英文短篇故事（纽约）472 He Paid His Debt

 　　As a youth, Cal was a bully¹ and a thief. One time, he stole a man's wallet. The man grabbed him. Cal punched the man hard. Cal ran, but the police caught him. A judge sentenced Cal to two years in jail. He was released after only six weeks. Ten years later, Cal was rich and famous. His victim phoned him. The victim said, "Ten years ago, you stole my wallet. Then you punched me in the face. I lost all the vision in my left eye. Back then, you were poor. Now you're rich. I think you owe me a lot of money." Cal said, "I don't owe you squat². You shouldn't have grabbed me. You tried to be a hero. Because of you, I spent six weeks behind iron bars. I'll never forget my time in that cell. I paid my debt to society, and society includes you."

1 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

2 squat   

v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的

参考例句：

• For this exercise you need to get into a squat.在这次练习中你需要蹲下来。
• He is a squat man.他是一个矮胖的男人。