2 Making New Friends

CHAPTER 2 Making New Friends Chubby Ermengarde St. John hadn't laughed when Sara embarrassed Miss Minchin by mistake with her fluent French. There was nothing funny, Ermengarde thought, about how stupid she was compared with this new student. Compared with anyone, really—or so her father always said. Her father was a scholar and expected his daughter to read and understand books he sent her. But it was hopeless, because

第二章结交新朋友查比·埃芒加德 当萨拉用流利的法语使明钦小姐尴尬时，约翰还没笑出来。 埃芒加德想，和这个新学生相比，她是多么愚蠢，这没什么好笑的。 和任何人比起来，真的——至少她父亲总是这么说。 她的父亲是个学者，希望女儿能读懂他寄给她的书。 但毫无希望，因为

Ermengarde could not remember what she had just read and was the biggest dunce in the school. She had been studying French for years, with no success. And her pronunciation was just awful. She was, as the French say, "stupide!" Lost in thought, she did not notice that she was chewing on her pigtails. As her father said, she was always chewing on something. Unfortunately, Miss Minchin did notice. "Miss St. John!" Miss Minchin burst out. "Stop chewing on your hair!" Ermengarde was startled and blushed bright red. She noticed Sara watching her, which only made her feel worse. "Wonderful," she thought, "now the new girl thinks I am stupid, too." Or may be not. When the lessons were done, Sara came over to her. "I love your name," Sara said sweetly.

埃芒加德不记得她刚刚读了什么，是学校里最大的笨蛋。 她学法语已经好几年了，但没有成功。 她的发音很糟糕。 用法国人的话说，她是“笨蛋”。她陷入了沉思，没有注意到自己正在嚼着自己的小辫。 正如她父亲所说，她总是在嚼东西。 不幸的是，明钦小姐注意到了。 “圣·约翰小姐！”明钦小姐脱口而出。 “别嚼你的头发了！”埃芒加德吓了一跳，脸涨得通红。 她注意到萨拉在看着她，这只会让她感觉更糟。 “太好了，”她想，“现在新来的女孩也认为我愚蠢了。” 也可能不是。课上完后，萨拉走到她身边。 “我喜欢你的名字，”萨拉温柔地说。

"Ermengarde..." she pronounced slowly. "It sounds like a name in a storybook." "Do you think so?" Ermengarde asked. When Sara said it, it did sound kind of royal. "Hey," Sara said, suddenly. "Would you like to come up and meet Emily?" "Who is she?" Ermengarde asked. "Come up to my room and see," Sara said. She held out her hand. "Is it true that you have a sitting room all to yourself?" Ermengarde asked Sara as they climbed the steps to her room. "Yes," Sara answered. "My papa got me one. When I make up stories and tell them to Emily, I don't like anyone else to hear me." Ermengarde gasped. "You speak French —and make up stories?" "Why, anyone can make up stories," Sara said. "You can, too."

“埃芒加德……”她慢慢地说。 “听起来像故事书里的名字。” “你这么认为吗？”厄门加德问。 莎拉说这话的时候，确实有点皇室的味道。 “嘿，”萨拉突然说。 “你愿意上来见见艾米丽吗？”“她是谁？”厄门加德问。 “到我的房间去看看，”萨拉说。 她伸出手来。“你真的有一间单独的客厅吗？”埃芒加德在他们爬上台阶到萨拉的房间时问她。 “是的，”萨拉回答。“我爸爸给我买了一个。 当我编故事给艾米丽听的时候，我不喜欢别人听到。” 厄门加德气喘吁吁地说。“你会说法语，还会编故事？”“哎，谁都能编故事，”萨拉说。 “你也可以。”

Ermengarde didn't believe her, but there was no time to protest. When they got to her closed door, Sara put her finger to her lips. "Shhh," she whispered, mysteriously. "Let's try to catch her!" Ermengarde didn't know what Sara was talking about, but it sounded very magical. Sara flung open the door, and Ermengarde peered in, but the only thing she saw was a beautiful doll propped up in a chair by the fireplace. "That sly one," Sara said, chuckling. "She got back to her seat before we could catch her. They always do!" Ermengarde did not seem to understand, so Sara told her about the secret lives of dolls. Ermengarde now looked not only confused, but afraid. What else had a secret life? she wondered. Maybe the furniture, too? She glanced down at her chair with

埃芒加德不相信她，但没有时间抗议。 当他们走到她紧闭的房门前，萨拉把手指放在嘴唇上。 “嘘。”她神秘地低声说。 “让我们试着抓住她！”埃芒加德不知道萨拉在说什么，但听起来很神奇。 萨拉猛地打开门，埃芒加德往里看了看，但她只看到壁炉旁的椅子上搁着一个漂亮的洋娃娃。 “那个狡猾的家伙，”萨拉笑着说。 我们还没来得及抓住她，她就回到了座位上。 他们总是这样！”埃芒加德似乎听不懂，于是萨拉把娃娃的秘密生活告诉了她。 埃芒加德现在看起来不仅困惑，而且害怕。 还有什么人有秘密生活？ 她想知道。也许还有家具？ 她低头看了一眼她的椅子

suspicion. "Don't worry," Sara said. "It's only make- believe. Haven't you ever pretended things?" "No," Ermengarde admitted. "Don't worry," Sara said. "It's easy. I'll teach you how." For the next hour, Ermengarde sat hugging her knees in delight as Sara taught her the basics of pretending—of telling stories and making up odd things. She couldn't teach her French in one hour, but she taught her more about the secret life of dolls, and about the voyage from India. Finally, she told her about her papa. At that point, she stopped. Sara's face puckered up and she looked like she might cry. "Are you all right?" Ermengarde asked. "Do you love your papa?" Sara asked. "I hardly ever see him," Ermengarde told

怀疑。“别担心，”萨拉说。 “这只是虚构的。你从来没有假装过吗？”“没有。”埃芒加德承认。 “别担心，”萨拉说。“这很简单。 我教你怎么做。”在接下来的一个小时里，埃芒加德高兴地抱着膝盖坐着，萨拉教她假装的基本知识——讲故事和编造奇怪的东西。 她无法在一个小时内教她法语，但她教了她更多关于娃娃的秘密生活，以及从印度来的航行。 最后，她告诉了她爸爸的事。 这时，她停了下来。 萨拉的脸皱了起来，好像要哭了。 “你没事吧？”厄门加德问。 “你爱你爸爸吗？”萨拉问。 “我几乎没见过他，”埃芒加德说

Sara. "But I must love him, must I not?" "I love mine more than anything else in the world," Sara blurted out. "And I miss him so much." She looked up and sighed deeply. "But I promised him I would be a strong little soldier, and I shall. I shall!" Ermengarde, inspired by Sara, had an idea of her own. "Lavinia and Jessie are best friends," she said. "Do you think we could be best friends, too? Even if we had to pretend?" "Why, I think that's a wonderful idea!" Sara said. "No pretending required!" "Lavinia hates you," Ermengarde informed Sara the next day in the parlor. She looked over her shoulder for fear that Lavinia was listening. "Before you came, she was the smartest and best-dressed girl in the school. Lavinia was important."

莎拉。“但我必须爱他，不是吗？”“我爱我的孩子胜过世界上的任何东西，”萨拉脱口而出。 “我非常想念他。”她抬起头，深深地叹了口气。 “但我答应过他我会成为一个强壮的小士兵，我一定会做到的。 我要!”埃芒加德受到萨拉的启发，有了自己的想法。 “拉维尼娅和杰西是最好的朋友，”她说。 “你觉得我们也能成为最好的朋友吗？” 即使我们不得不假装？”“嘿，我觉得这是个好主意！”莎拉说。 “不需要假装！”“拉维尼娅恨你，”埃芒加德第二天在客厅里对萨拉说。 她扭头看了看，生怕拉维尼娅在偷听。 “在你来之前，她是学校里最聪明、穿得最好的女孩。 拉维尼娅很重要。”