《童心》英译

静夜不静。小两口“激战”正酣。

“你说钱哪儿去了？抽烟喝酒了，对吗？一个月干掉十来块！”她怒气冲冲，杏眼圆睁。

“你有本事！早几天你那些化妆品不也花了五块钱！”他不甘示弱回敬她说。“爸爸妈妈别吵了，别吵了！”五岁的小毛头站在中间欲做“和事佬”。这一下却成了两人撒气的对象。

拍！她甩手一巴掌。“走开！跟你老子一个德性！就知道要冰激凌、冷饮。”

“滚！”他双脚一跺，“和你老娘一个胚子！就知道找我要钱买衣服、皮鞋。”

小毛头招架不住了，鼻子一抽，哇地一声哭起来。

屋内，“战争”在升级，花瓶砸碎了，被褥扔到了楼下……时钟敲了十一下，小两口突然停止了“激战”。两人都很奇怪，小毛头哪去了？

两人同时冲进隔壁房间——小毛头正跪在地板上，旁边放着打碎的聚钱罐子——那是他的聚宝盆，地上滚了一堆亮光光的硬币，两只小手正在数着。

他仰起小脸蛋，抹了把鼻涕。“你们给我的钱全放在这儿。我存在罐子里了。现在都给爸爸妈妈用吧，你们别吵了好不好。”

两人一起跑上去，紧紧搂住毛头，泪水籁籁直下。

“爸爸妈妈，你们也买了钱罐存钱吧。你们没钱用了罐子就会把肚肚里的钱掏出来给你们的。”

小两口羞愧地垂下了头。夜真地静了。

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> 

The Pure and Innocent Heart of a Child

The quietude of the night had suddenly disappeared. The verbal war between the young couple was reaching its climax.

“You tell me, where is the money? You spent it all on drinking and smoking! Can you deny it? More than 10 yuan in one month!” She accused him furiously, her almond-shaped eyes wide-open.

“You outspent me! Didn’t you spend 5 yuan on those cosmetics of yours a few days ago?” Not to be outdone, he fought back.

“Mummy, Daddy, don’t fight, please!” Their five-year-old little darling intervened, trying to be the peace-maker. Never did he expect that he would become the target of attack.

Smack! Mummy slapped him. “Go away! You’re a chip of the fine old block. What you know is only ice-cream.”

“Get out!” He stamped his foot in anger. “Like mother, like son. You’re always coming to me for new clothes and new leather shoes.”

The little one could stand it no longer. His nose twitching, he burst out crying.

The war in the room was escalating: vases dashed onto the floor, bed-clothes thrown downstairs,…

The clock struck eleven. The two suddenly stopped fighting. Both wondered where was their dear little son.

Into the adjoining room both raced, only to find the dear kneeling on the floor with his piggy-bank (his treasure-trove) in fragments around him. The floor shone with coins scattered here and there. Two tiny hands were counting them.

He looked up, wiping off the tears from his chubby face. “The money you gave me is all here, I put them all in the piggy-bank. Take it all, Daddy, Mummy. Could you stop fighting, please?”

The two of them ran over simultaneously and hugged him tightly, tears splashing down.

“Daddy, Mummy, please buy a piggie for yourselves. When you have no more money, the piggy will open its tummy and give you money.”

In shame the two hung their heads. Silence reigned again.