4 In the attic

Chapter 4 In the attic

第四章在阁楼上

That first night in the attic, Sara lay awake in the dark. She could hear rats scuffling in the walls. "My father's dead!" she sobbed. "I'll never see him again."

在阁楼的第一个晚上，萨拉躺在黑暗中睡不着。 她能听到老鼠在墙里扭打的声音。 “我父亲死了！”她抽泣着说。 “我再也见不到他了。”

Everything in Sara's life changed at once. When she came down the next morning, Lavinia had taken her place next to Miss Minchin. "You're late, Sara!" said Miss Minchin, coldly. "Don't let it happen again. Begin your new duties by looking after the little ones."

萨拉生活中的一切瞬间改变了。 第二天早上她下楼时，拉维尼娅已坐在明钦小姐旁边。 “你迟到了，萨拉！”明钦小姐冷冷地说。 “不要让这种事情再次发生。 从照顾小的开始你的新职责吧。”

Every day, Sara was sent on errand after errand. She was expected to go out in all weathers and to dust and scrub the rooms. At the end of each busy day, Miss Minchin sent her to the schoolroom to study, so she would learn enough to teach the younger pupils.

萨拉每天都被派去接二连三地跑腿。 无论什么天气，她都要出去打扫房间。 在繁忙的一天结束时，明钦小姐把她送到教室去学习，这样她就能学到足够的知识来教年纪较小的学生。

Over time, Sara's frocks grew shorter and shabbier and she became thin and pale. The other pupils stopped talking to her. "To think she was the girl with the diamond mines," scoffed Lavinia. "Now she's nothing."

随着时间的推移，萨拉的衣服越来越短，越来越破旧，她也变得瘦弱和苍白。 其他学生都不跟她说话了。 “想想看，她就是那个拥有钻石矿的姑娘，”拉维尼娅嘲笑道。 “现在她什么都不是。”

"I won't cry," thought Sara, biting hard on her lip. "I won't." Her only friend was Becky. They had little chance to talk during the day, but each night, Becky crept into Sara's room.

“我不会哭的，”萨拉想，使劲咬着嘴唇。 “我不会。”她唯一的朋友是贝基。 白天她们很少有机会说话，但每天晚上，贝基都会溜进萨拉的房间。