MWRP讀物推介|波莉安娜Pollyanna

《波莉安娜》（Pollyanna）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ＩＩ輯之9，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

波莉安娜是一個11歲的小女孩，母親早早就去了天國，她和做牧師的父親生活在一起。不幸的是，她的父親也去了天國。所以，她只好來到很遠的波莉姨媽家。波莉姨媽很富有，獨自住著一幢大房子，但是她脾氣古怪，並不歡迎這個外甥女，她甚至都不去車站接波莉安娜，而是派女僕南希前往，以至於小女孩把女僕誤認為是姨媽。小女孩知道後落淚了，但她馬上又找到了快樂的理由轉而破涕為笑。波莉安娜給這個小鎮上的許多人講過她的「高興遊戲」，使這個小鎮發生了令人驚異的變化……

原書作者是埃利諾·H·波特（Eleanor H.Porter 1868-1920），是美國著名兒童文學作家。小說創作於1913年，幾乎一夜之間暢銷全美——第一次發行就超過百萬冊！它不僅影響了美國民眾的生活，也影響了世界各國民眾的生活，甚至Pollyanna一詞也收入字典，意思是「極度樂觀、盲目樂觀」。1960年這部小說被迪斯尼公司改編為電影。

文本信息

本書文本統計信息詳見下表，供選擇時參考：

說明:

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。

第一章試讀

Pollyanna

波莉安娜

Chapter 1. Miss Polly

第一章　波莉小姐

Miss Polly Harrington entered her kitchen a little hurriedly this June morning. Miss Polly did not usually hurry; she was especially proud of herself for being calm. But today she was hurrying -- actually hurrying.

６月的這天早晨，波莉?哈林頓小姐略微匆忙地走進廚房。波莉小姐通常是不會急急火火的，她也特別因為自己的穩重而自豪。但今天她急急火火的——居然急火起來了。

Nancy was washing dishes at the sink. She looked up in surprise. Nancy had been working in Miss Polly』s kitchen only two months, but already she knew that her mistress did not usually hurry.

南希正在水槽邊洗盤子。她驚訝地抬起頭來。南希在波莉小姐的廚房才幹了兩個月，但她已經知道，女主人一般是不會急急火火的。

「Nancy!」

「南希！」

「Yes, ma』am.」 Nancy answered cheerfully, but she still continued wiping the pitcher in her hand.

「在呢，小姐，」南希愉快地答應道，但還在繼續擦著手裡的水罐。

「Nancy,」 -- Miss Polly』s voice was very strict now -- 「when I』m talking to you, I wish you to stop your work and listen to what I have to say.」

「南希！」——這次波莉小姐的聲音嚴厲了——「我和你講話的時候，希望你能停下手中的活兒，聽我說話。」

Nancy』s face turned red. She set the pitcher down at once, with the cloth still about it, and it nearly fell over.

南希的臉紅了，她馬上放下水罐，上面還帶著抹布，水罐差點翻了。

「Yes, ma』am; I will, ma』am,」 she stammered, righting the pitcher, and turning hurriedly. 「I was only keeping on with my work because you specially told me this morning to hurry with my dishes, you know.」

「好的，小姐。我會的，小姐！」她結結巴巴地說著，一邊扶正水罐，急忙轉過身來。「我只是在繼續幹活兒，因為您今天早上專門囑咐過我趕緊把碟子收拾好，您知道。」

Her mistress frowned.

女主人皺了皺眉頭。

「That will do, Nancy. I did not ask you to explain. I asked you to pay attention.」

「行了，南希。我沒叫你解釋。我只是叫你注意聽。」

「Yes, ma』am.」 Nancy was wondering if ever she could please this woman. Nancy had never 「worked out」 before. Her mother was ill, and her father had died suddenly and left her with three younger children, so she had to do something to support them. She had been so pleased when she found a place in the kitchen of the great house on the hill. Nancy had come from 「The Corners,」 six miles away, and she knew Miss Polly Harrington only as the mistress of the old Harrington house, and one of the wealthiest people of the town. That was two months before. She knew Miss Polly now as a severe woman who never seemed to smile.

「好的，小姐。」南希懷疑自己到底還能不能讓這個女人滿意。以前，南希從沒在外干過活兒。她母親有病，父親突然去世，留下南希和三個年齡更小的孩子，所以南希不得不做點事養活他們。當初，她在小山上這家大戶的廚房找到一份活兒，心裡很高興。南希來自「角落區」，離這兒六英里遠。她當時只知道波莉?哈林頓小姐是老哈林頓家業的女主人，也是鎮上最富有的人之一。那是兩個月之前的事情了。現在，她知道波莉?哈林頓小姐是一個嚴厲的女人，好像從來都不笑。

「When you』ve finished your morning work, Nancy,」 Miss Polly was saying now, 「you may clear the little room at the head of the stairs in the attic, and make up the little bed.」

「南希，等你幹完早晨的活兒，」波莉小姐說，「可以打掃一下閣樓樓梯頭上的那間小屋，把那張小床鋪好。」

「Yes, ma』am.」

「好的，小姐。」

Miss Polly hesitated, then went on: 「I suppose I may as well tell you now, Nancy. My niece, Miss Pollyanna Whittier, is coming to live with me. She is eleven years old, and will sleep in that room.」

波莉小姐猶豫了一下，接著說：「我想還是現在就告訴你吧，南希。我的外甥女，波莉安娜?惠蒂爾，要來和我住在一起。她１１歲了，就住在那間屋子裡。」

「A little girl -- coming here, Miss Harrington? Oh, won』t that be nice!」 cried Nancy, thinking of the sunshine her own little sisters made in the home at 「The Corners.」

「一個小女孩兒——要來這兒，哈林頓小姐？哦，那太好了！」南希大聲說道，同時想起了自己的小妹妹給她們「角落區」的家裡帶來的陽光。

「Nice? Well, that isn』t exactly the word I should use,」 replied Miss Polly. 「However, I intend to make the best of it, of course. I am a good woman, I hope; and I know my duty.」

「好？哦，我可不想用這個詞，」波莉小姐回答說。「可是，我自然想儘力辦好。我希望自己是個好人，我知道自己的責任。」

Nancy』s face turned red.

南希的臉紅了。

「Of course, ma』am. I only thought a little girl here might -- might brighten things up for you,」 she said.

「當然，小姐。我只是想有個小女孩在這裡會——會讓您快活些。」她說。

「Thank you,」 replied the lady, coldly. 「I can』t say, however, that I need that now.」

「謝謝，」小姐冷淡地回應說。「我現在還不能說自己需要這個。」

「But, of course, you -- you』d want her, your sister』s child,」 said Nancy. She felt that somehow she must prepare a welcome for this lonely little stranger.

「但是，當然您——您想要她來，她是您姐姐的小孩嘛，」南希說。她覺得自己應該為這個孤獨的小陌生人準備個歡迎儀式。

Miss Polly lifted her head proudly.

波莉小姐傲慢地抬起頭。

「Well, really, Nancy. It』s enough to see my silly sister marry and bring unnecessary children into a world. I can』t see how I should want to take care of them myself. However, as I said before, I hope I know my duty. See that you clean the corners, Nancy,」 she finished sharply, as she left the room.

「好了，南希，看到我的傻姐姐嫁了人，還生下多餘的孩子，這就夠了。我鬧不明白為什麼自己還得照顧她們。但是，我說過，我希望盡到自己的義務。務必把那些角落都打掃好啊，南希！」她突然止住話頭，離開了房間。

「Yes, ma』am,」 sighed Nancy.

「好的，小姐。」南希嘆了口氣。

In her own room, Miss Polly took out once more the letter that she had received two days before from the faraway Western town. It had been so unpleasant a surprise to her. The letter read as follows:

回到自己的房間，波莉小姐又拿出了兩天前從很遠的西部小鎮寄來的那封信。這封信又意外，又令她不快。信的內容如下：

Dear Madam:

親愛的女士：

I regret to inform you that the minister John Whittier died two weeks ago, leaving one child, a girl eleven years old. He left nothing but a few books; for, as you know, he was the minister of this small church, and had a very small salary.

我遺憾地通知您，約翰?惠蒂爾牧師兩周前去世了，留下一個１１歲的女孩。他除了幾本書之外，什麼都沒有留下，因為，您知道，他曾是這個小教會的牧師，薪水微薄。

I believe he was your dead sister』s husband. He thought that for your sister』s sake you might wish to take the child and bring her up among her own people in the East. That』s why I am writing to you.

我相信他是您已故姐姐的丈夫。他覺得您看在姐姐的份上會收留這個孩子，並把她在東部自己的親人中間撫養成人。因此我才寫信給您。

The little girl will be all ready to start by the time you get this letter. If you can take her, we would appreciate it very much if you would write so that she might come at once. There is a man and his wife here who are going East very soon, and they would take her with them to Boston, and put her on the train to Beldingsville. Of course you would be informed of the day and Pollyanna』s train.

在您收到這封信時，小女孩就應該準備動身了。如果您能收留她，請回信告訴她即刻出發，我們將感激不盡。這兒有一對夫妻不久要去東部，他們可以帶她去波士頓，然後把她送上去貝爾汀斯維爾的火車。當然，我們會通知您波莉安娜到達的日期與車次。

Hoping to hear from you soon.

希望儘快收到您的來信。

Respectfully yours,

Jeremiah O. White

耶利米?歐?懷特

敬上

Miss Polly put the letter back into its envelope. She had answered it the day before, and she had said she would take the child, of course, although the task would be unpleasant.

波莉小姐把信放回信封里，她頭一天就回信了。儘管這個任務讓人不快，她當然還是說自己要收留這個孩子。

As she sat now, with the letter in her hands, her thoughts went back to her sister, Jennie, who had been this child』s mother. When Jennie was a girl of twenty, she insisted upon marrying the young minister, although her family did not agree. There had been a man of wealth who had wanted her, but Jennie did not like him. The man of wealth had more years, as well as more money, while the minister had only a young head full of ideals and enthusiasm, and a heart full of love. Jennie had preferred these, so she had married the minister, and had gone south with him.

她坐在那裡，手裡拿著信，思緒回到了自己的姐姐詹妮身上。詹妮就是這個孩子的母親，當時詹妮是個２０歲的姑娘，儘管家裡反對，她仍堅持嫁給這個年輕牧師。當時有個富人要娶她，但是詹妮不喜歡他。那位富人有錢，年齡也大些，而牧師還年輕，頭腦里充滿理想和熱情，還有一顆充滿愛意的心。詹妮喜歡這些，所有就嫁給牧師，跟他去了南方。

The break had come then. Miss Polly remembered it well, though she had been but a girl of fifteen, the youngest, at the time. The family had had little more to do with Jennie. To be sure, Jennie herself had written, for a time, and had named her last baby 「Pollyanna」 for her two sisters, Polly and Anna -- the other babies had all died. This had been the last time that Jennie had written. In a few years there had come the news of her death, told in a short, but heart-broken little note from the minister himself at a little town in the West.

後來，她同家庭斷絕了關係。波莉小姐記得很清楚，儘管她當時只是個１５歲的小姑娘，是當時家中年齡最小的孩子。家裡與詹妮幾乎沒再怎麼聯繫。確實，詹妮有一段時間還給家裡寫信，說給自己剛出生的孩子取名為波莉安娜，那是用了她兩個姐姐的名字：波莉和安娜——其他孩子都死了。這是詹妮最後一次寫信。幾年之後，便傳來消息說她死了。是牧師自己在西部一個小鎮發的一封很短，但令人心碎的便條說的。

Meanwhile, time had not stood still for the members of the great house on the hill. Miss Polly, looking out at the far-reaching valley below, thought of the changes those twenty-five years had brought to her.

與此同時，山上這座豪宅中的人們也經受了時間的沖刷。波莉小姐向外看著山下伸向遠方的山谷，回想著這２５年給她帶來的變化。

She was forty now, and quite alone in the world. Father, mother, sisters -- all were dead. For years, now, she had been only mistress of the house.

她現在４０歲了，孤獨一人活在世上。父親、母親和姐妹們都去世了。幾年來，她一直是這幢房子中唯一的主人。