Chapter 9

CHAPTER IX Mrs. Rachel Lynde Is Properly Horrified Anne had been a fortnight at Green Gables before Mrs. Lynde arrived to inspect her. Mrs. Rachel, to do her justice, was not to blame for this. A severe and unseasonable attack of grippe had confined that good lady to her house ever since the occasion of her last visit to Green Gables. Mrs. Rachel was not often sick and had a well-defined contempt for people who were; but grippe, she asserted, was like no other illness on earth and could only be interpreted as one of the special visitations of Providence. As soon as her doctor allowed her to put her foot out-of-doors she hurried up to Green Gables, bursting with curiosity to see Matthew and Marilla's orphan, concerning whom all sorts of stories and suppositions had gone abroad in Avonlea. Anne had made good use of every waking moment of that fortnight.

第九章 雷切尔·林德太太大惊失色 安妮到绿山墙已经两个星期，林德太太才过来查看她。 平心而论，这件事真不能怪雷切尔太太。 自从上次到访绿山墙后，这位好心的太太就染上了严重的反常流感，一直困在家里没法出门。 雷切尔太太很少生病，她十分瞧不起总生病的人； 可她却说这场流感和世上任何疾病都不同，只能算作上天特意降下的造访。 医生刚允许她出门，她就急匆匆赶往绿山墙，满心好奇想要见见马修和玛丽拉收养的孤儿，阿冯利早就布满了关于这个孩子的种种传闻和猜测。 这两个星期里，安妮醒着的每一分钟都充分利用起来了。

Already she was acquainted with every tree and shrub about the place. She had discovered that a lane opened out below the apple orchard and ran up through a belt of woodland; and she had explored it to its furthest end in all its delicious vagaries of brook and bridge, fir coppice and wild cherry arch, corners thick with fern, and branching byways of maple and mountain ash. She had made friends with the spring down in the hollow-that wonderful deep, clear icy-cold spring; it was set about with smooth red sandstones and rimmed in by great palm-like clumps of water fern; and beyond it was a log bridge over the brook. That bridge led Anne's dancing feet up over a wooded hill beyond, where perpetual twilight reigned under the straight, thick-growing firs and spruces; the only flowers there were myriads of delicate "June bells," those shyest and sweetest of woodland blooms, and a few pale, aerial starflowers, like the spirits of last year's blossoms. Gossamers glimmered like threads of silver among the trees and the fir boughs and tassels seemed to utter friendly speech.

她早就认识了这附近的每一棵树每一丛灌木。 她发现苹果园下方分出一条小路，穿过一片林地向上延伸； 她一直走到小路的尽头，把沿途妙趣横生的小溪、石桥、冷杉丛、野樱桃拱门、长满蕨类的角落，还有枫树花楸分出的岔路都探索了个遍。 她还和山谷下的那眼泉水做了朋友——那是一眼奇妙的泉水，又深又清，冰凉怡人； 泉边铺着光滑的红砂岩，四周长满了棕榈状的大丛水蕨； 水蕨的另一边，小溪上架着一座木桥。 走过木桥，安妮蹦蹦跳跳爬上了对面山林，那里笔直茂密的冷杉和云杉下，终年笼罩着朦胧的暮色； 那里只有无数娇弱的“六月铃”——这是森林里最害羞最香甜的野花，还有几朵淡雅轻盈的星花，像去年花朵遗留的精灵。 游丝在树林间闪着银线般的微光，冷杉的枝桠和花穗仿佛在说着亲切的话儿。

All these raptured voyages of exploration were made in the odd half hours which she was allowed for play, and Anne talked Matthew and Marilla half-deaf over her discoveries. Not that Matthew complained, to be sure; he listened to it all with a wordless smile of enjoyment on his face; Marilla permitted the "chatter" until she found herself becoming too interested in it, whereupon she always promptly quenched Anne by a curt command to hold her tongue. Anne was out in the orchard when Mrs. Rachel came, wandering at her own sweet will through the lush, tremulous grasses splashed with ruddy evening sunshine; so that good lady had an excellent chance to talk her illness fully over, describing every ache and pulse beat with such evident enjoyment that Marilla thought even grippe must bring its compensations. When details were exhausted Mrs. Rachel introduced the real reason of her call. "I've been hearing some surprising things about you and Matthew." "I don't suppose you are any more surprised than I am myself," said Marilla. "I'm getting over

这些开心的探险都是安妮在玩耍空档完成的，安妮讲她的新发现，讲得马修和玛丽拉耳朵都快聋了。 不过说真的，马修可没抱怨； 他一直默默听着，脸上带着享受的微笑； 玛丽拉一开始允许安妮“叽叽喳喳”，直到发现自己都听得入迷了，就会立刻打断安妮，不客气地叫她闭嘴。 雷切尔太太来的时候，安妮正在果园里，她自由自在漫步在茂密摇曳的青草间，黄昏的霞光给草地镀上了一层红光； 所以这位好心的太太刚好能好好讲讲自己生病的经历，兴致勃勃地描述每一次疼痛，玛丽拉都觉得，哪怕得流感也有这点好处呢。 等病情细节讲完，雷切尔太太才说出她此行真正的目的。 “我最近听到好多关于你和马修的惊人事儿。” “我想，我不比你更惊讶，”玛丽拉说。 我正慢慢走出

my surprise now." "It was too bad there was such a mistake," said Mrs. Rachel sympathetically. "Couldn't you have sent her back?" "I suppose we could, but we decided not to. Matthew took a fancy to her. And I must say I like her myself-although I admit she has her faults. The house seems a different place already. She's a real bright little thing." Marilla said more than she had intended to say when she began, for she read disapproval in Mrs. Rachel's expression. "It's a great responsibility you've taken on yourself," said that lady gloomily, "especially when you've never had any experience with children. You don't know much about her or her real disposition, I suppose, and there's no guessing how a child like that will turn out. But I don't want to discourage you I'm sure, Marilla." "I'm not feeling discouraged," was Marilla's dry response. "when I make up my mind to do a thing it stays made up.

这份惊讶了。” “弄出这样的误会，实在太糟糕了，”雷切尔太太同情地说。 “你们没能把她送回去吗？” “我想我们本来可以，但我们决定不送了。 马修喜欢上她了。 而且我得说我自己也喜欢她——虽然我承认她有缺点。 这房子现在都已经变了个样儿了。 她真是个活泼聪明的小家伙。” 玛丽拉开口的时候没打算说这么多，她从雷切尔太太的表情里看出了不认同。 “你们这是给自己扛下了天大的责任，”这位太太闷闷地说，“尤其是你们从来没有带孩子的经验。 你应该不了解她，也不知道她真正的脾气，谁也猜不到这样的孩子长大后会是什么样子。 不过我绝对不是想泼你冷水，玛丽拉。” “我一点都不泄气，”玛丽拉淡淡地回答。 “我一旦下定决心做一件事，就绝不会改主意。

I suppose you'd like to see Anne. I'll call her in." Anne came running in presently, her face sparkling with the delight of her orchard rovings; but, abashed at finding the delight herself in the unexpected presence of a stranger, she halted confusedly inside the door. She certainly was an odd-looking little creature in the short tight wincey dress she had worn from the asylum, below which her thin legs seemed ungracefully long. Her freckles were more numerous and obtrusive than ever; the wind had ruffled her hatless hair into over-brilliant disorder; it had never looked redder than at that moment. "Well, they didn't pick you for your looks, that's sure and certain," was Mrs. Rachel Lynde's emphatic comment. Mrs. Rachel was one of those delightful and popular people who pride themselves on speaking their mind without fear or favor. "She's terrible skinny and homely, Marilla. Come here, child, and let me have a look at you. Lawful heart, did any one ever see such freckles? And hair as red as carrots! Come here, child, I say."

我猜你肯定想见见安妮。 我这就叫她进来。” 安妮没过多久就跑了进来，脸蛋因为在果园里疯玩闪着快乐的光； 可看到屋里突然冒出个陌生人，她一下子害羞起来，慌慌张张停在了门口。 她穿著从孤儿院带来的短紧粗布裙，模样真的很古怪，短裙下细腿长的很不协调。 她的雀斑比往常更多更显眼了； 风把她没戴帽子的头发吹得乱蓬蓬一团，红得格外扎眼； 她的头发从来没像此刻这么红过。 “哼，说真的，他们接你过来肯定不是看中你的长相，”雷切尔·林德太太斩钉截铁地说。 雷切尔太太就是那种讨喜又受欢迎的人，还总为自己敢说直话、无所顾忌骄傲。 “这孩子瘦得可怜，也不好看，玛丽拉。 过来呀孩子，让我好好看看你。 我的天呐，谁见过这么多雀斑啊？ 头发红得就跟胡萝卜一样！ 快过来呀，我说孩子。”

Anne "came there," but not exactly as Mrs. Rachel expected. With one bound she crossed the kitchen floor and stood before Mrs. Rachel, her face scarlet with anger, her lips quivering, and her whole slender form trembling from head to foot. "I hate you," she cried in a choked voice, stamping her foot on the floor. "I hate you-I hate you-I hate you-" a louder stamp with each assertion of hatred. "How dare you call me skinny and ugly? How dare you say I'm freckled and redheaded? You are a rude, impolite, unfeeling woman!" "Anne!" exclaimed Marilla in consternation. But Anne continued to face Mrs. Rachel undauntedly, head up, eyes blazing, hands clenched, passionate indignation exhaling from her like an atmosphere. "How dare you say such things about me?" she repeated vehemently. "How would you like to have such things said about you? How would you like to be told that you are fat and clumsy and probably hadn't a spark of imagination in you? I don't care if I do hurt your feelings by saying so! I hope I hurt them. You have hurt mine worse than they were ever hurt before even by Mrs.

安妮“听话走了过来”，可样子完全出乎雷切尔太太的预料。 她一步蹦过厨房，站到雷切尔太太面前，脸气得通红，嘴唇哆嗦，整个人从头到脚都在发抖。 “我讨厌你，”她憋着气大喊，一边狠狠往地上跺脚。 “我讨厌你——我讨厌你——我讨厌你——”每说一句讨厌，脚就跺得更重一分。 你怎么敢说我又瘦又丑？ 你怎么敢说我长雀斑、红头发？ 你这个粗鲁、无礼、没心肝的女人！” “安妮！”玛丽拉惊慌地叫出声。 可安妮依旧无所畏惧地对着雷切尔太太，她昂着头，眼睛冒火，攥紧拳头，浑身上下都透着愤怒，整个人像裹着一团怒气。 “你怎么敢这么说我？”她激动地又重复了一遍。 换作别人这么说你，你会开心吗？ 要是别人说你又胖又笨，连半点儿想象力都没有，你受得了吗？ 我才不在乎说这些会不会伤你的心！ 我就希望能伤到你。 你伤透了我的心，从前谁都没把我伤得这么重，哪怕是那位夫人。