第十七章 忠诚的小姑娘 A

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN A
第十七章 A 
LITTLE FAITHFUL
忠诚的小姑娘
For a week the amount of virtue in the old house would have supplied the neighborhood. It was really amazing, for everyone seemed in a heavenly frame of mind, and self-denial was all the fashion. Relieved of their first anxiety about their father, the girls insensibly relaxed their praiseworthy efforts a little, and began to fall back into old ways. They did not forget their motto, but hoping and keeping busy seemed to grow easier, and after such tremendous exertions, they felt that Endeavor deserved a holiday, and gave it a good many.
这所老房子里的美德足以供给邻里一个星期。这真是令人惊奇，因为每个人的心情似乎都很好，自我克制成了时髦。从最初对父亲的忧虑中解脱出来之后，姑娘们不知不觉地放松了一点，又开始回到原来的生活方式。他们没有忘记自己的座右铭，但希望和保持忙碌似乎变得更容易了，在如此巨大的努力之后，他们觉得奋进应该有一个假期，并给了它很多。
Jo caught a bad cold through neglect to cover the shorn head enough, and was ordered to stay at home till she was better, for Aunt March didn't like to hear people read with colds in their heads. Jo liked this, and after an energetic rummage from garret to cellar, subsided on the sofa to nurse her cold with arsenicum and books. Amy found that housework and art did not go well together, and returned to her mud pies. Meg went daily to her pupils, and sewed, or thought she did, at home, but much time was spent in writing long letters to her mother, or reading the Washington dispatches over and over. Beth kept on, with only slight relapses into idleness or grieving.
乔因为没把剪过的头发盖好而得了重感冒，她被命令待在家里，直到她好起来，因为马奇婶婶不喜欢听到人们感冒时读书。乔很喜欢这样，从阁楼到地窖，她精力充沛地翻找了一遍，然后躺在沙发上，用砒霜和书籍来治疗感冒。艾美发现家务和艺术不能很好地结合在一起，于是又开始做她的泥饼。梅格每天去她的学生那里，在家里做针线活，或者自以为在做针线活，但大部分时间都花在给母亲写长信上，或者一遍又一遍地阅读华盛顿的急件上。贝思继续说着，只是偶尔又变得懒散或悲伤起来。
All the little duties were faithfully done each day, and many of her sisters' also, for they were forgetful, and the house seemed like a clock whose pendulum was gone a-visiting. When her heart got heavy with longings for Mother or fears for Father, she went away into a certain closet, hid her face in the folds of a dear old gown, and made her little moan and prayed her little prayer quietly by herself. Nobody knew what cheered her up after a sober fit, but everyone felt how sweet and helpful Beth was, and fell into a way of going to her for comfort or advice in their small affairs.
她的许多妹妹也是这样，因为她们都很健忘。这幢房子就像一只钟摆去拜访客人了。每当她因思念母亲或担心父亲而心情沉重时，她就会躲到一个壁橱里，把脸藏在一件可爱的旧袍子的皱褶里，轻轻地呻吟一声，独自静静地做着小小的祷告。谁也不知道是什么使她清醒过来后振作起来的，但大家都觉得贝思多么可爱，多么乐于助人，在小事上都喜欢向她寻求安慰或建议。
All were unconscious that this experience was a test of character, and when the first excitement was over, felt that they had done well and deserved praise. So they did, but their mistake was in ceasing to do well, and they learned this lesson through much anxiety and regret.
所有的人都没有意识到这次经历是对性格的考验。当最初的兴奋过后，他们都觉得自己做得很好，值得表扬。他们这样做了，但他们的错误在于没有做好，他们在许多焦虑和遗憾中吸取了这个教训。
"Meg, I wish you'd go and see the Hummels. You know Mother told us not to forget them." said Beth, ten days after Mrs. March's departure.
“梅格，我希望你能去看看哈梅尔一家。你知道妈妈叫我们不要忘记它们，”贝思说，那是在马奇太太离开十天后。
"I'm too tired to go this afternoon," replied Meg, rocking comfortably as she sewed.
“我今天下午太累了，走不动了，”梅格答道，一边舒服地摇着身子，一边缝衣服。
"Can't you, Jo?" asked Beth.
“你不能吗，乔?”贝思问。
"Too stormy for me with my cold."
“我感冒了，暴风雨太大了。”
"I thought it was almost well."
“我觉得差不多了。”
"It's well enough for me to go out with Laurie, but not well enough to go to the Hummels'," said Jo, laughing, but looking a little ashamed of her inconsistency.
“对我来说，和劳里一起出去是可以的，但到哈梅尔家去就不行，”乔说着笑了，但似乎对自己的不一致感到有些羞愧。
"Why don't you go yourself?" asked Meg.
“你为什么不自己去呢?”梅格问。
"I have been every day, but the baby is sick, and I don't know what to do for it. Mrs. Hummel goes away to work, and Lottchen takes care of it. But it gets sicker and sicker, and I think you or Hannah ought to go."
“我每天都去，但孩子病了，我不知道该怎么办。哈梅尔太太去上班了，洛琴负责这件事。但情况越来越糟，我想你和汉娜应该去。”
Beth spoke earnestly, and Meg promised she would go tomorrow.
贝思认真地说，梅格答应明天去。
"Ask Hannah for some nice little mess, and take it round, Beth, the air will do you good," said Jo, adding apologetically, "I'd go but I want to finish my writing."
“让汉娜给你弄点漂亮的脏东西，带出去，贝思，空气对你会有好处的，”乔说，带着歉意补充说，“我想去，但我想完成我的写作。”
"My head aches and I'm tired, so I thought maybe some of you would go," said Beth.
“我头疼，也累了，所以我想也许你们中有人会去，”贝思说。
"Amy will be in presently, and she will run down for us," suggested Meg.
“艾美马上就来，她会跑来接我们的，”梅格暗示道。
So Beth lay down on the sofa, the others returned to their work, and the Hummels were forgotten. An hour passed. Amy did not come, Meg went to her room to try on a new dress, Jo was absorbed in her story, and Hannah was sound asleep before the kitchen fire, when Beth quietly put on her hood, filled her basket with odds and ends for the poor children, and went out into the chilly air with a heavy head and a grieved look in her patient eyes. It was late when she came back, and no one saw her creep upstairs and shut herself into her mother's room. Half an hour after, Jo went to 'Mother's closet' for something, and there found little Beth sitting on the medicine chest, looking very grave, with red eyes and a camphor bottle in her hand.
于是贝思躺在沙发上，其他人回去干活，把哈梅尔一家忘在了脑后。一个小时过去了。艾米没有来,梅格去她的房间试穿一件新衣服,乔是专注于她的故事,和汉娜是熟睡在厨房火之前,当贝思悄悄把她罩,她的篮子里装满了零碎的贫困儿童,并出去到寒冷的空气重抬头和伤心她的病人的眼睛。她回来的时候已经很晚了，没有人看见她蹑手蹑脚地上楼，把自己关在母亲的房间里。半小时后，琼去了“妈妈的衣橱”
"Christopher Columbus! What's the matter?" cried Jo, as Beth put out her hand as if to warn her off, and asked quickly...
“哥伦布!怎么了?”乔叫道。贝思伸出手来，好像要警告她走开，并迅速问道……