Asking for trouble
原文
Why did the policeman ask the writer to come to the police station?
It must have been about two in the morning when I returned home.
I tried to wake up my wife by ringing the doorbell,
but she was fast asleep,
so I got a ladder from the shed in the garden, put it against the wall,
and began climbing towards the bedroom window.
I was almost there when a sarcastic voice below said.
'I don't think the windows need cleaning at this time of the night.'
I looked down and nearly fell off the ladder when I saw a policeman.
I immediately regretted answering in the way I did, but I said, 'I enjoy cleaning windows at night.'
'So do I,' answered the policeman in the same tone.
Excuse my interrupting you.
I hate to interrupt a man when he's busy working, but would you mind coming with me to the station?'
'Well, I'd prefer to stay here,' I said.
'You see, I've forgotten my key.'
'Your what?' he called.
'My key,' I shouted.
Fortunately, the shouting woke up my wife who opened the window just as the policeman had started to climb towards me.
译文
为什么警察让那位作家去警察局呢？
我回到家时，大概已经是凌晨两点左右了。
我试着按门铃叫醒我的妻子，
但她睡得很熟，
于是我从花园里的棚屋里拿了一把梯子，把它靠在墙上，
然后开始往卧室的窗户爬去。
我刚快爬到窗户时，下面传来一个讽刺的声音说：
‘我看这大半夜的，窗户不需要擦吧。’
我低头一看，看到一名警察时，差点从梯子上摔下来。
我立刻后悔自己那样回答，但还是说：‘我就是喜欢在晚上擦窗户。’
‘是啊，’警察用同样讽刺的语气回答。
请原谅我打扰你。
“我真不想在别人忙的时候打扰他，不过您能跟我去一趟警察局吗？”
“嗯，我宁愿待在这里，”我说。
“是这样的，我忘带钥匙了。”
“你说什么？”他大声问。
“我的钥匙！”我喊道。
幸运的是，我的喊声吵醒了妻子。就在警察开始朝我爬来时，她打开了窗户。