"Petty thieving, eh, Alfred." said Mr. Carr. "And maybe you'd be good enough to tell me how long this has been going on."

“小偷小摸，是吧，艾尔弗雷德？”卡尔先生发话了。“也许你能老实告诉我这种事已持续多久了？”

"This is the first time I ever took anything."

“这是我头一次从店里拿东西。”

Mr. Carr was quick to answer, "So now you think you'll tell me a lie, eh? What kind of fool I look like, huh? I don't know what goes on in my own store, eh? I tell you, you've been doing this for a long time." Mr. Carr had a strange smile on his face. "I don' t like to call the police," he said, "but maybe I should call your father, and let him know I'm going to have you put in jail."

卡尔先生当即反驳道：“你想骗我，嗯？看看我究竟有多傻，嗯？我会不知道我自己店里发生的事情，嗯？我告诉你，你这种行为已经持续很长一段时间了。”卡尔先生睑上露出了怪异的笑。“我不想叫警察，”他说，“但我也许应该给你父亲打个电话，让他知道我得把你送到监狱里去。”

"My father is not home. He is a printer. He works nights."

“我父亲不在家。他是个印刷工，上夜班。”

"Who is at home?" Carr asked.

“那么谁在家？”卡尔问道。

"My mother, I think."

“我想，我母亲大概在吧。”

Mr. Carr started to go to the phone. Alfred's fear made him raise his voice. He wanted to show he was afraid of nobody. He acted this way every time he got into trouble. This had happened many times since he left school. At such times he always spoke in a loud voice, as he did tonight. "Just a minute," he said to Mr. Carr. "You don' t have to get anybody else into this. You don't have to tell her." Alfred tried to sound big, but deep down he was like a child. He hoped that someone at home would come quickly to save him. But Mr. Carr was already talking to his mother. He told her to come to the store in a hurry.

卡尔先生准备去打电话。因为恐惧，艾尔弗雷德提高了音量。他想以此显示他谁也不怕。每当他碰上麻烦时，他都这么做。自从他离开学校后他经常闯祸。每次遇到这种情况，他就拉大嗓门说话，今晚也不例外。“稍等一下，”他对卡尔先生说，“你没必要把别人扯进来。你没必要告诉她。”艾尔弗雷德说话时努力想使自己显得像个大人，可内心里他却像个孩子。他希望家里很快有人来救他。这时卡尔先生已在和他的母亲通话了。他让她赶紧到店里来。