surprised: "So your lake wasn't as good as you said." The goldfish nodded: "I used to think everything last year was good, but that place was dirty and crowded. I had long forgotten what it was really like."
房间静了一会儿。金鱼游到缸中间：“这个小缸其实挺好的，水干净，也安静，没人跟我抢吃的。我从来没注意到。”
The room was quiet for a while. The goldfish swam to the middle of the bowl: "This little bowl is actually quite nice. The water is clean, it's quiet, and nobody fights me for food. I never noticed that before."
小康笑了，从书包里拿出一块光滑的小石头，那是他在河边捡的。他把石头洗干净，放进鱼缸。金鱼游过去，围着它转。
Xiaokang smiled and took a small, smooth stone out of his schoolbag. He had picked it up by the river. He washed the stone clean and put it into the bowl. The goldfish swam over and circled around it.
“石头送给你。”小康说。金鱼绕着石头游了一圈，说：“谢谢你！这里有水有光，还有石头，挺好的。”小康托着下巴看它。
"The stone is for you," Xiaokang said. The goldfish swam once around the stone and said: "Thank you! Here I have water and light, and a stone too. It's quite nice." Xiaokang rested his chin on his hand and watched it.
从那天起，金鱼再也没说过去年的湖。早上的鱼食，它吃得干干净净，也不叹气了。水很清，它绕着光滑的石头慢慢游。
From that day on, the goldfish never talked about last year's lake again. In the morning it ate every bit of its fish food, and it didn't sigh anymore. The water was clear, and it swam slowly around the smooth stone.