In happened in February about twelve years ago. I had left school a couple of months before that and was not due to go to university until the following October. I was still living at home at the time.

One morning I was in Richmond, a suburb of London near where I lived. I was looking for a temporary job so that I could save up some money to go travelling. As it was a fine day and I was in no hurry, I was taking my time慢慢来, looking in shop windows, strolling in the park, and sometimes just stopping and looking around me. It must have been this obvious aimlessness that led to my downfall.

It was about half past eleven when it happened. I was just walking out of the local library, having unsuccessfully sought employment there, when I saw a man walking across the road with the obvious intention of talking to me. I thought he was going to ask me the time. Instead, he said he was a police officer and he was arresting me. At first I thought it was some kind of joke. But then another policeman appeared, this time in uniform穿制服, and I was left in no doubt.

'But what for?' I asked.

"Wandering with intent to意图做某事 commit an arrestable offence,' he said.

'What offence?' I asked.

'Theft,' he said.

'Theft of what?' I asked.

'Milk bottles,' he said, and with a perfectly straight face too!

'Oh,' I said.

It turned out结果发现(常常是出乎意料的) there had been a lot of petty thefts in the area, particularly that(=the theft) of stealing milk bottles from doorsteps.

Then I made my big mistake. At the time I was nineteen, had long untidy hair, and regarded myself as part of the sixties' 'youth countercultrue. As a result, I want to appear cool and unconcerned with the incident, so I said, 'How long have you been following me?' in the most casual and conversation tone I could manage. I thus appeared to them to be quite familiar with this sort of situation, and it confirmed them in their belief that I was a thoroughly disreputable character.

temporary
a. lasting only for a limited time 暂时的
stroll
a. walk at leisure 散步，闲逛
obvious
a. easily seen or understood; clear 明显的，显而易见的
downfall
n. ruin 垮台；衰落
employment
n. one's regular work or occupation; job 职业；工作
wander wonder想知道
vi. move about without a purpose 闲逛；漫游
commit 犯罪commit crime
vt. do (sth. wrong, bad, or unlawful)干（坏事），犯（错误、罪）
arrestable
a. deserving to be arrested可逮捕的
offence (AmE offense) v. offend 防卫、答辩defend defence
n. crime; the hurting of feelings; something unpleasant 罪行；冒犯；不愉快的事
straight face
a face or expression that shows no emotion, humor, or thought 板着的脸
petty
a. small; unimportant 小的；不足道的
doorstep
n. a step in front of a door 台阶
regard
vt. consider in the stated way 把……看作；把认为(as)
counterculture
n. a culture, esp. of the young who oppose the traditional standards and customs of their society 反主流文化