"It may seem ridiculous to you," he replied in a voice rising slightly in irritation, "but that is the bank's policy and I have no other alternative but to follow the rules."
“这在你看来也许荒谬,"他回答说,愤怒中他的嗓门稍微抬高了些,“但这是银行的规定,我别无选择,只能照章办事。”
The boy had stood hopefully next to me during this exchange, but now I was just as helpless. Suddenly I noticed that the open savings book he continued to grasp showed a balance of about $100. It also showed that there had been a series of small deposits and withdrawals.
在我们的口舌交锋中,那个男孩满怀希望地站在我的旁边,但现在我也和他一样没招儿了。突然我发现,他始终抓在手中的那张翻开的存折上显示出大约有100美元的余额,同时还显示出一些小额账目的存取记录。
I had my opening.
我有机会了。
"Have you withdrawn money before by yourself?" I asked the boy.
“以前你自己取过钱吗? ”我问那个男孩。
"Yes," he said.
“取过。”他说。
I moved in for the kill.
我抛出了杀手锏。
"How do you explain that?" I zeroed in on the officer. "Why did you let him withdraw money before, but not now?"
“你对此怎么解释?”我把矛头直接对准了那个职员,“为什么以前你让他取钱,而现在不行了呢?”
He looked annoyed. "Because the tellers were not aware of his age before and now they are. It's really very simple."
他看起来被惹恼了。"因为以前出纳员没有意识到他的年龄,现在他们意识到了,就这么简单。”
I turned to the boy with a shrug. "You're really getting cheated," I said. "You ought to get your parents to come in here and protest."
我耸了耸肩转向那个男孩。“你真的上当了,”我说,“你一定要让你父母到这儿来抗议。”
The boy looked destroyed. Silently, he put his savings book in a rear-pocket and walked out of the bank.
那个男孩看来是被击垮了。一言不发地将存折放入后裤兜里,走出了银行。
The officer turned to me. "You know," he said, "you really shouldn't have interfered."
那位职员转过来对我说:“你看,你真的不该干涉。”