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“Oh, I’ll get it!” Dick promised.
迪克承诺道，“我一定会筹到钱的！”
And straightway he set about the task of earning a fortune—six dollars.
他立刻开始了自己赚取六美元的财富的任务。
Six dollars seems a small amount, but to a boy of Dick’s age it is wealth. What could he do? He could cut lawns and carry coal and empty ashes and work the pump in his mother’s kitchen, and that was about all.He found a surprising number of neighbors willing to let him cut their grass “for fifteen cents.”His mother discovered Dick’s new desire for money, and, after watching him for a few days, she decided to encourage him.
六美元似乎是一个小数目，但对于迪克这个年纪的孩子来说，这是一笔财富。他能做些什么？他可以修剪草坪、运煤、倒灰，在妈妈的厨房里抽水，仅此而已。他发现有很多邻居愿意让他割草，并“支付15美分。”迪克的母亲发现他对钱的新需求，在观察了他几天后，她决定要去鼓励迪克。
“Dick,” she said one day, “I think you ought to have a chance to earn money regularly, don’t you? I believe I will put you on a salary.”
“迪克，”有一天她说，“我认为你应该有一个定期挣钱的机会，不是吗？我相信我会给你发工资的。”
“Salary?” he repeated in surprise.
“工资？”他惊讶地重复道。
“Yes, salary. I think I’ll pay you twenty-five cents a week for your chores around the house, and, say, a cent a hundred strokes for the pumping you do at the kitchen pump to fill the water tank in the attic.”
“是的，工资。你在家里做家务，我会每周付给你25美分，你在厨房的水泵上抽水，把阁楼的水箱装满，每抽一百次水，我给你一分钱。”
She watched him, and Dick’s eyes grew bright; then his face lighted eagerly.
她看着他，迪克的眼睛变得明亮起来，然后他的脸上露出热切的光芒。
“All right，” he said soberly. “I—guess that’d be fine.”
“好吧，”他冷静地说。“我想那没关系。”
The tank in the Harts’ attic needed to be filled about three times a week so that the family might have enough water for all its needs. That meant about forty-five hundred strokes at the pump in the kitchen—forty-five cents a week besides the quarter for chores. Seventy cents a week! Riches! He would have the six dollars, he decided, by the third week in November—by Thanksgiving!
哈特家阁楼里的水罐每周需要加满三次，这样全家就可以有足够的水来满足所有的需要。这意味着除了家务费外，每周在厨房的抽水机抽4500次水，能够赚45美分。一星期七毛钱！太富有了！他决定，到11月的第三个星期感恩节，他就能赚够这六美元了！
