牛津書蟲系列 格林·蓋布爾斯來的安妮 1 A surprise for the Cuthberts

1 卡斯伯特兄妹倆大吃一驚

Matthew Cuthbert lived with his sister Marilla on their farm on Prince Edward Island in Canada. Their farm- house, Green Gables, was just outside the little village of Avonlea. Matthew was nearly sixty and had a long brown beard. His sister was five years younger. They were both tall and thin, with dark hair. Everybody in Avonlea knew that the Cuthberts were quiet people who worked very hard on their farm.

馬修·卡斯伯特和妹妹瑪麗拉住在加拿大愛德華太子島上他們的農(nóng)場(chǎng)里。他們的農(nóng)舍——格林·蓋布爾斯，就在埃文利小村外。馬修年近六旬，留著褐色的長(zhǎng)胡子。妹妹瑪麗拉比他小5歲。他倆身材瘦高，長(zhǎng)著深色的頭發(fā)。埃文利村的每一個(gè)人都知道，卡斯伯特兄妹是默默無聞、勤勤懇懇的莊戶人。

One afternoon Matthew drove the horse and cart to the sta-tion. 'Has the five-thirty train arrived yet? 'he asked the sta-tion-master.

一天下午，馬修駕著馬車來到火車站。“5點(diǎn)半的火車到了嗎?”他向站長(zhǎng)詢問道。

'Yes, 'the man replied. 'And there's a passenger who's waiting for you. A little girl. '

“已經(jīng)到了，”站長(zhǎng)回答。“有一位乘客正在等您，是一個(gè)小姑娘。”

'A little girl? 'asked Matthew. 'But I've come for a boy! The children's home is sending us one of their orphan boys. We're going to adopt him, you see, and he's going to help me with the farm work. '

“小姑娘?”馬修問道，“但我是來接一個(gè)小男孩!那孤兒院給我們送來一個(gè)孤兒，我們準(zhǔn)備收養(yǎng)他。你看，我還指望他幫忙干農(nóng)活呢。”

'well, perhaps the children's home didn't have any boys, so they sent you a girl, 'answered the stationmaster carelessly. 'Here she is. '

“也許那孤兒院沒有男孩子，所以他們給你送來一個(gè)小姑娘，”站長(zhǎng)漫不經(jīng)心地答道，“她來了。”

Matthew turned shyly to speak to the child. She was about eleven, with long red hair in two plaits. Her face was small, white and thin, with a lot of freckles, and she had large grey-green eyes. She was wearing an old brown hat and a dress which was too small for her.

馬修訕訕地轉(zhuǎn)過身去面對(duì)那孩子。女孩大約十一歲，梳著兩條粗粗的紅色發(fā)辮，長(zhǎng)滿雀斑的小臉又瘦又白，上面有一雙灰綠色的大眼睛。她戴著一頂褐色的舊帽子，衣服已小得不合身。

'Are you Mr Cuthbert of Green Gables? 'she asked excitedly in a high, sweet voice. 'I'm very happy to come and live with you, and belong to you. I've never belonged to anyone, you see. The people at the children's home were very kind, but it's not very exciting to live in a place like that, is it? '

“您是格林·蓋布爾斯的卡斯伯特先生嗎?”她問道，嗓音清晰甜美。“我很高興能來和你們生活在一起，成為您家的一員。您看，我還從來沒有真正成為哪家的成員呢。孤兒院的人都很好，但住在那種地方一點(diǎn)也不好玩，不是嗎?”

Matthew felt sorry for the child. How could he tell her that it was all a mistake? But he couldn't just leave her at the sta-tion. He decided to take her home with him. Marilla could ex-plain the mistake to her.

馬修很同情這孩子。他怎么能告訴她這一切都搞錯(cuò)了?他總不能把女孩一個(gè)人留在火車站。他決定先把孩子帶回家，讓瑪麗拉向小姑娘解釋。

He was surprised that he enjoyed the journey home. He was a quiet, shy man, and he didn't like talking himself. But to-day, he only had to listen, because the little girl talked and talked and talked. She told him all about herself while they drove along.

讓馬修感到吃驚的是，在回家的路上他感覺非常愉快。他是個(gè)沉默、靦腆、少言寡語的人。但今天，他只要聽就足夠了，因?yàn)檫@小姑娘不停地說呀，說呀，說呀。一路上她向馬修講述關(guān)于自己的一切。

'My parents died when I was a baby, you know, and for the last three years I've had to work for my food. I've lived with three different families and looked after their children. So I've always been poor, and I haven't got any nice dresses! But I just imagine that I'm wearing the most beautiful blue dress, and a big hat with flowers on, and blue shoes, and then I'm happy! Do you imagine things sometimes? '

“爸爸媽媽在我還很小的時(shí)候就去世了。您知道嗎，過去這3年我不得不自己掙錢養(yǎng)活自己。我曾在3個(gè)家庭里照看過孩子。我總是很窮，一件漂亮衣服也沒有。我總是想像自己正穿著最漂亮的藍(lán)衣服，戴一頂插滿花的大帽子，還有藍(lán)色的鞋子，這時(shí)我多高興啊!您也經(jīng)常幻想嗎?”

'Well, I… I…not often, 'said Matthew.

“這，我……我……偶爾，”馬修答道。

They were now driving past some very old apple trees next to the road. The trees were full of sweet-smelling, snowy- white flowers. The little girl looked at them.

這時(shí)馬車經(jīng)過路邊的一排老蘋果樹。樹上開滿了雪白而芬芳的花朵。小女孩欣賞著。

'Aren't the trees beautiful? 'she said happily. 'But am I talking too much? Please tell me. I can stop if necessary, you know. '

“這些樹多美呀!”她感嘆道。“可我是不是說得太多了?如果是，請(qǐng)您告訴我。您知道，我會(huì)停止的。”

Matthew smiled at her. 'You go on talking, 'he answered. 'I like listening to you. '

馬修沖她笑笑答道：“你繼續(xù)說吧，我喜歡聽。”

When they arrived at Green Gables, Marilla came to the door to meet them. But when she saw the little girl, she cried in surprise, 'Matthew, who's that? Where's the boy? '

當(dāng)他們到格林·蓋布爾斯的時(shí)候，瑪麗拉到門口迎接他們。但當(dāng)她看見小女孩時(shí)，她驚訝地叫道：“馬修，她是誰?男孩在哪兒?”

'The children's home has made a mistake, 'he said unhappily, 'and sent a girl, not a boy. '

“孤兒院弄錯(cuò)了，送來一個(gè)女孩，不是男孩。”他不高興地說。

The child was listening carefully. Suddenly she put her head in her hands and began to cry.

孩子先是仔細(xì)地聽著，突然雙手捂住臉哭了起來。

'You—you don't want me! 'she sobbed. 'Oh—oh! You don't want me because I'm not a boy! '

“你們——你們不要我!”她哭泣著。“噢——噢!因?yàn)槲也皇悄泻⒛銈儾灰伊?”

'Now, now, don't cry, 'said Marilla kindly.

“哦，別哭，”瑪麗拉和藹地說。

'Don't you understand? Oh! This is the worst thing that's happened to me in all my life! '

“您不理解嗎?這是我一輩子遇到的最糟糕的事情!”

'Well, you can stay here, just for tonight, 'said Marilla. 'Now, what's your name? '

“那好吧，你可以呆在這里，但只能呆一個(gè)晚上，”瑪麗拉說。“你叫什么名字?”

The child stopped crying. 'Will you please call me Cordelia? ' she asked.

孩子停止哭泣。“您能叫我科黛拉嗎?”她問道。

'Call you Cordelia? Is that your name? '

“叫你科黛拉?那是你的名字嗎?”

'Well, no, it isn't, but it's a very beautiful name, isn't it? I like to imagine my name is Cordelia, because my real name is Anne Shirley—and that's not a very interesting name, is it? '

“不，不是的，但那名字很好聽，不是嗎?我喜歡幻想著我的名字叫科黛拉，因?yàn)槲业恼婷邪材?middot;雪利——那名字沒什么意趣，不是嗎?”

Marilla shook her head. 'The child has too much imagina-tion, 'she thought.

瑪麗拉搖搖頭，“這孩子太愛幻想了，”她心里暗想。

Later, when Anne was in bed, Marilla said to her brother, 'She must go back to the children's home tomorrow. '

稍晚些，等安妮睡著以后，瑪麗拉對(duì)哥哥說：“明天這孩子必須回孤兒院去。”

'Marilla, don't you think…'began Matthew. 'she's a nice little thing, you know. '

“瑪麗拉，你不認(rèn)為……”馬修說道。“這小家伙挺可愛的。”

'Matthew Cuthbert, are you telling me that you want to keep her? 'asked Marilla crossly.

“馬修·卡斯伯特，你難道是想讓她留下?”瑪麗拉生氣地說。

Matthew looked uncomfortable. 'Well, she's clever, and interesting, and—'

馬修一副不知所措的樣子。“可是，這小姑娘聰明、有趣，而且……”

'But we don't need a girl! '

“但我們不需要女孩!”

'But perhaps she needs us, 'Matthew replied, surprisingly quickly for him. 'She's had a very unhappy life up to now, Marilla. She can help you in the house. I can get a boy from the village to help me on the farm. What do you think? '

“但也許她需要我們，”馬修的回答來得出奇的快。“瑪麗拉，這孩子到現(xiàn)在為止生活一直很不幸。她可以幫助你干些家務(wù)活。我可以從鎮(zhèn)上找一個(gè)男孩子幫我干農(nóng)活。你覺得怎么樣?”

Marilla thought for a long time. 'All right, 'she said in the end, 'I agree. The poor child can stay. I'll look after her. '

瑪麗拉想了很久。“好吧，”她終于說，“我同意。這可憐的孩子可以留下。我會(huì)照顧她的。”

Matthew smiled happily. 'Be as good and kind to her as you can, Marilla. I think she needs a lot of love. '

馬修高興地笑了。“盡可能對(duì)她好些，瑪麗拉。我想這孩子太需要人疼愛了。”