1 Playing Pilgrims

Little Women Retold from the Louisa May Alcott original

改编自路易莎·梅·奥尔科特原著的《小妇人》

CHAPTER 1 Playing Pilgrims While the snow fell quietly outside their New England home, the four March sisters stayed warm by the fire in their cozy living room. "Christmas won't be the same without presents," grumbled fifteen-year-old Jo, lying on the rug. Her older sister Meg sighed as she looked at her old dress. "It's not much fun being

在新英格兰的家外面，雪静静地下着，马奇家的四姐妹在舒适的客厅里取暖。 “没有礼物的圣诞节就不一样了，”15岁的乔躺在地毯上抱怨道。 她的姐姐梅格看着自己的旧衣服，叹了口气。 “这没什么意思

poor." "It's not fair that some girls have lots of pretty things, and other girls don't have any at all," sniffed Amy, who at twelve was the youngest. "But we've got a mother and a father who love us very much, and we've always got each other," thirteen-year-old Beth said happily from her corner. Her words seemed to cheer up the others. "Father's been gone for a long time, and we don't know when he'll be coming back," said Jo. Meg insisted, "This is going to be a hard winter for everyone. We shouldn't be buying presents while so many men are suffering during the war. We should make sacrifices!" But even as she said these kind words, Meg still longed for pretty things at Christmas. Jo said, "We've only got a dollar each and

可怜的。”“有些女孩有很多漂亮的东西，而有些女孩什么漂亮的东西都没有，这是不公平的，”艾美嗤之以鼻，她12岁是最小的。 “但是我们有非常爱我们的爸爸妈妈，我们一直都在一起，”13岁的贝丝在她的角落里高兴地说。 她的话似乎使其他人高兴起来。 “爸爸离开很长时间了，我们不知道他什么时候回来，”琼说。 梅格坚持说：“对每个人来说，这将是一个艰难的冬天。 当这么多人在战争中受苦受难时，我们不应该买礼物。 我们应该做出牺牲！”尽管梅格说着这些好话，她还是渴望在圣诞节收到漂亮的礼物。 乔说：“我们每人只有一美元

that's not going to help the army much." She was the bookworm in the family and wanted to buy anew novel. Beth longed for music, and Amy dreamed of coloring pencils to help her draw. Jo continued, "Mother wouldn't mind if we spent our dollars on ourselves and had a little fun. We work hard." The chimes announced that it was six o'clock. Beth put a pair of her mother's slippers near the fire to warm. Jo noticed how old and worn they were. She said, "We should get Marmee a new pair!" When Beth said she was going to buy the slippers with her dollar, Jo insisted she should be the one to buy them because their father had told her to take special care of their mother while he was away. Meg thought that she should since she was the oldest.

这对军队没有多大帮助。” 她是家里的书虫，想买本新小说。 贝丝渴望音乐，艾米梦想着用彩色铅笔来帮助她画画。 乔接着说：“妈妈不会介意我们把钱花在自己身上，找点乐子。 我们努力工作。”报时报时是六点钟。 白丝把妈妈的一双拖鞋放在火炉旁取暖。 琼注意到它们又旧又破。 她说：“我们应该给妈妈买一双新的！”当贝思说她要用她的钱去买拖鞋时，琼坚持要由她来买，因为父亲要她在他不在的时候特别照顾母亲。 梅格认为她应该这么做，因为她是老大。

Beth said, "I've got an idea! Let's all buy something for Marmee, and not for ourselves." All the girls thought this was a wonderful idea. Meg said she would buy Marmee some gloves. Jo exclaimed, "Satin slippers! The best I can get." Beth chimed in, "Lovely hemmed handkerchiefs." Amy thought for a minute as she pulled one of her blond curls. "I'll get Marmee a little bottle of perfume. This way I'll still have something for myself." Jo was excited. "I can't wait to surprise her!" She turned to her sisters. "We'll go shopping tomorrow. And remember,we've got to rehearse our Christmas play." Jo started marching around the living room. In a few minutes, the girls were laughing so hard

贝丝说：“我有个主意！咱们都给妈咪买点儿东西吧，别给自己买。” 所有的女孩都认为这是个好主意。 麦格说她要给妈妈买几副手套。 乔叫道：“缎子拖鞋！这是我能得到的最好的。” 贝思插嘴说：“漂亮的镶边手帕。” 艾米想了一会儿，一边拉着一头金发。 “我去给妈妈买一小瓶香水。 这样我自己还能有东西吃。” 琼很兴奋。“我等不及要给她一个惊喜了！”她转向姐姐们。 “我们明天去购物。 记住，我们还要排练圣诞剧呢。” 琼开始在客厅里走来走去。 几分钟后，女孩们笑得很开心

they almost didn't hear their mother come in from the cold. "Glad to see you girls are having so much fun, "Marmee said. "Did you all have a good day?" As Marmee took off her wet clothes, put on her warm slippers, and sat down in front of the fire, the girls flew into action. Jo stoked the fire, Meg got dinner ready, Beth helped Meg, and Amy told everyone what to do and how to do it. When all five of them were sitting down at the dining-room table, Marmee said, "I've got a treat for you girls after supper." The smiles quickly spread. Jo threw her napkin in the air, crying, "It's a letter. Three cheers for Father!" Marmee nodded. "Yes, it's a letter from your father. He's well and thinks the winter won't actually be that bad. He sends his love

他们几乎没听见妈妈从寒冷中进来。 “很高兴看到你们女孩子玩得这么开心，”妈妈说。 “你们今天都过得好吗？”妈妈脱下湿衣服，穿上暖和的拖鞋，坐在火炉前，姑娘们立刻行动起来。 琼生火，麦格准备晚餐，白丝帮助麦格，艾美告诉每个人该做什么和怎么做。 当她们五个人都在餐桌旁坐下时，妈妈说：“晚饭后我有东西招待你们。” 笑容很快就传开了。 琼把餐巾扔到空中，哭着说：“是一封信。 为爸爸欢呼三声！”妈咪点了点头。 “是的，这是你父亲的一封信。 他很好，认为冬天不会那么糟糕。 他向我问好