4 Chapter 3 All Alone

Chapter 3 All Alone Shortly after her seventh birthday, Eleanor's life suddenly changed. When she was a child, many of the medicines we have today had not yet been discovered. Many diseases that now can be cured often killed people. One such disease was diphtheria. People with the disease ran high fevers and had trouble breathing. They grew weaker and weaker. Often they died. In the fall of 1892, when Eleanor was eight, her mother had to have an operation. Afterward, she was very weak. Then she got diphtheria. She became so ill that Eleanor was sent to live with relatives. Her father was away, too, once again trying to stop drinking. Eleanor was all alone. What would happen? Would her mother get well?

7岁生日过后不久，埃莉诺的生活突然发生了变化。 当她还是个孩子的时候，我们今天使用的许多药物还没有被发现。 许多现在可以治愈的疾病曾经夺去了人的生命。 其中一种疾病是白喉。 患有这种疾病的人会发高烧，呼吸困难。 他们变得越来越虚弱。 他们经常死去。1892年秋天，埃莉诺8岁的时候，她的母亲不得不做手术。 后来，她非常虚弱。 后来她得了白喉。埃莉诺病得很重，被送到亲戚家去住。 她的父亲也不在家，再次试图戒酒。 埃莉诺孤身一人。会发生什么? 她母亲会好起来吗?

On December 7, 1892, Eleanor's mother died. Eleanor was only eight years old. Eleanor wrote about that terrible day. She was standing by a window in her aunt's house. Her aunt came into the room to tell Eleanor what had happened. Eleanor wrote, "Death meant nothing to me, and one fact wiped out everything else—my father was back and I would see him very soon." Eleanor was a shy, lonely girl. She knew that she had never pleased her mother. And now, she would never have the chance to do so. It made her miss her father more than ever. Eleanor hoped she and her brothers would now live with him.

1892年12月7日，埃莉诺的母亲去世了。 埃莉诺只有八岁。 埃莉诺写了那可怕的一天。 她站在姨妈家的窗边。 她姨妈走进房间，告诉埃莉诺发生了什么事。 埃莉诺写道:“死亡对我来说毫无意义，一件事压倒了一切——我父亲回来了，我很快就能见到他。” 埃莉诺是个害羞、孤独的女孩。 她知道她从来没有使母亲高兴过。 而现在，她再也没有机会这么做了。 这使她比以往任何时候都更想念父亲。 埃莉诺希望她和她的兄弟们现在能和他住在一起。

But that was not to be. Eleanor and her baby brothers were sent to their mother's mother, Mrs. Hall. The family felt that Eleanor's father could not care for the children. His drinking had gotten worse. And so, Eleanor began a new life with her strict grandmother. All Eleanor had of her father were his letters. She looked forward to them, cherished each one, and wrote back immediately.

但事实并非如此。埃莉诺和她的小弟弟们被送到了他们母亲的母亲霍尔夫人那里。 全家人都觉得埃莉诺的父亲不能照顾孩子们。 他的酒量越来越大了。 就这样，埃莉诺和她严厉的祖母开始了新的生活。 埃莉诺关于她父亲的一切都是他的信。 她期待着这些信，珍惜每一封，并立即回信。

Eleanor's aunts and uncles still lived at home with her grandmother. They were not much older than Eleanor and treated her as a younger sister. They loved sports and taught her to play tennis. They also loved music and languages. Eleanor's grandmother had her tutored in French, German, and piano. Then on August 14, 1894, the worst thing that Eleanor could imagine happened. Her father died. He had just sent Eleanor a letter. He wrote, "I hope my little girl is well … and never forget I love you …" Eleanor kept this letter for years. It was her grandmother who broke the news. Eleanor was almost ten. Everyone thought that Eleanor would weep and shut herself in her room

埃莉诺的叔叔婶婶仍然和她的祖母住在一起。 他们比埃莉诺大不了多少，把她当妹妹一样对待。 他们喜欢运动，教她打网球。 他们还喜欢音乐和语言。 埃莉诺的祖母请人辅导她学习法语、德语和钢琴。 1894年8月14日，埃莉诺所能想象的最糟糕的事情发生了。 她父亲去世了。他刚刚给埃莉诺寄了一封信。 他写道:“我希望我的小女儿一切安好……永远不要忘记我爱你……”埃莉诺把这封信保存了很多年。 是她的祖母透露了这个消息。 埃莉诺快十岁了。大家都以为埃莉诺会哭着把自己关在房间里

for days. But she didn't. After she was told, she was quiet as a mouse. All she said, in a whisper, was, "I did want to see him again." Eleanor was now an orphan. No mother. No father. And then, shortly after her father's death, her brother Elliott died of diphtheria. Just as their mother had. Eleanor was just a child, yet already there had been so much sadness in her life. From then on, Eleanor watched over her baby brother, Hall. She became like his mother. She taught him things and tried to protect him for the rest of his life.

好几天。但她没有。在她被告知之后，她像老鼠一样安静。 她低声说:“我确实想再见到他。” 埃莉诺现在成了孤儿。 没有母亲。没有父亲。然后，在她父亲去世后不久，她的哥哥艾略特死于白喉。 就像他们的母亲一样。埃莉诺还只是个孩子，但她的生活中已经有太多的悲伤了。 从那以后，埃莉诺照看着她的小弟弟霍尔。 她变得像他的母亲。 她教他一些东西，并试图在他的余生中保护他。

For the next four years, Eleanor retreated into a dream world. In this world, she lived with her father and was pretty and happy. When she was

在接下来的四年里，埃莉诺躲进了一个梦幻的世界。 在这个世界里，她和父亲住在一起，美丽而幸福。 当她