A Kid and a Thief

By Huo Huo

Translation by Yu Lan

A Kid and a Thief

By Huo Huo

Translation by Yu Lan

A thief pried off the bars on a window while sneaking in a house. He turned on his flashlight and glanced around the room. Then, he walked to a closet. Suddenly, he noticed a note stuck on the closet with crooked handwriting on it:

“Mr. Thief,” the thief read the words with the light of the flashlight. “I’ve watched on TV and also heard from my parents that there are lots of cases of theft in this area recently. I think you might come to this house one day. I want to make a request: please do not take my plush bear. I’m sick right now and the bear is my only friend because I cannot go outside to play with other kids. There is a change jar in the second drawer on the right. I keep some gift money in it. You can have it if you like. Louis.”

After reading the note, the thief’s eyes filled with tears. He opened the second drawer carefully and reached for the jar. He cried again. However, this time, he cried in pain. A mousetrap clamped his hand tightly. At the same time, the light and alarm turned on.♦

(From The First Bucket of Gold, Jilin Publishing Group)

一个小偷撬开窗户，潜入房间，用手电筒向地上扫了一下，向一个衣柜走去，忽然看见衣柜上面贴着一张字条，字迹歪歪扭扭，是小孩写的：

“小偷先生，”小偷借助手电光，看着字条上的字，“我看了电视新闻节目，又听爸爸、妈妈说过，近来本市这个地区发生了许多偷盗事件，您很可能会在某个晚上光临我们家。我想请您千万别拿走我的长绒毛小熊，我在生病，它是日夜陪伴我的小伙伴，因为我既不能去公园，也不能上街跟其他小朋友一块玩。右边第二个抽屉有我的储钱罐，罐里一直存放着别人给我的礼物钱。如果您喜欢，就把它拿去吧。小路易斯。”

看完字条，小偷的双眼被泪水湿透了。他小心翼翼地打开右边第二个抽屉，把手伸进去寻找钱罐……他再次哭了，不过这次哭是一阵剧痛引起的：一个弹簧捕鼠器狠狠夹住了他的手指。这时，灯自动亮了，报警器也响了。♦

（摘自《第一桶金》吉林人民出版社）

小孩与小偷

文/火火 译/于兰