1 Nat Comes to Plumfield

CLASSIC STARTS Little Men Retold from the Louisa May Alcott original

从路易莎·梅·奥尔科特原著改编的经典小人物

CHAPTER 1 Nat Comes to Plumfield The ragged boy looked up at the gate in front of him and stammered, "Pl... please, sir, is this Plumfield?" Nat Blake didn't know if he was in the right place. "Yes," the old man at the gate answered. "This is Plumfield. Who sent you?" "Mr. Laurence gave me a letter for Mrs. Jo

第一章纳特来到普卢姆菲尔德这个衣衫褴褛的男孩抬头看着面前的大门，结结巴巴地说：“请…… 请问，先生，这是普卢姆菲尔德吗？”纳特·布莱克不知道自己是不是来对地方了。 “是的，”门口的老人回答。 “这是普卢姆菲尔德。谁派你来的？”“先生。 劳伦斯给了我一封给乔太太的信

Bhaer, the lady of the house." The old man opened the gate and said, "In that case, I'm sure she's expecting you. Go on up." The man's kind words gave Nat the courage to walk up the path to the house. Through the rain, he could see green grass, big trees, and a lovely garden. When he lifted his head, Nat saw a very large, square house with a big, old-fashioned porch. Goodness, Nat thought to himself, this would be a wonderful place to live. Warm light glowed from each of the windows, and Nat could hear the pleasant hum of many voices. I hope the lady will see me, he thought as he knocked on the door. A rosy-faced maid swung the door open and smiled. She wasn't at all surprised to see him. "You're wet!" she said, pointing to a bench in the hall. "Go and sit down there for a spell to dry off while I take your note to the missus."

巴尔，家里的女主人。” 老人打开门说：“那样的话，她肯定在等你。 上去吧。”那人的友好话语给了纳特勇气，让她走上通往房子的小路。 透过雨，他可以看到绿草、大树和一个可爱的花园。 当他抬起头时，纳特看到了一所很大的方形房子，有一个老式的大门廊。 天哪，纳特心里想，这将是一个生活的好地方。 温暖的光线从每扇窗户里照出来，纳特能听到许多愉快的嗡嗡声。 我希望那位女士能看见我，他一边敲门一边想。 一个脸色红润的女仆推开门，微笑着。 她见到他一点也不惊讶。 “你湿了！”她指着大厅里的一张长凳说。 “你去坐一会儿，把身上的衣服擦干，我把你的便条带给夫人。”

The house swarmed with boys of all sizes who were playing a variety of indoor games as the rain fell. Nat looked around. To his right, he saw two large school rooms filled with blackboards, desks, and books. In the large room in front of him, a group of boys lay about talking in front of the fire while an older fellow beside them practiced the flute. A large dinner table occupied the room to Nat's left. On top of it were pitchers of milk, piles of brown and white bread, and perfect stacks of gingerbread cookies. He could smell toast and baked apples as well, which made his stomach grumble. But it was the hall that truly caught his attention. From his bench, Nat could see a gang of happy boys playing tag. On one landing of the stairs, a hearty game of marbles was going on. On the other, there was a game of checkers. The stairs held a number of fascinating things for a little boy: a kitten, two puppies, a boy reading a

下雨的时候，房子里挤满了大小不一的男孩，他们在玩各种室内游戏。 纳特环顾四周。在他的右边，他看到两间大教室，里面放满了黑板、课桌和书。 在他面前的大房间里，一群男孩躺在火炉前聊天，旁边的一个老人在练习长笛。 纳特左边的房间里放着一张大餐桌。 上面是一桶罐牛奶，一堆堆的黑面包和白面包，还有一堆堆的姜饼饼干。 他还能闻到烤面包和烤苹果的味道，这使他的胃咕咕叫。 但真正引起他注意的是大厅。 从他的长凳上，纳特可以看到一群快乐的男孩在玩捉人游戏。 在楼梯的一个平台上，人们正兴致勃勃地玩着弹珠游戏。 另一边是跳棋游戏。 对于一个小男孩来说，楼梯上放着许多有趣的东西：一只小猫，两只小狗，一个正在读一本书的男孩

book, and a girl singing a lullaby to a pretty doll. Nat watched as a constant stream of boys slid down the banister. It didn't seem to matter if it ruined their clothes or broke their limbs. One particularly lively boy came barreling down so quickly that he could not stop and crashed to the floor. Nat ran over to the boy, who must have had a head as hard as a cannonball to survive the fall.

书，还有一个女孩对着一个漂亮的洋娃娃唱摇篮曲。 纳特看着不断有男孩从栏杆上滑下来。 它是否毁了他们的衣服或折断了他们的四肢似乎都无关紧要。 一个特别活泼的男孩飞快地跑下来，他根本停不下来，摔在了地板上。 纳特跑向那个男孩，他的头一定硬得像炮弹一样，才能从坠落中生还。

Expecting to find him half-dead, Nat was surprised to see the boy wink at him, and then say with a great grin, "Hello!" "Are you all right?!" Nat asked. "Oh, just fine!" the boy replied. "Are you new? What's your name? How old are you?" "I don't know if I'm to stay yet, but my name is Nat Blake and I'm twelve." Nat answered. The boy jumped up off the floor and said, "Well, thunder turtles, I'm glad we're the same age. I'm Tommy Bangs. Why don't you come up and have a go? I'm sure Mother Jo won't mind." Nat lowered his head. "I think I should wait here until I find out whether I'm to stay or not." "Say, Demi," Tommy called out, "here's a new fellow! Come down and keep him company while he waits to talk to Mother Jo." The boy reading on the stairs looked up from his book, then came down to see Nat and asked, "Did Uncle Laurie send you?" Nat nodded. "Is that Mr. Laurence?"

纳特以为他已经半死了，却惊讶地发现男孩对他眨了眨眼，然后咧着嘴笑着说：“你好！”“你没事吧？！”Nat问道。 “哦，很好！”男孩回答。 “你是新来的吗？”你叫什么名字？ 你多大了？”“我还不知道是否要留下来，我叫纳特·布莱克，今年12岁。” Nat回答。男孩从地板上跳了起来，说：“哦，雷龟们，我很高兴我们是同龄人。 我是汤米·邦斯。你为什么不上来试一试？ 我相信乔妈妈不会介意的。” 纳特低下了头。“我想我应该在这里等着，直到我弄清楚我是否要留下来。” “喂，黛米，”汤米喊道，“来了一个新伙伴！在他等着和乔妈妈说话的时候，下来陪他。” 在楼梯上看书的男孩抬起头，然后下楼去看纳特，问道：“是罗瑞叔叔派你来的吗？”Nat点点头。 “是劳伦斯先生吗？”