《小妇人》第17期_第4章 隔壁的房子(1)

4 The house next door
　　'It's so nice to go to parties and drive home in carriages．'said Meg，the next morning．'Other people live like that all the time，and I wish we could．I wish we were rich．'
　　'Well， we're not，'said Jo．' So we must do our work with a smile，the way Mother does．'
　　Mr March had lost most of his money helping a friend．When the two older girls discovered this，they wanted to do something to earn some money for the family， and as soon as they were old enough，they found work．Meg got a job teach ing four small children．It was hard for her to be poor because she could remember the time when their home had been beautiful，with every thing they wanted． And every day at Mrs King's house she saw pretty dresses，and heard talk of parties and the theatre-all the things which Meg loved．
　　Jo went to Aunt March，who needed someone to fetch and carry things，and read to her．She was a difficult old lady who complained a lot，but Jo did her best．

4 隔壁的房子
　　“去参加舞会然后坐马车回家真好，”第二天早晨麦格说道。“其他人一直都是这样生活的，真希望我们也是。真希望我们是富有的。”
　　“哎，我们不富有，”琼说，“所以我们必须面带微笑做我们的工作，就像妈妈那样。”
　　马奇先生为了帮助一位朋友失去了他的大部分钱。当两个年长的女孩子发现这件事时，她们就想要做些事来帮家里挣钱。她们等年龄一到，就去找工作。麦格找到了一份给四个小孩教课的工作。对她来说贫困是艰难的，因为她能记得当初家里是多么漂亮，她们要什么有什么。每天在金太太的家里她都能看到漂亮的衣服，听到有关舞会和剧院的议论——这些都是麦格所热衷的。
　　琼到了马奇姑妈家，她需要有人帮她拿取东西，给她读文章。她是个很难缠的老太太，经常抱怨，可琼尽力而为。