美國語文第三冊 第73期：瑪麗的硬幣
There! I have drawn the chairs into the right corners, and dusted the room nicely.
你瞧！我把椅子都拉到合適的角落里，把房間打掃得一塵不染。
How cold papa and mamma will be when they return from their long ride!
爸爸媽媽長途旅行，到家的時候該是多冷??！
It is not time to toast the bread yet, and I am tired of reading.
現(xiàn)在還不是時候烤面包，而我看書也已經(jīng)看煩了。
What shall I do?
我該做些什么呢？
Some how, I can't help thinking about the pale face of that little beggar girl all the time.
不知道為什么，我總是忍不住想起那個乞討的小女孩。
I can see the glad light filling her eyes, just as plain as I did when I laid the dime in her little dirty hand.
我面前浮現(xiàn)她眼里閃耀快樂的光彩，就像當(dāng)我把一角硬幣放到她臟兮兮的小手里時一樣。
How much I had thought of that dime, too!
我也多么惦念那個一角硬幣啊！
Grandpa gave it to me a whole month ago, and I had kept it ever since in my red box upstairs;
那是祖母一個月前給我的，從那以后我一直把它放在樓上的紅盒子里。
but those sugar apples looked so beautiful, and were so cheap —only a dime a piece —that I made up my mind to have one.
可是那些釋迦果看起來多漂亮啊，而且那么便宜——只要一角錢一個——于是我下定決心要去買一個。
I can see her—the beggar girl, I mean—as she stood there in front of the store, in her old hood and faded dress, looking at the candies laid all in a row.
我能看到她——那個乞討的女孩，我的意思是——當(dāng)時她站在商店前面，戴著舊頭巾，穿著褪了色的裙子，看著那些擺成一行的糖果時，
I wonder what made me say, "Little girl, what do you want?"
我不知道是什么促使我說：“小姑娘，你想要什么？”
How she stare at me, just as if nobody had spoken kindly to her before.
她盯著我的神情顯得多驚訝??！
I guess she thought I was sorry for her,for she said, so earnestly and sorrowfully, "I was thinking how good one of those gingerbread rolls would taste."
就好像從來沒有人和氣地跟她說過話一樣。我猜她是認(rèn)為我為她感到難過，因為她語氣急切而悲傷地答道：“我在想那些姜餅卷該會有多好吃。”
I haven't had anything to eat today.
今天我還沒吃過東西。
Now, I thought to myself, "Mary Williams, you have had a good breakfast and a good dinner this day, and this poor girl has not had a mouthful."
那個時候，我在心里對自己說：“瑪麗.威廉斯，你今天吃了豐盛的早餐和午餐，這個可憐的小女孩卻一口飯都吃不上。”
You can give her your dime; she needs it a great deal more than you do.
你可以把你那個硬幣給她，她比你更需要。
I could not resist that little girl's sorrowful, hungry look—so I dropped the dime right into her hand, and, without waiting for her to speak, walked straight away.
我無法抗拒那個小女孩悲傷、饑餓的神情——于是我把硬幣塞到她的手里，不等她開口說話，就立刻走開了。
I'm so glad I gave her the dime, if I did have to go without the apple lying there in the window, and looking just like a real one.
我很高興自己把硬幣給了她，就像是我確實必須走開，讓那個釋迦果留在櫥窗里，只是看起來像真的。
