打這個電話 你可以跟任何一個瑞典人聊天大綱

Gustaf is walking uphill; I can tell because he’s out of breath. We’ve been speaking for a while and I worry for his health—he lives in a remote cabin near the Norwegian border, and his voice sounds like that of an older man. What if he collapses while we’re on the phone? Who will I tell? Other than his name and his extraordinary job, all I know about Gustaf is this: He’s from Sweden.

古斯塔夫正在費力地走路，我會這麼說因爲他上氣不接下氣的。我們聊了有一會兒了，我擔心他的健康——他住在挪威邊境的一個遙遠的小屋裏，他的聲音聽起來像是一個老年人。要是他在我們打電話的時候病倒了該怎麼辦?我要告訴誰?除了他的名字和他特殊的工作，關於他，我所知道的一切只有這一點：他來自瑞典。

Sweden now has a phone number. It’s +46 771 793 336. And when I called it, Gustaf was one of the people who picked up.

如今瑞典有一個電話號碼，是+46 771 793 336。當我撥這個電話的時候，古斯塔夫是其中一個會接這個電話的人。

When you dial Sweden’s new number, you first hear a recorded message: “Calling Sweden. You will soon be connected to a random Swede, somewhere in Sweden. This call may be recorded.”

當你撥打瑞典的新號碼的時候，首先你會聽到一段預先錄製的留言：“呼叫瑞典。你很快會被連接到瑞典某個地方的任意的一位瑞典人。這通電話可能會被錄音。”

The answerers are a self-selected, unvetted group of Swedes. Each has downloaded an app that makes them available to receive redirected calls from around the world.

接電話的人是一羣自我選擇、未被審查的瑞典人。他們每個人都下載了一個應用軟件，可以使他們能夠接到來自世界各地的被重新定向的電話。

The Swedish Number is a full-on publicity gimmick by the Swedish Tourist Association. But gimmick or not, it works, bringing together two strangers for what can become a sudden moment of connection. And that, as I found during an afternoon of speaking to random Swedes, can feel magical.

瑞典的電話號碼是瑞典旅遊協會的一個不折不扣的宣傳噱頭。但無論是不是噱頭，都起作用了，因爲能通過一次意外的聯絡使兩個陌生人會聚在一起。而且，在一個下午同任意的一個瑞典人聊天的時候，我發現這種感覺很不可思議。