课文翻译

Unit 1

Text

A young man finds that strolling along the streets without an obvious purpose can lead to trouble with the law. One misunderstanding leads to another until eventually he must appear in court for trial…… 一个青年发现，在大街上毫无明显目的地游逛会招致警方的责罚。 误会一个接一个发生，最终他只得出庭受审……

A Brush with the Law

与警察的一场小冲突

I have only once been in trouble with the law. 我平生只有一次跟警方发生纠葛。

The whole process of being arrested and taken to court was a rather unpleasant experience at the time, but it makes a good story now. 被捕和出庭的整个过程在当时是一件非常不愉快的事，但现在倒成了一篇很好的故事。

What makes it rather disturbing was the arbitrary circumstances both of my arrest and my subsequent fate in court. 这次经历令人可恼之处在于围绕着我的被捕以及随后庭上审讯而出现的种种武断专横的情况。

It happened in February about twelve years ago. 事情发生在大约12年前，其时正是2月。

I had left school a couple of months before that and was not due to go to university until the following October. 几个月前我中学毕业了，但上大学要等到10月。

I was still living at home at the time. 当时我还在家中居住。

One morning I was in Richmond, a suburb of London near where I lived. 一天早晨，我来到里士满。这里是伦敦的一个郊区，离我住的地方不远。

I was looking for a temporary job so that I could save up some money to go travelling. 我在寻找一份临时工作，以便积些钱去旅游。 As it was a fine day and I was in no hurry, I was taking my time, looking in shop windows, strolling in the park, and sometimes just stopping and looking around me. 由于天气晴朗，当时又无急事，我便慢悠悠看看橱窗，逛逛公园。有时干脆停下脚步，四处张望。

It must have been this obvious aimlessness that led to my downfall. 现在看来，一定是这种明显的毫无目的的游逛，使我倒了霉。 It was about half past eleven when it happened. 事情发生在11点半钟光景。

I was just walking out of the local library, having unsuccessfully sought

employment there, when I saw a man walking across the road with the obvious intention of talking to me. 我在当地图书馆谋职未成，刚刚走出来，便看到一个人穿越马路，显然是要来跟我说话。

I thought he was going to ask me the time. Instead, he said he was a police officer and he was arresting me. 我以为他要问我时间，不料他说他是警官，要逮捕我。

At first I thought it was some kind of joke. But then another policeman appeared, this time in uniform, and I was left in no doubt. 起先我还以为这是在开玩笑，但又一个警察出现在我的面前，这次是位身着警服的，这一下使我确信无疑了。

'But what for?' I asked. “为什么要抓我?”我问道。

\到处游荡，企图作案，”他说。

'What offence?' I asked. “作什么案?”我又问。 'Theft,' he said. “偷窃，”他说。

'Theft of what?' I asked. “偷什么?”我追问。

'Milk bottles,' he said, and with a perfectly straight face too! “牛奶瓶，”他板着面孔说道。 'Oh,' I said. “噢，”我说。