English Original
The boy jerked about and then made a sound I will never forget. It was like the sound a whale makes when harpooned and knows it is about to die. I fired all four of my arrows at the two bullies as they ran away laughing.
I helped the boy home. His sister told me he was deaf but not dumb, and very smart, though he could neither speak nor hear. I insisted he had made a sound when kicked. She said that was impossible, as his vocal cords had been removed in a failed experimental surgery.
As I was about to leave, the boy made a hand sign. I asked his sister why he did such things with his hands if he was so smart. She told me he was saying he loved me with his hands. I said nothing, not believing her. People can't talk with their hands.
For the next year or two, almost every summer Sunday, I would see him through the chain-link fence as we ate watermelon. He always made that same hand sign, and I would just wave back.
On my last day at the orphanage, I was being chased by police to be sent to reform school. As I tried to climb the fence to escape, they pulled me down and handcuffed me. I saw the deaf boy, now about twelve, watching from his porch. He jumped up, ran across the road, placed his fingers through the fence, and stood there looking at us.
中文翻译
男孩猛地抽搐了一下，然后发出了一声我永生难忘的声音。那声音就像鲸鱼被鱼叉刺中、自知将死时发出的哀鸣。我朝那两个大笑着跑开的恶霸射光了我所有的四支箭。
我扶男孩回了家。他的姐姐告诉我，弟弟是聋人，但并不像那两个恶霸说的那样愚笨。他非常聪明，只是不能说也听不见。我坚持说他在被踢中后背时确实发出了声音。她说那不可能，因为他所有的声带都在一次失败的手术中被切除了。
我正要离开时，男孩对我做了一个手势。我问他的姐姐，如果他那么聪明，为什么还要用手做这些事？她告诉我，他是在用手说“我爱你”。我什么也没说，因为我不相信她。人怎么能用手说话呢？
在接下来的一两年里，几乎每个夏天的周日，当我们在餐厅外吃西瓜时，我都能透过铁丝网围栏看到他。他总是对我做那个同样的手势，而我只是朝他挥挥手。
在孤儿院的最后一天，警察正在追捕我，要把我送去少年感化学校。当我试图翻越围栏逃跑时，他们把我拽了下来并戴上了手铐。我看到那个聋人男孩，现在大约十二岁了，正从他家的门廊上望着我。他跳起来，跑过马路，将手指穿过铁丝网，就站在那里看着我们。