Suddenly, Mike’s dad burst through the rickety screen door and onto the porch. Mike and I jumped to our feet, not out of respect, but because we were startled.
突然，迈克的爸爸推开那扇摇摇晃晃的纱门走进了门廊，迈克和我跳了起来，不是出于尊敬而是因为被吓了一跳。
“Ready, boys?” Mike's Dad asked as he pulled up a chair to sit down with us.
“准备好了吗，孩子们？”迈克的爸爸一边问一边拉过椅子坐到我们旁边。
We nodded our heads as we pulled our chairs away from the wall to sit in front of him.
我们点了点头，把椅子扶正在他面前坐下。
He was a big man, about six feet tall and 200 pounds.
他也是个大块头，身高大约有1米80，体重90千克。
“Mike says you want to learn to make money? Is that correct, Robert?”
“迈克说你们想学赚钱，对吗，罗伯特？”
I nodded my head quickly, but with a little trepidation. He had a lot of power behind his words and smile.
我赶紧点了点头，但心里有点儿忐忑。在他的微笑和话语的背后似乎隐藏着很强的力量。

“Okay, here’s my offer. I’ll teach you, but I won’t do it classroom-style. You work for me, I’ll teach you. You don’t work for me, I don’t teach you. I can teach you faster if you work, and I’m wasting my time if you just want to sit and listen like you do in school. That’s my offer. Take it or leave it.”
“好吧，我说说我的建议：我会教你们，但不像在学校那样。你们为我工作，否则我就不教。因为通过工作我可以更快地教会你们。如果你们只想坐着听讲，就像在学校里一样，那我就是在浪费时间。这就是我的建议，你们可以接受也可以拒绝。”
“Ah, may I ask a question first?” I asked.
“嗯……我可以先问个问题吗？”我问。
“No. Take it or leave it. I’ve got too much work to do to waste my time. If you can’t make up your mind decisively, then you’ll never learn to make money anyway.
“不能，你只能告诉我是接受还是拒绝。因为我有太多的事要做，不能浪费时间。如果你不能下定决心，就永远也学不会如何赚钱。
“Take it,” I said.
“接受。”我说。
“Take it,” said Mike.
“接受。”迈克也说。
“Good,” said Mike’s dad. “Mrs. Martin will be by in 10 minutes. After I’m through with her, you’ll ride with her to my superette and you can begin working. I’ll pay you 10 cents an hour, and you’ll work three hours every Saturday.”
“好！”迈克的爸爸说道，“马丁夫人会在10分钟内到这儿。等我和她办完事后，你们就和她坐车去我的小超市，然后就可以开始工作了。我每小时付给你们10美分，你们每周六工作3个小时。”
“But I have a softball game today,” I said.
“但我今天有一场棒球比赛！”我说。
Mike’s dad lowered his voice to a stern tone. “Take it, or leave it,” he said. “I’ll take it,” I replied, choosing to work and learn instead of playing.
迈克的爸爸压低声调，用严厉的语气说：“接受或者拒绝。”“我接受。”我回答道，我决定去工作和学习，不去打棒球了。
By 9:00 a.m. that day, Mike and I were working for Mrs. Martin. She was a kind and patient woman. She always said that Mike and I reminded her of her two sons who were grown and gone. Although kind, she believed in hard work and she kept us moving. She was a test master. We spent three hours taking canned goods off the shelves,and with a feather duster brushing each can to get the dust off, and then re-stacking them neatly. It was excruciatingly-boring work.
从一个美好的星期六早上9点起，迈克和我正式开始给马丁夫人干活了。马丁夫人是一个慈祥而有耐心的人，她总是说迈克和我使她想起她的两个儿子，她的两个儿子长大后就离开了她。马丁夫人虽然很慈祥，却强调工作应该努力，她让我们不停地干活。她是一个很好的监工，3个小时里，我们把罐装食品从架子上拿下来，用羽毛掸掸去每个罐头上的灰尘，然后重新把它们码好。这工作真的很乏味。
For three weeks, Mike and I reported to Mrs. Martin and worked our three hours. By noon, our work was over, and she dropped three little dimes in each of our hands. Now, even at the age of nine in the mid- 1950s, 30 cents was not too exciting. Comic books cost 10 cents back then, so I usually spent my money on comic books and went home.
此后的3个星期中，每星期六迈克和我向马丁夫人报到并在她那儿工作3小时。中午以前，我们的工作就结束了，她就在我们每人的手中放下3枚硬币。即使是在50年代中期，对于9岁的男孩来说，30美分也并不十分令人激动，因为就算买一本连环画也得花上10美分呢。
By Wednesday of the fourth week, I was ready to quit. I had agreed to work only because I wanted to learn to make money from Mike’s dad, and now I was a slave for 10 cents an hour. On top of that, I had not seen Mike’s dad since that first Saturday.
第四个星期的星期三，我决定要退出。我答应工作是因为想跟迈克的爸爸学习赚钱，而现在我成了每小时10美分的奴隶。更糟糕的是，自从第一个星期六后我就一直没见到过我们的赚钱老师——迈克的爸爸。
“I’m quitting,” I told Mike at lunchtime. The school lunch was terrible. School was boring, and now I did not even have my Saturdays to look forward to. But it was the 30 cents that really got to me.
“我要退出。”吃午饭的时候我对迈克说。学校的午饭糟透了，上课也没劲儿，而且我现在几乎一点也不盼着过星期六了。因为对我而言，现在每个星期六换来的仅仅是30美分。
Mike smiled.
迈克得意地笑了。