“What you don't learn from your mother, you learn from the world” is a saying I once heard from the Masai tribe in Kenya. By the fall of 1960, my world was expanding and so were my political sensibilities. John E Kennedy won the presidential election, to my father's consternation. He supported Vice President Richard M. Nixon, and my eighthgrade social studies teacher, Mr. Kenvin, did too. Mr. Kenvin came to school the day after the election and showed us bruises3 he claimed he had gotten when he tried to question the activities of the Democratic machine's poll watchers at his voting precinct in Chicago on Election Day. Betsy Johnson and I were outraged by his stories, which reinforced my father's belief that Mayor Richard J. Daley's creative vote counting had won the election for President-Elect Kennedy.
“母亲没教的，世界会教给你。”这是肯尼亚马萨伊部落的谚语。1960年秋，我的世界逐渐扩大，政治嗅觉也比以往敏锐。肯尼迪当选总统，令支持尼克松的父亲大为惊恐，我八年级的社会课老师凯文也是如此。选举的第二天，凯文先生到学校后露出身上的淤斑给我们看，说他在芝加哥的选区投票所因为质疑民主党籍监票员的行为被打。贝琪和我听了义愤填膺，这也让我对父亲的说法深信不疑。父亲认为芝加哥市长理查德·戴利发明的计票方法为肯尼迪赢得了总统宝座。
A few days later, Betsy heard about a group of Republicans asking for volunteers to check voter lists against addresses to uncover vote fraud. Betsy and I decided to participate.We knew our parents would never give us permission, so we didn't ask. The turnout must have been less than expected. We were each handed a stack of voter registration lists and assigned to different teams who, we were told, would drive us to our destinations, drop us off and pick us up a few hours later.
数日后，贝琪听说一群共和党人正在招募志愿人员，以核对选民名册与居住地址，希望揭露选举舞弊。我和贝琪决定加入。我们知道父母绝对不会同意，所以没有跟他们讲。参加的人数显然低于预期，因此我和贝琪各拿到一大堆选民名册。我们俩被分配到不同的小组，由各组负责送我们到目的地，数小时后再接回来。
Betsy and I separated and went off with total strangers. I ended up with a couple who drove me to the South Side, dropped me off in a poor neighborhood and told me to knock on doors and ask people their names so I could compare them with registration lists to find evidence to overturn the election. Off I went, fearless and stupid. I did find a vacant lot that was listed as the address for about a dozen alleged voters. I woke up a lot of people who stumbled to the door or yelled at me to go away.
贝琪和我分别后，就跟完全不认识的人出发了。我和一对夫妇同组，他们载我到南城，要我负责一个落后街区的核对工作，指示我先敲门，询问住户的姓名，查核是否和选民名册相符，以便找出能推翻选举结果的证据。我就这么走进社区，一副天不怕地不怕的愚蠢相。我的确发现了一座空房子，却登记了十多位选民。我搅了不少人的清梦，他们跌跌撞撞走到门口，开了门对我咆哮，叫我滚蛋。
When I finished, I stood on the corner waiting to be picked up, happy that I'd ferreted out proof of my father's contention that “Daley stole the election for Kennedy”unquot.
事情做完后，我站在街角等着车子带我回去，我很兴奋，因为我为父亲的“戴利帮肯尼迪偷到了总统”的说法找到了证据。
Of course, when I returned home and told my father where I had been, he went nuts. It was bad enough to go downtown without an adult, but to go to the South Side alone sent him into a yelling fit. And besides, he said, Kennedy was going to be President whether we liked it or not.
当然，回到家告诉父亲我的所作所为后，他狠狠地骂了我一顿。没有大人带着就自己跑到市区已是犯了大错，更糟的是还孤身一人跑到南城，这让他气得暴跳如雷。他说，无论我们接不接受，肯尼迪已当定了总统。
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