08 All play and no work(3)

　　'What has happened？'said Jo．
　　Meg ran upstairs，then came down to say that Mother was staying in her room to have a rest．'She says we must look after ourselves today，'Meg said．
　　'Good，I want something to do，'said Jo．
　　Secretly，they were all pleased to have something useful to do again．Beth and Amy put cups and plates on the table while Jo and Meg got the breakfast，then Meg took some tea and an egg up to Mrs March．The tea was too strong and the egg was burned．Mrs March did not complain，but she laughed to herself afterwards．
　　Jo decided to invite Laurie to dinner．'There's meat and vegetables and plenty of potatoes，'she told Meg，'and we can have strawberries，and then coffee．' Her mother said she did not mind at all because she was going out for dinner．

“发生了什么事？”琼说。
　　麦格跑上楼，然后又跑下来跟大家说妈妈呆在她的房间里休息。“她说今天我们得自己照顾自己。”麦格说。
　　“好啊，我想做点事，”琼说。
　　私下里，她们都很高兴又有些有用的事情可以做了。白丝和艾米把杯子和盘子摆到桌上，琼和麦格做早餐，然后麦格把一些茶和一个鸡蛋拿到楼上给母亲。茶太浓了，鸡蛋烧糊了。马奇太太没有抱怨，但之后她对自己笑了。
　　琼决定请罗瑞来吃晚餐。“有肉、蔬菜和足够的土豆，”她告诉麦格，“我们还可以吃草莓，然后喝咖啡。”母亲说她一点也不在乎，因为她要出去吃晚餐。