Mulherzinhas

第一章 扮演朝圣者

Chapter One Playing Pilgrims

“没有礼物的圣诞节，哪还算圣诞节。”

“Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,”

乔趴在地毯上，

grumbled Jo,

咕哝道。

lying on the rug.

“穷日子真是难过极了！”

“It’s so dreadful to be poor!”

梅格低头看看自己那件旧衣裙，

sighed Meg,

叹了口气。

looking down at her old dress.

“有些姑娘漂亮东西多得用不完，别的姑娘却什么也没有，

“I don’t think it’s fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things,

我看这不公平。”

and other girls nothing at all,”

小艾米也添了一句，

added little Amy,

委委屈屈地抽了下鼻子。

with an injured sniff.

“我们有父亲和母亲，

“We’ve got Father and Mother,

还有彼此呀。”

and each other,”

贝丝在她的角落里心满意足地说。

said Beth contentedly from her corner.

火光映着的四张少女的脸，听了这句宽心话都明亮起来，

The four young faces on which the firelight shone brightened at the cheerful words,

可乔忧伤地接着一说，那光又暗了下去：

but darkened again as Jo said sadly,

“我们没有父亲，

“We haven’t got Father,

而且好久好久都不会有他在身边。”

and shall not have him for a long time.”

她没有说出“

She didn’t say

也许永远都不会了”，

“perhaps never,”

可每个人心里都默默补上了这句，

but each silently added it,

想着远在他方的父亲，

thinking of Father far away,

想着那个打仗的地方。

where the fighting was.

有一阵子谁也没有说话；

Nobody spoke for a minute;

随后梅格换了一种语气说：

then Meg said in an altered tone,

“你们知道母亲为什么提议今年圣诞节不送礼物，因为这个冬天对谁都不好过；

“You know the reason Mother proposed not having any presents this Christmas was because it is going to be a hard winter for everyone;

她觉得,当我们的男儿在军中受苦的时候，

and she thinks we ought not to spend money for pleasure,

我们不该把钱花在玩乐上。

when our men are suffering so in the army.

我们能做的不多，

We can’t do much,

可我们能做一点小小的牺牲，

but we can make our little sacrifices,

而且应该心甘情愿地去做。

and ought to do it gladly.

可我只怕自己做不到。”

But I am afraid I don’t,”

梅格摇了摇头，

and Meg shook her head,

惋惜地想起自己想要的那一件件漂亮东西。

as she thought regretfully of all the pretty things she wanted.