1 A Christmas letter

Little Women

小妇人

Chapter 1 A Christmas letter "Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled Jo March, lying on the rug. "I hate being poor," sighed her sister, Meg, looking at her old dress. "So do I," sniffed Amy, the youngest, who was gazing at passers-by. "And I don't think it's fair for some girls to have lots of pretty things and other girls nothing at all." "At least we have Father and Mother and each other," said Beth.

“没有礼物，圣诞节就不是圣诞节了，”乔·马奇躺在地毯上抱怨道。 “我讨厌贫穷，”她的妹妹梅格看着自己的旧衣服叹了口气。 “我也是，”最小的艾美哼着鼻子说，她盯着路人。 “我认为有些女孩有很多漂亮的东西，而有些女孩什么都没有，这是不公平的。” “至少我们还有爸爸和妈妈，还有彼此，”贝思说。

"We don't have Father," Jo observed, moving to the sofa. "Not for a long time..." "Perhaps never," each sister added silently to herself, thinking of their father far away at the war. "Mother said we ought not to have presents this Christmas anyway," announced Meg. "She thinks it's wrong to spend money for fun when our men are suffering in the army." At sixteen, and the eldest, Meg did her best to sound grown-up, but she didn't always succeed. "Mother wouldn't want us to give up everything!" cried Jo. "And we each have a dollar.

“我们没有爸爸，”乔边说边走向沙发。 “不会有很长时间了……”“也许永远也不会了，”每个姐姐都默默地自言自语，想着远在战场上的父亲。 “妈妈说我们今年圣诞节不应该有礼物，”麦格宣布。 “她认为我们的男人在军队里受苦受难，花钱取乐是不对的。” 梅格16岁，是家里的老大，她尽力让自己听起来像个大人，但她并不总是成功。 “妈妈不会让我们放弃一切的！”琼叫道。 “我们每人有一美元。

We could spend that on ourselves. I'm going to buy a book." "I'll buy drawing paper," decided Amy. Beth began playing the old piano, skipping over the parts where the notes were missing. "A new piano's too expensive," she said quietly, "but I'd love more music." "We deserve some fun," Jo added. "I suffer enough every day looking after Great Aunt March with her fussy old woman ways."

我们可以把钱花在自己身上。 我要去买一本书。”“我要买画纸，”艾米决定。 贝丝开始弹奏那架旧钢琴，跳过缺音的部分。 “一架新钢琴太贵了，”她平静地说，“但我想要更多的音乐。” “我们应该找点乐子，”乔补充道。 “我每天照顾马奇姨婆那老婆子的样子已经受够了。”

"It can't be as bad as my job, teaching those horrible children," Meg complained. "I hate having to work." "My life's worse," Amy butted in. "All the girls at school laugh at me because of my patched clothes." Beth put her mother's old slippers to warm by the fire. They were full of holes. "Let's not get anything for ourselves," she said. "Let's buy presents for Mother instead. She works so hard." Jo beamed. "That's a much better idea. We'll go shopping tomorrow." And, seizing Beth, she danced around the room.

“总不会比我的工作更糟糕，教那些可怕的孩子。”梅格抱怨道。 “我讨厌工作。”“我的生活更糟了，”艾米插嘴说。 “学校里所有的女孩都嘲笑我，因为我的衣服打了补丁。” 贝丝把妈妈的旧拖鞋放在火旁取暖。 它们到处都是洞。“我们什么也不要给自己买，”她说。 “我们还是给妈妈买礼物吧。” 她工作很努力。”乔微笑。 “这是个好主意。 我们明天去购物。” 她抓住贝思，在房间里跳起舞来。