楼上的声音

各位邻居晚上好，不好意思在群里说这件事，我们家住六楼，最近晚上八点以后，总能听到楼上传来很重的脚步声，还有小孩子跑来跑去的声音，希望楼上能稍微注意一下，谢谢大家。

Good evening neighbors, sorry to bring this up in the group chat. We live on the sixth floor, and lately after eight in the evening we keep hearing heavy footsteps from upstairs, along with a child running back and forth. I hope whoever's upstairs can be a bit more mindful. Thanks everyone.

陈先生，我知道你说的是我们家。我女儿刚满两岁，正是精力最旺盛、最爱跑的时候，你让我怎么办，八点一到就把她绑起来，不让她走路吗？

Mr. Chen, I know you mean our family. My daughter just turned two, she's at the age with the most energy and the most love of running around. What do you want me to do, tie her up the moment it hits eight and not let her walk?

我不是这个意思，我只是想说，晚上八点以后大部分人都想休息了，孩子当然可以走路，但是能不能轻一点，或者铺一块地毯，减少一点声音？

That's not what I meant. I'm just saying that after eight most people want to rest. Of course the child can walk, but could it be a little lighter, or could you put down a rug to reduce some of the sound?

铺地毯我可以考虑，但是我觉得你把话说得太重了，好像我们家故意吵你一样。孩子是活的，不是物品，她不可能一到八点就突然安静下来，这不现实。

I could consider a rug, but I think you're putting this too strongly, as if our family is deliberately making noise to bother you. A child is a living being, not an object, she can't suddenly go quiet the moment it turns eight, that's not realistic.

我理解带孩子不容易，我自己也当过父母，知道这个阶段很难熬。但是陈先生说的也有他的道理，晚上确实需要一个大家都能接受的安静时间，这也是当初业主公约里写的。

I understand raising a child isn't easy, I've been a parent myself, I know this stage is hard to get through. But Mr. Chen has a point too, evenings really do need a quiet time that everyone can accept, and that's also what the owners' convention originally wrote down.

公约是写了晚上十点以后不能大声喧哗，可没写晚上八点孩子就不能在家里走路。如果连正常的家庭生活都要被投诉，那我们是不是应该搬到没有邻居的地方去住？

The convention says no loud noise after ten at night, but it doesn't say a child can't walk around the house at eight. If even ordinary family life gets complained about, then should we move somewhere with no neighbors at all?

我没有说要投诉物业，我只是想跟你商量一下，看有没有办法让声音小一点，我们都不想把关系弄僵。

I never said I'd report this to the property management, I just wanted to discuss it with you, to see if there's a way to make the sound a bit smaller. Neither of us wants to make things awkward between us.

我知道你没有恶意，可是我听到这条消息的第一反应就是委屈，好像养孩子成了一件对不起邻居的事。

I know you don't mean any harm, but my first reaction on reading that message was feeling wronged, as if raising a child had become something you owe the neighbors an apology for.

这倒也不是陈先生的本意，他说的隔音问题，其实是这栋楼建得早，楼板本来就比较薄，声音容易往下传，这不是谁家的错。

That's not really what Mr. Chen intended either. The soundproofing problem he's talking about is really that this building was built early, the floor slabs are just thinner, and sound travels down easily. It isn't anyone's fault.

如果真是楼板的问题，那铺地毯确实有用，我下周就去买一块，也算是给大家一个交代，不是因为我做错了什么。

If it really is a floor-slab problem, then a rug would genuinely help. I'll go buy one next week, partly as a way to give everyone an answer, not because I did anything wrong.

谢谢你愿意考虑，我也承认，我这条消息发得有点急，没有先想想你们的难处，抱歉。

Thank you for being willing to consider it. I'll admit too, that message of mine was sent a bit hastily, without first thinking about how hard it must be for you. Sorry.

不用道歉，你说的也有道理，只是希望大家都记得，八点和十点之间，还是普通人过日子的时间，不是完全的安静时段。

No need to apologize, what you said has a point too. I just hope everyone remembers that between eight and ten is still the time when ordinary people are living their lives, not a fully quiet period.

这件事我看，最后也没有谁完全对，谁完全错，铺地毯能减少一点声音，但是孩子还是会长大得慢，这中间的日子，只能靠大家互相体谅一点。

Looking at this, in the end no one is completely right or completely wrong. A rug can reduce some of the sound, but the child is still going to take her time growing up, and in the meantime, all we can really do is try to understand each other a little more.