警察与走丢的孩子

As a rookie in the Atlantic City, N.J., Policedepartment, I was assigned a beat on the boardwalk.Hardly a day went by when I didn't come upon a childwho had become separated from his parents.

我是新泽西州大西洋城警察局的一名新警察，刚刚上任。我的任务是海滨木栈道巡逻，几乎每天我都能碰上与父母走散的孩子。

One afternoon, I spotted a small boy standing alone,obviously lost. I tried to gain his confidence—I tookhim to the nearest ice-cream stand and bought him a cone. Time passed with no sign of theboy's parents, so the next step was to call for a patrol car to take him to headquarters. I toldthe small fry to stay put while I went to the call box. When I returned, he was nowhere in sight.

一天下午，我发现一个小孩独自站在那里，显然是迷了路。我先是尽量取得他的信任——我带他到最近的冰淇淋摊给他买了一个圆筒。过了一段时间，也没看见他父母的影子，所以我就准备打电话叫辆巡逻车将他送回总部去。我告诉小家伙呆在那里别动，我去电话亭打电话。可是我回来后，却发现他没了踪影。

Within minutes, the car arrived, and one of the patrolmen asked me where the child was. I feltstupid; it's humiliating to say you've lost a lost child. But I told the officers what had happenedand gave a description of the boy. "What did you treat him?" asked one of the men.

几分钟后，警车来了。一名巡警问我小孩在哪里。我感觉自己真傻，要是自己弄丢了一个迷路的小孩，该多丢人啊!但我还是告诉了警察们所发生的一切，并描述了一下小孩的长相。“你请他吃了什么?”一名警察问。

"An ice-cream cone. Why?"

“一个冰淇淋圆筒。怎么啦?”

"Because," answered the officer, "that kid lives only a few blocks from here, and you've aboutthe fifth rookie he's conned for a treat!"

“因为，”那名警察说，“那个小孩的家离这里只隔几个街区。你大概是第五个帮他买东西吃的傻瓜啦!”