Chapter 3

CHAPTER III Marilla Cuthbert is Surprised Marilla came briskly forward as Matthew opened the door. But when her eyes fell of the odd little figure in the stiff, ugly dress, with the long braids of red hair and the eager, luminous eyes, she stopped short in amazement. "Matthew Cuthbert, who's that?" she ejaculated. "Where is the boy?" "There wasn't any boy," said Matthew wretchedly. "There was only HER." He nodded at the child, remembering that he had never even asked her name. "No boy! But there MUST have been a boy," insisted Marilla. "We sent word to Mrs. Spencer to bring a boy." "Well, she didn't. She brought HER. I asked the stationmaster. And I had to bring her home.

第三章 玛丽拉·卡思伯特大吃一惊 马修打开房门后，玛丽拉快步迎了上来。 可当她的目光落到这个穿着硬邦邦丑裙子、留着长长红辫子、眼睛热切明亮的古怪小姑娘身上时，她惊愕地猛地停住了脚。 “马修·卡思伯特，这是谁呀？”她脱口问道。 “我们要的男孩哪儿去了？” “根本就没有男孩，”马修闷闷不乐地说。 “只有她一个。” 他朝孩子点了点头，才想起自己压根没问过她的名字。 “怎么会没有男孩！ “我们明明说好了要个男孩的，”玛丽拉坚持说。 “我们捎话给斯宾塞太太，让她带个男孩过来。” “唉，她没带男孩。 她把她带来了。 我问过火车站站长了。 我只能把她带回家。

She couldn't be left there, no matter where the mistake had come in." "Well, this is a pretty piece of business!" ejaculated Marilla. During this dialogue the child had remained silent, her eyes roving from one to the other, all the animation fading out of her face. Suddenly she seemed to grasp the full meaning of what had been said. Dropping her precious carpet-bag she sprang forward a step and clasped her hands. "You don't want me!" she cried. "You don't want me because I'm not a boy! I might have expected it. Nobody ever did want me. I might have known it was all too beautiful to last. I might have known nobody really did want me. Oh, what shall I do? I'm going to burst into tears!" Burst into tears she did. Sitting down on a chair by the table, flinging her arms out upon it, and burying her face in them, she proceeded to cry stormily. Marilla and Matthew looked at each other deprecatingly across the stove. Neither of them knew what to say or do. Finally Marilla stepped lamely into the breach. "Well, well, there's no need to cry so about it."

总不能把她扔在那儿，不管到底是哪儿出了错。” “哼，这可真是闹了个天大的笑话！” 玛丽拉脱口喊道。 这段对话的时候，孩子一直没说话，眼睛来回瞟着两人，脸上的神采一点点消失了。 突然，她好像彻底听懂了这番话的意思。 她放下心爱的提包，往前跨了一步，紧紧攥起了双手。 “你们不想要我！” 她哭喊道。 “你们不想要我，就因为我不是男孩！ 我早就该料到的。 从来就没有人想要我。 我早就该想到，这份美好太不真实，不可能长久。 我早就该想到，根本没人真的想要我。 哦，我该怎么办啊？ 我要大哭一场了！” 她说哭就真的哭了起来。 她坐在桌边的椅子上，胳膊往桌上一伸，把脸埋进去，号啕大哭起来。 玛丽拉和马修隔着炉子，局促不安地对视着。 他俩谁都不知道该说什么、该做什么。 最后玛丽拉笨拙地站出来打圆场。 “好啦好啦，没必要这么哭呀。”

"Yes, there IS need!" The child raised her head quickly, revealing a tear-stained face and trembling lips. "YOU would cry, too, if you were an orphan and had come to a place you thought was going to be home and found that they didn't want you because you weren't a boy. Oh, this is the most TRAGICAL thing that ever happened to me!" Something like a reluctant smile, rather rusty from long disuse, mellowed Marilla's grim expression. "Well, don't cry any more. We're not going to turn you outof-doors to-night. You'll have to stay here until we investigate this affair. What's your name?" The child hesitated for a moment. "Will you please call me Cordelia?" she said eagerly. "CALL you Cordelia? Is that your name?" "No-o-o, it's not exactly my name, but I would love to be called Cordelia. It's such a perfectly elegant name." "I don't know what on earth you mean. If Cordelia isn't your name, what is?"

“当然有必要！” 孩子猛地抬起头，露出一张挂满泪痕的脸，嘴唇抖个不停。 “换做你是孤儿，满心以为来到这里就能有家，结果就因为你不是男孩，他们不想要你，你也会哭的。 唉，这可是我遇上过的最悲惨的事了！” 玛丽拉僵硬的表情柔和下来，露出一抹许久不曾有过、有些生硬的微笑。 “好了，别哭了。 我们今晚不会把你赶出去的。 你得先留在这儿，等我们把这件事查清楚。 你叫什么名字？” 孩子犹豫了一小会儿。 “请问你可以叫我科迪莉亚吗？” 她热切地说。 “叫你科迪莉亚？ 这就是你的名字吗？” “不——不是啦，准确说这不是我的名字，但我特别喜欢你们叫我科迪莉亚。 这名字听着多优雅呀。” “我完全听不懂你在说什么。 既然科迪莉亚不是你的名字，那你到底叫什么？”

"Anne Shirley," reluctantly faltered forth the owner of that name, "but, oh, please do call me Cordelia. It can't matter much to you what you call me if I'm only going to be here a little while, can it? And Anne is such an unromantic name." "Unromantic fiddlesticks!" said the unsympathetic Marilla. "Anne is a real good plain sensible name. You've no need to be ashamed of it." "Oh, I'm not ashamed of it," explained Anne, "only I like Cordelia better. I've always imagined that my name was Cordelia-at least, I always have of late years. When I was young I used to imagine it was Geraldine, but I like Cordelia better now. But if you call me Anne please call me Anne spelled with an E." "What difference does it make how it's spelled?" asked Marilla with another rusty smile as she picked up the teapot. "Oh, it makes SUCH a difference. It LOOKS so much nicer. When you hear a name pronounced can't you always see it in your mind, just as if it was printed out? I can; and A-n-n looks dreadful, but A-n-n-e looks so much more distinguished.

“我叫安妮·雪莉，”安妮不情愿地小声说，“哦，拜托你们叫我科迪莉亚好不好。 反正我也只会在这儿待一小会儿，你们叫我什么对你们来说也没大碍，对不对？ 而且安妮这个名字一点都不浪漫。” “还不浪漫呢，胡说八道！”不懂浪漫的玛丽拉说。 “安妮是个实实在在、朴素得体的好名字。 你根本没必要觉得难为情。” “哦，我不是难为情，”安妮解释说，“我只是更喜欢科迪莉亚罢了。 我一直都把自己想成科迪莉亚——至少这几年我一直这么想。 我小时候还总把自己想成杰拉尔丁呢，不过我现在更喜欢科迪莉亚了。 不过要是你们叫我安妮，能不能拼写的时候末尾加个e呀？” “拼写不一样有什么区别吗？” 玛丽拉又露出一抹久违的笑，边问边拿起了茶壶。 “哦，区别可大了。 这样好看太多了。 你听到一个名字的时候，难道脑子里不会浮现出它印出来的样子吗？ 我会的；A-n-n看起来糟糕透了，可A-n-n-e看起来就体面多了。”

If you'll only call me Anne spelled with an E I shall try to reconcile myself to not being called Cordelia." "Very well, then, Anne spelled with an E, can you tell us how this mistake came to be made? We sent word to Mrs. Spencer to bring us a boy. Were there no boys at the asylum?" "Oh, yes, there was an abundance of them. But Mrs. Spencer said DISTINCTLY that you wanted a girl about eleven years old. And the matron said she thought I would do. You don't know how delighted I was. I couldn't sleep all last night for joy. Oh," she added reproachfully, turning to Matthew, "why didn't you tell me at the station that you didn't want me and leave me there? If I hadn't seen the White Way of Delight and the Lake of Shining Waters it wouldn't be so hard." "What on earth does she mean?" demanded Marilla, staring at Matthew. "She-she's just referring to some conversation we had on the road," said Matthew hastily. "I'm going out to put the mare in, Marilla. Have tea ready when I come back."

只要你叫我的时候把我的名字安妮拼写带上一个E，我就能接受不叫我考狄莉亚了。 那好吧，拼写带E的安妮，你能告诉我们这个差错是怎么发生的吗？ 我们捎信给斯宾塞太太，让她给我们带一个男孩儿来。 救济院里没有男孩儿了吗？ 噢，有啊，那里多的是男孩儿。 但是斯宾塞太太清楚地记得你们想要一个十一岁左右的女孩儿。 然后护士长说她觉得我合适。 你不知道我那时候有多开心。 昨天晚上我太开心了，一整夜都没睡着。 噢，”她转向马修，责备地补充道，“你为什么不在车站就告诉我你不想要我，把我留在那儿呢？ 要是我没见过欢乐白道和闪光湖，我也不会这么难过了。 “她到底说的是什么呀？”玛丽拉盯着马修，问道。 “她——她就是说我们路上聊天的时候说起的一些事儿，”马修匆忙地说。 “我出去把母马牵进马厩，玛丽拉。 等我回来的时候把茶准备好。

"Did Mrs. Spencer bring anybody over besides you?" continued Marilla when Matthew had gone out. "She brought Lily Jones for herself. Lily is only five years old and she is very beautiful and had nut-brown hair. If I was very beautiful and had nut-brown hair would you keep me?" "No. We want a boy to help Matthew on the farm. A girl would be of no use to us. Take off your hat. I'll lay it and your bag on the hall table." Anne took off her hat meekly. Matthew came back presently and they sat down to supper. But Anne could not eat. In vain she nibbled at the bread and butter and pecked at the crab-apple preserve out of the little scalloped glass dish by her plate. She did not really make any headway at all. "You're not eating anything," said Marilla sharply, eying her as if it were a serious shortcoming. Anne sighed. "I can't. I'm in the depths of despair. Can you eat when you are in the depths of despair?" "I've never been in the depths of despair, so I can't say," responded Marilla.

“除了你之外，斯宾塞太太还带了别人来吗？”马修走出去之后，玛丽拉继续问道。 她给自己带了莉莉·琼斯。 莉莉才五岁，长得特别漂亮，还有一头坚果棕色的头发。 要是我也长得漂亮，也有一头坚果棕色头发，你们会留下我吗？ 不会。 我们需要一个男孩儿帮马修干农活。 女孩儿对我们没用。 把你的帽子摘下来。 我把帽子和你的包放到门厅桌子上。 安妮温顺地摘下了帽子。 没过多久马修就回来了，他们坐下准备吃晚饭。 可是安妮一口都吃不下。 她小口啃着黄油面包，又碰了碰盘子边波浪纹小玻璃盘里的酸苹果酱，一点都吃不下去。 她其实什么都没吃进去。 “你什么都不吃啊，”玛丽拉严厉地说，盯着安妮就好像这是个严重的缺点。 安妮叹了口气。 “我吃不下。 我现在整个人都陷在绝望的深渊里。 你陷在绝望深渊的时候，吃得下东西吗？ “我从来没陷过绝望深渊，所以我说不好，”玛丽拉回答道。