It was my first day at school. It was also Miss Caroline’s first day to be a teacher.
那是我上学的第一天,也是卡罗琳小姐当老师的第一天。
Miss Caroline began the day by reading us a story about cats. Then she started to teach us the alphabet.
卡罗琳小姐给我们读了一个关于猫的故事,开始了新的一天。然后她开始教我们字母表.
When Miss Caroline discovered that I was literate, she said, “Tell your father not to teach you any more. It’s best to begin reading and writing with a fresh mind.”
当卡罗琳小姐发现我有读写能力时,她说:“告诉你父亲不要再教你了。最好以全新的心态开始阅读和写作。”
After supper that night, Atticus sat down with the paper and called, “Scout, ready to read?”
那天晚饭后,阿迪克斯拿着报纸坐了下来,喊道:“斯各特,准备看报吗?”
I told Atticus I didn’t feel very well and didn’t think I’d go to school any more if it was all right with him.
我告诉阿迪克斯,我说我不太舒服,还说要是他没意见的话,我不愿意再上学了。
“You never went to school and you do all right, so I’ll just stay home too. You can teach me like Grandaddy taught you.”
“你从来没有上过学,你学得很好,所以我也会呆在家里。你可以像爷爷教你的那样教我。”
“No, I can’t,” said Atticus. “I have to make a living. Besides, they’d put me in prison if I kept you at home. Now what’s the matter?”
“不,我不能,”阿迪克斯说。“我必须谋生。再说,如果我把你留在家里,他们会把我关进监狱。出啥事了?”
I told him what happened at school. “Miss Caroline said you taught me all wrong, so we can’t ever read any more. Please don’t send me back, please sir.”
我把学校里发生的事告诉了他。“卡罗琳小姐说你把我教错了,所以我们再也不能阅读了。请不要把我送回去,先生。”
“First of all,” he said, “if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of people. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view—”
“首先,”他说,“如果你能学会一个简单的技巧,斯各特,你会和各种各样的人相处得更好。除非你从他的角度考虑问题,否则你永远不会真正理解他——”
“Sir?”
“先生?”
“—until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
“——直到你钻进他的皮肤里,像他一样走来走去。”
Atticus continued, “You learned many things today. Miss Caroline learned several things herself. We could not expect her to learn all our ways in one day, and we should understand her when she knew no better.”
阿迪克斯继续说道:“你今天学到了很多东西。卡罗琳小姐自己也学到了一些东西。我们不能指望她在一天内学会我们所有的方式,我们应该在她不知道的时候理解她。”
“But if I keep on going to school, we can’t ever read any more…”
“但如果我继续上学,我们就再也不能阅读了……”
“That’s really worrying you, isn’t it?”
“你真的很担心,是吗?”
“Yes, sir.”
“是的,先生。”
When Atticus looked at me, I saw the look on his face that always made me expect something. “Do you know what a compromise is?” he asked.
当阿迪克斯看着我时,我看到了他脸上总是让我有所期待的表情。“你知道什么是妥协吗?”他问道。
“Breaking the law?”
“违反法律?”
“No, an agreement. It works this way,” he said. “If you promise me to go to school, we’ll go on reading every night as usual. Is it OK?”
“不是,而是违反约定。是这样的,”他说,“如果你答应我上学,我们会像往常一样每天晚上继续阅读。可以吗?”
“Yes sir!”
“好的,先生!”