《小妇人》第37期第7章麦格听到了闲言碎语(4)

　　'What will you wear on Thursday？'asked Sallie．
　　'My white dress again，I haven't got any others．'
　　'No others？'said Sallie．'How funny—'
　　'I have a pretty blue dress I can't wear any more，Meg，'said Belle．'It will please me if you wear it．'
　　'You're very kind，but—，'began Meg．
　　'Please，do，'said Belle．'You'll look quite beautiful in it．'
　　Meg couldn't refuse this kind offer and，on the Thursday evening，Belle helped to change Meg into a fine lady．She brushed and curled her hair，reddened her lips，then helped her to get into the sky-blue dress．The neck of the dress was cut very low，and Meg was quite shocked when she saw herself in the mirror．A necklace and earrings were added，and Meg was ready for the party．
　　At first，she felt strange in all the fine clothes，but she soon discovered that people who did not usually notice her now came to speak to her．Several young men who had only stared before now asked to be introduced．

“你星期四穿什么？”萨丽问。
　　“还是我那件白衣服，我没有别的了。”
　　“没有别的衣服？”萨丽道，“这太有意思了——”
　　“我有一件很漂亮的蓝裙子，我穿不下了，麦格，”白拉说，“你如果穿上它我会很高兴。”
　　“你太好了，可是——”麦格开始说。
　　“穿上吧，”白拉说。“你穿上会非常漂亮的。”
　　麦格无法拒绝这份好心，星期四晚上，白丝帮忙把麦格变成了一个漂亮的淑女。她替她梳了头，卷了头发，上了唇色，然后帮她穿上那件天蓝色的衣裙。那件衣服的领子开得很低，当麦格从镜子里看到自己时，她感到十分震惊。戴上项链和耳环后，麦格就准备好参加舞会了。
　　刚开始，她穿着那些好衣服感觉很别扭，可不久她发现那些平常不注意她的人开始跟她攀谈了。几个年轻人原先只盯着她看，现在都希望被介绍给她。