第十五章 一封电报 B

CHAPTER FIFTEEN B
第十五章 B
Mrs. March was herself again directly, read the message over, and stretched out her arms to her daughters, saying, in a tone they never forgot, "I shall go at once, but it may be too late. Oh, children, children, help me to bear it!"
马奇太太立刻恢复了常态，把信念了一遍，然后向女儿们伸出双臂，用她们永远不会忘记的口气说:“我马上就走，但可能太迟了。”啊，孩子们，孩子们，帮我忍受一下吧!”
For several minutes there was nothing but the sound of sobbing in the room, mingled with broken words of comfort, tender assurances of help, and hopeful whispers that died away in tears. Poor Hannah was the first to recover, and with unconscious wisdom she set all the rest a good example, for with her, work was panacea for most afflictions.
几分钟内，房间里只有啜泣声，夹杂着断断续续的安慰、温柔的帮助保证，以及在泪水中逐渐消失的满怀希望的低语。可怜的汉娜是第一个康复的人，她不知不觉地聪明起来，给其余的人树立了一个好榜样，因为在她看来，工作是医治大多数病痛的灵丹妙药。
"The Lord keep the dear man! I won't waste no time a-cryin', but git your things ready right away, mum," she said heartily, as she wiped her face on her apron, gave her mistress a warm shake of the hand with her own hard one, and went away to work like three women in one.
“愿上帝留住这个可爱的人!”我不想再浪费时间哭了，快把东西收拾好，妈妈，”她热情地说，一边用围裙擦了擦脸，用自己那只有力的手热烈地握了握女主人的手，然后就像三个女人合在一起干活去了。
"She's right, there's no time for tears now. Be calm, girls, and let me think."
她说得对，现在没时间哭了。冷静点，姑娘们，让我想一想。”
They tried to be calm, poor things, as their mother sat up, looking pale but steady, and put away her grief to think and plan for them.
可怜的孩子们，当他们的母亲坐起来，面色苍白却镇定自若的时候，他们都竭力装出镇静的样子，把悲伤抛在脑后，为他们着想，为他们做打算。
"Where's Laurie?" she asked presently, when she had collected her thoughts and decided on the first duties to be done.
“劳里在哪儿?”当她整理了思绪，决定了要做的首要任务后，不久她问道。
"Here, ma'am. Oh, let me do something!" cried the boy, hurrying from the next room whither he had withdrawn, feeling that their first sorrow was too sacred for even his friendly eyes to see.
“在这里,女士。噢，让我做点什么吧!”男孩叫道，他从他刚才离开的那个房间匆匆跑了出来，他感到他们最初的悲哀太神圣了，连他那友好的眼睛都看不见。
"Send a telegram saying I will come at once. The next train goes early in the morning. I'll take that."
“打个电报说我马上就来。”下一班火车清晨开。我要带。”
"What else? The horses are ready. I can go anywhere, do anything," he said, looking ready to fly to the ends of the earth.
“还有什么?马已经准备好了。我可以去任何地方，做任何事，”他说，看起来准备飞到地球的尽头。
"Leave a note at Aunt March's. Jo, give me that pen and paper."
“在马奇姑妈家留张便条。乔，把纸笔给我。”
Tearing off the blank side of one of her newly copied pages, Jo drew the table before her mother, well knowing that money for the long, sad journey must be borrowed, and feeling as if she could do anything to add a little to the sum for her father.
乔撕下新抄写的一页纸的空白边，把桌子拉到母亲面前，心里明白必须借钱来度过这漫长而悲伤的旅程，她觉得自己似乎可以做些什么来为父亲增加一些钱。
"Now go, dear, but don't kill yourself driving at a desperate pace. There is no need of that."
“现在去吧，亲爱的，但别急着开车，把自己累死了。没有这个必要。”
Mrs. March's warning was evidently thrown away, for five minutes later Laurie tore by the window on his own fleet horse, riding as if for his life.
马奇太太的警告显然被抛弃了。五分钟后，劳里骑着他自己的骏马从窗户边疾驰而过，好像拼命地奔驰似的。
"Jo, run to the rooms, and tell Mrs. King that I can't come. On the way get these things. I'll put them down, they'll be needed and I must go prepared for nursing. Hospital stores are not always good. Beth, go and ask Mr. Laurence for a couple of bottles of old wine. I'm not too proud to beg for Father. He shall have the best of everything. Amy, tell Hannah to get down the black trunk, and Meg, come and help me find my things, for I'm half bewildered."
“乔，快跑回房间，告诉金太太我不能去。在路上买这些东西。我把它们放下来，它们会被需要的，我得去准备护理了。医院的商店并不总是好的。贝思，去找劳伦斯先生要几瓶陈酒。我还不至于骄傲到不敢为父亲求情。他将拥有最好的一切。艾美，告诉汉娜到黑箱子下面去，梅格，过来帮我找东西，我都快糊涂了。”
Writing, thinking, and directing all at once might well bewilder the poor lady, and Meg begged her to sit quietly in her room for a little while, and let them work. Everyone scattered like leaves before a gust of wind, and the quiet, happy household was broken up as suddenly as if the paper had been an evil spell.
同时写作、思考和指导可能会把这位可怜的女士弄得晕头转向，梅格请求她在自己的房间里安静地坐一会儿，让她们自己干。每一个人都像一阵风前的落叶一样散了，安静的、幸福的家庭像被邪恶的咒语一样突然地被拆散了。
Mr. Laurence came hurrying back with Beth, bringing every comfort the kind old gentleman could think of for the invalid, and friendliest promises of protection for the girls during the mother's absence, which comforted her very much. There was nothing he didn't offer, from his own dressing gown to himself as escort. But the last was impossible. Mrs. March would not hear of the old gentleman's undertaking the long journey, yet an expression of relief was visible when he spoke of it, for anxiety ill fits one for traveling. He saw the look, knit his heavy eyebrows, rubbed his hands, and marched abruptly away, saying he'd be back directly. No one had time to think of him again till, as Meg ran through the entry, with a pair of rubbers in one hand and a cup of tea in the other, she came suddenly upon Mr. Brooke.
劳伦斯先生带着贝思匆匆赶回来，好心的老先生给病人带来了他所能想到的一切安慰，并亲切地许诺母亲不在时要保护女儿们，这使她感到非常安慰。从他自己的晨衣到护送他的人，他什么都答应了。但最后一个是不可能的。马奇太太不愿让这位老先生去远行，但他说起这件事时却流露出一种宽慰的神情，因为焦虑是不适合旅行的。他看到了他的表情，皱起沉重的眉毛，搓了搓手，然后突然走开，说他马上就回来。大家都没有时间再去想他，直到梅格一只手拿着一副橡皮鞋，一只手拿着一杯茶跑过门口，才突然遇到布鲁克先生。
"I'm very sorry to hear of this, Miss March," he said, in the kind, quiet tone which sounded very pleasantly to her perturbed spirit. "I came to offer myself as escort to your mother. Mr. Laurence has commissions for me in Washington, and it will give me real satisfaction to be of service to her there."
“听到这个消息我很难过，马奇小姐，”他说，语气和蔼、平静，在她心里不安的时候听起来非常愉快。“我是来护送你母亲的。劳伦斯先生要我在华盛顿办件事，能在那里为她效劳，我会感到非常满意的。”
Down dropped the rubbers, and the tea was very near following, as Meg put out her hand, with a face so full of gratitude that Mr. Brooke would have felt repaid for a much greater sacrifice than the trifling one of time and comfort which he was about to take.
橡胶鞋掉了下来，茶也跟着掉了下来，梅格伸出手来，脸上充满感激之情。布鲁克先生会觉得，这比他即将获得的短暂的时间和舒适更大的牺牲得到了回报。
"How kind you all are! Mother will accept, I'm sure, and it will be such a relief to know that she has someone to take care of her. Thank you very, very much!"
“你们真是太好了!”我相信妈妈会接受的，知道有人照顾她会让她如释重负的。非常、非常感谢!”
Meg spoke earnestly, and forgot herself entirely till something in the brown eyes looking down at her made her remember the cooling tea, and lead the way into the parlor, saying she would call her mother.
梅格认真地说着，完全忘记了自己的心思，直到那双向下望着她的棕色眼睛里的什么东西，使她想起了那杯凉茶，便领着她走进客厅，说她要去叫妈妈。
Everything was arranged by the time Laurie returned with a note from Aunt March, enclosing the desired sum, and a few lines repeating what she had often said before, that she had always told them it was absurd for March to go into the army, always predicted that no good would come of it, and she hoped they would take her advice the next time. Mrs. March put the note in the fire, the money in her purse, and went on with her preparations, with her lips folded tightly in a way which Jo would have understood if she had been there.
一切都安排的时候劳里带着一张纸条从马奇婶婶,封闭所需的金额,和几行重复她以前常说什么,她一直告诉他们这是荒谬的3月份进入军队,总是预测,没有好的会来,她希望他们下次会把她的建议。马奇太太把纸条放进火里，把钱放进钱包，继续做准备，嘴唇紧闭，那样子如果乔在场，她也会明白的。