"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。

Alfred thought his mother would come, rushing in, eyes burning with anger. Maybe she would be crying and would push him away when he tried to explain to her. She would make him feel so small. Yet, he wanted her to come quickly before Mr. Carr called in a policeman. Alfred and Mr. Carr waited, but said nothing. At last they heard someone at the closed door. Mr. Carr opened it and said, “Come in, Mrs. Higgins. "His face was harsh and serious.

艾尔弗雷德想像着他母亲来时一定是急急忙忙，满眼怒火。她也许还会哭着一把将他推开，不容他分辩。她会让他觉得非常渺小。尽管如此，他还是希望她能在卡尔先生叫来警察之前尽快赶来。艾尔弗雷德和卡尔先生都等着，谁也不吭声。他们终于听到有人敲紧闭的房门。卡尔先生打开门说：“请进，希金斯太太。”他的脸绷得紧紧的，非常严肃。

Alfred's mother came in with a friendly smile on her face and put out her hand to Mr. Carr, said politely, "I' m Mrs. Higgins, Alfred's mother."

艾尔弗雷德的母亲脸上挂着友好的微笑走了进来，并向卡尔先生伸出手，很有礼貌地说：“我是希金斯夫人，艾尔弗雷德的母亲。”

Mr. Carr was surprised at the way she came in. She was very calm, quiet and friendly. "Is Alfred in trouble?" Mrs. Higgins asked.

她进来时的举止完全出乎卡尔先生所料。她镇定自若，心平气和且很友好。“艾尔弗雷德闯祸了吗？”希金斯夫人问道。

"He is. He has been taking things from the store -- little things, like toothpaste and lipsticks, things he can easily sell," Mrs. Higgns looked at her son and said sadly. "Is it so, Alfred?"

“是的。他不断从店里偷拿东西——一些牙膏以及口红之类的小东西，他可以很容易地将这些东西卖掉。” 希金斯夫人看了看儿子，哀伤地说：“是这样吗，艾尔弗雷德？”

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