3 The Laurence Boy

CHAPTER 3 The Laurence Boy As Jo read, tears streamed down her slim cheeks. With her pet rat Scrabble nearby, she sat on an old couch in the attic. It was her favorite place in the house; she often went there to eat apples and lose herself in a book. Hearing Meg's call, she yelled, "I'm up here!" Meg was very excited because they had been invited to a New Year's Eve dance at Sallie Gardiner's house.

第三章劳伦斯男孩乔一边读，一边泪流满面。 她的宠物鼠Scrabble就在旁边，她坐在阁楼上的一张旧沙发上。 这是她在家里最喜欢的地方；她经常去那里吃苹果，全神贯注地看书。 听到梅格的呼唤，她喊道：“我在上面！”梅格非常兴奋，因为她们被邀请去萨莉·加德纳家参加新年前夜的舞会。

"Oh Jo! Marmee said we could go," she cried. "What should we wear?" "You know we'll wear our old poplin dresses. That's all we have." "If I only had a silk dress!" Meg sighed. "Mother says I have to wait until I'm eighteen— two whole years away." "Our poplin dresses are fine. Yours looks just like new. But mine has that burn and tear. What am I going to do?" Her sister advised, "You'll sit as much as you can with your back to the wall so no one will see the burn." "And what about my gloves? I spilled lemonade on them and they're ruined, too," Jo thought about the cost for new ones, and said, "I just won't wear any." "You must have gloves, or I won't go," cried Meg. She always wanted to be proper. They decided each would wear one of

“哦,乔!妈妈说我们可以去，”她叫道。 “我们应该穿什么？”“你知道我们要穿旧府绸衣服。 这就是我们的全部。”“要是我有一件丝绸衣服就好了！”梅格叹了口气。 “妈妈说我得等到十八岁——整整两年以后。” “我们的府绸连衣裙很好。 你的看起来就像新的一样。 但我的身上有灼伤和撕裂。 我该怎么办呢？”她姐姐建议说：“你尽量背靠着墙坐着，这样别人就看不见你身上的伤疤了。” “我的手套怎么办？” 我把柠檬水洒在它们上面，它们也毁了。”乔想着买新鞋的费用，说：“我不想穿了。” “你必须戴上手套，否则我就不去了，”麦格叫道。 她总是想规规矩矩。 他们决定每人戴一个

Meg's good gloves, and hold one of Jo's spoiled ones. Meg made Jo promise to behave like a lady, and never say things like "Christopher Columbus!" Jo agreed and sent an acceptance to the invitation as soon as she finished her book. On New Year's Eve, the two older March girls spent a long time getting ready for the party. After one mishap (Jo burned Meg's hair while trying to curl it), both girls were happy with the results. They looked smart and pretty, even if Meg's high-heeled shoes were too tight and Jo's hairpins stuck straight into her scalp. Their mother told them to have a good time. The girls arrived at Sallie's house and spent a few minutes inspecting themselves in Mrs. Gardiner's dressing-room mirror. Meg worried about her burned hair, and Jo worried about doing something wrong. They developed a system: Meg would lift her

麦格的好手套，再拿一只琼的坏手套。 麦格让琼保证举止要像个淑女，永远不说“克里斯托弗·哥伦布”之类的话。琼同意了，一写完书就发了一封接受邀请的信。 新年前夜，马奇家的两个大女孩花了很长时间为晚会做准备。 在一次不幸之后（乔卷头发时把梅格的头发烫伤了），两个女孩都对结果很满意。 尽管梅格的高跟鞋太紧，乔的发夹直插在头皮上，但她们看上去既漂亮又潇洒。 他们的妈妈告诉他们要玩得开心。 姑娘们来到莎莉家，在嘉丁纳太太梳妆间的镜子前端详了几分钟。 麦格担心她烫坏的头发，琼担心自己做错了什么。 他们开发了一个系统：梅格会把她举起来

eyebrows if Jo acted improperly. Once downstairs, Meg found a group of girls her age to talk to and was soon dancing, even though her new shoes hurt her feet. Jo desperately wanted to join a group of boys who were talking about skating, which she loved, but Meg's eyebrows went right up—so none of that! Jo tried not to feel so alone and out of place, but when a big redheaded boy came toward her, she disappeared into a curtained closet. Only she wasn't alone: she was face to face with the Laurence boy! "I'm sorry," Jo blurted out. "I didn't realize anyone was here." She started to back out of the closet when he laughed and said, "Don't mind me. Stay if you like." "Wouldn't I bother you?" "Not at all. I came here because I don't know many people and felt a little strange by myself."

如果乔行为不当，他就会皱起眉头。 一下楼，梅格就找到一群同龄的女孩聊天，尽管她的新鞋弄痛了她的脚，但她很快就开始跳舞了。 乔迫切地想加入一群男孩，他们正在谈论她喜欢的滑冰，但梅格的眉毛向上翘了起来——所以什么都没有！乔尽量不让自己感到孤独和格格不入，但当一个红头发的大个子男孩朝她走来时，她消失在一个挂着窗帘的壁橱里。 只不过她不是一个人：她正面对着劳伦斯家的男孩！“对不起，”琼脱口而出。 “我不知道有人在这里。” 当他笑着说：“别介意我。 你愿意就留下吧。”“我不会打扰你吗？”“一点也不。 我来这里是因为我不认识很多人，我觉得自己一个人有点奇怪。”

"So did I." Their conversation started awkwardly, for they were both shy. Then Jo thanked him for the Christmas dinner, and he explained it was his grandfather's idea.

“我也是。”他们的谈话开始时很尴尬，因为他们都很害羞。 然后琼感谢他的圣诞晚餐，他解释说这是他祖父的主意。

"How is your cat, Miss March?" "Very well, thank you, Mr. Laurence; but my name is just Jo, not Miss March." He smiled and replied, "Well then, I'm Laurie, not Mr. Laurence." "Laurie Laurence, what a funny name." "My name is Theodore, but I don't like it because the boys called me Dora. I made them say Laurie instead." "And I wish every one would call me Jo instead of Josephine." Soon, the two talked like old friends. Jo was excited to learn Laurie had been to school in France. He said that he wasn't that interested in going to college, and Jo said she'd love to live in Italy. They even managed to dance down a long hallway so that Jo could keep her burned dress hidden. They had a wonderful time until Meg called Jo into a side room. Meg sat on a couch

“你的猫怎么样了，马奇小姐？”“很好，谢谢你，劳伦斯先生。但我只是叫乔，不是马奇小姐。” 他笑着回答说：“那么，我是劳里，不是劳伦斯先生。” “劳里·劳伦斯，多有趣的名字啊。” “我叫西奥多，但我不喜欢这个名字，因为男孩子们都叫我朵拉。 我让他们说劳里。” “我希望大家都叫我乔，而不是约瑟芬。” 很快，两人就像老朋友一样交谈起来。 琼得知罗瑞曾在法国上过学，感到很兴奋。 他说他对上大学没那么感兴趣，乔说她想住在意大利。 他们甚至设法跳着舞走过一条长长的走廊，好让琼把烧掉的衣服藏起来。 他们玩得很开心，直到麦格把琼叫到旁边的房间。 梅格坐在沙发上