MWRP讀物推介|瑪麗?瑪麗亞Mary Marie

《瑪麗?瑪麗亞》（Mary Marie）是「百萬英語閱讀計劃」MWRP叢書——英漢對照中級英語系列讀物第I輯之13，適合已掌握1500基本英語辭彙量（相當於初中畢業）的英語學習者閱讀。

百萬英語閱讀計劃是為專門為中國學生設計的英語閱讀提高計劃，讀者對象為已具有初中英語水平的讀者，通過２年、每天約15分鐘的閱讀能達到中級英語水平，掌握3000多單詞和大量的短語，熟練掌握英語的各種句子結構，並能閱讀一般英語原著。詳見：《百萬英語閱讀計劃讀者手冊》。

內容簡介

13歲的瑪麗·瑪麗亞，由於父母離異，生活陷入了混亂，每年6個月時間跟爸爸住在一起，過著瑪麗枯燥的生活，而另6個月跟媽媽住在一起，過著瑪麗亞無拘無束的生活。在完全相反的兩種家庭環境中，小姑娘的角色存在衝突嗎？如何協調呢？這種雙重生活對孩子又什麼影響呢？……

本小說作者是埃利諾·H·波特（Eleanor H. Porter 1868-1920），是美國著名兒童文學作家，本書出版於1920年。

文本信息

本書文本統計信息詳見下表，供選擇時參考：

說明:

1. 關於可讀性：這是根據美國Rudolf Flesch博士的統計方法計算出的Flesch Reading Ease（弗萊士易讀度），計算根據是句子的字數和100個字內音節個數等，數值在0和100之間，數目越大，文章越容易讀。

2. 1500基本辭彙外的單詞不包括由這些詞構成的合成詞 （如：schoolboy<=school +boy）和派生詞 （如：proudly <= proud + ly）。

3. 專有名詞（人名地名）或由專有名詞派生的辭彙以及感嘆詞不計入生詞。

4. 1500詞外詞數（生詞數）包含重複詞數。比如一個單詞以不同形式出現3次，則按3次統計。

5. 在1500詞外詞條數中，重複的單詞或者一個單詞的不同形式統計為1次。

6. 正文每一千字處都有字數標誌，便於讀者掌握閱讀進度。

7. 1500基本辭彙外的詞在原文部分用粗體顯示，譯文部分用深色粗體，由於翻譯的緣故，兩部分的詞性和意義並不完全對應，僅供參考。

8. 本系列讀物的前三本生詞全部標註，以後只標註兩次，出現兩次以後生詞就不再標註。

網友評論

• a_kangaroo163 【購買用戶】
• 102017-10-02 06:44:31來自百度閱讀

故事發人深省

百度用戶2016-07-30 11:19:14來自百度閱讀

一個字：好！

第一章試讀

Mary Marie

瑪麗?瑪麗亞

Preface

前言

Father calls me Mary. Mother calls me Marie. Everybody else calls me Mary Marie. The rest of my name is Anderson.

爸爸叫我瑪麗，媽媽叫我瑪麗亞，其他都叫我瑪麗?瑪麗亞。我名字的其他部分是安德森。

I』m thirteen years old, and I』m a cross-current and a contradiction. That is, Sarah says I』m that. (Sarah is my old nurse.) She says she read it once--that the children of unlikes were always a cross-current and a contradiction. And my father and mother are unlikes, and I』m the only child. And now I』m going to be a bigger cross-current and contradiction than ever, for I』m going to live half the time with Mother and the other half with Father. Mother will go to Boston to live, and Father will stay here -- a divorce, you know.

我今年１３歲了，是一個岔流和矛盾。就是說，薩拉說我就是。（薩拉是我的老保姆。）她說自己讀到過--不同類的人生的孩子一般是岔流和矛盾。我的父母是不同類的人，而我是他們唯一的孩子。現在，我會成為一個更大的岔流和矛盾，因為我要一半時間跟媽媽過，另一半時間跟爸爸過。媽媽要搬到波士頓去住，而爸爸要留在這裡--離婚了，你知道。

I』m terribly excited over it. None of the other girls have got a divorce in their families, and I always did like to be different. Besides, it ought to be awfully interesting, more interesting than just living along with your father and mother in the same house all the time -- especially if it』s like my house with my father and mother in it!

這件事讓我興奮極了。其他的女孩家都沒有離婚的，而我總是喜歡與眾不同。而且，這事應該非常好玩，要比起一直跟爸爸媽媽生活他一起更好玩--尤其是，如果像我家，爸爸媽媽在一起的時候那樣！

That』s why I』ve decided to make a book of it. Only I shall have to call it a diary, on account of Father, you know. Won』t it be funny when I don』t have to do things on account of Father? And I won』t, of course, the six months I』m living with Mother in Boston.

這就是我決定寫一本書的原因。只是，我不得不把它稱為日記，都是因為我爸爸的緣故，你知道。如果我不用按照爸爸的意思去做事該有多好玩啊！當然，我在跟媽媽住在波士頓的那６個月就不用聽他的了。

Well, about making this into a book. As I started to say, he wouldn』t let me. He says novels are a silly waste of time, if not absolutely bad. But, a diary -- oh, he loves diaries! He keeps one himself, and he told me it would be an excellent and instructive discipline for me to do it, too -- set down the weather and what I did every day.

好了，現在談談把這個寫出一本書的事。就像我剛開始說的那樣，他不允許。他說，寫小說就算不絕對是壞事，也是在傻傻地浪費時間。可是日記--啊，他喜歡日記！他自己就寫日記，而且他告訴我說，如果我寫日記--記下天氣，以及自己每天乾的事情--那對我來說將是一種很好的，有教育意義的訓練。

* * * * *

I shall call it a diary. Oh, yes, I shall call it a diary -- till I take it to be printed. Then I shall give it its true name -- a novel. I love stories. I』ve written lots of them for the girls, too -- little short ones, I mean; not a long one like this is going to be, of course. And it』ll be so exciting to be living a story instead of reading it -- only when you』re living a story you can』t look at the back to see how it』s all coming out. I shan』t like that part. Still, it may be all the more exciting, after all, not to know what』s coming.

我就把它稱為日記。哦，對，我要把它稱為日記--直到我拿去付印為止。然後我再用它真正的名字--小說。我喜歡讀故事，我也給女孩寫了許多故事--我指的是很短的小故事，當然不像這篇那麼長啦。而且，自己生活在故事中而不是讀故事，太讓人激動了--只是生活在故事中的時候，你不能翻到後面看看故事的結局。我不會喜歡那一部分的。可是，畢竟，不知道下一步要發生什麼也許會更令人激動。

I like love stories the best. Father』s got lots of books in the library, and I』ve read lots of them, even some of the stupid old histories and biographies. I had to read them when there wasn』t anything else to read. But there weren』t many love stories. Mother』s got a few, though -- lovely ones -- and some books of poetry, on the little shelf in her room. But I read all those years ago.

我最喜歡故事啦。爸爸書房裡有許多書，我讀過很多，甚至包括一些愚蠢的舊歷史書和傳記。沒有別的事情做的時候，我就只好讀書。但是，沒有多少愛情故事。不過，媽媽有幾本--可愛的故事，還有些詩集，都在她房間的小書架上。可是那些都是我幾年前讀的。

That』s why I』m so excited over this new one -- the one I』m living, I mean. For of course this will be a love story. There』ll be my love story in two or three years, when I grow up, and while I』m waiting there』s Father』s and Mother』s.

這就是我因為這個新故事而如此興奮的原因--我指的是我正生活的故事，因為這當然是一部愛情故事了。再過兩三年，等我長大了，將會有我自己的愛情故事了，而我在等待的時候，有爸爸和媽媽的故事。

Nurse Sarah says that when you』re divorced you』re free, just like you were before you were married, and that sometimes they marry again. That made me think right away: what if Father or Mother, or both of them, married again? And I should be there to see it, and the courting, and all! Wouldn』t that be some love story? Well, I just guess!

薩拉保姆說，等你離婚了，你就自由了，就跟結婚前一樣了，而有時候，他們會再婚。這讓我馬上想到：如果爸爸或媽媽中的一個，或者兩個人都再婚那怎麼辦呢？我會在場看到的，還能看到求愛，什麼都能看到！難道那不是愛情故事嗎？哦，我只是猜測！

And only think how all the girls would envy me -- and they just living along their boring, everyday existence with fathers and mothers already married and living together, and nothing exciting to look forward to. For really, you know, there aren』t many girls that have got the chance I』ve got.

想想那些女孩都會多羨慕我吧！她們只是同自己的已婚且生活在一起的父母過著單調的日常生活，沒有什麼令人興奮的事情可以期盼。因為真的，你知道，沒有多少女孩能跟我一樣有這麼一個機會。

And so that』s why I』ve decided to write it into a book. Oh, yes, I know I』m young -- only thirteen. But I feel really old; and you know a woman is as old as she feels. Besides, Nurse Sarah says I am old for my age, and that it』s no wonder, the kind of life I』ve lived.

所以，那就是我要把它寫成一本書的原因。哦，是的，我知道自己還小--才１３歲。但是我覺得真的長大了；你知道女人的年齡就是自己感覺的年齡。而且，薩拉保姆說，我比起實際年齡要成熟，那也難怪，看看我過的這種生活吧。

And maybe that is so. For of course it has been different to live with a father and mother that are getting ready to be divorced. Nurse Sarah says it』s a shame and a pity, and that it』s the children that always suffer. But I』m not suffering -- not a bit. I』m just enjoying it. It』s so exciting.

也許是這樣，因為，當然，跟著一個準備離異的爸爸或者媽媽生活是不一樣。薩拉保姆說這是個恥辱，也是一個遺憾，受罪的總是孩子。可是我沒有受罪--一點都沒有。我只是在享受著。這那麼令人興奮。

I』m going to begin the story tomorrow -- the real story -- Chapter One.

明天我就開始寫故事--真正的故事--第一章。

Chapter 1. I Am Born

第一章 我的出生

The sun was slowly setting in the west, shining golden light into the old room.

夕陽慢慢地從西方下落，將金色的陽光灑向這所古老的房間。

That』s the way it ought to begin, I know, and I』d like to do it, but I can』t. I』m beginning with my being born, of course, and Nurse Sarah says the sun wasn』t shining at all. It was night and the stars were out. She remembers particularly about the stars, for Father was in the observatory, and couldn』t be disturbed. (We never disturb Father when he』s there, you know.) And so he didn』t even know he had a daughter until the next morning when he came out to breakfast. He』s always finding out something about those old stars just when we want him to pay attention to something else.

我知道，故事應該這樣開頭，我想這麼開頭，但是做不到。當然我要從我的出生開始寫起，而薩拉保姆說太陽當時根本就沒有照耀。那是在夜裡，星星出來了。她特別記住了星星，因為當時爸爸在天文台，不能打擾。（你知道，爸爸在那裡的時候，我們從來都不打擾他。）因此，他在第二天早晨出來吃早飯的時候才知道自己有了一個女兒。我們想讓他注意別的事情的時候，他卻總是在設法弄清那些古老的星星的情況。

Well, as I was saying, Father didn』t know until after breakfast that he had a little daughter. (We never tell him disturbing, exciting things just before meals.) And then Nurse told him.

哦，我剛才說了，爸爸直到早飯後才知道自己有了一個小女兒。（飯前我們從來不告訴他讓他分心、激動的事情。）然後薩拉保姆告訴了他。

I asked what he said, and Nurse laughed and gave her funny little shrug to her shoulders.

我問他說了些什麼，保姆大笑了，滑稽地聳了聳肩。

「Yes, what did he say, indeed?」 she said. 「He frowned, looked kind of confused, then whispered: 『Well, well, upon my soul! Yes, to be sure!』」

「對，他到底說了什麼呢？」她說。「他皺了皺眉，顯得有些糊塗，然後低聲說：『哦，哦，的的確確！對，真的！」

Then he came in to see me.

然後，他進來看我。

I don』t know, of course, what he thought of me, but I guess he didn』t think much of me, from what Nurse said. Of course I was very, very small, and I never yet saw a little bit of a baby that was pretty. So maybe you couldn』t really blame him.

當然我不知道他對我是怎麼想的，但是從保姆說的話，我猜他對我也沒有什麼好感。當然，當時我非常非常小，我還從來沒見過哪個小女孩會漂亮呢。所以，也許你真的不能怪他。

Nurse said he looked at me, whispered, 「Well, well, upon my soul!」 again, and seemed really quite interested till they started to put me in his arms. Then he threw up both hands, backed off, and cried, 「Oh, no, no!」 He turned to Mother and hoped she was feeling pretty well, then he got out of the room just as quick as he could.

保姆說，他望著我，又一次低聲說：「哦，哦，的的確確！」在她們把我遞到他的懷中之前，他好像真的很感興趣。然後，他猛地舉起雙臂，後退幾步，喊道：「啊，不，不！」她轉向媽媽，希望她感覺很好，然後飛快地離開了房間。

He was much more interested in his new star than he was in his new daughter. We were both born the same night, you see, and that star was much more important than I was. And that』s one of the things, I think, that bothers Mother. I heard her say once to Father that she didn』t see why a worthless star or two need so much attention when there were so many, many. And I don』t, either.

他對於自己的新星比起自己的新生女兒更感興趣。你知道，我們是在同一夜降生的，而那顆星星比我更重要。我想，這是讓媽媽煩惱的事情之一。有一次，我聽她對爸爸說，她不明白天上有那麼多其他的星星，為什麼那一兩顆沒有價值的星星需要那麼關注呢？我也不明白。

But Father just groaned, shook his head, threw up his hands, and looked so tired. And that』s all he said. That』s all he says lots of times. But it』s enough. It』s enough to make you feel so small and unimportant as if you were just a little green worm crawling on the ground. Did you ever feel like a green worm crawling on the ground? It』s not a pleasant feeling at all.

但是爸爸只是嘆息一聲，搖搖頭，揚起胳膊，顯得那麼疲倦。他說的話就是這些，他說了許多遍。可這就夠了，這足以讓你感覺自己是如此之小，如此之微不足道，就像是一個在地上爬的綠色小蟲子一樣。你有沒有感覺過自己就像地上爬的綠色蟲子一樣？那根本就不是一種愉快的感覺。

Of course they had to begin to talk about naming me pretty soon; and Nurse said they did talk a lot. But they couldn』t settle it. Nurse said that that was about the first thing that showed how totally they were going to disagree about things.

但是，他們不久就不得不談到給我取名的事。保姆說他們討論了許多次，可就是定不下來。保姆說那差不多是第一次說明他們在許多問題上會意見不一致。

Mother wanted to call me Viola, after her mother, and Father wanted to call me Abigail Jane after his mother. Neither of them would give in to the other. Mother was sick and nervous, and cried a lot those days. She used to say that if they thought they were going to name her darling little baby Abigail Jane, they were very much mistaken. She said that she would never agree to it -- never. Then Father would say in his cold, firm way: 「Very well, then, you needn』t. But neither shall I agree to my daughter being named that absurd Viola!」

媽媽想讓我用她母親的名字，叫梵厄拉；爸爸想讓我用他母親的名字，叫阿比蓋爾?簡。他們互不讓步。在那些日子，媽媽有病，而且神經質，經常哭叫。她常說，如果他們認為應該把自己可愛的小女兒叫阿比蓋爾?簡，那就大錯特錯。她說自己永遠也不答應--決不答應。然後，爸爸就用冷淡而堅定的口氣說：「那好吧，也不用你答應。但是，我也絕不用同意讓我的女兒叫荒唐的梵厄拉！」

And that』s the way it went, Nurse said, until everybody was just about crazy. Then somebody suggested 「Mary.」 And Father said, very well, they might call me Mary; and Mother said certainly, she would agree to Mary, only she should pronounce it Marie. And so it was settled. Father called me Mary, and Mother called me Marie. And right away everybody else began to call me Mary Marie. And that』s the way it』s been ever since.

保姆說，事情就這樣發展下去，直到大家都要發瘋了。然後，有人建議叫「瑪麗」。爸爸說，好吧，他們可以叫我瑪麗，而媽媽說她當然同意叫瑪麗，只是她要讀作瑪麗亞。於是就這麼定下了。爸爸叫我瑪麗，媽媽叫我瑪麗亞。於是別人便馬上把我叫做瑪麗?瑪麗亞。從那以後就是這樣了。

Of course, when you stop to think of it, it』s sort of funny, though naturally I didn』t think of it, until suddenly one day it occurred to me that none of the other girls had two names. I began to notice other things then, too. Their fathers and mothers didn』t live in rooms at opposite ends of the house. Their fathers and mothers seemed to like each other, talk together, and have little jokes and laughs together. That is, most of them did.

當然，我停下來想想這件事確實有點好笑。自然，我沒有想到這一點，直到有一天，我突然想起其他女孩沒有一個人有兩個名字的。然後，我也開始注意到其他的事情。她們的爸爸媽媽不住在房子兩頭不同的房間里。她們的爸爸和媽媽們似乎互相恩愛，一起說話，還一起說小笑話，然後哈哈大笑。就是說，她們多數人都那樣。

And if one wanted to go to walk, or to a party, the other didn』t always look tired and bored, and say, 「Oh, very well, if you like.」 And then both not do it, whatever it was. That is, I never saw the other girls』 fathers and mothers do that way; and I』ve seen quite a lot of them, too, for I』ve been at the other girls』 houses a lot for a long time. You see, I don』t stay at home much, only when I have to. We don』t have a round table with a red cloth and a lamp on it, and children around it playing games and doing things, and fathers and mothers reading and mending. And it』s more pleasant where they do have them.

而且，如果其中一人想出去散步，或者去參加晚會，另一個人不會老是顯得勞累而厭倦，然後說：「啊，好吧，如果你願意。」然後，無論是什麼事，兩個人都不幹了。就是說，我從沒見過其他女孩的爸爸媽媽那樣過，而且我也見過很多父母，因為好長時間來，我都常去其他女孩子的家裡。你看，我不常呆在家裡，除非是不得已。我們家裡沒有鋪著紅桌布、上面放著檯燈的圓桌，孩子們圍著做遊戲或者做事情，而爸爸媽媽們在讀書或者縫補衣服。而真正有這些的地方會更加令人愉快。

Nurse says my father and mother ought never to have been married. That』s what I heard her tell our Bridget one day. So when I got the chance, I asked her why, and what she meant.

保姆說，我的爸爸媽媽本來就不應該結婚。這是我有一天聽她對我們的布麗奇特說的。於是，等我有機會，我問她為什麼，她是什麼意思。

「Oh! Did you hear that?」 she demanded, with the quick look over her shoulder that she always gives when she』s talking about Father and Mother.

「啊！你都聽見啦？」她問道，同時馬上回頭望一望。她說到爸爸媽媽的時候總是這樣做。

I』m no child to be kept in the dark about things I ought to know. And I told her so, sweetly and pleasantly, but with firmness and pride. I made her tell me what she meant, and I made her tell me a lot of other things about them, too. You see, I showed my excitement and interest clearly. When she saw how glad I was to hear everything she could tell, she talked a lot, and really seemed to enjoy it, too.

我不是孩子了，我應該知道的事情不能再把我蒙在鼓裡了。我這樣告訴她，語氣溫柔而愉快，但同時堅決而傲慢。我請她告訴我她是什麼意思，我還請她告訴了我許多關於他們的事。你看，我清楚地表現出自己的興奮和興趣。當她見我聽到她給我講的事情是多麼高興時，她就講了許多，而且似乎自己也很喜歡。

You see, she was here when Mother first came as a bride, so she knows everything. She was Father』s nurse when he was a little boy. She』s always been in the family, ever since she was a young girl. She』s awfully old now -- almost sixty.

你看，媽媽作為新娘第一次進門的時候她就在這兒，所以她什麼都知道。爸爸小的時候她就是他的保姆。她自從是個小姑娘的時候就一直在這個家裡。現在她年紀非常大了--快６０歲了。

First I found out how Father and Mother happened to marry. They』re so totally different.

一開始，我弄明白了爸爸媽媽是怎麼碰巧結婚的。他們倆是如此大相徑庭。

But this is the story.

但經過是這樣的。

Father went to Boston to attend a big meeting of astronomers from all over the world. They had banquets and receptions where beautiful ladies went in their pretty evening dresses, and my mother was one of them. (Her father was one of the astronomers, Nurse said.) The meetings lasted four days, and Nurse said she guessed my father saw a lot of my mother during that time. Anyhow, he was invited to their home, and he stayed another four days after the meetings were over. The next thing they knew here at the house, Grandma Anderson had a telegram that he was going to be married to Miss Madge Desmond.

爸爸去波士頓參加一個來自全世界的天文學家的大會。他們舉行了宴會和招待會，會場有許多漂亮的女士身著漂亮的晚禮服，我媽媽就是其中之一。（她的父親是其中一位天文學家，保姆說。）大會開了４天，保姆說她猜想當時爸爸跟媽媽見過許多面。不管怎麼說，會議結束後，他被邀請到他們家去，又住了４天。在家裡，他們知道的下一件事就是奶奶安德森收到一封電報，說他要跟瑪琪?德斯蒙德小姐結婚。

It was just as sudden as that. And surprising! Father was almost thirty years old at that time, and he』d never cared a thing for girls, nor paid them any attention. So they supposed, of course, that he was hopeless and wouldn』t ever marry. He was already beginning to be famous, because of a comet he』d discovered. He was a professor in our college here, where his father had been president. His father had just died a few months before, and Nurse said maybe that was one reason why Father got caught in the marriage net like that. (Those are her words, not mine. The idea of calling my mother a net! But Nurse never did half appreciate Mother.) But Father just worshipped his father, and they were always together -- Grandma being sick so much. So when he died my father was nearly mad, and that』s one reason they wanted him to go to that meeting in Boston. They thought it might take his mind off himself, Nurse said. But they never thought it would put his mind on a wife!

事情就是這麼突然，而且讓人吃驚！爸爸當時已經３０多歲了，就從來沒有喜歡過女孩子，也沒有在意過她們。所以，大家當然覺得他沒有希望了，不會結婚了。他因為自己發現的一顆彗星，已經開始出名了。他是我們這兒大學的一名教授，而他的父親曾經是大學校長。他的父親幾個月前剛剛去世，保姆說那也許是爸爸陷入這個婚姻網的一個原因。（那些是她的話，不是我的。竟然把我媽媽稱為網！可是保姆從來都不欣賞媽媽。）但是爸爸非常崇拜自己的父親，而且他倆老是在一起--當時奶奶病得很厲害。所以，他去世後，爸爸差點瘋了，那也是他們想讓他去波士頓參加會議的一個原因。保姆說，他們覺得，那樣也許會讓他把心思不再想著自己，但是，他們怎麼也沒想到他會把心思想到妻子上！

There wasn』t anybody to go to the wedding. Grandma Anderson was sick, so of course she couldn』t go, and there weren』t any brothers or sisters, only Aunt Jane in St. Paul. And she wouldn』t come on. So there was no chance of seeing the bride till Father brought her home. Nurse said they wondered what kind of woman it could be that had captured him.

沒有人去參加婚禮。奶奶安德森有病，所以她當然不能去，他有沒有兄弟姐妹，只有姑姑簡在聖保羅。她也不願去。於是直到爸爸把她帶回家，大家才有機會見到新娘。保姆說，大家納悶，會是什麼樣的女人能迷住他呢？

Nurse Sarah said she should never forget the night she came, and how she looked, and how astonished everybody was to see her -- a little slim eighteen-year-old girl with yellow curly hair and the merriest laughing eyes they had ever seen. And Nurse said Mother was so excited the day she came, and went laughing and dancing all over the house. (I can』t imagine that so well. Mother moves so quietly now, everywhere, and is so tired, almost all the time.) But she wasn』t tired then, Nurse says -- not a bit.

薩拉保姆說自己永遠也忘不了她來的那個夜晚，忘不了她的樣子，還有大家見到她以後多麼驚訝--一個１８歲的苗條小姑娘，長著黃色的捲髮，還有一雙他們見到過的最快活而充滿笑意的眼睛。保姆說媽媽來的那天，她太興奮了，滿屋子又是笑又是跳。（我沒法想像得那麼真切，因為媽媽現在無論在哪裡，走動起來都是那麼安靜，而且幾乎一直都是那麼疲倦。）但是她當時不疲倦，保姆說--一點都不。

「But how did Father act?」 I demanded. 「Wasn』t he angry and shocked, and everything?」

「可是爸爸是怎麼表現的呢？」我問道。「他沒有生氣或者吃驚什麼的嗎？」

Nurse shrugged her shoulders and raised her eyebrows. Then she said:

保姆聳了聳肩，把眉毛抬了抬，然後說：

「He acted as if he was fascinated. He followed her around the house like a dog -- when he wasn』t leading her to something new; and he never took his eyes off her face except to look at us. He seemed to say: 『Now isn』t she the lovable creature?』」

「他的表現就好像著迷了似的。他像小狗一樣跟著她在屋裡到處去--那是他不領著她看新東西的時候。除了看我們的時候，他眼睛就離不開她。他似乎在說：『她是多麼可愛的人啊！』」

「My father did that?」 I asked. And, really, you know, I just couldn』t believe my ears. And you wouldn』t, either, if you knew Father. 「Why, I never saw him act like that!」

「我爸爸會那樣？」我問。真的，你知道，我簡直不能相信自己的耳朵。如果你了解我爸爸的話，你也不相信。「哎呀，我從沒見爸爸那樣過啊！」

「No, I guess you didn』t,」 laughed Nurse Sarah with a shrug. 「And neither did anybody else -- for long.」

「對，我想你沒有，」薩拉保姆聳了聳肩，大笑著說。「其他人也沒有見到--很久沒見。」

「But how long did it last?」 I asked.

「可那樣持續了多長時間啊？」我問。

「Oh, a month, or maybe six weeks,」 shrugged Nurse Sarah. 「Then it came September and college began, and your father had to go back to his teaching. Things began to change then.」

「哦，一個月，也許是６個星期，」薩拉保姆又聳聳肩。「然後就是９月，大學開學了，爸爸得回去教學。那時情況就開始改變了。」

「Right then, so you could see them?」 I wanted to know.

「就在那時，你就能看出來啦？」我想知道。

Nurse Sarah shrugged her shoulders again.

薩拉保姆又聳了聳肩。

「Oh! child, what a little question-box you are, and no mistake,」 she sighed. She just threw that quick look of hers over her shoulder and settled back cheerfully in her chair. I knew then I should get the whole story. And I did. And I』m going to tell it here in her own words, just as well as I can remember it.

「哎呀！孩子，你簡直就是一個問題盒子了，沒錯，」她嘆了口氣說。她又馬上回頭看了看，然後高興地在椅子上往後一坐。那時，我就知道會聽到事情的整個經過了。我聽到了。我要盡量憑著我的記憶，用她的原話來講述。