THE WORST OF IT
更糟糕
1.“Do you want to buy any berries to-day?”said a poor boy to me one afternoon.I looked at the little fellow,and he was very shabbily clothed;gray pantaloons,very much patched,an old cotton shirt,and a miserable felt hat made up the whole of his dress.
2.His feet were bare and travel-stained.In both hands he held up a tin pail full of ripe and dewy raspberries,which were pretty,peeping out from amid the bright green leaves that lay lightly over them.
3.I told him I would like some;and taking the pail from him,I stepped into the house.He did not follow,but remained behind,whistling to my canaries as they hung in their cage in the porch,He seemed engrossed with my pretty pets,and the berries seemed forgotten.
4.“Why did you not come in and see if I measured your berries right?”said I;“how do you know that I may not cheat you,and take more than the three quarts I have agreed upon?”The boy looked up archly at me and smiled.
5.“I am not afraid,”said he,“for you would get the worst of it,ma’am.”
“Get the worst of it?”I said,“what do you mean?”
6.“Why,ma‘am,I should only lose my berries,and you would be stealing;don’t you think you would get the worst of it?”
【中文阅读】
1.“你想买些浆果吗?”一天下午一个可怜的小男孩问我。我看了看这个小家伙,他衣衫褴褛:穿着灰色的窄腿裤,上面缝了很多补丁,上身穿着一件穿了多年的棉布衬衫,那顶可怜的帽子与他整身的穿着上下呼应。
2.他光着脚丫,双脚满是走路时沾的泥土。他双手提着一个大铁桶,桶里装满了新鲜的、上面还沾着露水的覆盆子,果实特别饱满,特别新鲜,整齐地摆放在翠绿的叶子上。
3.我告诉他我很乐意买一些,说完我帮他拎起铁桶,走进屋里。他却没有跟进来,而是留在外面,吹着口哨,逗弄着门廊笼子里的金丝雀。他似乎是被我心爱的鸟儿们吸引住了,把他的覆盆子完全忘掉了。
4.“你为什么不跟进来看着我是不是称对了分量?”我问他,“不然你怎么知道我不会骗你?拿得比我们说好的三加仑还要多你怎么办?”男孩顽皮地看着我笑了。
5.“我不怕,”他说,“因为如果您多拿了,对您来说是更糟糕的,夫人。”“我更糟糕?”我问,“你什么意思?”
6.“夫人,那样我只是少了一些浆果,而您却偷了别人的东西,您不认为是您更糟糕吗?”