Chapter 8: Crime and Punishment

第八章：犯罪與懲罰

At six o'clock the next morning, George and Harold dragged themselves out of bed,

隔天早上六點，George 和 Harold 拖著疲憊的身體從床上爬起來。

walked over to Mr. Krupp's house, and began washing his car.

他們走到 Mr. Krupp 的家，開始洗他的車。

Then, while Harold scrubbed the tires, George roamed around the yard pulling up all the weeds and crabgrass he could find.

接著，當 Harold 在刷輪胎時，George 在院子裡拔掉他能找到的所有雜草和狗尾草。

Afterward, they cleaned the gutters and washed all the windows on Mr. Krupp's house.

之後，他們清理了排水溝，並擦洗了 Mr. Krupp 家裡所有的窗戶。

At school, George and Harold sat up straight, listened carefully, and spoke only when spoken to. They didn't tell jokes, they didn't pull pranks-they didn't even smile.

在學校裡，George 和 Harold 坐得筆直，認真聽講，只在被問到時才說話。他們不開玩笑，不惡作劇，甚至連笑都沒有。

Their teacher kept pinching herself. "I just know this is a dream," she said.

他們的老師不停地掐自己。「我就知道這是在做夢，」她說。

At lunch, the two boys vacuumed Mr. Krupp's office, shined his shoes,

午餐時，這兩個男孩為 Mr. Krupp 的辦公室吸塵，還擦亮了他的鞋子。

and polished his desktop. At recess, they clipped his fingernails and ironed his tie.

並擦亮了他的桌面。下課時，他們幫他剪指甲，還燙平了他的領帶。

Each spare moment in the boys' daily schedule was spent catering to Mr. Krupp's every whim.

男孩們每天的每一個空閒時刻都用來滿足 Mr. Krupp 的各種要求。

After school, George and Harold mowed Mr. Krupp's lawn, tended his garden, and began painting the front of his house. At sunset, Mr. Krupp came outside and handed each boy a stack of books.

放學後，George 和 Harold 割了 Mr. Krupp 家的草坪，照料了他的花園，還開始粉刷他家的外牆。夕陽西下時，Mr. Krupp 走出來，給每個男孩一疊書。

"Gentlemen," he said, "I've asked your teachers to give you both extra homework. Now go home, study hard, and I'll see you back here at six o'clock tomorrow morning. We've got a busy day ahead of us."

「先生們，」他說，「我已經請你們的老師給你們額外的作業。現在回家努力學習，明天早上六點再來我這裡。我們還有很多事要做。」

"Thank you, sir," moaned the two boys.

「謝謝您，先生，」兩個男孩呻吟著說。

George and Harold walked home dead tired.

George 和 Harold 疲憊不堪地走回家。

"Man, this was the worst day of my entire life," said George.

「天啊，這是我人生中最糟糕的一天，」George 說。

"Don't worry," said Harold. "We only have to do this for eight more years. Then we can move away to some far-off land

「別擔心，」Harold 說。「我們只要再做八年，然後就可以搬到遙遠的地方去了。」

where they'll never find us. Maybe Antarctica."

「那裡他們永遠找不到我們。也許是南極洲。」

"I've got a better idea," said George.

「我有個更好的主意，」George 說。