Chapter 4

CHAPTER four Leo had no idea how much time passed. And then a voice calling his name woke him from his daze. Papa? "Leo! Leo Ross! Where are you?" Leo groaned to himself. Morris. Why did that kid constantly pester him? From the first day they'd met, Morris had acted like they were long lost brothers. They both lived in the same boardinghouse, Leo by himself in a tiny basement room, Morris upstairs with his uncle, a sweaty man with a huge stomach who yelled at the little girls when they played dolls on the boardinghouse steps. Every day when Leo got home, Morris was waiting for him at the front door. The kid worked at a grocery, but he spent

里奥不知道时间过了多久。 然后一个叫他名字的声音把他从迷糊中唤醒。 爸爸?“利奥!狮子座罗斯!你在哪儿?”利奥自言自语地呻吟着。 莫里斯。那孩子为什么老是缠着他? 从他们认识的第一天起，莫里斯就表现得像失散多年的兄弟。 他们俩住在同一间寄宿公寓里，里奥一个人住在一个很小的地下室里，莫里斯和他的叔叔在楼上。他的叔叔是个大肚子、大汗淋漓的男人，当小女孩们在寄宿公寓的台阶上玩洋娃娃时，他就对她们大吼大叫。 每天利奥回家时，莫里斯都在前门等他。 这孩子在杂货店工作，但他花了

every spare second at the public library. He always had some new fact to share with Leo. "Leo, you know that rat that lives under the front steps? Did you know its Latin name is Rattus rattus?" "Leo, did you know that this neighborhood used to be a swamp? They filled it in with garbage and old wood and then built these buildings." "Leo, did you know that the San Francisco library has a million books?" In Leo's heart, he knew that Morris just wanted to be pals. But Leo didn't need any friends. He especially didn't need a friend like Morris, a skinny twerp who didn't know when to shut up. A kid like that wouldn't do Leo any good. What had Leo been thinking when he showed Morris his gold? He thought back to that night a few weeks ago, when Leo had seen Morris sitting alone on the steps of the cigar store near their boardinghouse. At first Leo figured he could sneak by and escape Morris for one day. But something was wrong with the kid. And Leo just couldn't walk by without seeing what it was.

利用公共图书馆的每一秒空闲时间。 他总是有一些新的事实要和里奥分享。 “利奥，你知道住在前门台阶下的那只老鼠吗?” 你知道它的拉丁名字是Rattus Rattus吗?”“里奥，你知道这个社区以前是一片沼泽吗?” 他们把垃圾和旧木头填在里面，然后建了这些房子。” “里奥，你知道旧金山图书馆有一百万本书吗?”在里奥的心里，他知道莫里斯只是想和他做朋友。 但是里奥不需要任何朋友。 他尤其不需要莫里斯这样的朋友，一个不知道什么时候该闭嘴的瘦骨嶙峋的笨蛋。 这样的孩子对里奥没有任何好处。 里奥给莫里斯看他的金子时在想什么? 他回想起几个星期前的那个晚上，利奥看见莫里斯独自坐在他们寄宿公寓附近雪茄店的台阶上。 起初，里奥认为他可以偷偷溜过去，从莫里斯身边逃过一天。 但那孩子有点不对劲。 而里奥只是路过，看不到那是什么。

It took Leo some time to get Morris to spit out what was wrong — that his uncle was hardly ever home, that he gambled all of his money away, including the few dimes a day Morris earned at the market. "I have to get out of here," Morris said. "My ma has cousins in New York City. I met them once. You'd love them, Leo! They're both teachers. They said I could go to their school. They always said I was welcome there anytime." "Why don't you just go?" Leo said. Then finally Leo could live in peace! "How?" Morris said. "I don't have the money to get on a train. My uncle just laughs when I mention it. I'm trapped here." There was no cheering Morris up — until Leo reached into his pocket and took out his gold. He handed it to Morris, like Papa used to hand it to him. Morris's eyes almost popped out of his head. Leo told him about Grandpop, and how people laughed when he used to talk about one day crossing the wild country by himself. Of course

利奥花了一些时间才让莫里斯说出了问题所在——他的叔叔几乎不在家，他把所有的钱都赌光了，包括莫里斯每天在市场上挣的几毛钱。 “我必须离开这里，”莫里斯说。 “我妈妈在纽约有表兄妹。 我见过他们一次。你会喜欢的，里奥!他们都是老师。 他们说我可以去他们的学校。 他们总是说随时欢迎我。” “你为什么不走呢?”利奥说。 这样里奥终于可以平静地生活了!“如何?”莫里斯说。 “我没钱坐火车。 我一提起这件事，我叔叔就笑。 我被困在这里了。”莫里斯没有高兴起来——直到利奥把手伸进口袋，拿出了他的金币。 他把它递给莫里斯，就像爸爸以前递给他一样。 莫里斯的眼睛几乎要跳出来了。 利奥告诉他关于爷爷的事，以及当他谈到有一天独自穿越荒野时人们是如何地大笑。 当然

Leo knew that Morris was nothing like Grandpop. But the story worked like a charm. What was Morris doing out on the streets looking for him now? Couldn't he mind his own business for one day? Morris was the reason he'd just lost his gold to Fletch and Wilkie, the reason he was lying bleeding in the alley. Morris was the last person Leo wanted to see. Leo kept quiet, hoping that Morris would move along. But no, Morris kept at it. And suddenly there he was, crouched down next to Leo. "I've been looking everywhere for you," he said. "I knew something must have happened!" Morris took out a handkerchief and started wiping the caked blood from Leo's face. "Whoever did this to you," Morris fumed, "I swear I'll get them!" Leo would have laughed, but his jaw was too sore. "It was Fletch Sikes and Wilkie Barnes," Leo mumbled. "They stole my gold." Morris gasped.

里奥知道莫里斯一点也不像爷爷。 但这个故事却很有吸引力。 莫里斯现在在街上找他做什么? 他就不能少管闲事一天吗? 莫里斯是他的金子输给弗莱彻和威尔基的原因，也是他躺在巷子里流血的原因。 莫里斯是里奥最不想见到的人。 利奥保持沉默，希望莫里斯能离开。 但是没有，莫里斯坚持了下来。 突然他就在那里，蹲在里奥旁边。 “我一直在到处找你，”他说。 “我就知道一定发生了什么事!”莫里斯拿出一块手帕，开始擦去利奥脸上结块的血迹。 “不管是谁对你干的，”莫里斯生气地说，“我发誓我会抓到他们的!”利奥本想笑，但他的下巴太酸了。 “是弗莱彻·赛克斯和威尔基·巴恩斯，”里奥咕哝道。 “他们偷了我的金子。”莫里斯气喘吁吁地说。

"You were the only person who knew about it," Leo added. "I didn't tell Fletch Sikes about your gold!" Morris said. "But you told someone, right?" Leo said. Morris's shoulders slumped. "I might have mentioned it to some kids at the market," he said. "It was such a great story, and I… well, it really got their attention." Leo shook his head. The kid was so desperate for friends he'd spilled Leo's most important secret. He should clobber him. But no person could look sorrier than Morris looked now. Leo sighed. Being mad at Morris wasn't going to get his gold back. He let Morris help him stand up. Together they made their way back to the boardinghouse. Morris jabbered the entire way. "I'm going to help you get that gold back," he said, as they stepped through the front door. "It will be sold by tomorrow," Leo said. Morris frowned. "I know," Morris said. "That's why we need to get it back tonight."

“你是唯一知道这件事的人，”里奥补充说。 “我没有告诉弗莱契·赛克斯你的金子!”莫里斯说。 “但是你告诉别人了，对吗?”利奥说。 莫里斯的肩膀耷拉下来。 “我可能在市场上跟一些孩子提过这件事，”他说。 “这是一个很棒的故事，我……嗯，这真的引起了他们的注意。” 利奥摇了摇头。这孩子太想找朋友了，把里奥最重要的秘密都说出去了。 他应该痛打他一顿。但现在没有人比莫里斯看起来更难过了。 狮子座叹了口气。对莫里斯生气是拿不回他的金子的。 他让莫里斯帮他站起来。 他们一起回到了寄宿公寓。 莫里斯一路上叽叽喳喳地说个不停。 “我要帮你把金子找回来，”当他们走出前门时，他说。 “明天就能卖出去，”利奥说。 莫里斯皱起了眉头。“我知道，”莫里斯说。 “这就是为什么我们今晚要把它拿回来。”

"We?" Leo said. Now he had to laugh. Morris really thought he stood a chance next to Fletch and Wilkie? "Of course they won't just give it back," Morris said, ignoring Leo's question. "We have to trick them somehow." Leo looked at Morris. And right then Morris didn't look like such a skinny little twerp. There was a look on his face — a thoughtful and stubborn kind of look — that reminded Leo of the way President Roosevelt appeared on the front page of today's paper. The only thing missing was the bushy mustache. But what did Morris really know about the world? There were no books in the library about kids like Fletch and Wilkie. Leo thanked Morris. And before Morris could say another word, Leo hurried down to his tiny basement room, slamming the door behind him.

“我们?”利奥说。现在他不得不笑了。 莫里斯真的认为他能和弗莱彻和威尔基比肩吗? “他们当然不会就这么还给你的，”莫里斯说，没有理会利奥的问题。 “我们必须想办法骗过他们。” 利奥看着莫里斯。那时莫里斯看起来不像个瘦骨嶙峋的小笨蛋。 他脸上的表情——一种若有所思而又固执的表情——让里奥想起了罗斯福总统出现在今天报纸头版上的样子。 唯一缺少的就是浓密的胡子。 但是莫里斯对这个世界到底了解多少呢? 图书馆里没有关于弗莱彻和威尔基这样的孩子的书。 里奥感谢莫里斯。莫里斯还没来得及说一句话，利奥就急匆匆地走到他那间狭小的地下室，砰地一声关上门。