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Karen, Judy and I were the last ones back in the school room after lunch. We put our metal lunch boxes on the shelf above the coat hooks, which were mostly empty. All of the other sixth graders were already outside, playing marbles or hop scotch or jumping rope, since it was a pleasant spring day.
卡倫、朱迪和我是最后三個吃完午飯回到教室的。當我們把各自的金屬飯盒放到衣帽鉤上方的架子上去的時候，衣帽鉤上幾乎已經空了。在這個明媚的春日，六年級的其他學生都已經到外面去玩彈珠、跳房子或者跳繩去了。
“Look what I found this morning in the storage cupboard when I was getting out some art supplies for Mrs. Eiffler.” With a conspiratorial grin on her face, Karen held up a wooden box filled with short pieces of chalk in every color of the rainbow.
“快看我今天上午給艾夫勒夫人取美術用品時在儲存柜里找到了什么！”卡倫帶著一臉陰謀者的壞笑，舉起了一個木頭盒子，里面裝滿了五顏六色的小粉筆頭。
“Wow! What fun it would be to write on the chalkboard while everyone is outside.” Judy’s eyes twinkled with anticipation.
“哇！當大家都在外面的時候，偷偷在黑板上寫字該是多么有趣的事啊！”朱迪的眼睛因期待而閃閃發亮。
“But Mrs. Eiffler doesn’t want us writing on the chalkboard,” I responded, already feeling guilty, although we had not yet done a thing.
“但是艾夫勒夫人不讓我們在黑板上寫字啊，”我回答道，盡管我們還沒做什么，我就已經覺得心虛了。
“Don’t be such a ‘fraidy cat’, Janet. No one will ever know,” said Karen, reaching into the box and drawing out a piece of chalk.
“別這么膽小啊，珍妮特，沒人會知道的。”卡倫說著就把手伸進了盒子里，拿出了一小支粉筆。
“Right. Everyone is outside, so we’re safe. No one will tell on us.” Judy was already drawing a house with sure strokes.
“對啊，大家都在外面呢，所以我們很安全，沒有人會告我們的狀的。”朱迪已經開始一筆一劃地畫房子了。
I reluctantly joined my friends in the artwork, wanting to be part of what was going on, but afraid of being caught. I knew well that we were breaking not one, but two class rules. The second rule was that no one was allowed to stay inside at noon without a written excuse from home if the weather was nice.
我極不情愿地加入了朋友們的藝術創作活動，只是想要成為這個活動的一份子，但是心里卻很害怕被當場抓住。我清楚地知道我們不只違反了一條班紀，而是兩條。第二條班紀是：在天氣允許的前提下，沒有家長的書面理由，任何人都不能中午留在室內。
Trying various colors, we drew houses, trees and three-dimensional boxes. It was fun! All the time we were watching the clock, knowing that our fun would be over if anyone walked into the room.
我們用各種各樣的顏色畫了房子、樹和三維立體的盒子。真是有趣極了！我們始終都注意著時間，因為我們知道一旦有人進來，我們的娛樂活動也就告終了。
Then Judy had an idea. “We’re all right-handed. Let’s see who can write their name best using their left hand.”
朱迪忽然又冒出個主意：“我們都是右撇子，讓我們看看誰能用左手寫自己的名字寫得最棒！”
Judy and Karen picked up their chalk and started writing. I chose a white piece from the box and wrote my name. The handwriting was a bit shaky, but no one would doubt that it said “Janet.”
朱迪和卡倫拿起粉筆就開始寫。我從盒子里選了一根白色的，也開始寫自己的名字，筆跡有一點歪歪扭扭，但沒人會懷疑寫的是“珍妮特”。
“I think Judy is the winner,” said Karen. “Hers is the best.”
“我覺得朱迪贏了，”卡倫說，“她的字最棒。”
“We’d better get this board cleaned off before Mrs. Eiffler comes back,” said Judy, eying the clock. She picked up an eraser and began erasing our handiwork from the board. Everything came off... but my name!
“我們最好在艾夫勒夫人回來之前把黑板擦干凈，”朱迪一邊看著鐘一邊說道。她拿起黑板擦開始把我們的作品擦掉。
所有的東西都被擦掉了——除了我的名字！
In disbelief, I looked at the chalk I held in my sweaty hand. On closer examination, it wasn’t chalk at all. I had picked up a small piece of white color crayon which was mixed in with the pieces of chalk.
我滿腹狐疑地看著自己汗濕的小手中緊握的粉筆——經過仔細的觀察，原來它根本不是粉筆，我竟然用的是一小支混在粉筆頭里的白色蠟筆！
My stomach churned and my knees felt weak. What would Mrs. Eiffler do to me?
我的胃里一陣翻騰，膝蓋也發軟了。艾夫勒夫人會怎么懲罰我呢？
My mother had a saying: “Fools’ names and fools’ faces always appear in public places.” I never understood fully what it meant before. Now I did! I was a fool, and there was my name in crayon to prove it. And the teacher would be returning soon.
我媽媽說過一句諺語：“傻瓜的名字、笨蛋的臉，大庭廣眾之下總能見。”我以前總是不能完全理解這句話的意思。現在我懂了！我就是一個傻瓜，黑板上那個用蠟筆寫出來的名字就證明了這一點。而且老師馬上就要回來了。
“Quick, let’s get some wet paper towels,” said Judy, springing into action.
“快點兒，咱們弄點兒濕紙巾來。”朱迪一邊說一邊馬上開始行動。
After vigorous rubbing, my name still remained.
不管怎么使勁擦，我的名字依然留在黑板上。
“I think I saw a can of cleanser by the sink in the coat room,” I said as I raced to find it. Precious minutes were ticking away.
“我想我在更衣室的水槽邊看到過一罐清潔劑，”我一邊說一邊跑過去找到了這罐清潔劑。珍貴的時間一分一分地溜走。
We rubbed and my name came off all right, but in the process of removing it, we left an abrasion on the chalkboard.
我們擦呀擦呀，終于把我的名字徹底給擦掉了，但是在擦洗的過程中，我們在黑板上留下了一小塊磨損的痕跡。
Listening for footsteps coming down the hall, we dried the scrubbed area as much as we could with more paper towels and fanned it with a book to remove every tell-tale trace of wetness.
聽到了大廳里傳來的腳步聲，我們盡最大的努力用更多的紙巾把擦過的地方弄干，還用一本書把任何可能泄密的濕痕扇干。
We were just slipping into our desks as the bell rang and the other students began entering the room. The teacher walked in soon afterward.
我們剛剛溜回自己的座位，鈴聲就響起來了，其他同學也開始進屋了，老師隨后也走了進來。
Mrs. Eiffler never asked about abrasion and maybe never noticed it. But I did. Every time I walked past the marred surface of the chalkboard, I remembered. Oh, how I remembered.
艾夫勒夫人從來也沒有問過黑板上那塊磨損的地方是怎么回事，可能從來也沒有注意到。但是我注意到了，每次我走過黑板上那塊被損壞的地方，我就會想起這件事，噢，我記得是那么清楚！
The lesson I learned that day is one I never forgot, even though over forty years have passed since the event. “No one will ever know” is never true. Even if no one else found out, I myself knew. Sometimes living with a guilty conscience is punishment enough.
即使是在四十多年后的今天，我也無法忘記那天我所得到的教訓。“沒有人會知道”是永遠不可能的，即使其他人真的沒有發現，我自己心里也清楚，有時候，遭受著良心的譴責已經是最大的懲罰了。
