坏孩子的故事
Once there was a bad little boy whose name was Jim—though， if you will notice， you will find that bad little boys are nearly always called James in your Sundayschool books. It was strange， but still it was true， that this one was called Jim.
从前有个坏孩子，名叫吉姆——不过，如果你稍加留意，便可发现，在你的主日学校课本里，几乎所有的坏孩子都叫詹姆斯。虽说奇怪，而事实如此，这一位就叫吉姆。
He didnt have any sick mother， either—a sick mother who was piouspious adj.虔诚的， 尽责的 and had the consumption， and would be glad to lie down in the grave and be at rest but for the strong love she bore her boy， and the anxiety she felt that the world might be harshharsh adj.粗糙的， 荒芜的， 苛刻的， 刺耳的， 刺目的 and cold toward him when she was gone. Most bad boys in the Sunday books are named James， and have sick mothers， who teach them to say， “Now， I lay me down.” etc.， and sing them to sleep with sweet， plaintiveplaintive adj.悲哀的， 哀伤的 voices， and then kiss them good night， and kneel down by the bedside and weep. But it was different with this fellow. He was named Jim， and there wasnt anything the matter with his mother—no consumption， nor anything of that kind. She was rather stout than otherwise， and she was not pious， moreover， she was not anxious on Jims account. She said if he were to break his neck it wouldnt be much loss. She always spankedspank vt.打……的屁股， 拍击， 鞭策……前进， 飞跑 vi.飞跑 n.一巴掌， 出色的人(或东西) Jim to sleep， and she never kissed him good night， on the contrary， she boxed his ears when she was ready to leave him.
吉姆也没有一位生病的母亲——也就是他没有一位笃信上帝、身患肺病，倘若不是爱子情深、惟恐自己一死儿子遭人冷落，而宁愿躺进坟墓安息的母亲。然而，主日学校课本里的坏孩子大都叫詹姆斯，并且都有一位生病的母亲。她们都教自己的儿子学说“我要躺下睡觉”等等，都用温柔凄婉的歌声哄孩子入睡，与他们吻别，然后跪在床边流泪。可是，这个小家伙情况不同。他名叫吉姆，他的母亲安然无恙——没生肺病，也没有别的毛病。她不但不虚弱，而且挺健壮，也不敬重上帝，此外，她对吉姆毫无疼爱之情。她常说，即便吉姆折断脖子，对她也没有多大的损害。她总是用打屁股的办法催吉姆睡觉，从来不与他吻别，相反，她要离家的时候，还要赏他几个耳光。
Once this little bad boy stole the key of the pantrypantry n.餐具室， 食品室， and slipped in there and helped himself to some jam， and filled up the vessel with tar， so that his mother would never know the difference， but all at once a terrible feeling didnt come over him， and something didnt seem to whisperwhisper n.耳语， 私语， 密谈， 谣传， 飒飒的声音 vi.耳语，密谈， 飒飒地响 vt.低声说 to him， “Is it right to disobey my mother？ Isnt it sinful to do this？ Where do bad little boys go who gobble up their good kind mothers jam？ ” And then he didnt kneel down all alone and promise never to be wicked any more， and rise up with a light， happy heart， and go and tell his mother all about it， and beg her forgiveness， and be blessed by her with tears of pride and thankfulness in her eyes. No， that is the way with all other bad boys in the books， but it happened otherwise with this Jim， strangely enough. He ate that jam， and said it was bully， in his sinful， vulgar way， and he put in the tar， and said that was bullybully n.欺凌弱小者 vt.威吓， 威逼 also， and laughed， and observed “that the old cat would get up and snort” when she found it out. And when she did find it out， he denied knowing anything about it， and she whipped him severely， and he did the crying himself. Everything about this boy was curious—everything turned out differently with him from the way it does to the bad Jameses in the books.
一次，这个吉姆偷出厨房的钥匙，悄悄地溜进厨房，偷吃了果酱，随后又把果酱瓶子装满焦油沥青，好让他母亲看不出破绽；吉姆并没有顿生恐惧，也不觉得仿佛有什么声音悄然对他说，“不听妈妈的话对吗？这么做不是罪过吗？坏孩子们偷吞了自己善良母亲的果酱之后有什么报应呢？”吉姆也没有独自跪倒在地，保证今后不再作恶，然后轻松愉快地站起身来，对母亲告以实情，请求宽恕。而母亲则是泪流满面，满怀欣慰感激之情向他祝福。不。这是课本中其他坏孩子的情况；至于吉姆，完全是另一码事，你说怪不！吉姆偷吃了果酱，还粗俗下流地说真棒；他把焦油沥青装进果酱瓶，也说真棒，还哈哈大笑，说那老太婆发现之后，“必定会气得暴跳如雷，哼哼呀呀地说不出话来”。后来母亲果然发现了，但他矢口否认，硬说不知道，结果挨了一顿臭揍，泪流满面的竟是他自己。吉姆什么事都干得稀奇，与课本上的詹姆斯们迥然不同。
Once he climbed up in Farmer Acorns apple tree to steal apples， and the limb didnt break， and he didnt fall and break his arm， and get torn by the farmers great dog， and then languishlanguish vi.憔悴， 凋萎， 衰退， 苦思 on a sickbed for weeks， and repent and become good. Oh， no， he stole as many apples as he wanted and came down all right， and he was all ready for the dog， too， and knocked him endways with a brick when he came to tear him. It was very strange—nothing like it ever happened in those mild little books with marbledmarbled adj.大理石的 用大理石装饰或建造的 backs， and with pictures in them of men with swallowtailed coats and bellcrowned hats， and pantaloons that are short in the legs， and women with the waistswaist n.腰部， 腰， 衣服的上身部分， 背心 of their dresses under their arms， and no hoops on. Nothing like it in any of the Sundayschool books.
有一次，他爬到农场主阿科恩的苹果树上偷苹果。可是，树枝没有折断，他既没从树上跌下来摔断胳臂，也没有被农场主的大狗咬伤，尔后也没有卧床数周，闭门思过，从此变好。总之，绝没有那回事，吉姆偷够了苹果之后，安然爬下树来，对那条大狗，也早有准备，那条狗一扑过来，他一砖头扔过去，正好击中了它。说也奇怪——这类事情那些文雅的小书里从未写过，那些小书封面上都印着大理石花纹，里面画着一些身穿燕尾服和短腿的马裤、头戴响铃礼帽的男人和腋下夹着无裙环衣裳的女人。吉姆遇到的这种情况，任何一部主日学校的课本都没写过。
