10 The Grand Feast

CHAPTER 10 The Grand Feast When Sara came home that evening, she was all tired out. Miss Minchin had yelled at her for returning home late from her errands. She didn't seem to care that the streets were wet and muddy, and that it had been hard for Sara to walk quickly in her worn-out shoes. The cook was in a bad mood, too, and took it out on Sara. "May I have something to eat?" Sara asked shyly, laying the cook's purchases on the

第十章盛大的宴会那天晚上萨拉回到家时，已经筋疲力尽了。 明钦小姐因为她办事晚回家而对她大吼大叫。 她似乎并不在乎街上又湿又泥泞，也不在乎萨拉穿着破旧的鞋子很难走得快。 厨师也心情不好，把气撒在萨拉身上。 “我可以吃点东西吗？”萨拉害羞地问，把厨师买的东西放在桌子上

table. "Dinner is over and done with," the cook snapped back at her as usual. "Please," Sara said. "I am so hungry." She kept her voice low because she was afraid it would begin to shake. "There's some bread in the pantry," the cook said. "And that's all you get." Even though the bread was old, hard, and dry, Sara ate up every bite. "I'm sorry, Melchisedec," she thought, "but I won't have even one crumb left over for you tonight!" It was always hard for her to climb the three long flights of stairs leading to the attic, but tonight she was so very tired, it seemed as though the stairs would never end. Several times, she had to stop and rest. When she at last reached the top steps, she saw a glimmer of light coming from under her door. Ermengarde, she thought.

表格。“晚饭结束了，结束了，”厨师像往常一样厉声回答她。 “求你了，”萨拉说。“我太饿了。” 她把声音压得很低，因为她害怕声音开始颤抖。 “食品柜里有些面包，”厨师说。 “这就是你得到的全部。”尽管面包又旧又硬又干，萨拉还是一口一口地吃光了。 “对不起，麦基洗德，”她想，“今晚我一点面包屑也不给你留下了！”对她来说，爬上通往阁楼的三段长长的楼梯总是很困难的，但今晚她太累了，似乎楼梯永远也爬不完。 有几次，她不得不停下来休息。 当她终于走到最上面的台阶时，她看到门缝里透出了一丝光亮。 埃芒加德，她想。

She was not in the mood for company. But she told herself that, if she lived in a castle, and Ermengarde was the lady of another castle coming to visit, when she heard the sound of horns beyond the drawbridge she wouldn't be grumpy and say, "Please, tonight is not a good time." No, she would go down to receive her. Then she would lay a feast in the banquet room, and call in minstrels to sing and tell stories... Well, there was no feast, and no minstrels singing and playing, but Princess Sara was ready to greet Ermengarde when she opened the door. Used to Melchisedec, but still slightly afraid, Ermengarde was sitting in the center of the bed where he would not be able to jump on her. "Miss Amelia has gone out to spend the night with her old aunt," Ermengarde whispered. "No one else ever checks on us at night, so I could stay here until morning if I

她没有心情和人交往。 但她告诉自己，如果她住在一座城堡里，而埃芒加德是另一座城堡的女主人，当她听到吊桥那边的喇叭声时，她不会生气地说：“求求你，今晚不是好时机。” 不，她要下去接她。 然后，她会在宴会厅里设宴，请吟游诗人唱歌讲故事…… 嗯，没有宴会，也没有吟游诗人唱歌和演奏，但是萨拉公主打开门时准备迎接埃芒加德。 埃芒加德已经习惯了麦基塞德，但仍然有点害怕，他坐在床中央，这样他就不能跳到她身上了。 “阿米莉亚小姐出去和她老姨妈一起过夜了，”埃芒加德低声说。 “没有人会在晚上检查我们，所以我可以在这里待到早上，如果我。

wanted to!" Sara thought, "But why would you want to?" "Oh Sara, you look so tired," Ermengarde said. "Tired and pale." "I am tired," Sara said, plopping down onto the lopsided footstool. "At least you are skinny," Ermengarde said with envy. Sara felt like shaking Ermengarde and telling her that, if she were being starved by Miss Minchin, she would be skinny, too. But she bit her tongue. "I was always a thin child," she answered bravely. Just then, both girls heard a ruckus on the stairs below. It was Miss Minchin's angry voice, scolding Becky. "Will she come in here?" Ermengarde whispered, panic-stricken. "I don't think so," Sara said, "but just in

想!”萨拉想：“但你为什么要这样做呢？”“哦，萨拉，你看起来很累。”埃芒加德说。 “又累又苍白。”“我累了，”萨拉说着，扑通一声坐在歪斜的脚凳上。 “至少你很瘦，”埃芒加德羡慕地说。 萨拉真想摇晃埃芒加德，告诉她，如果她被明钦小姐饿着，她也会瘦下来的。 但她咬着自己的舌头。“我一直是个瘦弱的孩子，”她勇敢地回答。 就在这时，两个女孩都听到楼下楼梯上传来一阵骚动。 那是明钦小姐生气的声音，在责骂贝基。 “她会到这儿来吗？”埃芒加德低声说，惊慌失措。 “我不这么认为，”萨拉说，“不过，进来吧

case, don't make a sound!" Miss Minchin, after all, seldom climbed the last flight of stairs. She seemed to be doing it now, however, and dragging up Becky with her. "You lying thief!" they heard her say. "Cook tells me that things have been taken from the kitchen on a regular basis!" "It weren't me, mum," they heard Becky sob in reply. "I was hungry enough, but it weren't me—never!" "Stop telling falsehoods. I should call the police and have you sent to prison! Half a meat pie indeed!" Miss Minchin pronounced. Both Sara and Ermengarde heard a slap. They knew that Becky's ears had been boxed. Then they heard Becky's door shut and Miss Minchin start back down the stairs. Becky was crying softly into her pillow. Sara started to shake. "That horrible cook!"

凯斯，别出声！”明钦小姐毕竟很少爬最后一段楼梯。 不过，她现在似乎正在这么做，还把贝基也拉了上去。 “你这个说谎的贼！”他们听见她说。 “厨师告诉我，他们经常从厨房里拿东西！”“不是我，妈妈。”他们听见贝基抽泣着回答。 “我很饿，但那不是我——永远不是我！”“别说谎了。 我应该叫警察把你送进监狱！真是半个肉饼！”明钦小姐大声说。 萨拉和埃芒加德都听到了一巴掌。 他们知道贝基的耳朵被打了耳光。 然后他们听见贝基的门关上了，明钦小姐走下楼去。 贝基伏在枕头上轻声哭泣。 萨拉开始发抖。“那个可怕的厨师！”

she cried. "She takes things herself and blames Becky—Becky, who is so hungry she eats crusts out of the garbage can!" Sara pressed her hands to her face and burst into heartfelt little sobs. Ermengarde stared at her friend with wide eyes. Slowly a thought made its way into her sluggish mind. "Sara," she said timidly, "I don't want to be rude, but are you ever hungry?" This was too much for Sara. She blurted out, "What do you think, Ermengarde? Yes, I am hungry. I am so hungry I could almost eat you!" Ermengarde drew in a breath. "I feel so stupid," she said, "but I never knew." "I didn't want you to know," Sara said, laughing even as she kept crying. "It would have made me feel like a beggar." "Sara!" Ermengarde cried out, giving an excited little jump. The ideas were starting to

她哭了。“她自己拿东西，还怪贝琪——贝琪，她饿得连垃圾桶里的面包皮都吃了！”萨拉双手捂着脸，发自内心地啜泣起来。 埃芒加德睁大眼睛盯着她的朋友。 她迟钝的脑子里慢慢地闪过一个念头。 “萨拉，”她胆怯地说，“我不想失礼，但你饿过吗？”这对莎拉来说太难了。 她脱口而出：“你觉得怎么样，埃芒加德？ 是的，我饿了。我饿得几乎要把你吃掉了！”埃芒加德吸了一口气。 “我觉得自己好蠢，”她说，“但我从来不知道。” “我不想让你知道，”萨拉一边哭一边笑着说。 “那会让我觉得自己像个乞丐。” “莎拉!”埃芒加德叫道，兴奋地微微跳了一下。 这些想法开始