9 MELCHISEDEC梅尔基塞德克-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《小公主A Little Princess》

9 MELCHISEDEC THE third person in the trio was Lottie.She was a small thing and did not know what adversity meant,and was much bewildered by the alteration2 she saw in her young adopted mother.She had heard it rumored that strange things had happened to Sara,but she could not understand why she looked different-why she wore an old black frock and came into the school-room only to teach instead of to sit in her place of honor and learn lessons herself.There had been much whispering among the little ones when it had been discovered that Sara no longer lived in the rooms in which Emily had so long sat in state Lottie's chief difficulty was that Sara said so little when one asked her questions.At seven mysteries5 must be made very clear if one is to understand them. "Are you very poor now,Sara?"she had asked confidentially the first morning her friend took charge of the small French class."Are you as poor as a beggar?"She thrust a fat hand into the slim one and opened round,tearful eyes."I don't want you to be as poor as a beggar..” She looked as if she was going to cry,and Sara hurriedly consoled ·186· 9 梅尔基塞德克 ①trio /tri:w/m.三人为一 三个人之中的第三个人是洛蒂。她是个小家 组 伙，不懂得落难是什么意思，看到年轻的干妈发 生的变化使她感到非常迷惑不解。她听到谣传说 2 alternation /o:Ita'neifan/ :变化 萨拉遇到了一些奇怪的事，可她不明白为什么她 ③umor /ru::mar/.传闻 显得不同了一为什么她穿一件黑色的旧连衣 裙，来到教室只为了教书而不是坐在她那荣誉的 位置上自己听课。当小孩们发现，萨拉不再住在 埃米莉一直庄严地坐着的房间里时，她们之间悄 悄地议论纷纷。洛蒂的主要难点是，别人问萨拉 ④in state尊严地，庄重地 问题时，她说得很少。若要了解其中奥妙，到7 点钟【这些奇事就一定会真相大白。 mystery /mistari/n.神秘， “现在你很穷吗，萨拉？”她的朋友第一天上 奥秘 午给小班上法语课时，洛蒂就偷偷地问道。“你 像叫花子一样穷吗？”她将一只胖手塞到那纤细 的手里，张开泪汪汪的圆眼睛。“我不要你穷得 Ohus/0所rAst/R.插入 像叫花子那样。” [注]此处是指下文中洛蒂在下午上阁楼探望萨拉的时间。 187· A Little Princess her. “Beggars have nowhere to live,”she said courageously.“I have a place to live in.” “Where do you live?”persisted Lottie.“The new girl sleeps in your room,and it isn't pretty any more." “I live in another mom,”said Sara. “Is it a nice one?”inquired2 Lottie.“I want to go and see it.” “You must not talk,”said Sara.“Miss Minchin is looking at us.She will be angry with me for letting you whisper."She had found out already that she was to be held accountable 3 for everything which was objected to.If the children were not attentive5,if they talked,if they were restless,it was she who would be reproved. But Lottie was a determined little person.If Sara would not tell her where she lived,she would find out in some other way.She talked to her small companions and hung about the elder girls and listened when they were gossiping;and acting upon certain information they had unconsciously let drop,she started late one afternoon on a voyage of discovery,climbing stairs she had never known the existence of,until she reached the attic floor.There she found two doors near each other, and opening one,she saw her beloved Sara standing upon an old table and looking out of a window. “Sara！"she cried,aghast..“Mamma Sara！”She was aghast because the attic was so hare and ugly and seemed so far away from all the world.Her short legs had seemed to have been mounting hundreds of stairs. Sara turned round at the sound of her voice.It was her turn to be aghast.What would happen now?If Lottie began to cry and any one chanced to hear,they were both lost.She jumped down from her table and ran to the child. ·188· 小公主【 她看上去要哭了，萨拉赶紧安慰她。 courageously /ka'reidsasli/ “叫花子没有地方住，”她勇敢地说。 “我有 ad.英勇地，无畏地 住的地方。” “你住在哪里？”洛蒂固执地问道。“那个新来 的姑娘睡在你的房间里，那个房间不那么漂亮了。” “我住另一个房间，”萨拉说。 ②inquire /in'kwaia/k.询问， 打听 “它是个漂亮的房间吗？”洛蒂问。“我要去 看看。” 3accountable /o'kauntobl/a. “你别说话，”萨拉说。“明钦小姐正看着我 有责任的 ①objeet/ab'd3ekt/反对， 们。她会因为我让你说悄悄话生我的气。” 抱反惑 ⑤attentive/a'tentiv/a.注意 她已经发现，凡是明钦小姐讨厌的事情都要 的，留心的 她负责。要是孩子们不注意听，要是她们讲话， 6 restless/'restlis//a.不安静 的 要是她们不安静，受责备的就是她。 determined /di'ta:mind/a. 毅然的，确定的 然而洛蒂是个有主意的小家伙。萨拉要是不 hang about四处转 愿把自己住的地方告诉她，她会用别的办法探听 ⑨gossip'gasip/.闲谈，聊 天 出来。她跟小伙伴聊天，跟在年龄较大的姑娘们 身边，她们闲聊时，她便听着；随后按照她们无 意中泄漏的某些消息，在一天下午较晚的时候开 始动身去探索，爬上了她从来就不知道有它们存 beloved /bi'lAvd,bi'lAvid/ 在的楼梯，直到她到达阁楼那一层。她在这里发 a.被热爱的 现两扇门，彼此靠得很近，她推开一扇门，瞧见 她心爱的萨拉站在一张旧桌子上朝窗外张望。 “萨拉”她吃惊地大喊。“萨拉妈妈”她感到 吃惊，因为阁楼里一无所有，那么难看，好像离全 世界非常遥远。她的短腿似乎跨过了几百级楼梯。 萨拉一听到她的说话声就转过身来。现在轮 chance /tfa:ns/,偶然发 到她大吃一惊了。现在会发生什么事情呢？要是 生 洛蒂哭了起来，有人碰巧听见，她俩可都完了。 她从桌上跳下，跑到小孩身边。 ·18g· A Little Princess "Don't cry and make a noise,"she implored "I shall be scolded if you do,and I have been scolded all day.It's-it's not such a bad room, Lottie.” "Isn't it?"gasped Lottie,and as she looked round it she bit her lip. She was a spoiled child yet,but she was fond enough of her adopted parent to make an effort to control herself for her sake2.Then, somehow,it was quite possible that any place in which Sara lived might turn out to be nice."Why isn't it,Sara?"she almost whispered. Sara hugged her close and tried to laugh.There was a sort of comfort in the warmth of the plump,childish body.She had had a hard day and had been staring out of the windows with hot eyes. "You can see all sorts of things you can't see down-stairs,"she said. “What sort of things？”demanded Lottie,with that curiosity Sara could always awaken even in bigger girls. “Chimneys-一quite close to us--with smoke curling⑤up in wreaths and clouds and going up into the sky-and sparrows hopping about and talking to each other just as if they were people-and other attic windows where heads may pop out any minute and you can wonder who they belong to.And it all feels as high up-as if it was another world." “Oh,let me see it!”cried Lottie.“Lift me up!" Sara lifted her up,and they stood on the old table together and leaned on the edge of the flat window in the roof,and looked out. Any one who has not done this does not know what a different world they saw.The slates spread out on either side of them and slanted down into the rain gutterpipes.The sparrows,being at home0 there, twittered and hopped about quite without fear.Two of them perched on ·190· 小公主【 ①implore/im'plbl.恳求， “不要哭，不要嚷，”她哀求道。“你要嚷的 乞求，哀求 话，我会挨骂的，我一天到晚都挨骂。这个 这个房间还不是那么糟糕，洛蒂。” “是吗？”洛蒂气吁吁地说，她咬住嘴唇往四 下看。虽然她是个宠坏了的孩子，但她非常喜爱 她的干妈，为了她，她努力克制自己。接着不知 ②for one's sake为了-， 为什么，凡是萨拉住的地方就完全可能是个漂亮 的地方。“为什么不是呢，萨拉？”她几乎耳语似 ③tum out to表现得 的说。 萨拉紧紧地抱住她，很想笑。这胖孩子身上 的温暖是一种安慰。她刚度过了艰苦的一天，原 ④hot/ho/a.热切的 本在用热切的目光凝视着窗外。 “你能看到楼下看不到的各种东西，”她说。 “哪些东西？”洛蒂好奇地问，萨拉甚至能使 年龄较大的姑娘也产生这样的好奇心。 “那些烟囱一都离我们很近—吐出缭绕的 烟和云雾升上天空一麻雀像人一样，跳来跳去， ⑤curling"ko:lin/a.弯曲的 彼此交谈一还有别的阁楼的窗口随时可能探出 sparrow/sperou/n.麻雀 头来，你可能不知道他们究竟是谁。这一切都使 人有高高在上的感觉—仿佛是另外一个世界。” 7pop /pop/v.伸出 “哦，让我看看！”洛蒂大声说。“抱我上 去” 萨拉把她抱上去，她们一起站在那张旧桌子 上，靠着屋顶上平坦窗口的边沿，朝外张望 从来没有这样干过的人不会知道她们看到的 是一个多么不同的世界。石板瓦在她们两侧展开， 一直向下倾斜到排雨水的檐槽。麻雀在那里自在 slant /sla:nt/g使倾斜 ⑨gutter /'gAta/n.排水沟， 地叫着，到处跳跃，一点儿也不害怕。有两只停 阴沟 0 be at home自由自在地 在最近的一个烟囱顶上，彼此在激烈地争吵，直 到其中一只啄另一只，把它赶走。她们窗子旁那 ·191· A Little Princess the chimney-top nearest and quarrelled with each other fiercely until one pecked the other and drove him away.The garret window next to theirs was shut because the house next door was empty. “I wish someone lived there,”Sara said..“'it is so close that if there was a little girl in the attic,we could talk to each other through the windows and climb over to see each other,if we were not afraid of falling.” The sky seemed so much nearer than when one saw it from the street,that Lottie was enchanted.From the attic window,among the chimney pots,the things which were happening in the world below seemed almost unreal5.One scarcely believed in the existence of Miss Minchin and Miss Amelia and the school-room,and the roll of wheels in the square seemed a sound belonging to another existence. “Oh,Sara!”cried Lottie,cuddling in her guarding⑦arm.“I like this attic-I like it!It is nicer than down-stairs!" “Look at that sparrow,”whispered Sara.“I wish I had some crumbs to throw to him.” “I have some!”came in a little shriek8 from Lottie.“I have part of a bun in my pocket;I bought it with my penny yesterday,and I saved abit.” When they threw out a few crumbs the sparrow jumped and flew away to an adjacent chimney-top.He was evidently not accustomed to intimates in attics,and unexpected crumbs startled him.But when Lottie remained quite still and Sara chirped very softly-almost as if she were a sparrow herself-he saw that the thing which had alarmed him represented hospitality,after all.He put his head on one side,and from his perch5 on the chimney looked down at the crumbs with twinkling eyes.Lottie could scarcely keep still. ·192· 小公主 D quarrel"kworol/g争吵 个阁楼的窗子关着，因为隔壁住宅没有人住。 ②peck /pek/.啄 ③shut小at/关闭 “我希望有人住在那里，”萨拉说。“那个阁 楼靠得这么近，如果里面住着个小姑娘，我们就 可以通过窗口谈话，如果不怕掉下去的话，还可 以爬过去互访。” 天空似乎比站在街上看到的要近得多，这使 洛蒂着了迷。从林立的烟囱帽中间这个阁楼的窗 口往下看，下面世界出现的事情显得几乎不是真 实的。人们几乎不相信世界上还存在着明钦小 姐，阿米莉亚小姐和教室，广场车轮的滚动声仿 ④chimney /'tfimni/n.烟肉， 佛是属于另一个世界的声音。 烟筒 5 unreal/'an'ri:)al/a.不真 “哦，萨拉！”洛蒂在萨拉护着她的一只手臂 实的 之中蜷起身子叫道。“我喜欢这个阁楼一我喜 @existence /ig'zistans/n. 汝 欢它！它比楼下好” G①guard/ga:d.护卫 “你瞧那只麻雀，”萨拉轻声说。“我但愿有 点面包屑扔给它就好了。” “我有一些！”洛蒂轻声尖叫着说。“我的衣 袋里有一点面包；它是我昨天用自己的钱买的， 图shriek小rik/n.尖锐的喊 我剩下了一点儿。” 声 她们扔出一些面包屑，那只麻雀猛地一跳， ⑨bun /ban/L.小面包 飞到附近一个烟囱顶上去了。它显然对阁楼里的 亲昵行为还不习惯，意外的面包屑使它吃惊。但 当洛蒂一直非常平静，萨拉极其柔和地吱吱叫 adjacent /a'dseisant/a. 着—就像她自己是一只麻雀似的一它才明 近的，附近的 白，刚才使它惊恐的东西原来是殷勤的款待。它 把脑袋侧向一边，闪闪发亮的眼晴从它停着的烟 chirp /t:p/吱喷而鸣 肉上往下看着面包屑。洛蒂简直没法保持平静 hospitality /hospi'taeliti/n. 亲切招待 了。 perch/ptn.栖息 twinkling /'twigklin/a. “它会来吗？它会来吗？”她低声说 烁的 “它的眼睛显出它好像会来，”萨拉轻声回答 ·193· A Little Princess “Will he come?Will he come?”she whispered. “His eyes look as if he would,”Sara whispered back.“Heis thinking and thinking whether he dare.Yes,he will!Yes,he is coming!” He flew down and hopped toward the crumbs,but stopped a few inches away from them,putting his head on one side again,as if reflecting on the chances that Sara and Lottie might turn out to be big cats and jump on him.At last his heart told him they were really nicer than they looked,and he hopped nearer and nearer,darted at the biggest crumb with a lightning peck,seized2 it,and carried it away to the other side of his chimney. “Now he knows,”said Sara.“And he will come back for the others.” He did come back,and even brought a friend,and the friend went away and brought a relative,and among them they made a hearty meal over which they twittered and chattered and exclaimed,stopping every now and then to put their heads on one side and examine Lottie and Sara.Lottie was so delighted that she quite forgot her first shocked impression of the attic.In fact,when she was lifted down from the table and returned to earthly5 things,as it were,Sara was able to point out to her many beauties in the room which she herself would not have suspected the existence of. “It is so little and so high above everything,”she said,“that it is almost like a nest in a tree.The slanting ceiling is so funny.See,you can scarcely stand up at this end of the room;and when the morning begins to come I can lie in bed and look right up into the sky through that flat window in the roof.It is like a square patch of light.If the sun is going to shine,little pink clouds float about,and I feel as if I could touch them.And if it rains,the drops patter and patter as if they ·194· 小公主 说。“它在考虑，考虑自己是不是敢来。是的， 它会来！是的，它来啦” 它飞了下来，向着面包屑跳过去，但在离面 包屑几英寸的地方停了下来，又把脑袋侧向一 边，像是考虑萨拉和洛蒂可能变成两只大猫向它 ①inch /intf/n.英寸 猛扑过去的可能性。最后它心想，她们其实比外 表看来更友好，于是它跳得越来越近，向最大的 一块面包屑闪电般的啄去，逮住了它，把它带到 那个烟囱的另一边。 ②seize /si:zl抓住 “现在它知道了，”萨拉说。“它会回来吃剩 下的。” 它真的回来了，甚至带来一个朋友，这个朋 友飞走了，接着带来一个亲属，它们饱餐了一 顿，吃的时候还吱吱叫着，交谈着，吵嚷着，不 ③hearty /'ha:tila.营养丰富 时停下来把头扭向一边，察看洛蒂和萨拉。洛蒂 的 高兴得完全忘记了她最初对阁楼的极坏印象。事 ①examine /ig'zamin/,.检 实上，当把她从桌子上抱下来，返回现实世界的 查 时候，萨拉仿佛已经能够向她指出这间屋子里的 许多优点，而萨拉自己也不怀疑它们是存在的。 “它是那么小，高出于一切之上，”她说， ⑤earthly3:0li/a.世俗的， 尘世的 “几乎像树上的一个鸟窝。倾斜的天花板也怪有趣 6suspect/sas'pckt/怀疑， 猜疑，疑心 的。瞧，你在房间的这一端几乎站不起来；天亮 7nest /nest/n巢，窝，穴 了，我可以躺在床上，透过屋顶平坦的窗子直接 8 slanting/sla:ntio/a.倾斜 的，歪斜的 仰望天空。它像是一方块亮光。太阳要升起的时 @flat /flaet/a.平的，平坦的 square /skwea/a.正方形 候，小块的淡红色云彩飘来飘去，我觉得仿佛可 的 以摸到它们。如果下雨，雨点的滴嗒声好像是在 垂patch /paetf/n.补片，补块 21 oat /fl3ut/.浮动 诉说什么愉快的事情。如果天空出现星星，你也 patter/'paeta/雨点嗒嗒 地下 可以躺着数一下，这个方块里究竟有多少星星。 它可以容纳许多星星。你瞧瞧这个角落里生锈的 ·195·