Bad Secrets1 不好的秘密

向红选译

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！”数学老师克拉克先生在他背后喊道。“留校！”他大喊，但是彼得没有停下来，他经常这样走出教室。

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.

玛利亚又一次没有穿运动服上课，这已经是本学期第二次了。“我忘记了。”她跟老师说，但这并不是实情。

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

“玛利亚，怎么回事？”当学校打电话给她妈妈后，妈妈问她，“我今天早上把干净的运动服放到你床上了。”

“Nothing， Mum，” said Maria very quietly.

“没事，妈妈。”玛利亚小声说道。

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

“看着我，说清楚点。”她妈妈生气了，说道。

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.

玛利亚并没有抬起头来，她不想再回答任何问题了。她不想妈妈知道她的裙子和运动鞋都去哪儿了。

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

“那好吧，如果你不告诉我，我就帮不了你了。”

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，彼得和玛利亚站在校长办公室外面。彼得生气地看着墙，玛利亚知道为什么他会站在这里，因为当时彼得使劲踢桌子，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对话情景。

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

修斯校长说：“你为什么那样做？桌子很贵的！”

Peter： “Sorry. I get angry sometimes.”

彼得说：“对不起，有时我会很生气。”

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？”

修斯校长说：“你应该跟你的班主任说对不起，而不是我。而且你要赔偿桌子的钱。下次再也别这样做了，好吗？”

“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.

钱和道歉对于我来说都没用，玛利亚心里想。她妈妈这次来学校是因为体育老师很不高兴。

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.

彼得走进校长办公室。她听不到他们的对话，所以他们应该没有争吵。可能彼得此时正在道歉。几分钟之后，彼得离开了，他没有看她一眼，因为他此时还在生气。

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.

玛利亚已经18分钟没有说话了。修斯校长和妈妈问她问题的时候，她都保持着沉默。过了一会儿，他们就都不问了。但是这都不是大问题，她能感觉到手机在包里面震动。她知道是谁打过来的。后来，她又不得不回答这些问题，她去哪了？她穿的是新裙子吗？留校并没有帮到她。

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.

彼得和玛利亚是周一唯一留校的两个人，周二也一样。他们周一时都没有看彼此，但是周二就不一样了。周三，当他们来的时候，彼得说了一声“你好”，走的时候玛利亚说了一声“明天见”。那一刻，他们都笑了。

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，當彼得把书包从头顶举过的时候，她看到彼得的腹部有一些擦伤。彼得发现她在看他，她马上扭头看向别处。他把衣服拉下来，脸都红了。那天他们没有说话，但是玛利亚觉得这就好像一段对话一样。

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.

彼得也有害怕的人吗？玛利亚问自己。他们会让他保守秘密吗？她知道那种感觉，很不好。他们会让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.

周五的时候，她决定不再把手机静音了。她想让留校的老师看到那些短信，或许一切都会停止。但是，手机并没有响。她还记得她和妈妈的对话，“如果你不告诉我，我就帮不了你了。”她觉得是时候开口，向人寻求帮助了。

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

她什么也没说，但是她希望彼得能看到她的手臂，听到这个沉默的问题：“你也一样吗？”

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.

玛利亚不知道彼得看到她的手臂时会怎么想。那天留校他一个字也没说就走了。那天晚上，她走进厨房，准备和妈妈说这件事。

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

她不知道该怎么开口，“妈妈？”她说。

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

她妈妈正在洗准备烹饪的蔬菜，“嗯？”

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

“学校有个男孩……”玛利亚停了一下，“我看见了一些事情。”

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

“看到什么了？”她的话引起了妈妈的注意。

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

“是他不想让我看见的事情，一个秘密。”

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

“什么样的秘密？”妈妈谨慎地问道。

“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？”

“一个不好的秘密，比如我觉得有人正在伤害他。”玛利亚说，“但是如果你告诉别人，别人都会觉得是你的错，怎么办？如果这个人很生气你告诉了别人，怎么办？”

“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别人了，就不是不好的了。”她妈妈说，“这个男孩一定要把这件事告诉别人，但是他得告诉一个对的人，一个不会把错怪在他身上的人，一个可以帮助他的人。”

“Who is the right person？” asked Maria.

“那个人是谁呢？”玛利亚问。

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

“一个成年人，”妈妈说，“一个他信赖的人。”

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...”

玛利亚深吸一口气，从包里把手机拿出来，看着那条短信。她还是不知道从哪里说起，最终她说道：“妈妈，我有些事情得告诉你……”

（英语原文选自：learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org）