Word for Word

Lena was an interpreter. She worked at many business meetings. Her rule was simple: say what people say, and never add anything. That Thursday, in a glass meeting room in Rotterdam, the rule felt very hard.

Two companies were talking about the sale of a family boat shop. The buyers, led by Mrs Ward, wanted a signature before the weekend. The seller, Mr Jackson, was an old man with shaking hands. Lena translated every sentence until the coffee break.

Outside the room, she heard his grandson speaking quickly in Dutch. “Pop, the roof is not good. A builder told us. If you say it is good, it is not honest.” The old man answered quietly, “I need the money.” Lena stood still with her cup. She could not repeat it.

Back at the table, Mrs Ward asked if the roof was in good condition. Mr Jackson looked at his hands. He said, in Dutch, that the roof was in good condition. Everyone looked at Lena. She did not want to help someone tell a lie.

“Excuse me,” she said. “I have to stop being the interpreter for a moment.” The room went quiet. “I cannot translate a sentence that I think is false, and I cannot say why. Please stop the meeting and ask a builder to look at the roof.”

Mrs Ward looked at her. Mr Jackson’s face went grey, and then he looked relieved. The signing was stopped for now. Outside, he said, “Thank you.” “Perhaps I will lose some jobs because of this,” Lena thought. But on the train home she felt, for the first time in years, that she had her own voice.