9 A Surprise Guest

CHAPTER 9 A Surprise Guest True to his word, as soon as Jasper recovered from his cold, he returned to visit the Peppers. They were delighted to see him. Jasper told them all about how the package of little cakes made both him and his father feel better almost at once. "I gave Prince the biggest one of all," Jasper added. "You must show me how to bake, Polly,"

第九章不速之客贾斯帕果然言出必行，感冒一好，他就回来拜访佩珀一家。 他们见到他很高兴。 贾斯帕告诉他们，那包小蛋糕是如何让他和父亲几乎立刻感觉好起来的。 “我给了普林斯最大的一个，”贾斯珀补充道。 “波莉，你必须教我怎么烤面包。”

he begged. While Jasper finished telling about the package, Polly prepared the kitchen for Jasper's baking lesson. "What about my poor, sick friend?" Phronsie asked. "Did he like his gingerbread boy?" "Very much indeed," Jasper said with a twinkle in his eye. Phronsie trotted off to play in the corner with Prince. Polly showed Jasper how to measure the flour and water and butter to make a piecrust. She taught him how to roll out the dough with a rolling pin. "Did your father really like Phronsie's gingerbread man?" Polly asked. "I've never seen him so happy," Jasper said with a smile. "In fact, he liked it so much, he propped it up on his writing desk so he could look at it all the time." Polly sighed with relief, glad to know that Mr.

他乞求道。贾斯帕讲完包裹的时候，波莉在厨房里为贾斯帕准备烘焙课。 “我那可怜的生病的朋友怎么办？”Phronsie问道。 “他喜欢他的姜饼男孩吗？”“非常喜欢。”贾斯帕说，眼睛里闪烁着光芒。 弗朗西跑到角落里和王子玩去了。 波莉教贾斯帕怎样量做馅饼用的面粉、水和黄油。 她教他如何用擀面杖擀面。 “你爸爸真的喜欢弗朗西的姜饼人吗？”波利问道。 “我从没见过他这么开心。”贾斯帕笑着说。 “事实上，他非常喜欢它，他把它放在写字台上，这样他就可以一直看着它了。” 波利如释重负地叹了口气。

King had not been offended. "You know," Jasper said, putting the piecrust that Polly had helped him make into the oven, "You could cook a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner in this stove." "We've never had a Thanksgiving. Nothing to make for it," Ben said lightly, as if he didn't really care. "Never had Thanksgiving?" Jasper said with surprise. "What about Christmas dinner?" "Nope. Never had a Christmas either," Davie said. "What are they like?" he asked. Jasper sat quite still and didn't answer. He had never met anyone who hadn't had Thanks giving or Christmas. He didn't understand. "They hang up stockings and have a tree and a great big, lovely dinner," Polly explained patiently to Davie. "We will, too, someday, when our ship comes in. Isn't that right, Ben?" Polly said proudly. "Absolutely right," Ben agreed.

金并没有被冒犯。 “你知道，”贾斯帕说着，把波莉帮他做的馅饼皮放进烤箱，“你可以在这个炉子里做一顿丰盛的感恩节晚餐。” “我们从来没有过感恩节。 没什么了不起的。”本轻描淡写地说，好像他并不在乎。 “从来没有过感恩节？”贾斯帕惊讶地说。 “圣诞晚餐怎么样？”“不。 也从来没有过圣诞节，”戴维说。 “他们是什么样子的？”他问。 贾斯帕静静地坐着，没有回答。 他从未见过没有过感恩节或圣诞节的人。 他不明白。波莉耐心地向戴维解释说：“他们把长统袜挂起来，有一棵圣诞树，还有一顿丰盛的晚餐。” “总有一天，当我们的船靠岸时，我们也会这样做的。 对不对，本？”波莉骄傲地说。 “完全正确，”本同意道。

At that moment, Jasper made a silent promise to himself. "They will have a Christmas this year," he muttered. Then Jasper told them stories of all his past Christmases. The Peppers listened with amazement. They were so amazed by Jasper's stories, they completely forgot about the baking. Suddenly, a horrible burning smell filled the kitchen. "Oh, no!" Jasper cried, running to the stove. He pulled out a black, smoking mass. "I've made a terrible mess of everything," Jasper said sadly, showing the ruined piecrust to Polly. "That's okay," Polly said kindly. "Tell us more about Christmas," Polly said. "There's always lots of music and dancing," Jasper began. "Music!" cried Polly, clapping her hands. "Does anyone play the piano?" she asked. "Polly's crazy about music, especially the

在那一刻，贾斯帕对自己默默许下了承诺。 “他们今年要过圣诞节了。”他喃喃地说。 然后贾斯帕给他们讲了他过去所有圣诞节的故事。 珀珀一家人惊奇地听着。 他们被贾斯帕的故事惊呆了，完全忘记了烘焙的事。 突然，一股可怕的烧焦味充满了厨房。 “哦,不!”贾斯帕哭着跑向火炉。 他掏出一团冒着烟的黑色东西。 “我把一切都弄得一团糟。”贾斯帕伤心地说，把坏掉的馅饼皮拿给波莉看。 “没关系，”波莉和蔼地说。 “给我们讲讲圣诞节吧，”波莉说。 “总是有很多音乐和舞蹈，”贾斯帕开始说。 “音乐！”波莉拍着手叫道。 “有人弹钢琴吗？”她问。 “波莉对音乐很着迷，尤其是

piano," Joel said, looking at the burned piecrust to see if there was anything he could rescue to eat. "She's always pretending to play on the kitchen table," he added. "Well, maybe someday you'll play on a real piano," Jasper said hopefully. "That is a lovely dream," Polly said. For the rest of the summer, Jasper spent every day he could at the Little Brown House. Mr. King, noticing how happy Jasper was, decided that perhaps their hotel wasn't such a bad place to spend the summer after all. At summer's end, a grand carriage drawn by a pair of handsome horses turned onto Promise Lane. It stopped right in front of the Little Brown House.

乔尔一边说，一边看着烧焦的馅饼皮，看能不能抢救出什么吃的。 “她总是假装在厨房的桌子上玩耍，”他补充说。 “嗯，也许有一天你会弹一架真正的钢琴。”贾斯帕满怀希望地说。 “这真是一个可爱的梦。”波莉说。 在夏天剩下的时间里，贾斯帕每天都尽可能地待在布朗小房子里。 金先生注意到贾斯帕是多么高兴，于是决定，也许他们的酒店毕竟不是一个糟糕的避暑胜地。 夏末，一对漂亮的马拉着一辆大马车驶进了希望巷。 它正好停在布朗小房子前面。

A tall, portly gentleman, leaning on a heavy gold-headed cane walked up from the little brown gate. Jasper and Prince followed behind him. Polly opened the door. "Is this little Miss Pepper?" Mr. King asked in a booming voice. "I don't know, sir. I'm Polly," she stammered, blushing a deep rose-red. "Is your mother in?" Mr. King asked, bending his head to peer through the front door. "Mr. King, won't you come in?" Mrs. Pepper asked, coming up behind Polly. Seated at the kitchen table, Mr. King looked around at all the smiling faces. "Where is the little girl who baked my gingerbread boy?" he asked. Phronsie, who had been hiding in the corner, came up to the old gentleman, shaking her little yellow head. She climbed up and perched herself on his knee. "Poor, sick man. Was my little

一位身材高大、肥胖的绅士，拄着一根沉重的金头手杖，从褐色的小门里走了出来。 贾斯帕和普林斯跟在他后面。 波莉打开了门。“这是佩珀小姐吗？”金先生用洪亮的声音问道。 “我不知道，先生。我是波莉，”她结结巴巴地说，脸涨得通红。 “你妈妈在家吗？”金先生问道，低下头从前门往里看。 “金先生，你不进来吗？”佩珀太太走到波莉身后问道。 金先生坐在厨房的桌子旁，环顾四周所有的笑脸。 “那个给我烤姜饼男孩的小女孩在哪里？”他问道。 一直躲在角落里的弗朗西摇着黄色的小脑袋走到老先生跟前。 她爬上去，坐在他的膝盖上。 “可怜的病人。是我的小