Bad Secrets1　不好的秘密

向紅選譯

Peter kicked2 his desk and walked out of the classroom.

彼得踢了一下桌子，然后走出了教室。

“Hey！” shouted Mr. Clark， the maths teacher， to Peters back. “Detention3！” he called， but Peter didnt stop. Peter often walked out of class.

“嘿！”數學老師克拉克先生在他背后喊道。“留校！”他大喊，但是彼得沒有停下來，他經常這樣走出教室。

Maria didnt have her sports clothes for class again. It was the second time this term. “I forgot it，” she told the teacher. But it wasnt real.

瑪利亞又一次沒有穿運動服上課，這已經是本學期第二次了。“我忘記了。”她跟老師說，但這并不是實情。

“Whats wrong， Maria？” asked her mother when school called her. “I put your clean sports clothes on your bed this morning.”

“瑪利亞，怎么回事？”當學校打電話給她媽媽后，媽媽問她，“我今天早上把干凈的運動服放到你床上了。”

“Nothing， Mum，” said Maria very quietly.

“沒事，媽媽。”瑪利亞小聲說道。

“Look at me and speak clearly，” said her mother， angry4.

“看著我，說清楚點。”她媽媽生氣了，說道。

Maria didnt look up. She didnt want to answer any questions. She didnt want her mum to find the dress or the sport shoes either.

瑪利亞并沒有抬起頭來，她不想再回答任何問題了。她不想媽媽知道她的裙子和運動鞋都去哪兒了。

“Fine. But if you dont tell me， I cant help you.”

“那好吧，如果你不告訴我，我就幫不了你了。”

A week later， Peter and Maria were outside the school heads office. Peter was looking at the wall angrily. She knew why he was here. Because she saw him kick his desk so hard that it broke.

一周之后，彼得和瑪利亞站在校長辦公室外面。彼得生氣地看著墻，瑪利亞知道為什么他會站在這里，因為當時彼得使勁踢桌子，把桌子踢垮了。

She imagined5 the conversation6 between Peter and the head.

她想象了一下彼得和校長的對話情景。

The Head Hughes： “Why did you do that？ Desks are expensive！”

修斯校長說：“你為什么那樣做？桌子很貴的！”

Peter： “Sorry. I get angry sometimes.”

彼得說：“對不起，有時我會很生氣。”

The Head Hughes：“You should say sorry to your teacher， not to me. And you can pay for the desk. Dont do it again， OK？”

修斯校長說：“你應該跟你的班主任說對不起，而不是我。而且你要賠償桌子的錢。下次再也別這樣做了，好嗎？”

“Okay.”

“好的。”

Money and “Im sorry” wont work for me， Maria thought. Her mother was coming to school because the PE teacher wasnt happy.

錢和道歉對于我來說都沒用，瑪利亞心里想。她媽媽這次來學校是因為體育老師很不高興。

Peter went into the heads office. She couldnt hear any of their conversation so they werent shouting. Peter may say sorry now. After a few minutes， Peter left. He didnt look at her. He was still angry.

彼得走進校長辦公室。她聽不到他們的對話，所以他們應該沒有爭吵。可能彼得此時正在道歉。幾分鐘之后，彼得離開了，他沒有看她一眼，因為他此時還在生氣。

Maria didnt speak for 18 minutes. When her mother or the head teacher Hughes asked a question， she stayed silent. They stopped asking after a while. But that wasnt the real problem. She could feel her phone vibrating7 inside her bag. She knew who it was. Later she would have to answer the questions. Where had she been？ Was she wearing her new dress？ And detention didnt really help her.

瑪利亞已經18分鐘沒有說話了。修斯校長和媽媽問她問題的時候，她都保持著沉默。過了一會兒，他們就都不問了。但是這都不是大問題，她能感覺到手機在包里面震動。她知道是誰打過來的。后來，她又不得不回答這些問題，她去哪了？她穿的是新裙子嗎？留校并沒有幫到她。

Peter and Maria were the only two people in detention on Monday. They were the only two on Tuesday too. They didnt look at each other on Monday， but they did on Tuesday. On Wednesday， Peter said “Hello” when they arrived and Maria said “See you tomorrow” when they left. They both smiled8 at that.

彼得和瑪利亞是周一唯一留校的兩個人，周二也一樣。他們周一時都沒有看彼此，但是周二就不一樣了。周三，當他們來的時候，彼得說了一聲“你好”，走的時候瑪利亞說了一聲“明天見”。那一刻，他們都笑了。

On Thursday， Maria saw bruises9 on Peters stomach when he pulled10 his schoolbag over his head. He saw her looking. She looked away. He pulled his shirt back down and his face went pink. They didnt speak that day， but Maria felt it was like a conversation.

周四那天，當彼得把書包從頭頂舉過的時候，她看到彼得的腹部有一些擦傷。彼得發現她在看他，她馬上扭頭看向別處。他把衣服拉下來，臉都紅了。那天他們沒有說話，但是瑪利亞覺得這就好像一段對話一樣。

Does Peter have someone hes afraid of？ Maria asked herself. Do they ask him to keep secrets？ She knew how it felt. She knew the bad feeling. They could make you do things that you didnt really want to do.

彼得也有害怕的人嗎？瑪利亞問自己。他們會讓他保守秘密嗎？她知道那種感覺，很不好。他們會讓你做你不想做的事情。

On Friday， she decided11 not to put her phone on silent mode12. She wanted the detention teacher to see the messages now. Maybe that would make it all stop. But the phone didnt make a sound. She remembered the conversation with her mother：“If you dont tell me， I cant help you.” It was time to start talking. It was time to get help.

周五的時候，她決定不再把手機靜音了。她想讓留校的老師看到那些短信，或許一切都會停止。但是，手機并沒有響。她還記得她和媽媽的對話，“如果你不告訴我，我就幫不了你了。”她覺得是時候開口，向人尋求幫助了。

She didnt say anything， but she wished Peter would see her arms and hear the silent question， “You too？”

她什么也沒說，但是她希望彼得能看到她的手臂，聽到這個沉默的問題：“你也一樣嗎？”

Maria didnt know what Peter thought when he saw her arms. He left without a word on that detention day. That night she went to talk to her mother in the kitchen.

瑪利亞不知道彼得看到她的手臂時會怎么想。那天留校他一個字也沒說就走了。那天晚上，她走進廚房，準備和媽媽說這件事。

She didnt know how to start. “Mum？” she said.

她不知道該怎么開口，“媽媽？”她說。

Her mother went on with the vegetables she was going to cook. “Mmmm？”

她媽媽正在洗準備烹飪的蔬菜，“嗯？”

“Theres a boy at school and...” Maria stopped， “I saw something.”

“學校有個男孩……”瑪利亞停了一下，“我看見了一些事情。”

“Saw what？” she had her mothers attention13 now.

“看到什么了？”她的話引起了媽媽的注意。

“Something he didnt want me to see. A secret.”

“是他不想讓我看見的事情，一個秘密。”

“What kind of secret？” her mother said carefully14.

“什么樣的秘密？”媽媽謹慎地問道。

“A bad secret—like I think someone is hurting15 him，” Maria said. “But what if you tell someone and everyone thinks its your fault16？ And what if the person is angry that you told someone？”

“一個不好的秘密，比如我覺得有人正在傷害他。”瑪利亞說，“但是如果你告訴別人，別人都會覺得是你的錯，怎么辦？如果這個人很生氣你告訴了別人，怎么辦？”

“Bad secrets are only bad until you tell someone，” her mother said. “This boy needs to tell someone. But he has to tell the right person. A person who isnt going to say its his fault， whos going to help.”

“不好的秘密如果告訴別人了，就不是不好的了。”她媽媽說，“這個男孩一定要把這件事告訴別人，但是他得告訴一個對的人，一個不會把錯怪在他身上的人，一個可以幫助他的人。”

“Who is the right person？” asked Maria.

“那個人是誰呢？”瑪利亞問。

“An adult17，” said her mother. “One he trusts18.”

“一個成年人，”媽媽說，“一個他信賴的人。”

Maria took a deep breath. She took her phone out of her bag and read the messages. The first word still wouldnt come. “Mum，” she said at last， “I have to tell you something...”

瑪利亞深吸一口氣，從包里把手機拿出來，看著那條短信。她還是不知道從哪里說起，最終她說道：“媽媽，我有些事情得告訴你……”

（英語原文選自：learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org）