IT WAS A YEAR AFTER WORLD WAR II ended, and I was part of the 1)Occupation Army in 2)Okinawa. For the past few months, there had been several robberies in our base's yard area. Window screens had been cut, items in my 3)shack had disappearedbut strangely, the thief had taken nothing more than candy and little 4)doodads, nothing of real value. On one occasion, I had seen dried-mud prints of bare feet on the floor and wooden table. They were tiny and seemed to belong to a child. It was known that small bands of orphaned kids roamed the island in packs, living off whatever they could find, taking anything that was not 5)bolted down.
二战后第一年，我在美国驻冲绳岛的军队中服役。在那几个月里，我们的基地发生了几桩偷窃事件。窗纱被人剪破了，小棚屋里有些东西不见了，但奇怪的是被偷的只是些糖果，小玩意儿什么的，都是些不值钱的东西。有一次，我在地板上和木桌上发现了一些干了的脚丫子的泥印。那些脚印很小，应该是小孩子留下的。大家都知道有一帮孤儿成群结队地在岛上溜达，靠着他们所能找到的任何东西来维持生计，只要是没上锁的东西都会被他们拿走。
But then my prized Waterman fountain pen disappeared. And that was going too far.
One morning, we picked up a man from the prisoner compound. He was assigned to work duty. I had seen him several times before. He was quiet, he was handsome, he stood erect, he listened 6)attentively. Looking at him, I imagined that whatever his rank in the Japanese army had been (possibly an officer), he had performed his duties well. And now, suddenly, there was my Waterman pen, clipped to the pocket of this 7)dignified Japanese man.
但之后，我那支珍贵的华特曼自来水笔不见了。这可不得了。
一天早上，我们在监狱区碰到了一个男子，他被派去劳动。我以前见过他几次的。他不怎么吭声，但人长得挺帅，身材笔挺，别人跟他讲话的时候，他都很留心地听着。我想，像他这样的人不管他在日本军队里是什么头衔（可能是个军官吧），他肯定会做得非常出色。但现在，刹那间，我却发现了我那支华特曼笔，竟然别在这样一位自尊的日本军人的衣袋上。
I couldn't believe that he would steal. I was usually a good judge of character, and this man had impressed me as reliable. But I must have been wrong this time. After all, he had my pen, and he had been working in our area for several days. I decided to act on my suspicions and ignore the compassion I felt for him. I pointed to the pen and held out my hand.
He drew back, surprised.
我简直无法相信他会偷东西。我向来看人都很准，我曾以为这人是很可靠的，但这一次我肯定是看走眼了。不管怎么说，我的笔竟然落在他手上，而且他还在我们这里工作了几天。尽管我很同情他，但我还是决定要将我的怀疑付诸于行动。我指了指那支笔，然后伸出手来。
他惊愕地后退了一步。
I touched it, and again asked him, by gesture, to hand it over. He shook his head. He seemed slightly afraidand totally sincere as well. But I wasn't going to let myself be 8)scammed. I put on an angry face and insisted.
我已经碰到那支笔了，我再一次用动作示意让他把笔还给我。他摇了摇头，好像有点害怕而且流露出一副很无辜的样子。但我是不会被他蒙骗的，我显出一副生气的样子，坚持要他把钢笔给我。
Finally, he gave it to me, but with great sadness and disappointment. After all, what can a prisoner do if a representative of the conquering army gives him an order? Punishments had been 9)meted out for refusing to obey, and he must have 10)had his fill of that kind of thing.
He didn't come back the next morning, and I never saw him again.
最终，他很不舍得地，很不情愿地把笔给了我。毕竟，对于一个征服了自己国家的军官所下达的命令，一个战犯除了服从，还能怎样呢？如果不服从，他就会受到惩罚，而且他早以习惯于这种逆来顺受的事情了
第二天早上，他没有回来，打那以后，我再没看到他了。
Three weeks later, I found my pen in my room. I was horrified by the 11)atrocity I had committed. I knew the hurt of being victimizedof being unjustly 12)outranked, of watching a trust killed in cold blood. I wondered how I could have made such a mistake. Both pens were green with gold stripes, but on one the stripes were horizontal; on the other, they were vertical. To make matters worse, I knew how much more difficult it must have been for this man to come by one of these prized American 13)artifacts than if had been for me.
三个星期以后，我竟在自己的房间里找到了我的那支钢笔。我对自己的恶行感到震惊。我深知那种被人冤枉的感觉，那种被上层欺压的感觉，还有那种信任被无情地扼杀所造成的伤害。我真不明白我怎么会犯这样一种错误。两支钢笔都是绿色的并嵌有金色的条纹，不过其中一支的条纹是横的，而另外一支，是竖的。而更糟的是，我知道相对我而言，那个人想要弄到这样一支珍贵的美国古董笔想必是很不容易的。
Now, fifty years later, I don't have either one of those pens. But I wish I could find the man, so that I could apologize to him.
五十年过去了，那两支钢笔都已经不知到哪去了。但我真心希望能够找到那个人，我要向他道歉。
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