A Child’s Biography(Excerpt 1)

Track 12

by Louisa May Alcott翻譯：范婕

路易莎·梅·奧爾科特（Louisa May Alcott）（1832～1888）是一位美國女作家，她的代表作《小婦人》（Little Women）是她根據孩提的記憶寫成的，出版后獲得了巨大的成功，成為公認的美國名著，100多年以來，一直備受讀者喜愛。路易莎在很小的時候就對寫作產生極大的興趣，我們通過她寫的一篇小自傳來看看她是怎么從一個“野孩子”變成“故事大王”的吧！節選分為兩部分，第二部分將在下期雜志呈現。聽路易莎用成年人的語氣談起自己小時候的糗事很是有趣，文中也有很多用得很精妙的詞組值得學習哦！

As much as seventy years ago, in the city of Boston, there lived a small girl who had the 1)naughty habit of running away.On a certain April morning, almost as soon as her mother finished 2)buttoning her dress, Louisa May Alcott slipped out of the house and up the street as fast as her feet could carry her.

詞組加油站

as much as 差不多

as soon as 一……就……

slip out of 從……溜走

1) naughty ['n??tI] adj. 頑皮的，淘氣的

2) button['b?tn] v. 扣上

Louisa3)creptthrough a4)narrow5)alleyand crossed several streets. It was a beautiful day, and she did not care so very much just where she wentso long asshe was having an6)adventure,all by herself. Suddenly shecame uponsome children who said they were going to a nice, tall7)ash 8)heapto play. They asked her to join them. Louisa thought they were fine playmates, for when she grew hungry they shared some cold potatoes and bread9)crustswith her.

When she tired of the ash heap shebade the children goodbye, thanked them for their kindness, and10)hopskippedtotheCommon注, where she must havewandered aboutfor hours,because,all of a sudden, it began to grow dark. Then she wanted to get home. She wanted her doll, her kitty, and her mother!

It11)frightenedher when she could not find any street that looked natural.She was hungry and tired, too. Shethrew herself downon some door-steps to rest and to watch the12)lamplighter,for you must remember this was long before there was any13)gasor electricity in Boston.

At this moment a big dog came along. He kissed her face and hands and then sat down beside her. Poor tired Louisa leaned against his neck andwasfastasleep in no time. The dog kept very14)still. He did not want to wake her.

Pretty soon thetown crier went by.

詞組加油站

so long as只要

come upon偶遇，邂逅

bid sb. goodbye向……說再見

wander about徘徊，游蕩

all of a sudden突然間

throw oneself down躺下

in no time立刻，馬上

town crier街頭公告員，公告傳報人（舊

時受雇沿街大聲宣讀公告的人）

go by經過

3) creep [kri?p] v. 躡手躡腳地走

4) narrow ['n?r??] adj. 狹窄的

5) alley ['?lI] n. 胡同，小巷

6) adventure [?d'vent??] n. 冒險經歷，奇遇

7) ash [??] n. 灰，廢墟

8) heap [hi?p] n. 一堆

9) crust [kr?st] n. 面包皮

10) hop-skip [h?p skIp] v. 蹦蹦跳跳

歪靠在回學校的班車上，我望著窗外一閃而過的街燈、行人和噼里啪啦的大雨，我知道，自己這輩子估計完了。一切都像在夢中一樣，我使勁掐了一下自己的大腿，很疼，我知道這不是做夢，還有那個紙包還一直在褲兜里硬硬地提醒著我，這不是做夢！我把手伸進褲兜里，一次一次地摸著那個硬硬的紙包，好幾次我一把抓住那個紙包想把它從車窗里扔出去，但最終還是沒有扔。最后我把紙包小心翼翼地掏出來，小心翼翼地撕開一個口，是嶄新的一摞老人頭，厚厚的，毛主席他老人家正微笑地望著我，我連忙又把他塞進了褲兜。

11) frighten ['fraItn] v. 使驚恐，使恐慌

12) lamplighter ['l?mp,laIt?] n. 點街燈的燈夫

13) gas [g?s] n. 燃氣

14) still [stIl] adj. 不動的，靜止的

注：波士頓公園（Boston Common或the Common），處于波士頓中心地帶，建于1664年，是美國最早的公園之一。處于鬧市區，綠樹成蔭，是市民游樂的好去處。

參考譯文

差不多七十年前，美國城市波士頓住著一個小女孩，她有個調皮的習慣，總喜歡溜出家門。四月的一天早晨，媽媽剛幫她把裙子扣好，路易莎·梅·奧爾科特就溜出屋子，以最快的速度飛奔到了街上。

路易莎躡手躡腳地穿過一條窄窄的小巷，又走過好幾條街道。那天的天氣很好，對于要去往何處，她并不那么在乎，只要能展開探險之旅，獨自一人。突然，她碰到幾個孩子，他們說要去一個很棒、很高的廢物堆那里玩，要路易莎跟他們一起。路易莎覺得他們都是很好的玩伴，因為當她肚子餓的時候，他們分了一些冷土豆和面包皮給她吃。

在廢物堆玩膩了，她就跟孩子們告了別，感謝他們的慷慨相待，然后蹦蹦跳跳地去了波士頓公園。她在那里肯定游來蕩去了好幾個小時，因為，突然間，天就黑了。這時她想回家了，想念她的娃娃、小貓，還有媽媽！

周圍的街道都好奇怪，這讓她害怕起來。她又餓又累，在門階上癱坐下來休息，看著點燈的燈夫，你一定記得，當時的波士頓離有燃氣和電還早著呢。

這時，一只大狗狗跑了過來，親了親她的臉和手，然后在她身邊坐了下來。可憐的路易莎非常疲憊，靠著狗狗的脖子，立刻就睡著了。狗狗坐在那里一動不動。他不想弄醒了路易莎。

不一會兒，街頭傳報員從路易莎身邊經過。

名師考點小結

be asleep為系表結構，意為“睡著”，相當于fall asleep。be asleep表示入睡的狀態，而fall asleep表示入睡的動作。例如：

The baby was sound asleep. 嬰兒睡得很熟。

He soon fell asleep with weariness. 他很快就疲倦地睡著了。