没有人会知道

Karen, Judy and I were the last ones back in the school room after lunch. We put our metal lunch boxes on the shelf above the coat hooks, which were mostly empty. All of the other sixth graders were already outside, playing marbles or 1)hop scotch or jumping rope, since it was a pleasant spring day.

“Look what I found this morning in the storage cupboard when I was getting out some art supplies for Mrs. Eiffler.” With a conspiratorial grin on her face, Karen held up a wooden box filled with short pieces of chalk in every color of the rainbow.

“Wow! What fun it would be to write on the chalkboard while everyone is outside.” Judy’s eyes twinkled with anticipation.

“But Mrs. Eiffler doesn’t want us writing on the chalkboard,” I responded, already feeling guilty, although we had not yet done a thing.

“Don’t be such a ‘fraidy cat’, Janet. No one will ever know,” said Karen, reaching into the box and drawing out a piece of chalk.

“Right. Everyone is outside, so we’re safe. No one will tell on us.” Judy was already drawing a house with sure 2)strokes.

I reluctantly joined my friends in the artwork, wanting to be part of what was going on, but afraid of being caught. I knew well that we were breaking not one, but two class rules. The second rule was that no one was allowed to stay inside at noon without a written excuse from home if the weather was nice.

Trying various colors, we drew houses, trees and three-dimensional boxes. It was fun! All the time we were watching the clock, knowing that our fun would be over if anyone walked into the room.

Then Judy had an idea. “We’re all right-handed. Let’s see who can write their name best using their left hand.”

Judy and Karen picked up their chalk and started writing. I chose a white piece from the box and wrote my name. The handwriting was a bit 3)shaky, but no one would doubt that it said “Janet.”

“I think Judy is the winner,” said Karen. “Hers is the best.”

“We’d better get this board cleaned off before Mrs. Eiffler comes back,” said Judy, eying the clock. She picked up an eraser and began erasing our handiwork from the board.

Everything came off…but my name!

In disbelief, I looked at the chalk I held in my sweaty hand. On closer examination, it wasn’t chalk at all. I had picked up a small piece of white color crayon which was mixed in with the pieces of chalk.

My stomach 4)churned and my knees felt weak. What would Mrs. Eiffler do to me?

My mother had a saying: “Fools’ names and fools’ faces always appear in public places.” I never understood fully what it meant before. Now I did! I was a fool, and there was my name in crayon to prove it. And the teacher would be returning soon.

“Quick, let’s get some wet paper towels,” said Judy, springing into action.

After vigorous rubbing, my name still remained.

“I think I saw a can of cleanser by the sink in the coat room,” I said as I raced to find it. Precious minutes were 5)ticking away.

We rubbed and my name came off all right, but in the process of removing it, we left an 6)abrasion on the chalkboard.

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Listening for footsteps coming down the hall, we dried the scrubbed area as much as we could with more paper towels and fanned it with a book to remove every tell-tale trace of wetness.

We were just slipping into our desks as the bell rang and the other students began entering the room. The teacher walked in soon afterward.

Mrs. Eiffler never asked about abrasion and maybe never noticed it. But I did. Every time I walked past the marred surface of the chalkboard, I remembered. Oh, how I remembered.

The lesson I learned that day is one I never forgot, even though over forty years have passed since the event. “No one will ever know” is never true. Even if no one else found out, I knew. Sometimes living with a guilty conscience is punishment enough.

我和卡伦、朱迪是最后三个吃完午饭回到教室的。当我们把各自的金属饭盒放上衣帽钩上方的架子时，衣帽钩上几乎已经空了。在这个明媚的春日，六年级的其他学生都已经到外面去玩弹珠、跳房子或者跳绳去了。

“快看，我今天上午给埃菲勒夫人取美术用品时在储存柜里找到了什么！”卡伦带着一脸阴谋者的坏笑，举起一个木盒子，里面装满了五颜六色的小粉笔头。

“哇！趁着大家都在外面，在黑板上写字会很好玩吧！”朱迪的眼睛里闪烁着期待的光芒。

“但是埃菲勒夫人不让我们在黑板上写字啊。”我回答道，尽管我们还没做什么，我就已经觉得心虚了。

“别这么胆小啊，珍妮特。没人会知道的。”卡伦说着就把手伸进盒子，拿出一小支粉笔。

“对啊，大家都在外面呢，所以我们很安全。没有人会告我们的状的。”朱迪已经开始很有把握地一笔一划画房子了。

我不太情愿地加入了朋友们的艺术创作活动，虽然一方面想参与其中，但是心里却很害怕被当场抓住。我清楚地知道我们违反了不是一条，而是两条班规。第二条班规是：在中午天气很好的前提下，没有家长的书面理由，任何人都不能留在室内。

我们用各种各样的颜色画了房子、树和三维立体盒子。真是有趣极了！我们一直都注意着时间，因为我们知道一旦有人进来，我们的乐趣就会结束。

朱迪忽然又冒出个主意――“我们都是右撇子，让我们看看谁能用左手写自己的名字写得最棒！”

朱迪和卡伦拿起粉笔就开始写。我从盒子里选了一根白色的，也开始写自己的名字。笔迹有一点歪歪扭扭，但没人会怀疑写的是“珍妮特”。

“我觉得朱迪赢了。”卡伦说，“她的字最棒。”

“我们最好在埃菲勒夫人回来之前把黑板擦干净。”朱迪一边看钟一边说道。她拿起黑板擦，开始把我们的作品擦掉。

所有的笔迹都被擦掉了――除了我的名字！

我难以置信地看着自己汗湿的小手中紧握的粉笔――经过仔细地观察才发现，原来它根本不是粉笔。我竟然用的是一小支混在粉笔头里的白色蜡笔！

我的胃里一阵翻腾，膝盖也发软了。埃菲勒夫人会怎么惩罚我呢？

我妈妈的一句口头禅是：“傻瓜的名字、笨蛋的脸，大庭广众之下总能见。”我以前总是不能完全理解这句话的意思。现在我懂了！我就是一个傻瓜，黑板上那个用蜡笔写出来的名字就证明了这一点，而且老师马上就要回来了。

“快点儿，咱们弄点儿湿纸巾来。”朱迪一边说，一边马上开始行动。

不管怎么使劲擦，我的名字依然留在黑板上。

“我记得在衣帽间的水槽边看到过一罐清洁剂。”我一边说，一边跑过去找这罐清洁剂。宝贵的时间正一秒秒地溜走。

我们擦呀擦呀，终于把我的名字彻底给擦掉了，但是在擦洗的过程中，我们在黑板上留下了一小块磨损的痕迹。

听到了大厅里传来的脚步声，我们尽最大的努力用更多的纸巾把擦过的地方弄干，还用一本书把任何可能泄密的湿痕扇干。

我们刚刚溜回自己的座位，铃声就响起来了，其他同学也接连走进课室，不久老师也走了进来。

埃菲勒夫人从来没有问过黑板上那块磨损的地方是怎么回事，可能她从来都没有注意到。但是我注意到了。每次我走过黑板上那块被损坏的地方，我就会想起这件事。噢，我记得那么清楚！

即使是在事情过去了四十多年后的今天，我也无法忘记那天我所得到的教训。“没有人会知道”是永远不可能的。即使其他人真的没有发现，我自己心里也很清楚。有时候，遭受着良心的谴责已经是最大的惩罚了。

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