One day my brothers were not home and my mother had asked me to throw away some potato peel and eggshells. I wrinkled my nose as I approached, swatting away flies and making sure I didn’t step on anything in my nice shoes. As I threw the rubbish on the mountain of rotting food, I saw something move and I jumped. It was a girl about my age. Her hair was matted and her skin was covered in sores. She looked like I imagined Shashaka, the dirty woman they told us about in tales in the village to make us wash. The girl had a big sack and was sorting rubbish into piles, one for cans, one for bottle tops, another for glass and another for paper. Nearby there were boys fishing in the pile for metal using magnets on strings. I wanted to talk to the children but I was too scared.

一天，我的弟弟们不在家，母亲便叫我去丢马铃薯皮和蛋壳。接近垃圾山时，我忍不住皱起鼻子，一边挥赶苍蝇，一边小心注意不要让我的漂亮鞋子踩到什么脏东西。当我把垃圾丢到腐烂的食物堆上时，突然看到有什么东西动了一下，我吓得跳了开去。那是一个跟我差不多年纪的女孩。她的头发上满是污泥，皮肤上也全是烂疮。她当时的模样，就是我想象中的夏夏卡的样子——那个姑姑们用来吓我们快点去洗澡的故事里的脏女人。女孩拿了一个大袋子，把垃圾分堆，一堆是瓶子，一堆是瓶盖，一堆是玻璃，还有一堆是纸张。附近还有几个男孩用线绑着磁铁，把金属垃圾分类出来。我想跟他们说话，但我实在太害怕了。

That afternoon, when my father came home from school, I told him about the scavenger children and begged him to go with me to look. He tried to talk to them but they ran away. He explained that the children would sell what they had sorted to a garbage shop for a few rupees. The shop would then sell it on at a profit. On the way back home I noticed that he was in tears.

那天下午，父亲从学校回家后，我告诉他这些拾垃圾小孩的事，并且恳求他跟我去瞧瞧。父亲企图和他们说话，但他们却吓得一哄而散。父亲跟我解释，这些孩子会把分类出来的垃圾拿去资源回收站，可以换几个卢比。回收站再把这些东西拿去卖钱。回家的路上，我注意到父亲的眼睛里满是泪水。

‘Aba, you must give them free places at your school,’ I begged. He laughed. My mother and I had already persuaded him to give free places to a number of girls.

“爸爸，你必须让他们免费来学校上课。”我请求他。父亲笑了。母亲和我已经拜托他让好几个女孩免费上学了。