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“Who did this?” asked my teacher. Thirty children tried to think about not only what they had done, but also what our teacher may have found out. “Who did this?” asked my teacher once more. She wasn’t really asking, she was demanding an answer. She seldom became angry, but she was this time. She held up a piece of broken glass and asked, “Who broke this window?”
“Oh, oh,” I thought. I was the one who broke the window. I had not done it intentionally1. It was caused by an errant throw of a baseball. I was working on my knuckleball. It needed more work. Why did it have to be me? It wasn’t really my fault. If I admitted guilt2, I would be in a lot of trouble. How would I be able to pay for a big window like that? I didn’t even get an allowance3. “My father is going to have a fit,” I thought. I didn’t want to raise my hand, but some force much stronger than I was pulled it skyward. I told the truth. “I did it.” I said no more. It was hard enough saying what I had.
My teacher went to one of our library shelves and took down a book. She then began walking towards my desk. I had never known my teacher to strike a student, but I feared she was going to start with me and she was going to use a book for the swatting.
“I know how you like birds,” she said as she stood looking down at my guilt-ridden face. “Here is that field guide about birds that you are constantly checking out. It is yours. It’s time we got a new one for the school anyway. The book is yours and you will not be punished as long as you remember that I am not rewarding you for your misdeed, I am rewarding you for your truthfulness4.”
I couldn’t believe it! I wasn’t being punished and I was getting my very own bird field guide. The very one that I had been saving5 up money to buy. The money I feared would be going to the school to buy a new window. I wore out that book trying to match the live, flying birds to their depictions in that field guide. The book is gone, so is my wonderful teacher. All that remains6 of that day is my memory and the lesson my teacher taught me. That lesson stays with me every day and it will echo7 forever.
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“这是谁干的？”老师问。三十名学生都设法去回想他们做了什么。“这是谁干的？”老师又问了一遍。其时，她并不是真的想问，她只是想要一个答案。她很少生气，但这一次她真的生气了。她举起一块打碎的玻璃问道：“是谁打碎了这块玻璃？”
“呃，天哪，”我暗自想道。我就是那个打碎玻璃的人。但我并不是有意要那么做的。只是因为把棒球扔错了地方。当时我正在练习投不旋转球，还需要更多的练习。为什么偏偏是我呢？这并不是我的错啊。如果我承认了，我就会有很多麻烦。我哪里有钱来赔偿这么一大块玻璃呢？我甚至连零用钱都没有。“爸爸一定会大发雷霆，”我想。我并不想举手，但有一种比我自身更强大的力量抬起了我的手。我讲出了真相。“是我干的。”我没再说别的。承认这件事是自己做的真的相当困难。
老师走到图书馆的一个书架旁取下了一本书，然后向我走来。我从不知道老师会打学生，但我害怕我会是她动手打的第一个学生。“我知道你很喜欢小鸟，”她看着我那张充满了愧疚的脸，说道，“这是一本关于野生鸟儿的指导书。它是你的了。反正学校也该买本新的了。只要你记住我奖励你不是因为你做错事，而是因为你诚实，你就不会受到惩罚。”
这真是难以置信！我不仅没有受到惩罚，还拥有了自己的野生鸟儿指南。那可是我一直攒钱想买的书啊。这钱我本来还担心会赔给学校去买一块新玻璃呢。
我努力想找到书中描述的那些活的飞翔的鸟儿，所以那本书都被我翻破了。现在这本书和我的那位好老师都已经不在了。剩下的只有我对那天的记忆以及老师对我说的话。那个教训永远都会在我的脑海里重现。
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