MWRP讀物推介|小公主A Little Princess

《小公主》（A Little Princess）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III輯之6，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

聰明的薩拉·克魯是英國駐印度軍官克魯上尉的獨生女。她出生後，母親就去世了，由父親把她養大。７歲時，父親把她送進倫敦的一所女童培育學校讀書。由於家境的富裕，她成為學校的「優待寄宿生」，被校長看作是學校的榮耀，而她從內向外都散發著公主的氣息。可是，正當薩拉站在榮譽的頂峰時，她的父親投資失敗，身患重病去世了。薩拉一夜之間，由一個萬千寵愛的「小公主」，變成了一文不值的「小女傭」……

原書作者弗朗西絲·霍奇森·伯內特（Frances Hodgson Burnett 1849-1924），出生於英國，後成為美國公民，是英語世界家喻戶曉的兒童文學作家。這部小說出版於1905年，20世紀30年代，好萊塢曾把它拍成電影，扮演薩拉·克魯的就是當時最受歡迎的美國童星秀蘭·鄧波兒，後來又多次拍成電影、電視劇、音樂劇等。

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。

第一章試讀

A Little Princess

小公主

Chapter 1. Sara

第一章　薩拉

Once on a dark winter』s day, the yellow fog hung so thick and heavy in the streets of London that the lamps were lighted. A strange-looking little girl sat in a cab with her father and was driven rather slowly through the streets.

冬季晦暗的一天，黃色的霧籠罩著倫敦的街道，濃重而陰沉，人們點起了燈。一個模樣奇怪的小姑娘跟爸爸坐在一輛出租馬車裡，慢慢地行駛在街道上。

She leaned against her father, who held her in his arm, as she stared out of the window at the passing people.

她緊靠著爸爸，被爸爸摟在懷裡，眼睛盯著窗外過往的行人。

She was such a little girl, yet she had a strange look on her small face. Sara Crewe was only seven. She was always dreaming and thinking strange things, often about grown-up people and the world they belonged to.

她那麼小的一個小女孩，小臉上卻有一種奇怪的表情。薩拉?克魯只有７歲，卻總是在夢想、思考著奇怪的事情，經常是關於成年人和他們所屬的世界的事情。

At this moment she was remembering the voyage she had just made from Bombay with her father, Captain Crewe. She was thinking of the big ship, of the Indian sailors passing silently back and forth on it, of the children playing about on the hot deck, and of some young officers』 wives who used to try to make her talk to them and laugh at the things she said.

此時，她正在回憶跟爸爸，克魯上尉,剛剛從孟買啟程的航行。她正想到那艘大船和船上默默地來往的印度水手，想到在炎熱的甲板上嬉戲的孩子，還有一些年輕軍官的太太，她們常常逗她說話，聽了她說的話後哈哈大笑。

Mostly, she was thinking of what a strange thing it was that at one time one was in India in the hot sun, and then driving through streets in London. She moved closer to her father.

她想的主要是，他們剛剛還在印度的烈日下，可是一轉眼卻坐著馬車走在倫敦的大街上，這有多麼奇怪。她向爸爸靠近了一些。

「Papa,」 she said in a low little voice, 「papa.」

「爸爸，」她小聲說，「爸爸。」

「What is it, darling?」 Captain Crewe answered, looking down into her face. 「What is Sara thinking of?」

「什麼事，寶貝，」克魯上校低頭看著她的臉，回答道。「薩拉想什麼啦？」

「Is this the place?」 Sara whispered. 「Is it, papa?」

「這是那個地方嗎？」薩拉低聲說。「是嗎，爸爸？」

「Yes, little Sara, it is. We have reached it at last.」 And though she was only seven years old, she knew that he felt sad when he said it.

「對，小薩拉，是的。我們終於到了。」雖然她才７歲，她卻知道，爸爸說話的時候感到難過。

Her mother had died when she was born. Her young, handsome, rich, loving father seemed to be the only relation she had in the world. They had always played together and been fond of each other. She only knew he was rich because she had heard people say so, and she had also heard them say that when she grew up she would be rich, too.

她一出生，媽媽就死了。她那年輕、英俊、富有而慈愛的爸爸似乎是她世上唯一的親人。他倆經常一塊玩遊戲，彼此感情深厚。她只是聽到大家這麼說，才知道爸爸很有錢的，而且她還聽說，等自己長大後，也會很有錢。

During her short life only one thing had troubled her. It was 「the place」 she was to be taken to some day. The climate of India was very bad for children, and as soon as possible they were sent away from it--generally to England and to school. She had known that she would have to go also. Though sometimes her father』s stories of the voyage and the new country had attracted her, she had been sad that he could not stay with her.

在她短短的人生經歷中，只有一件事讓她煩心，就是將來有一天要被帶到「那個地方」。印度的氣候對孩子來說非常惡劣，只要有可能，他們就被送到別處——一般說是去英國或者去上學。她早就知道自己也會走的。儘管有時候爸爸講的關於航海和新國家的故事讓她著迷，但是自己不能跟他呆在一起，讓她難過。

「Couldn』t you go to that place with me, papa?」 she had asked when she was five years old. 「Couldn』t you go to school, too? I would help you with your lessons.」

「爸爸，難道你不能跟我去那個地方嗎？」她５歲的時候就問過他。「你也去上學不行嗎？我會幫你做功課的。」

「But you will not have to stay for a very long time, little Sara,」 he had always said. 「You will go to a nice house where there will be a lot of little girls, and you will play together, and I will send you plenty of books. You will grow so fast that you will soon be big enough and clever enough to come back and take care of papa.」

「但是你不用呆很長時間的，小薩拉，」他總是這樣說。「你要去一幢非常好的房子，那裡有許多小女孩，我要送給你許多書。你會長得很快，不久，你就長得又大又聰明，可以回來照料爸爸了。」

She liked to think of that. He held her very closely in his arms as the cab reached the big square in which stood the house they were going to.

她喜歡這麼想。出租馬車來到他們要去的那座房子所在的廣場時，爸爸緊緊把她摟在懷裡。

It was a big brick house, exactly like all the others in its row, but that on the front door there was a brass plate with the words:

這是一座大磚房，跟一排房子中其他的一模一樣，只是在前門上有一個銅牌帶著這些字：

Miss Minchin,

明欽小姐，

Young Ladies』 School.

女童培育學校。

「Here we are, Sara,」 said Captain Crewe. He tried to be as cheerful as possible. Then he lifted her out of the cab and rang the bell. The house was well furnished, but everything in it was ugly. They were led into the drawing room.

「我們到了，薩拉，」克魯上尉說。他盡量顯出高興的樣子，把她抱出馬車，然後拉響了門鈴。房子擺設很好，但是裡面的東西都很醜。他們被領進了會客廳。

As she sat down in one of the chairs, Sara took a quick look about her.

薩拉在一把椅子上坐下來的時候，快速朝四周打量了一下。

「I don』t like it, papa,」 she said. 「But then I dare say soldiers--even brave ones--don』t really like going into battle.」

「我不喜歡這裡，爸爸，」她說。「可是，我敢說，士兵們——就連最勇敢的士兵——都不喜歡上戰場的。」

Captain Crewe laughed. He was young and full of fun, and he always enjoyed hearing Sara』s strange speeches.

克魯上尉笑了。他年輕，喜歡逗樂，總是喜歡聽薩拉說的奇怪的話。

「Oh, little Sara,」 he said. 「What shall I do when I have no one to say serious things to me? No one else is as serious as you are.」

「啊，小薩拉，」他說。「等沒有人跟我說嚴肅話題的時候，我該怎麼辦呢？沒有人跟你一樣一本正經的。」

「But why do serious things make you laugh so?」 asked Sara.

「可嚴肅的話題為什麼就讓你哈哈大笑呢？」薩拉問。

「Because you are such fun when you say them,」 he answered, laughing still more. And then suddenly he held her in his arms and kissed her very hard. He looked almost as if tears had come into his eyes.

「因為你說出來就很好玩，」他說著，笑得更厲害了。接著，他突然把她摟在懷裡，使勁吻了吻她。他朝一邊望去，好像眼裡冒出了淚水。

Just then, Miss Minchin entered the room. She had large, cold eyes, and a large, cold smile. It became a very large smile when she saw Sara and Captain Crewe. She had heard a great many fine things of the young soldier. She had heard that he was a rich father, and he was willing to spend a great deal of money on his little daughter.

就在這時，明欽小姐進了房間。她的眼睛又大又冷漠，滿臉堆笑而無情。她看見薩拉和克魯上尉時，笑得更燦爛了。關於這位年輕的軍人，她聽說過許多可喜的情況。她聽說他是一個很富有的爸爸，願意在小女兒身上花大量的錢。

「I』m glad to have charge of such a beautiful and clever child, Captain Crewe,」 she said, taking Sara』s hand. 「Lady Meredith has told me how clever she is. A clever child is a great treasure in a school like mine.」

「我非常願意來照料這麼一個美麗而聰明的孩子，克魯上尉，」她拉著薩拉的手說。「梅雷迪思女士跟我講過她是那麼聰明。聰明的孩子對於我這樣的學校來說就是一個寶貝。」

Sara stood quietly, with her eyes fixed upon Miss Minchin』s face. She was thinking something strange, as usual.

薩拉站著不動，眼睛盯著明欽小姐的臉。她和平常一樣，正在思考一些奇怪的事情。

「Why does she say I am a beautiful child?」 she was thinking. 「I am not beautiful at all. I am a thin child and not fair at all. I am one of the ugliest children I ever saw. She is beginning by telling a story.」

「她為什麼說我是個漂亮的孩子呢？」她在想。「我根本就不漂亮啊。我是個很瘦的孩子，一點都不漂亮。我說自己見過最丑的孩子之一。她一開始就在說謊。」

In fact, she was not an ugly child. She had a strange charm of her own. She was rather tall for her age, and had an attractive little face. Her hair was heavy and quite black and only curled at the tips; her eyes were big with long, black lashes. Still she firmly believed that she was an ugly little girl, and she was not at all excited by Miss Minchin』s words.

實際上，她並不是個丑孩子。她有自己獨特的魅力。相對於她的年齡來說，她的個子相對高，而且有一張迷人的小臉蛋。她的頭髮烏黑濃密，只是頭髮梢捲曲，眼睛很大，睫毛又長又黑。然而，她仍堅信自己是個醜丫頭，聽到明欽小姐的話，她根本就無動於衷。

掃描下面二維碼試讀更多，帶字數標誌，生詞突出顯示

http://yuedu.baidu.com/ebook/dde64f7133d4b14e84246814 (二維碼自動識別)