5 Patty-Pans

CHAPTER 5 Patty-Pans One day Jo found Daisy sitting on the stairs, pouting. It was quite unlike her niece to be this way, so Jo asked kindly, "What's the matter, Daisy?" "The boys won't let me play with them," she replied. Jo put her hand on the girl's shoulder and tried

有一天，乔发现黛西正坐在楼梯上撅着嘴。 她的外甥女很不像这样，所以乔和蔼地问：“怎么了，黛西？”“孩子们不让我和他们玩，”她回答。 琼把手放在女孩的肩膀上，试了试

very hard not to smile. "And why is that?" "Because they're playing football. Even Demi won't let me join. He used to let me, but now the boys laugh at him. I am so tired of playing alone." "Well, I'm about to go into town to see your mother. Why don't you come along? Maybe you'd like to stay home for a couple days?" Daisy stood up and said, "I should like to see Mother, but I don't want to stay there. I'll come back here, or else Demi will miss me." "You'll need to find something to do while I get ready to go. Why don't you go see Asia downstairs in the kitchen. Maybe you can help her with lunch." Daisy nodded and flew off downstairs to help Asia with her baking. I'll need to find something else for her to do, Jo thought. I never would have imagined that it's more difficult to keep one girl occupied than it is to keep a dozen boys going.

很难不笑。“这是为什么呢？”“因为他们在踢足球。 连黛米都不让我加入。 他过去总是让我这么做，但现在男孩们都嘲笑他。 我厌倦了一个人玩。” “嗯，我正要进城去看你妈妈。 你为什么不一起来呢？也许你想在家里呆几天？”黛西站起来说：“我想看看妈妈，但我不想呆在那里。 我要回到这里，否则黛米会想念我的。” “我准备走的时候，你得找点事做。 不如你去楼下厨房找亚莎。 也许你可以帮她准备午餐。” 黛西点了点头，飞下楼去帮亚莎烤面包了。 我得给她找点别的事做，琼想。 我从来没有想过，让一个女孩有事做比让一打男孩有事做还难。

As she put away the last of the laundry and closed the wardrobe door, Jo had an idea. "That's it!" she said out loud. "That'll be the perfect hobby for Daisy. Now if I can just figure out a way to make it work..." All the way into town, Jo teased Daisy about having a grand surprise. Daisy begged her aunt to tell her what she was planning, but Jo wouldn't budge. While Jo went and did all the shopping, Daisy stayed behind with her mother. But when her aunt returned, she still wouldn't say anything about the surprise. To make matters worse, Daisy watched as her mother and aunt had a long visit that felt like forever to a little girl dying to know a secret. Finally, it was time to go. As her mother tied on her bonnet, she said, "Be a good girl, Daisy, and learn Aunt Jo's new game. It's very kind of her to teach you, and she'll even play with you herself—although I know she doesn't like it very much."

当她把最后一件要洗的衣服收起来，关上衣柜门时，琼有了一个主意。 “就是这样！”她大声说。 “这对黛西来说是一个完美的爱好。 现在，如果我能想出一个办法让它工作……” 在进城的路上，乔逗黛西说要给她一个大惊喜。 黛西求她姑姑告诉她她的计划，但乔不为所动。 琼去买东西的时候，黛西和她妈妈呆在后面。 但是当她姨妈回来的时候，她仍然对这个惊喜只字不提。 更糟糕的是，对于一个渴望知道秘密的小女孩来说，黛西眼睁睁地看着她的母亲和姨妈来了很长时间的拜访。 最后，该走了。 当她妈妈给她系上帽子时，她说：“做个好孩子，黛西，学学乔阿姨的新游戏。 她能教你真是太好了，她甚至会亲自和你一起玩——尽管我知道她不太喜欢这样。”

Aunt Jo and her mother laughed. Something rattled in the back of the carriage on the way home, and Daisy said, "Is that it? Is that the new game?" Jo answered, "It is indeed." "Why, it's making a lot of noise. What is it made from?" "Iron, tin, wood, brass, sugar, salt, coal, and a hundred other things." "How strange!" Daisy said. "What color is it?" "All sorts of colors," Aunt Jo replied. Daisy asked many questions, all of which her aunt answered without ever telling her the one piece of information she wanted above all others: the name of the game. When they got home, Daisy inspected every little bundle for a clue. Then Jo took the bundles upstairs, where Daisy heard hammering and all sorts of noise. Still, no one would tell her the secret. All of this made Daisy so excited she could barely contain herself.

乔阿姨和她妈妈笑了。 在回家的路上，马车后面有什么东西嘎嘎作响，黛西说：“是这个吗？” 这是新游戏吗？”乔回答说：“确实是。” “哎呀，它发出很大的噪音。 它是用什么做的？”“铁、锡、木头、黄铜、糖、盐、煤，还有上百种别的东西。” “多么奇怪!”黛西说。 “它是什么颜色的？”“各种颜色，”乔阿姨回答。 黛西问了许多问题，所有这些问题她的姨妈都回答了，却没有告诉她她最想知道的一条信息：游戏的名称。 他们回到家后，黛西检查了每一个小包裹，寻找线索。 然后琼把包裹拿上楼，黛西听到了敲门声和各种各样的声音。 然而，没有人愿意告诉她这个秘密。 这一切使黛西兴奋得几乎无法控制自己。

When she thought she simply could not wait a moment longer, Jo told her that the secret would be revealed after her lessons the next day. As hard as it was to sleep, Daisy found school almost impossible. The bell had barely chimed when she raced to Jo's parlor and shouted, "I've done all my lessons—please tell me what the surprise is now, please!" "It's all ready for you," Jo said as she tucked Teddy up under her arm. "Come on upstairs." Daisy threw open the nursery door and looked around. "I don't see anything." "But do you hear anything?" Jo asked. Daisy stood still until she heard a large crackle from behind a curtain drawn in front of big bay window. "Oh!" she exclaimed as she raced forward and pulled the curtains apart. "Oh my!" Aunt Jo and her helpers had set up a small cooking stove, which was all ready to prepare an entire meal for a whole cast of hungry dolls. One

当她觉得自己一刻也不能再等的时候，乔告诉她，这个秘密将在第二天的课上揭晓。 和睡觉一样难的是，黛西发现上学几乎是不可能的。 下课铃刚响，她就跑到乔的客厅里喊道：“我已经做完了所有的功课——现在请告诉我有什么惊喜吧！”“一切都为你准备好了，”琼边说边把特迪抱在腋下。 “上楼吧。”黛西猛地打开育儿室的门，环顾四周。 “我什么也没看见。”“但是你听到什么了吗？”乔问。 黛西一动不动地站着，直到她听到从大飘窗前拉下的窗帘后面传来一声巨响。 “噢！”她一边跑上前拉开窗帘一边叫道。 “哦,我的!”乔阿姨和她的助手们已经搭好了一个小炉灶，准备为一群饥饿的娃娃们准备一顿丰盛的饭菜。 一个

of the window panes had been replaced with tin, which sent the smoke outside in a way that was of no danger to anyone. A tea kettle steamed away on top of the stove and seemed almost as happy as Daisy herself.

有一块窗玻璃换成了锡，这样就可以把烟送到外面去，对任何人都没有危险。 一只茶壶在炉子上蒸着，看起来几乎和黛西自己一样快乐。