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“But what for?”I asked.
“為什么要抓我？”我問道。
“Wandering with intent to commit an arrestable offence,” he said.
“到處游蕩，企圖作案，”他說。
“What offence?” I asked.
“作什么案？”我又問。
“Theft,” he said.
“偷竊，”他說。
“Theft of what?” I asked.
“偷什么？”我追問。
“Milk bottles,” he said, and with a perfectly straight face too!
“牛奶瓶，”他板著面孔說道。
“Oh,” I said.
“噢，”我說。
It turned out there had been a lot of petty thefts in the area, particularly that of stealing milk bottles from doorsteps.
事情原來是這樣的，在這一地區多次發生小的扒竊案，特別是從門前臺階上偷走牛奶瓶。
Then I made my big mistake. At the time I was nineteen, had long untidy hair, and regarded myself as part of the sixties' “youth counterculture”. As a result, I wanted to appear cool and unconcerned with the incident, so I said, “How long have you been following me?” in the most casual and conversational tone I could manage. I thus appeared to them to be quite familiar with this sort of situation, and it confirmed them in their belief that I was a thoroughly disreputable character.
接著，我犯了一個大錯誤。其時我年方19，留一頭蓬亂的長發，自認為是60年代“青年反主流文化”的一員。所以我想裝出一副冷漠的、對這一事件滿不在乎的樣子。于是我盡量用一種漫不經心的極其隨便的腔調說，“你們跟蹤我多久啦？”這樣一來，在他們眼里，我就像是非常熟悉這一套的了，也使他們更加確信我是一個地地道道的壞蛋。
A few minutes later a police car arrived.
幾分鐘后，開來了一輛警車。
“Get in the back,” they said. “Put your hands on the back of the front seat and don't move them.”
“坐到后面去，”他們說。“把手放到前排座位的靠背上，不準挪動。”
They got in on either side of me. It wasn't funny any more.
他們分別坐在我的兩邊。這可再也不是鬧著玩的了。
At the police station they questioned me for several hours. I continued to try to look worldly and familiar with the situation. When they asked me what I had been doing, I told them I'd been looking for a job. “Aha,” I could see them thinking, “unemployed”.
在警察局，他們審訊了我好幾個小時。我繼續裝成老于世故、對這種事習以為常。當他們問我在干什么時，我告訴他們在找工作。“啊，”我可以想象他們在想，“果然是個失業的家伙。”
Eventually, I was officially charged and told to report to Richmond Magistrates' Court the following Monday. Then they let me go.
最后，我被正式起訴，并通知我下周一到里士滿地方法庭受審。隨后他們讓我離開。
