小婦人（節選）

路易莎·梅·奧爾科特 （1832—1888）是一位美國女作家。她在做一家少年雜志社的編輯時，寫下了自傳體小說《小婦人》。這部小說以家庭生活為描寫對象，以家庭成員的感情糾葛為線索，描寫了馬奇一家的天倫之愛。本文節選自《小婦人》第一章。

“Christmas wont be Christmas without any presents，” grumbled Jo， lying on the rug.

“Its so dreadful to be poor！” sighed Meg， looking down at her old dress.

“I dont think its fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things， and other girls nothing at all，” added little Amy， with an injured sniff.

“Weve got Father and Mother， and each other，” said Beth contentedly from her corner.

The four young faces on which the firelight shone brightened at the cheerful words， but darkened again as Jo said sadly， “We havent got Father， and shall not have him for a long time.” She didnt say “perhaps never”， but each silently added it， thinking of Father far away， where the fighting was.

Nobody spoke for a minute; then Meg said in an altered tone， “You know the reason Mother proposed not having any presents this Christmas was because it is going to be a hard winter for everyone; and she thinks we ought not to spend money for pleasure， when our men are suffering so in the army. We cant do much， but we can make our little sacrifices， and ought to do it gladly. But I am afraid I dont，” and Meg shook her head， as she thought regretfully of all the pretty things she wanted.

“But I dont think the little we should spend would do any good. Weve each got a dollar， and the army wouldnt be much helped by our giving that. I agree not to expect anything from Mother or you， but I do want to buy Undine and Sintran for myself. Ive wanted it so long，” said Jo， who was a bookworm.

“I planned to spend mine in new music，” said Beth， with a little sigh， which no one heard but the hearth brush and kettle-holder.

“I shall get a nice box of Fabers drawing pencils; I really need them，” said Amy decidedly.

“Mother didnt say anything about our money， and she wont wish us to give up everything. Lets each buy what we want， and have a little fun; Im sure we work hard enough to earn it，” cried Jo， examining the heels of her shoes in a gentlemanly manner.

“I know I do—teaching those tiresome children nearly all day， when Im longing to enjoy myself at home，” began Meg， in the complaining tone again.

“沒有禮物圣誕節怎么過？”喬躺在小地毯上咕噥。

“貧窮真可怕！”梅格發出一聲嘆息，低頭望著身上的舊裙子。

“有些女孩子擁有榮華富貴，有些卻一無所有，我認為這不公平。”小艾美委屈地哼著鼻子，加了一句。

“但我們有父母和彼此呀。”坐在一角的貝思心滿意足地說。

這句令人愉快的話使爐火映照下的四張年輕的臉龐明亮起來。“我們沒有父親，很長一段時間都將沒有。”喬傷心地說。聽到這句話，大家的神情又暗淡下去。她雖沒說“可能永遠沒有”，但每個人心里都把這句話悄悄說了一遍，同時想起遠在戰場的父親。

大家一時無言。后來梅格換了個腔調說：“媽媽提出，今年圣誕不送禮，你們知道理由的，今年冬天對誰來說都難熬。現在男人們在軍營里受煎熬，她覺得我們不應該花錢找樂。雖然我們能力有限，但可以在這方面做出一點小小的犧牲，而且應該心甘情愿地這樣做。不過我可并不高興。”梅格搖搖腦袋。想到那些夢寐以求的漂亮禮物，她感到遺憾不已。

“我看我們那丁點兒錢也幫不上什么忙。我們每人只有一元錢，捐給部隊也沒多大用處。我不指望媽媽給什么，你們也不會送，不過我真的很想買一本《水精靈》，那本書我早就想買了。”喬說。她是個“書蟲”。

“我本來打算買些新樂譜。”貝思輕輕嘆了口氣說，聲音輕得除了壁爐刷和水壺架誰也沒聽到。

“我要買一盒上好的費伯牌繪圖鉛筆。我真的很需要這些鉛筆。”艾美干脆地說。

“媽媽并沒有規定這錢該怎么花，她不會希望我們什么都不要。我們倒不如各自買點自己喜歡的東西高興高興。為掙這些錢，我們夠賣力的了。”喬大聲說道，蠻有紳士風度地審視著自己的鞋跟。

“可不是嘛——差不多一天到晚都在教那些討厭的孩子，本來倒希望回家輕松一下的。”梅格又開始抱怨了。

Vocabulary

grumble v. 咕噥;嘟囔;發牢騷

contentedly adv.愜意地，滿足地

tone n. 語氣;腔調

propose v. 提議;建議

suffer v. 受苦，受難，受折磨

earn v. 掙得;賺得;掙錢

longing adj. 渴望的;熱望的