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“Oh, I’ll get it!” Dick promised.
迪克承諾道，“我一定會籌到錢的！”
And straightway he set about the task of earning a fortune—six dollars.
他立刻開始了自己賺取六美元的財富的任務。
Six dollars seems a small amount, but to a boy of Dick’s age it is wealth. What could he do? He could cut lawns and carry coal and empty ashes and work the pump in his mother’s kitchen, and that was about all.He found a surprising number of neighbors willing to let him cut their grass “for fifteen cents.”His mother discovered Dick’s new desire for money, and, after watching him for a few days, she decided to encourage him.
六美元似乎是一個小數(shù)目，但對于迪克這個年紀的孩子來說，這是一筆財富。他能做些什么？他可以修剪草坪、運煤、倒灰，在媽媽的廚房里抽水，僅此而已。他發(fā)現(xiàn)有很多鄰居愿意讓他割草，并“支付15美分。”迪克的母親發(fā)現(xiàn)他對錢的新需求，在觀察了他幾天后，她決定要去鼓勵迪克。
“Dick,” she said one day, “I think you ought to have a chance to earn money regularly, don’t you? I believe I will put you on a salary.”
“迪克，”有一天她說，“我認為你應該有一個定期掙錢的機會，不是嗎？我相信我會給你發(fā)工資的。”
“Salary?” he repeated in surprise.
“工資？”他驚訝地重復道。
“Yes, salary. I think I’ll pay you twenty-five cents a week for your chores around the house, and, say, a cent a hundred strokes for the pumping you do at the kitchen pump to fill the water tank in the attic.”
“是的，工資。你在家里做家務，我會每周付給你25美分，你在廚房的水泵上抽水，把閣樓的水箱裝滿，每抽一百次水，我給你一分錢。”
She watched him, and Dick’s eyes grew bright; then his face lighted eagerly.
她看著他，迪克的眼睛變得明亮起來，然后他的臉上露出熱切的光芒。
“All right，” he said soberly. “I—guess that’d be fine.”
“好吧，”他冷靜地說。“我想那沒關系。”
The tank in the Harts’ attic needed to be filled about three times a week so that the family might have enough water for all its needs. That meant about forty-five hundred strokes at the pump in the kitchen—forty-five cents a week besides the quarter for chores. Seventy cents a week! Riches! He would have the six dollars, he decided, by the third week in November—by Thanksgiving!
哈特家閣樓里的水罐每周需要加滿三次，這樣全家就可以有足夠的水來滿足所有的需要。這意味著除了家務費外，每周在廚房的抽水機抽4500次水，能夠賺45美分。一星期七毛錢！太富有了！他決定，到11月的第三個星期感恩節(jié)，他就能賺夠這六美元了！
