He repeated, "We shall meet outside!" And I said, "We shall meet outside!" But I was thinking of what my father had once said to me, "If you are wronged, defend yourself, but do not fight."

“我在外面等着你吧！”可莱谛反复着说。我答说，“好的！”忽然又把起父亲说：“如果人来加害，只要防御就好了，不要争斗！”

And I said to myself, "I will defend myself, but I will not fight." But I was discontented, and I no longer listened to the master. At last the moment of dismissal arrived. When I was alone in the street I perceived that he was following me. I stopped and waited for him, ruler in hand. He approached; I raised my ruler.

我想：“我只是防御，不是战斗。虽然如此，不知为什么心里总不好过，先生讲的一些都听不进去。终于，放课的时间到了，我走到街上，可莱谛在后面跟来。我擎着尺子站住，等可莱谛走近，就把尺子举起来。

"No, Enrico," he said, with his kindly smile, waving the ruler aside with his hand; "let us be friends again, as before."

“不！安利柯啊！”可莱谛说，一边微笑着用手把尺子撩开，且说：“我们再像从前一样大家和好吧！”

I stood still in amazement, and then I felt what seemed to be a hand dealing a push on my shoulders, and I found myself in his arms. He kissed me, and said:--

”我震栗了站着。忽然觉有人将手加在我的肩上，我被他抱住了。他吻着我，说：

"We'll have no more altercations between us, will we?""Never again! never again!" I replied. And we parted content. But when I returned home, and told my father all about it, thinking to give him pleasure, his face clouded over, and he said:--

“相骂就此算了吧！好吗？”“算了！算了！”我回答他说，于是两人很要好地别去。我到了家里，把这事告诉了父亲，意思要使父亲欢喜。不料父亲把脸板了起来，说：

"You should have been the first to offer your hand, since you were in the wrong." Then he added, "You should not raise your ruler at a comrade who is better than you are--at the son of a soldier!" and snatching the ruler from my hand, he broke it in two, and hurled it against the wall.

“你不是应该先向他谢罪的吗？这原是你的不是呢！”又说：“对比自己高尚的朋友，——而且对军人的儿子，你可以擎起尺子去打吗？”接着从我手中夺过尺子，折为两段，扔在一旁。