I like all kinds of chocolate. Mother had bought a bar of it， and somehow I couldnt stop thinking about it.

I was helping Father on the winnower[揚(yáng)谷機(jī)]. It was right then I got an idea. I could whack[砍，減少] a chunk[大塊] off the end of that bar of chocolate.

I got the bar down， but I heard Mother coming just when I had the knife ready to whack. So I slipped the chocolate into the front of my shirt and left quickly. I went to the barn and hid the chocolate there.

I was nearly out to where the cows were when I remembered what Father had said once—some of the family money was mine because I had helped to earn it. Why wouldnt it be all right to figure the bar of chocolate had been bought with my own money？

But by the time I had the cows headed home， I had begun to worry again. We were nearly to the railroad tracks[軌道] when I decided to leave the whole matter to the Lord. I picked up a dried soap weed stalk and decided I would throw it up into the air and take my orders from the way it landed. If it pointed west， Id take the whole bar back. If it pointed south， Id take half an inch off the end.

I swung[甩，搖蕩] the pod stalk as high as I could. When it came down， it pointed mostly west—but a little south.

That night I couldnt sleep. At last I got up， slipped[悄悄走進(jìn)] out into the yard， and took the ax from the chopping block[墩子]. Then I went into the barn and got the chocolate.

Just as I was starting to cut， Father said， “Son！”

I grabbed up the bar of chocolate and hid it next to my chest before I turned around. Father picked me up by the shoulder straps of my overalls and took me over to the woodpile. I didnt know anybody could spank as hard as he did！

Then he stood me on my feet and asked if I thought I had deserved it.

“Son，” he said， “I know you help to earn the family money. We might say the chocolate was yours in the first place. You should have had it if youd asked for it， but I wont have you being sneaky about things. Now， do you want to keep your money separated[分開] from mine—or are we partners？”

I never knew till then how much I wanted my money to go in with Fathers. When I went to sleep my hand was still hurting—from where he squeezed[緊握] it when we shook hands.

我喜歡各種各樣的巧克力。媽媽買了一塊這樣的巧克力，不知怎的，我總是情不自禁地想起它。

我在幫爸爸揚(yáng)谷。就在那時(shí)我想到了一個(gè)主意。我可以在那塊巧克力尾部弄一塊下來。

我將巧克力拿下來，但在我準(zhǔn)備用小刀切下一塊巧克力時(shí)，我聽見媽媽走進(jìn)來了。因此我將巧克力塞進(jìn)襯衣中，然后很快離開。我走進(jìn)谷倉并將巧克力藏在那里。

在我快走到牛群那里時(shí)，我想起爸爸曾經(jīng)對我說的——家里的一些錢也是我的，因?yàn)槭俏規(guī)兔嵉?。那為什么不能說那塊巧克力是用我自己的錢買的呢？ 當(dāng)我將牛群趕回家時(shí)，我又開始擔(dān)心起來。我們快到鐵路軌道時(shí)，我決定將事情交給上帝決定。我撿起干的皂草梗，并將它拋入空中，看它落地后的方向再做決定。如果它朝向西，我就將整塊巧克力放回去，如果它指向南，我就在一端切下半英尺巧克力。

我用勁將帶心皮的草梗甩向空中。它下來時(shí)，幾乎指向西邊，但有點(diǎn)偏南。

那天晚上，我無法入眠。最終，我起床，偷偷溜進(jìn)院子里，從劈柴墩上拿了一把斧頭，然后我走進(jìn)谷倉拿出巧克力。

正當(dāng)我準(zhǔn)備切巧克力時(shí)，爸爸叫道：“兒子！”

在轉(zhuǎn)身前，我拿起巧克力并將它放在我胸前的衣服里。爸爸抓起我工裝褲上的布條，將我?guī)У侥静穸涯抢?。我不知道有誰能像他打屁股那樣那么厲害。

然后他將我放下，問我是否覺得這是我應(yīng)得的。

“兒子，”他說，“我知道你幫家里賺了錢，可以說這巧克力就是你的，你要是向我們要，你本可以得到它，但我不希望你偷偷摸摸的?，F(xiàn)在你想將你的錢和我的分開，還是成為我的伙伴呢？”

直到那時(shí)我才知道我是多么想將我的錢和爸爸的放在一起。當(dāng)我去睡覺時(shí)，我那只和父親握手時(shí)他緊握的手仍在痛。