Intelligent she was not. In fact, she veered in the opposite direction. But I believed that under my guidance she would smarten up. At any rate, it was worth a try. It is, after all, easier to make a beautiful dumb girl smart than to make an ugly smart girl beautiful.
她不聪明。事实上，她有点笨。可我相信，经我指导，她会聪明起来。无论如何，值得一试。毕竟，塑靓者达智总比塑丑者达貌来得容易。
"Petey," I said, "are you in love with Polly Espy?"
“皮蒂，”我说，“爱上波莉·埃斯皮了吧？”
"I think she's a keen kid," he replied, "but I don't know if you'd call it love. Why?"
“她是个讨人喜欢的姑娘，”他回答，“可不知道这是不是爱情。问这个干吗？”
"Do you," I asked, "have any kind of formal arrangement with her? I mean are you going steady or anything like that?"
“正式约会了？我是说你们确定某种程度的关系了？”我问。
"No. We see each other quite a bit, but we both have other dates. Why?"
“还没有，我们常见面。但我们各自也和别人约会。怎么了？”
"Is there," I asked, "any other man for whom she has a particular fondness?"
“她有其他意中人吗？”我问。
"Not that I know of. Why?"
“好像没有。怎么了？”
I nodded with satisfaction. "In other words, if you were out of the picture, the field would be open. is that right?"
我满意地点点头：“那么，如果你不在，场地就是空着的。对吧？”
"I guess so. What are you getting at?"
“我想是这样。你什么意思？”
"Nothing, nothing," I said innocently, and took my suitcase out of the closet.
“没什么。没什么。”我装作若无其事。接着从壁橱里把手提箱拿了出来。
"Where are you going?" asked Petey.
“要去哪儿？”皮蒂问。
"Home for the weekend." I threw a few things into the bag.
“回家过周末。”我把几件衣服扔进了皮箱。
"Listen," he said, clutching my arm eagerly, "while you're home, you couldn't get some money from your old man, could you, and lend it to me so I can buy a raccoon coat?"
“听着，”他抓住我的胳膊急切地说，”回家后，能不能向你父亲要点钱，借给我买一件浣熊皮大衣？”
"I may do better than that," I said with a mysterious wink and closed my bag and left.
“也许比这更好。”我神秘地眨了眨眼。合上皮箱就走了。
"Look," I said to Petey when I got back Monday morning. I threw open the suitcase and revealed the huge, hairy, gamy object that my father had worn in his Stutz Bearcat in I925.
“瞧！”我星期一早晨一返校就对皮蒂说。我猛地打开皮箱，露出那件肥大、毛茸茸、味道难闻的东西。这是我父亲1925年开斯图兹勇士敞篷车时穿过的那件浣熊皮大衣。
"Holy Toledo!" said Petey reverently. He plunged his hands into the raccoon coat and then his face. "Holy Toledo!" he repeated fifteen or twenty times.
“我的天！”皮蒂充满敬佩。他两只手即刻抓住皮大衣。接着把脸也埋了进去。“我的天！”他不停地重复了一二十遍。