9 What Would a Princess Do

CHAPTER 9 What Would a Princess Do? The winter days grew shorter and so chilly that Sara became stiffer and more tired every day. Becky was faring no better. "If it weren't fer you, miss," she said one morning, before they began their day, "the prisoner in the next cell, I think I should die." And with that, the girls set off downstairs, to do their drudge work. Sara had to accomplish many things that

第九章公主会怎么做？ 冬天的白昼越来越短，越来越冷，萨拉一天比一天僵硬，一天比一天累。 贝基也好不到哪里去。 “如果不是因为你，小姐，”一天早上，在他们开始一天的工作之前，她说，“隔壁牢房的犯人，我想我早就死了。” 说完，姑娘们就下楼去干她们的苦差事。 莎拉必须完成很多事情

day. And because the cook had been in an awful mood that morning, it seemed she would have to do them on an empty stomach. The streets were soaked in a damp, cold mist, and Sara's raggedy clothes were quickly wet right through to the skin. The icy cold water went squish in her holey shoes, and the wind seemed to cut like a knife through her outgrown, flimsy jacket. "Oh Becky," she thought, "perhaps I might die today as well." Suddenly, Sara saw a shiny object just beneath her feet, in the muddy gutter. Bending down to take a closer look, she saw that it was really a few coins. They had probably fallen out of a hole in someone's pocket. She scooped them up with her cold, reddened hands. "Oh," she gasped, "it is true!" Just down the street was a bakery, in

的一天。因为厨师那天早上心情不好，看来她得饿着肚子做了。 街道被湿冷的雾浸透了，萨拉的破衣服很快就湿透了。 冰冷的水在她满是洞的鞋子里哗哗作响，风像刀一样刺穿了她那件破旧的夹克衫。 “哦，贝基，”她想，“也许我今天也会死。” 突然，萨拉看到一个闪亮的物体就在她脚下，在泥泞的阴沟里。 她弯下腰仔细一看，原来是几枚硬币。 它们可能是从某人口袋里的洞里掉出来的。 她用冰冷、发红的双手把它们捧了起来。 “啊，”她喘着气说，“这是真的！”街那头有家面包店

which a cheerful, stout woman was putting a tray of delicious, newly baked hot buns in a lit-up window. More than anything, Sara wanted to take the coins and buy some fresh buns. Doing some math in her head, she might be able to pay for as many as four. But then she frowned. She felt that it was wrong to use money that someone else had lost and might need. She looked around for someone to ask about the money, but there was nobody. And so she decided that she would at least ask the woman in the bakery if she had lost it. The woman looked at Sara strangely. "Bless us! No," she answered. "Did you find it?" "Yes," Sara said, "in the gutter." "Well then, keep it," said the woman. "It's a busy street. You'll never find out who lost

这时，一个快活的胖女人正把一盘刚烤好的美味热面包放在一扇亮着的窗户里。 最重要的是，萨拉想拿这些硬币去买一些新鲜的面包。 她在脑子里算了算，也许能付得起四张。 但随后她皱起了眉头。她觉得用别人丢了又可能需要的钱是不对的。 她环顾四周，想找个人问钱的事，但没有人。 所以她决定至少问问面包店的那个女人她是不是把它弄丢了。 那女人奇怪地看着萨拉。 “上帝保佑我们!“不，”她回答。 “你找到了吗？”“是的，”萨拉说，“在阴沟里。” “那好吧，你留着吧，”女人说。 “这是一条繁忙的街道。你永远不会知道谁输了

it." "I know," Sara said, "but I thought I would just ask you." "Not many would," the woman said, looking at Sara with respect. "Do you want to buy something?" "Yes, thank you," Sara said. "Four buns, if you please." The woman could see that Sara was staring at the buns with hunger, as though she could eat one hundred in one big bite. So she kindly put six buns in the bag instead of four. "Oh," Sara said, looking into the bag and noticing the mistake. "I said four, if you please. I can only pay for four." "I threw in two for free," the woman said. "A baker's half dozen. I daresay you will be able to eat them all. Aren't you hungry?" A mist rose before Sara's eyes. "I am very hungry. Thank you so much!"

它。”“我知道，”萨拉说，“但我想我应该问问你。” “没有多少人会，”女人说，带着尊重看着萨拉。 “你想买点什么吗？”“是的，谢谢你，”萨拉说。 “请给我四个小面包。” 那个女人看到萨拉正饿着眼睛盯着那些面包，好像她一口就能吃下一百个似的。 于是，她好心地把包里的四个面包换成了六个。 “哦，”萨拉说，看了看袋子，发现了错误。 “我说的是四个，如果你不介意的话。 我只能付四个人的钱。”“我免费送了两个，”女人说。 “面包师的半打。我敢说你可以把它们都吃掉。 你不饿吗？”一层薄雾在萨拉眼前升起。 “我很饿。非常感谢！”

On her way out of the bakery, however, something—or rather, someone—stopped Sara in her tracks. It was a little figure more pitiful even than herself—a figure that was not much more than a bundle of rags, from which small, bare, muddy red feet peeped out, because her rags were not long enough to cover them. Above the rags, Sara could see a dirty face with big, saucer-like, hungry eyes and a head of tangled hair that made her look like a wild animal. "This girl," Sara thought, "is even worse off than I am." As Sara came near, the little girl turned her head away, as though Sara was going to yell at her or shoo her out of the way, like everyone else did. "Are you hungry?" Sara asked. The little girl looked up in surprise. "I am," she said. She told Sara that she had not eaten in days.

然而，在她走出面包店的路上，有什么东西——更确切地说，是有人——拦住了莎拉。 这是一个比她自己还可怜的小人儿——一个只不过是一捆破布的小人儿，因为她的破布不够长，遮住了她那双赤着的、沾满泥巴的小脚。 在破布的上方，萨拉看到一张肮脏的脸，有一双碟状的大眼睛，饥饿的眼睛，一头乱蓬蓬的头发，使她看起来像只野兽。 “这个女孩，”萨拉想，“情况比我还糟。” 当萨拉走近时，小女孩把头转开，好像萨拉要对她大喊大叫，或者像其他人一样把她赶走。 “你饿吗？”萨拉问。 小女孩惊奇地抬起头来。 “是的，”她说。她告诉萨拉她已经好几天没吃东西了。

Sara couldn't believe she was going to do what she was about to do. "But after all," she thought, "what would a princess do?" She reached into her bag, took out one of the buns, and gave it to the other little girl. The girl sat up straight, then grabbed it and crammed it into her mouth in one big, wolfish bite. "Oh my," Sara heard her say in wild delight. "Oh my! Oh my!" With shaking hands, Sara took out three more buns and handed them over, only to watch them be devoured in the same way. She thought she might faint when she handed over the fifth bun. But, tightly

萨拉不敢相信她将要做她将要做的事。 “可是，”她想，“一个公主会怎么做呢？”她把手伸进包里，拿出一个小圆面包，递给另一个小女孩。 女孩坐直了身子，抓起它，像狼一样咬了一大口，塞进嘴里。 “哦，天哪，”萨拉听到她欣喜若狂地说。 “哦,我的天!哦我的天!”萨拉颤抖着双手，又拿出三个小圆面包递了过去，却眼睁睁地看着它们同样被吃掉。 当她交出第五个面包时，她想她可能会晕倒。 但是,紧