WHEN the gong sounds ten in the morning and I walk to school by our lane, I wish I were a watchman walking the streets all night, chasing the shadows with my lantern.
Every day I meet the hawker crying, "Bangles, crystal bangles!" 早晨，钟敲十下的时候，我沿着我们的小巷到学校去。
There is nothing to hurry him on, there is no road he must take, no place he must go to, no time when he must come home. 每天我都遇见那个小贩，他叫道：“镯子呀，亮晶晶的镯子！”
I wish I were a hawker, spending my day in the road, crying, "Bangles, crystal bangles!" 他没有什么事情急着要做，他没有哪条街一定要走，他没有什么地方一定要去，他没有什么时间一定要回家。
When at four in the afternoon I come back from the school, 我愿意我是一个小贩，在街上过日子，叫着：“镯子呀，亮晶晶的镯子！”
I can see through the gate of that house the gardener digging the ground. 下午四点，我从学校里回家。
He does what he likes with his spade, he soils his clothes with dust, nobody takes him to task if he gets baked in the sun or gets wet. 从一家门口，我看得见一个园丁在那里掘地。
I wish I were a gardener digging away at the garden with nobody to stop me from digging. 他用他的锄子，要怎么掘，便怎么掘，他被尘土污了衣裳，如果他被太阳晒黑了或是身上被打湿了，都没有人骂他。
Just as it gets dark in the evening and my mother sends me to bed, 我愿意我是一个园丁，在花园里掘地。谁也不来阻止我。
