第二十章 肺腑之言 A

CHAPTER TWENTY A
第二十章 A
CONFIDENTIAL
肺腑之言
I don't think I have any words in which to tell the meeting of the mother and daughters. Such hours are beautiful to live, but very hard to describe, so I will leave it to the imagination of my readers, merely saying that the house was full of genuine happiness, and that Meg's tender hope was realized, for when Beth woke from that long, healing sleep, the first objects on which her eyes fell were the little rose and Mother's face. Too weak to wonder at anything, she only smiled and nestled close in the loving arms about her, feeling that the hungry longing was satisfied at last. Then she slept again, and the girls waited upon their mother, for she would not unclasp the thin hand which clung to hers even in sleep.
我想我沒有什么話可以講母女見面的事。時間是如此美麗,但很難描述,所以我把它留給讀者的想象力,只是說房子充滿了真正的幸福,梅格的溫柔的希望實現(xiàn)了,貝絲醒來時從久,治療睡眠,第一個對象,她的眼睛落在小玫瑰和媽媽的臉。她太虛弱了，對任何事情都不感到驚奇，只是微笑著，緊緊地依偎在她的愛的臂彎里，感到饑餓的渴望終于得到了滿足。然后她又睡著了，姑娘們侍候著她們的母親，因為她不肯松開那只即使在睡夢中也緊緊抓住她的瘦弱的手。
Hannah had 'dished up' an astonishing breakfast for the traveler, finding it impossible to vent her excitement in any other way, and Meg and Jo fed their mother like dutiful young storks, while they listened to her whispered account of Father's state, Mr. Brooke's promise to stay and nurse him, the delays which the storm occasioned on the homeward journey, and the unspeakable comfort Laurie's hopeful face had given her when she arrived, worn out with fatigue, anxiety, and cold.
漢娜為這位旅行者“端上”了一頓令人吃驚的早餐，因為她發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的激動情緒無法用其他方式來表達。麥格和喬像孝順的小鸛一樣喂著母親，一邊聽她低聲講述父親的情況，布魯克先生答應(yīng)留下來照顧他，在回家的路上，暴風(fēng)雨耽擱了她的行程;當(dāng)她因疲勞、焦慮和寒冷而疲憊不堪時，勞里充滿希望的臉上給了她難以言喻的安慰。
What a strange yet pleasant day that was. So brilliant and gay without, for all the world seemed abroad to welcome the first snow. So quiet and reposeful within, for everyone slept, spent with watching, and a Sabbath stillness reigned through the house, while nodding Hannah mounted guard at the door. With a blissful sense of burdens lifted off, Meg and Jo closed their weary eyes, and lay at rest, like storm-beaten boats safe at anchor in a quiet harbor. Mrs. March would not leave Beth's side, but rested in the big chair, waking often to look at, touch, and brood over her child, like a miser over some recovered treasure.
多么奇怪而又愉快的一天啊。外面是那么燦爛，那么歡樂，因為整個世界似乎都在迎接初雪。屋里是那么安靜，那么寧靜，因為大家都在守夜，都睡著了。屋子里一片安息日的寂靜，漢娜在門口守著。梅格和喬卸下了負擔(dān)，幸福地閉上了疲倦的眼睛，躺在那里休息，就像被風(fēng)暴摧殘過的小船安全地停泊在寧靜的港灣里。馬奇太太不愿離開貝思身邊，而是坐在那把大椅子上休息。她經(jīng)常醒過來，看看她的孩子，撫摸她的孩子，為她傷神，就像一個守財奴為找回的珍寶而憂傷一樣。
Laurie meanwhile posted off to comfort Amy, and told his story so well that Aunt March actually 'sniffed' herself, and never once said "I told you so".
與此同時，勞里寫信去安慰艾美，他把自己的故事講得那么好，馬奇嬸嬸竟然自己“嗅了嗅”，從來沒有說過“我早就告訴過你”。
Amy came out so strong on this occasion that I think the good thoughts in the little chapel really began to bear fruit. She dried her tears quickly, restrained her impatience to see her mother, and never even thought of the turquoise ring, when the old lady heartily agreed in Laurie's opinion, that she behaved 'like a capital little woman'. Even Polly seemed impressed, for he called her a good girl, blessed her buttons, and begged her to "come and take a walk, dear", in his most affable tone. She would very gladly have gone out to enjoy the bright wintry weather, but discovering that Laurie was dropping with sleep in spite of manful efforts to conceal the fact, she persuaded him to rest on the sofa, while she wrote a note to her mother. She was a long time about it, and when she returned, he was stretched out with both arms under his head, sound asleep, while Aunt March had pulled down the curtains and sat doing nothing in an unusual fit of benignity.
艾美在這個場合表現(xiàn)得如此堅強，我想小教堂里的美好想法真的開始結(jié)出果實了。她很快擦干眼淚，克制住要見母親的急不可耐，當(dāng)老太太誠心同意勞里的看法，說她表現(xiàn)得"像個了不起的小婦人"時，她甚至沒有去想那枚綠松石戒指。甚至連波莉也被感動了，因為他稱呼她為好姑娘，祝福她的鈕扣，用最和藹可親的語氣請求她“過來散散步，親愛的”。她很想出去享受晴朗的冬日天氣，但發(fā)現(xiàn)勞里盡管有男子氣概竭力掩飾，卻快要睡著了，于是她說服他躺在沙發(fā)上休息，自己則給母親寫了一封信。她花了很長時間，等她回來時，他已經(jīng)躺在床上，雙臂枕在頭下，睡得很熟，而馬奇嬸嬸已經(jīng)拉下窗簾，坐在那里，顯得異常親切，什么也不做。
After a while, they began to think he was not going to wake up till night, and I'm not sure that he would, had he not been effectually roused by Amy's cry of joy at sight of her mother. There probably were a good many happy little girls in and about the city that day, but it is my private opinion that Amy was the happiest of all, when she sat in her mother's lap and told her trials, receiving consolation and compensation in the shape of approving smiles and fond caresses. They were alone together in the chapel, to which her mother did not object when its purpose was explained to her.
過了一會兒，他們開始認為他要到晚上才會醒來，如果不是艾美看到母親的歡樂叫聲把他吵醒，我不確定他是否會醒來?？赡苡性S多快樂的小女孩和城市的那一天,但這是我的個人意見,艾米是最幸福的是,當(dāng)她坐在媽媽的腿上,告訴她試驗,獲得安慰和補償?shù)男螤钆鷾?zhǔn)微笑和喜歡愛撫。她們倆單獨在小教堂里，當(dāng)她向母親解釋教堂的用途時，她母親并不反對。
"On the contrary, I like it very much, dear," looking from the dusty rosary to the well-worn little book, and the lovely picture with its garland of evergreen. "It is an excellent plan to have some place where we can go to be quiet, when things vex or grieve us. There are a good many hard times in this life of ours, but we can always bear them if we ask help in the right way. I think my little girl is learning this."
“恰恰相反，我非常喜歡它，親愛的，”他看看布滿灰塵的念珠，又看看那本破舊的小書，還有那張戴著常青花環(huán)的可愛圖畫。“當(dāng)事情讓我們煩惱或悲傷時，找個安靜的地方是一個很好的計劃。在我們的生活中有許多艱難的時刻，但如果我們以正確的方式尋求幫助，我們總能忍受它們。我想我的小女兒正在學(xué)習(xí)這個?！?br>"Yes, Mother, and when I go home I mean to have a corner in the big closet to put my books and the copy of that picture which I've tried to make.
“是的，媽媽，我打算回家后在大衣櫥里留一個角落，把我的書和我想畫的那幅畫的復(fù)制品放進去。
The woman's face is not good, it's too beautiful for me to draw, but the baby is done better, and I love it very much. I like to think He was a little child once, for then I don't seem so far away, and that helps me."
女人的臉畫得不好，太美了，我畫不出來，但是嬰兒畫得更好，我很喜歡。我覺得他曾經(jīng)是一個小孩子，因為那時我似乎就不那么遙遠了，這對我很有幫助。”
As Amy pointed to the smiling Christ child on his Mother's knee, Mrs. March saw something on the lifted hand that made her smile. She said nothing, but Amy understood the look, and after a minute's pause, she added gravely, "I wanted to speak to you about this, but I forgot it. Aunt gave me the ring today. She called me to her and kissed me, and put it on my finger, and said I was a credit to her, and she'd like to keep me always. She gave that funny guard to keep the turquoise on, as it's too big. I'd like to wear them Mother, can I?"
當(dāng)艾美指著母親膝上那個微笑的基督小孩時，馬奇太太看到那只舉起的手上有什么東西讓她笑了。她什么也沒說，但艾美明白她的表情，沉默了一會兒，她嚴(yán)肅地補充道:“我想跟你談?wù)勥@件事，但我忘了。今天阿姨把戒指給我了。她把我叫到跟前，吻了吻我，把戒指戴在我的手指上，說我是她的光榮，她想永遠留下我。她給了那個有趣的護罩來戴綠松石，因為它太大了。媽媽，我想穿，可以嗎?”
"They are very pretty, but I think you're rather too young for such ornaments, Amy," said Mrs. March, looking at the plump little hand, with the band of sky-blue stones on the forefinger, and the quaint guard formed of two tiny golden hands clasped together.
“它們很漂亮，但我覺得你太年輕了，配不上這些裝飾品，艾美，”馬奇太太說著，看著那只胖乎乎的小手，食指上戴著天藍色的寶石，兩只小小的金手緊握在一起，形成了一個古怪的護手。