汤姆闷闷不乐地回到家里。姨妈一见他就数落了他一通，他感到就是回家也不一定能减轻他的苦楚。
TOM arrived at home in a dreary mood, and the first thing his aunt said to him showed him that he had brought his sorrows to an unpromising market:
“汤姆呀，汤姆，我想活剥了你！”
"Tom, I've a notion to skin you alive!"
“姨妈，我怎么了？”
"Auntie, what have I done?"
“瞧，你作得够呛。都是因为你，我呆头呆脑地跑去找赛伦尼·哈帕，像个老傻瓜似的，指望能让她相信你编的那个鬼梦。可是你瞧，她早就从乔那里了解到那天晚上你回过家，听见了我们所说的一切。汤姆，我不知道像你这样的孩子将来会怎么样。都是因为你，我才到赛伦尼·哈帕那儿去，出尽了洋相。一想到这，我就很伤心。”
"Well, you've done enough. Here I go over to Sereny Harper, like an old softy, expecting I'm going to make her believe all that rubbage about that dream, when lo and behold you she'd found out from Joe that you was over here and heard all the talk we had that night. Tom, I don't know what is to become of a boy that will act like that. It makes me feel so bad to think you could let me go to Sereny Harper and make such a fool of myself and never say a word."
汤姆没想到事情会闹到这种地步。他本以为早上耍的小聪明只是玩笑，很有独创性，可现在看来那既卑鄙又可耻。他先是垂下头，无言以对，然后开口说：
This was a new aspect of the thing. His smartness of the morning had seemed to Tom a good joke before, and very ingenious. It merely looked mean and shabby now. He hung his head and could not think of anything to say for a moment. Then he said:
“姨妈，我希望那不是我干的，不过我没想到……”
"Auntie, I wish I hadn't done it--but I didn't think."
“是的，孩子，你从来不动脑筋，只想着自己。你能想到夜里从杰克逊岛那么大老远地跑来幸灾乐祸；你能想到编梦撒谎来糊弄我，可你就想不到来告诉我们你还活着并没有死。你知道我们当时是多么伤心吗？”
"Oh, child, you never think. You never think of anything but your own selfishness. You could think to come all the way over here from Jackson's Island in the night to laugh at our troubles, and you could think to fool me with a lie about a dream; but you couldn't ever think to pity us and save us from sorrow."
“姨妈，我现在知道了，那样做太卑鄙。可是我不是存心要卑鄙的，真的，我不是存心的。还有，那天夜里我到这里来不是要来看笑话的。”
"Auntie, I know now it was mean, but I didn't mean to be mean. I didn't, honest. And besides, I didn't come over here to laugh at you that night."
“那么，你到这里来干什么呢？”
"What did you come for, then?"
“是来告诉你们别为我操心，因为我们并没有淹死。”
"It was to tell you not to be uneasy about us, because we hadn't got drownded."
“汤姆啊，汤姆，我要是能相信你真有这么好的心肠，还替别人着想，那我可就谢天谢地啰！不过，你心里明白你是个什么样的人，这我也明白，汤姆。”
"Tom, Tom, I would be the thankfullest soul in this world if I could believe you ever had as good a thought as that, but you know you never did--and I know it, Tom."
“姨妈，我可是千真万确这么打算的。我虽然扰了你，但我要不是这么打算的，我甘愿蹲大牢。”
"Indeed and 'deed I did, auntie--I wish I may never stir if I didn't."
“哦，得了吧，汤姆，不要撒谎——不要撒谎，否则事情更加糟糕，越发不可收拾。”
"Oh, Tom, don't lie--don't do it. It only makes things a hundred times worse."
“我没撒谎，姨妈，我说的全是真的。我是要来让你别伤心的——我来就是为了这个。”
"It ain't a lie, auntie; it's the truth. I wanted to keep you from grieving--that was all that made me come."
“汤姆，我真愿意信你的话，这样可以一肥遮百丑。你出走，捉弄我们那我反倒很高兴。可是这听起来不对劲，如果真像你所说的那样，孩子，那你为什么不先告诉我呢？”
"I'd give the whole world to believe that--it would cover up a power of sins, Tom. I'd 'most be glad you'd run off and acted so bad. But it ain't reasonable; because, why didn't you tell me, child?"
“哎，你瞧，我听你说要给我们举行葬礼，我满心都想着要跑到教堂里躲起来，我舍不得不这么干。所以，我把树皮又放到口袋里，没有出来说。”
"Why, you see, when you got to talking about the funeral, I just got all full of the idea of our coming and hiding in the church, and I couldn't somehow bear to spoil it. So I just put the bark back in my pocket and kept mum."
“什么树皮？”
"What bark?"
“上面写着我们去当海盗的那块树皮。唉，我当时吻你的时候，你要是醒了就好了。真的，我真是这样希望的。”
"The bark I had wrote on to tell you we'd gone pirating. I wish, now, you'd waked up when I kissed you--I do, honest."
姨妈绷紧的脸一下子松开了，她眼里突然闪现出慈祥的目光。
The hard lines in his aunt's face relaxed and a sudden tenderness dawned in her eyes.
“你吻了我，汤姆？”
"Did you kiss me, Tom?"
“是啊，我吻了。”
"Why, yes, I did."
“你敢肯定，汤姆？”
"Are you sure you did, Tom?"
“那还用说，我吻了，姨妈，百分之百的肯定。”
"Why, yes, I did, auntie--certain sure."
“那你为什么要吻我，汤姆？”
"What did you kiss me for, Tom?"
“因为我很爱你，当时你躺在那里哭泣，我十分难过。”
"Because I loved you so, and you laid there moaning and I was so sorry."
汤姆说的像是真的。老太太再说话的时候已掩饰不住激动的心情，声音颤抖地说：
The words sounded like truth. The old lady could not hide a tremor in her voice when she said:
“汤姆，再吻我一下！现在你可以去上学了，不要再来烦我了。”
"Kiss me again, Tom!--and be off with you to school, now, and don't bother me any more."
汤姆刚一走，她就跑到橱子那里拿出汤姆当“海盗”时穿的那件破夹克，站在那儿自言自语道：
The moment he was gone, she ran to a closet and got out the ruin of a jacket which Tom had gone pirating in. Then she stopped, with it in her hand, and said to herself:
“不，我不敢看。可怜的孩子，我猜他说的是谎话——不过，这是个十足善意的谎话，令人宽慰。我希望上帝——我知道上帝一准会原谅他，因为他心眼好，才撒这样的谎。我情愿这不是谎言。我不想看。”
"No, I don't dare. Poor boy, I reckon he's lied about it--but it's a blessed, blessed lie, there's such a comfort come from it. I hope the Lord--I know the Lord will forgive him, because it was such good-heartedness in him to tell it. But I don't want to find out it's a lie. I won't look."
她放下夹克站在那里想了一会。她两次伸手想再去拿那衣服，两次又把手缩了回来。最后，她坚定了决心再次伸出手去，心里想着：“这谎撒得好，我喜欢这样的谎话，别让它坏了我的美事。”于是她翻了夹克衫上的口袋，随即她看见了那块树皮上的字，于是她老泪纵横，边流泪边说：“就算这孩子错了，哪怕是大错特错，我现在也能原谅他了。”
She put the jacket away, and stood by musing a minute. Twice she put out her hand to take the garment again, and twice she refrained. Once more she ventured, and this time she fortified herself with the thought: "It's a good lie--it's a good lie--I won't let it grieve me." So she sought the jacket pocket. A moment later she was reading Tom's piece of bark through flowing tears and saying: "I could forgive the boy, now, if he'd committed a million sins!"