有声美文-23｜A Five-finger Discount 顺手牵“糖”
01 | Poverty and Richness 贫穷与富有
02 | Chief Seattle's Thoughts 西雅图宣言
03 | A Pair of Precious Hands 宝贵的双手
05 | Facing the Enemies Within 直面内在的敌人
06 | The Goodness of Life 云淡风轻，感受生命的美好
08 | The Warmth of a Glass of Milk —杯牛奶的温暖
09 | Clear Your Mental Space 清理心灵的空间
10 | What is Your Recovery Rate? 你的恢复速率是多少
13 | The 50-Percent Theory of Life 生活理论半对半
15 | What I have Lived for 我为何而生
16 | Three Days to See 假如给我三天光明
17 | The Meanest Mother 最无情的母亲
18 | The Flight of Youth 青春的飞逝
20 | The Shaved Eyebrows 眉毛刮掉以后
A Five-finger Discount
顺手牵“糖”
The Belfast, Maine of my youth was not the coastal tourist village that it is today. At the time, Belfast was still a blue-collar town. McDonald's hadn't yet moved into town. Before the supermarket existed, Cottle's, a food market where my dad worked, was the only place where my mother could do her once-a-week shopping. Because we lived a few miles from Belfast, we'd usually combine the grocery trip with a visit to see my grandmother. Of course, Grammy always had cookies ready for the grandkids.
我小的时候，缅因州的贝尔法斯特还不是如今这样的海滨旅游小镇。那个时候，贝尔法斯特还是一座蓝领小镇，麦当劳都还没有进 驻。在超市出现前，爸爸工作的科特尔食品商场成了妈妈每周一次购物唯一可去的地方。由于我们住得离贝尔法斯特有几英里远，所以我们常常在购物的时候顺便去看望外婆。当然啦，外婆总是为我们这些孩子准备好饼干吃。
On one particular shopping day at Cottle's, I stood behind my mother as she was unloading the grocery cart and checking her items out at the register . The candy displays on either side of me were full of Life Savers, Clark Bars, Tootsie Rolls, Sugar Babies —you name it !
有一天去科特尔商场购物时，妈妈在收银台前从购物车里拿出所买的货品逐项结账，我站在她身后。在我两旁的货架上摆满了各式各样的糖果——Life Saver薄荷糖、Clark Bar牛轧糖、Tootsie Roll咀嚼糖、Sugar Baby牛奶焦饴糖——各种品牌，应有尽有！
Can I get some candy? I asked.
“能给我买点儿糖吗？”我问妈妈。
My mother rarely veered from her list so I wasn't surprised with her response. "No."
妈妈的注意力几乎没从清单上移开，因此她回答“不行”的时候我并不意外。
This much I knew for certain. "No" always meant "No". There was no sense in me asking a second time. But I really, really wanted that candy!
对此我十分肯定。“不行”就意味着“不行”。我再问第二遍毫无意义。但是我真的真的很想吃糖！
I reached for a Sugar Baby package. My mother didn't notice. So I figured she probably wouldn't notice if I ever so coyly put them into my pocket. We continued checking out and walked with the bag boy to the car where he loaded the bags into the car's trunk. No one noticed my action— not my mother, not the cashier, not the bag boy—no one! I did it! Wow! My very first shoplifting experience! A five-finger discount! How exciting! How easy! How rewarding! Got my candy and didn't need one penny to get it!
我把手伸向一包Sugar Baby糖，妈妈并未注意到。因此我想，如果我假装害羞然后把它们塞进衣服口袋里，妈妈很可能不会发现。我们继续结账，然后随着打包服务员一起走到车前，服务员把购物袋放进后备厢。谁也没有发现我的偷窃行为——无论是我妈妈、收银员还是打包服务员——没有任何人发现！我成功了！哇！我平生第一次体验商店行窃！一次顺手牵羊！多么令人激动！多么轻而易举！多么有收获！我分文未花就得到了这些糖！
I sat in the back seat as my mother drove across the bridge to where my grandmother lived. Slowly, so as not to make any unnecessary noise, I opened my prize and carefully slipped a Sugar Baby into my mouth. No one piece of candy ever tasted so good! Mom might have said, "No," but I'd said, "Yes," and look who'd won!
妈妈开车通过一座桥，向外婆家驶去，我坐在车后座上。为了避免发出不必要的声音，我慢慢地打开自己的战利品，然后小心翼翼地把一块Sugar Baby糖偷偷塞进了嘴里。再没有比这更好吃的糖啦！妈妈或许说过“不行”，但是我却说“行”，看看最终是谁赢了！
When we pulled into my grandmother's driveway, I knew I was in the clear . Miles and minutes separated me from Cottle's. As I prepared to open my car door, I confidently slipped a few more Sugar Babies into my mouth. They would tide me over until I got to Grammy's cookie jar inside.
当我们驶入外婆家的车道时，我以为我安全了——距离上和时间上我都远离了科特尔商场。我一边准备打开车门，一边安心地又塞了几块Sugar Baby糖到嘴里。它们甜美的味道会一直伴随我进入外婆家直到我拿起饼干罐。
Big mistake. "Keith, what have you got in your mouth?" I looked up at the rearview mirror and could see the reflection of my mother's eyes staring intently back at me. "I asked you a question! What have you got in your mouth?"
这样做真是大错特错！“基思，你嘴里在吃什么东西？”我抬头看向后视镜，发现妈妈正从镜子里目不转睛地盯着我。“我问你呢！你嘴里在吃什么东西？”
Though I'd recently become skilled in the art of shoplifting, I hadn't quite mastered the art of giving false testimony . "Uhhh ... just some Sugar Babies."
虽然我刚刚熟练掌握了入店行窃术，但我却尚不精于提供假证词。“呃……就是一些Sugar Baby糖。”
Sugar Babies? Where did you get the money to buy them? Why was she asking such a foolish question? She knew I hadn't purchased them. It was no big deal. Nobody even saw me take them. It was one little package of Sugar Babies. Let's just go into Grammy's! "I ... uh ... didn't really buy them."
“Sugar Baby糖？你哪来的钱买糖？”妈妈怎么会问我这样一个愚蠢的问题？她知道我根本就没买过。没什么大不了的，根本就没人看见我拿糖了。不就是一小袋Sugar Baby糖嘛。赶紧进外婆家 吧！“我……呃……其实我并没买。”
That's what I thought! And then, rather than just going into Grammy's house and giving me a good scolding, she began backing out of my grandmother's driveway.
“果然不出我所料！”接着，妈妈既没有进外婆家，也没有狠狠批评我，而是把车倒出了外婆家的车道。
As she drove away from my grandmother's house and then back across the bridge, I knew exactly where we were headed. To Cottle's! This was so stupid! We're talking twenty-five cents here! A return trip all the way back there was a ridiculous waste of gas and time, if you asked me. Why was she turning this into such an emotional drama? What was she trying to prove?
等妈妈将车驶离了外婆家然后再次穿过那座桥的时候，我清楚地知道我们将前往何处。去科特尔商场！真是太傻了！不过是一包25美分的糖而已！如果你问我，我会说：开车大老远原路返回真够可笑 的，既费油又费时。为什么妈妈要小题大做呢？她想要证明什么呢？
I didn't have long to find out.
没过多久我就找到了答案。
My mother pulled into Cottle's parking lot, cast one more glare my way, and marched me into the store. She proceeded to hunt down Mr. Proulx, the store manager! Why would she want to bother an important man like Mr. Proulx about me needing to pay for some candy that any cashier could more easily just take care of?
妈妈把车停入科特尔商场的停车场，又瞪了我一眼，带着我走进商场。她开始四处寻找商场经理普罗克斯先生。我要补付糖果钱，任何收银员都能轻松处理，她何必要麻烦像普罗克斯先生这样重要的人呢？
Once she located him and got his full attention, she said, in a voice that could be heard from three aisles away, "Tell Mr. Proulx what you did!"
妈妈一发现普罗克斯先生并且让他把注意力完全转移到我们身上后，她就用三个过道以外都能听得见的大嗓门说道：“告诉普罗克斯先生你的所作所为！”
I knew Mr. Proulx. I liked Mr. Proulx. But on this day Mr. Proulx was taking all of his cues from my mother. There was no room for doubt. I was on trial and Mr. Proulx was judge and jury! Through tears, I admitted what I had done and apologized. My mother put a quarter in my hand to give to him. Mr. Proulx listened and accepted my apology along with the twenty-five cents. He then issued a stern warning, explaining what the consequences would be if there was ever a repeat performance.Snuffling , embarrassed, ashamed, I totally understood the significance of my actions and what they might lead to if not nipped in the bud : Sugar Babies today, grand theft auto tomorrow.
我认识普罗克斯先生。我喜欢他。但是那天他完全领会了妈妈的意图。毋庸置疑，我在受审，而普罗克斯先生就是法官和陪审团！我流着眼泪承认了之前所做的一切并道了歉。妈妈把25美分放到我手 里，让我交给普罗克斯先生。他听着我的讲述，接受了我的道歉，收下了那25美分。然后，他向我提出严厉警告，告诉我如果再犯后果将会如何。我抽噎着，尴尬不已，羞愧难当，完全意识到了自己行为的严重性，也知道了如果没有将它扼杀在萌芽中最终会导致什么结果——今天偷糖小贼，明天窃车大盗。
To this day, often while in a checkout lane near a candy rack, I think back to the lesson I learned from my mother. Thanks, Mom, for keeping me from a life of crime.
直到今天，通常当我站在糖果架附近的付款通道时，我还是会想起妈妈给我上的这一课。谢谢你，妈妈，是你让我远离了犯罪的道路。
声明：除特别注明原创或授权转载文章外，其他文章均源自网络，版权归原作者或平台所有。如涉权属，请后台联系删除或处理版权相关事宜。
网络资源，仅供学习交流