牛津書蟲系列 小婦人 中英雙語 08

8 All play and no work

8 只有玩樂沒有工作

’The first of June，and the King family is going on holiday tomorrow!’said Meg.’I’m free for three months!’

“今天是6月1號，金一家明天就要去度假了，”麥格說，“我有三個月的自由時間!”

’And Aunt March went away for her holiday today，’said Jo.’Isn’t life wonderful!’

“今天馬奇姑媽也去度假了，”瓊說，“生活真好啊!”

’What will you do all your holiday?’asked Amy.

“你們整個假期做什么呢?”艾米問。

’I’ll stay in bed late，and do nothing，’said Meg.

“我會睡懶覺，什么也不做，”麥格答道。

’I have lots of books to read，’said Jo.

“我有許多的書要讀，”瓊說。

’Let’s not do any studying，Beth，’said Amy.’Let’s play all the time，and rest，as Jo and Meg are going to do.’

“咱們什么功課都不做了吧，白絲，”艾米說，“咱們所有時間都用來玩和休息，就像瓊和麥格要做的那樣。”

’I will if Mother doesn’t mind，’said Beth.

“如果媽媽不介意我就同意，”白絲說。

Mrs March agreed to the plan and said they could try it for a week.

馬奇太太同意了這個計劃，并說她們可以試一個星期。

’But，’she added，’I think by Saturday night you will find that all play and no work is as bad as all work and no play.’

“但是，”她補充道，“我想到星期六晚上你們就會發(fā)現(xiàn)只有玩樂沒有工作的生活就像只有工作沒有玩樂一樣糟糕。”

Next day，Meg appeared at ten o’clock and ate breakfast alone.It was a lonely meal and the room was untidy，because Beth had not cleaned it.

第二天，麥格10點鐘才露面，獨自用早餐。這是一頓孤寂的早餐，房間亂糟糟的，因為白絲沒有整理過。

Jo went to the river with Laurie，then sat in the apple tree and read a book Beth began to tidy things in her cupboard，but she got tired and left it half-done.She went to her piano，glad that she did not have to wash the cups and plates.Amy sat in the garden to draw，hoping someone would see her and say something nice about her picture.But no one appeared，so she went for a walk，got caught in the rain and came home very wet.

瓊和羅瑞到河邊去了，然后坐在一棵蘋果樹上看書。白絲開始整理她的櫥柜，可她感到累了，只做了一半就不做了。她來到她的鋼琴旁，為她不用洗杯子和盤子而高興。艾米坐在花園里畫畫，希望有人能看到她并夸獎她的畫?？蓻]有一個人出現(xiàn)，于是她就去散步，途中遇到了雨，濕淋淋地回到家。

At tea，everyone said that it had been a delightful but unusually long day.Meg，who had been shopping in the afternoon，now decided that she did not like the dress she had bought.Jo had a headache from reading too long.Beth couldn’t find anything in her cupboard，and the rain had made Amy’s dress so wet that she couldn’t wear it to Katy Brown’s party the next day.

喝茶時，每個人都說那天過得很愉快，只是有些出乎尋常地長。麥格下午去買東西了，可她現(xiàn)在卻覺得她不喜歡她買的衣服。瓊因為看書時間太長，頭疼起來。白絲在她的櫥柜里什么都找不到了。雨把艾米的衣服弄得太濕，第二天她不能穿那件衣服去參加凱特·布朗家的聚會了。

Mrs March listened，smiled and said nothing.

馬奇太太聽著，面帶微笑，什么都沒說。

The week seemed to get longer and longer with nothing much to do，and by Friday the girls were glad that it was nearly over.Then Mrs March gave Hannah a holiday，and when the girls got up on Saturday，there was no breakfast ready，no fire in the kitchen，and no mother waiting for them.

因為沒有事情做，那個星期看起來越來越長，到了星期五孩子們都很高興這一切就要結(jié)束了。然后馬奇太太放了海娜一天假，當(dāng)星期六早晨孩子們起床時，發(fā)現(xiàn)沒有了早餐，沒有了爐火，媽媽也沒在等她們。

’What has happened?’said Jo.

“發(fā)生了什么事?”瓊說。

Meg ran upstairs，then came down to say that Mother was staying in her room to have a rest.’She says we must look after ourselves today，’Meg said.

麥格跑上樓，然后又跑下來跟大家說媽媽呆在她的房間里休息。“她說今天我們得自己照顧自己。”麥格說。

’Good，I want something to do，’said Jo.

“好啊，我想做點事，”瓊說。

Secretly，they were all pleased to have something useful to do again.Beth and Amy put cups and plates on the table while Jo and Meg got the breakfast，then Meg took some tea and an egg up to Mrs March.The tea was too strong and the egg wasburned.Mrs March did not complain，but she laughed to herself afterwards.

私下里，她們都很高興又有些有用的事情可以做了。白絲和艾米把杯子和盤子擺到桌上，瓊和麥格做早餐，然后麥格把一些茶和一個雞蛋拿到樓上給母親。茶太濃了，雞蛋燒糊了。馬奇太太沒有抱怨，但之后她對自己笑了。

Jo decided to invite Laurie to dinner.’There’s meat and vegetables and plenty of potatoes，’she told Meg，’and we can have strawberries，and then coffee.’ Her mother said she did not mind at all because she was going out for dinner.

瓊決定請羅瑞來吃晚餐。“有肉、蔬菜和足夠的土豆，”她告訴麥格，“我們還可以吃草莓，然后喝咖啡。”母親說她一點也不在乎，因為她要出去吃晚餐。

Jo did her best，but the potatoes were still hard in the middle，the vegetables were cooked too long and fell to pieces，and the meat was burned black.The strawberries were not ready for eating，and she put salt on them instead of sugar!Unfortunately，this was not discovered until Laurie began eating them.He pretended everything was all right，but Amy took a spoonful and ran from the table.

瓊盡了最大努力，可土豆的中間還是硬的，蔬菜做得時間太長，變爛了，肉也給燒黑了。草莓還不能吃，她又把鹽當(dāng)成糖撒在了上面!不幸的是，直到羅瑞開始吃草莓這情況才被發(fā)現(xiàn)。他裝做一切無恙，可艾米吃了一勺后從桌邊跑開了。

’What’s wrong?’said Jo.

“怎么啦?”瓊問。

Meg and Laurie told her.’Oh，no!’said Jo.Then she saw Laurie start to smile，and she began to laugh.Soon everyone was laughing with her.

麥格和羅瑞告訴了她。“噢，不!”瓊說。然后她看見羅瑞笑了，她也開始笑。旋即每個人都和她一起笑了。

’What a terrible day!’said Jo，after they had cleared everything away.

“多糟的一天!”當(dāng)她們把一切收拾走后，瓊說。

Mrs March returned home later.’Have you enjoyed your week of all play and no work，girls，or do you want another week of it?’she said.

馬奇太太很晚才回來。“你們喜歡這個只有玩樂沒有工作的星期嗎，孩子們?你們是不是還想再來一個這樣的星期?”她問。

’I don’t!’said Jo.

“我不要了!”瓊說。

’Nor do I!’shouted the others.

“我也不要了!”其他人都喊道。

’Mother，did you go out and leave us just to see how we would manage?asked Meg.

“媽媽，你是不是出門去就想看看我們會怎么辦?”麥格問。

’Yes，’said Mrs March.’I wanted you to see that being comfortable depends on us all helping each other and not just thinking of ourselves.Isn’t it better to have time for play and time for work，and to make each day useful and enjoyable?’

“是的.”馬奇太太說，“我想讓你們知道舒適依賴于我們大家互相幫助，不要只想到自己。有時間玩樂，也有時間工作，使每天既有用又愉快不是很好嗎?”

’Oh，it is，Mother，it is!’said the girls.

“噢，是的，媽媽，是的!”孩子們說。

Some days later，all four girls went on a picnic with Laurie and his tutor，Mr Brooke，and some other young people.Sallie Gardiner and her English friend，Miss Kate Vaughn，were among them.It was a sunny day and they had their picnic on a hill，under some trees.

幾天之后，四個女孩子和羅瑞及他的家庭教師布魯克先生，還有其他幾個年輕人一起去野餐，薩麗·加迪那和她的英國朋友凱特·瓦格小姐也去了。那天陽光燦爛，他們在一個小山坡上的一些樹下野餐。

After the meal，most of the young ladies and gentlemen played games，but Miss Kate sat under a tree and began to draw.Meg watched，while Mr Brooke lay on the grass beside her，with a book which he did not read.

餐后，大部分年輕姑娘和小伙子都去做游戲了，可凱特小姐卻坐在一棵樹下開始畫畫。麥格看著，布魯克先生躺在她身旁的草地上，拿著一本書，但他并沒有在看。

’I wish I could draw，’said Meg.

“真希望我會畫畫，”麥格說。

’Why don’t you learn?’replied Miss Kate.She was a little older than the other girls and was very much the fashionable young lady.

“你為什么不學(xué)呢?”凱特小姐問。她比其他的女孩稍大點，并且是最時髦的姑娘。

’I haven’t time，’said Meg.’I have a job，teaching four children in a family.’

“我沒時間，”麥格說，“我有工作，給一家四個孩子教課。”

’Oh!’said Miss Kate，looking rather shocked.She said no more，but her face showed that she thought being a private teacher was little better than being a servant，and Meg’s cheeks quickly became red.

“噢，”凱特小姐說，看上去很吃驚。她什么也沒說，可從她臉上的表情可以看出她認為做家庭教師僅僅比做仆人好一些。麥格的臉很快變紅了。

’In America，young ladies prefer to work and earn money for themselves，’said Mr Brooke quickly，’and not expect others to pay for everything.’

“在美國，年輕的小姐喜歡為自己工作掙錢，”布魯克先生很快地說，“她們不指望別人給她們掏錢。”

’I see，’said Miss Kate，coldly.Soon after，she took her drawing and moved away.

“是這樣，”凱特小姐冷冷地說。一會兒，她拿起她的畫走開了。

’There’s no place like America for us workers，Miss Meg，’said Mr Brooke，smiling.His brown eyes looked at Meg warmly，and she smiled back at him.

“沒有其它地方像美國這樣適合我們工作的人了，麥格小姐，”布魯克先生笑著說。他棕色的眼睛溫和地看著麥格，她也向他笑笑。

’I wish I liked teaching as much as you do，she said.

“我真希望像你一樣喜歡教書，”她說。

’You would if you were teaching Laurie，’said Mr Brooke.’I’ll be sorry when he goes to college next year.But then I shall become a soldier.’

“如果你教的是羅瑞你就會喜歡教書的，”布魯克先生說，“明年他要去上大學(xué)，我會感到很遺憾?？扇缓笪揖鸵ギ?dāng)兵了。”

’I think every young man wants to be a soldier，’said Meg，’but it’s hard for the family who stay at home.’

“我認為每個年輕人都想當(dāng)兵，”麥格說，“可這對呆在家里的人來說是很難的。”

’I have no family，and not many friends to care if I live or die，’said Mr Brooke，sadly.

“我沒有家，也沒有許多朋友在乎我的死活，”布魯克先生傷感地說。

’Laurie and his grandfather would care，’said Meg，’and we would all be very sorry if anything happened to you.’

“羅瑞和他祖父會在乎的，”麥格說，“如果你發(fā)生什么事，我們大家都會很悲傷的。”

’Thank you，’said Mr Brooke，cheering up immediately.

“謝謝你，”布魯克先生說，立刻高興起來。