001 林德太太的惊讶

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Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived on the main road in Avonlea, a town on Prince Edward Island, off the coast of Canada

蕾切尔·林德太太住在埃文利的主干道旁，埃文利是加拿大爱德华王子岛上的一个小镇。

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Anybody who was coming to or leaving Avonlea had to use the main road and pass by the Lyndes' house

所有进出埃文利的人都得走这条主干道，经过林德家门前。

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Mrs. Lynde was always watching from her kitchen window

林德太太总是从厨房窗户往外看。

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Mrs. Lynde sat at her window one afternoon in early June

六月初的一个下午，林德太太坐在窗边。

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At half-past three, Matthew Cuthbert was driving his buggy down the road. He wore his best suit

三点半时，马修·卡斯伯特驾着马车沿路驶来，穿着他最好的西装。

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" Matthew should be planting turnip seeds now like Mr. Lynde," thought Mrs. Lynde

“马修这会儿应该像林德先生一样在种萝卜籽才对，”林德太太想。

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" But instead he is in his buggy and dressed in his best suit!

可他却坐在马车里，还穿着最好的西装！

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Where is Matthew Cuthbert going and why?"

马修·卡斯伯特要去哪儿？为什么去呢？”

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If it was any other man in Avonlea, Mrs. Lynde might be able to guess where he was going

要是埃文利别的男人，林德太太或许能猜出他去哪儿。

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But Matthew Cuthbert so rarely left home that it had to be something unusual

但马修·卡斯伯特极少出门，所以一定有什么不寻常的事。

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He was the shyest man alive and hated to go anywhere he might have to talk

他可是世上最害羞的人，最讨厌去任何可能不得不跟人说话的地方。

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" I'll just go to Green Gables and ask his sister, Marilla, where he's gone," she decided

"我还是直接去绿山墙，问问他妹妹玛丽拉他去哪儿了。"她打定主意。

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After hearing " Come in!" from Marilla, Mrs. Lynde stepped into the kitchen

听到玛丽拉说"进来！"，林德太太便迈步走进了厨房。

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She looked carefully at everything on the table

她仔细打量着桌上的每一样东西。

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There were three plates, so Marilla must have been expecting a visitor to come home with Matthew

有三个盘子，所以玛丽拉一定是等着马修带一位客人一起回来。

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But the dishes were everyday dishes and the cake was plain, so the expected visitor could not be anybody too important

但碟子是家常的，蛋糕也很普通，那么这位要来的客人想必不是什么太重要的人物。

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" Good evening, Rachel," Marilla greeted Mrs. Lynde

"晚上好，雷切尔。"玛丽拉招呼林德太太。

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" This is a lovely evening, isn't it? Won't you sit down? How are you?"

"今晚天气真好，对不对？你不坐下吗？你好吗？"

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Marilla was tall and thin. Even though she looked stern, she did have a sense of humor

玛丽拉又高又瘦。虽然她看起来有些严厉，但她确实也有幽默感。

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" We're well," said Mrs. Lynde." Though I thought you weren't well when I saw Matthew in the buggy today."

"我们都很好，"林德太太说，"不过，我今天看到马修驾着马车出门，还以为你们家可能不大好呢。"

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Marilla had expected Mrs. Lynde to visit because Mrs. Lynde was a curious person

玛丽拉料到林德太太会来，因为林德太太是个充满好奇心的人。

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" Matthew went to Bright River," Marilla said

“马修去布莱特河了。”玛丽拉说。

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" We're getting a little boy from an orphanage, and he's coming on the train tonight."

“我们要从孤儿院领养个小男孩，他今晚坐火车到。”

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If Marilla had said that Matthew had gone to meet a kangaroo from Australia, Mrs. Lynde could not be more surprised

即使玛丽拉说马修是去接一只来自澳大利亚的袋鼠，林德太太也不会比这更吃惊了。

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She actually stopped talking for five seconds

她居然停下来整整五秒钟没说话。

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" Why on earth would you do that?" she asked disapprovingly

“你们到底为什么要这么做？”她不以为然地问道。

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" We've been thinking about it for some time — all winter, in fact," replied Marilla

“这事儿我们考虑了一段时间了——其实，想了一整个冬天。”玛丽拉回答。

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" Matthew is growing older. He's sixty, and his heart is not so good

“马修年纪越来越大了。他六十岁了，心脏也不太好。

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It's difficult to hire someone to do farm work."

很难雇到人干农活。”

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Mrs. Lynde always said what she thought

林德太太向来心里怎么想，嘴上就怎么说。

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In this case it was," Well, Marilla, I think you're doing a very foolish thing

这次她说的是：“唉，玛丽拉，我觉得你在做一件非常愚蠢的事。

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You're bringing a strange child into your house and you don't know a thing about him!

你要把一个陌生的孩子带回家，而你对他一无所知！

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Last week in the newspaper

上周的报纸上，

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it said that a family took an orphan boy and he set fire to the house at night — on purpose, Marilla — and nearly burnt them in their beds."

说有一户人家收养了一个孤儿男孩，结果他半夜故意放火烧了房子——故意的，玛丽拉——差点把他们烧死在床上。”

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Marilla was neither offended nor alarmed

玛丽拉既没有生气，也没有惊慌。

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Meanwhile Matthew Cuthbert and the horse jogged the ten kilometers to the station

与此同时，马修·卡斯伯特赶着马车，一路慢跑十公里到了火车站。

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It was a pretty road, and the air was sweet with the smell of apple and plum blossoms

那是一条很美的小路，空气里弥漫着苹果花和李子花的甜香。

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When Matthew arrived, there was no train, and he thought he was early

马修到达的时候，火车还没到，他以为自己来早了。

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The long platform was almost deserted, except for a girl sitting at the end

长长的站台上几乎空无一人，只有尽头坐着一个女孩。

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Matthew walked quickly past her to the station office

马修快步从她身边走过，去了站长办公室。

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" The five-thirty train has gone, but there was a passenger for you, a little girl," said the stationmaster

“五点半的车已经开走了，不过，有一位乘客是找您的，一个小女孩，”站长说。

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" I'm not expecting a girl," said Matthew, surprised." It's a boy I've come for."

“我没在等一个女孩啊，”马修惊讶地说，“我是来接一个男孩的。”

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The stationmaster raised his eyebrows." Well, I guess there's some mistake

站长扬起了眉毛。“嗯，我猜是哪里弄错了。

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Mrs. Spencer came off the train with that girl

斯宾塞太太是带着那个女孩下的火车。

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She said you and your sister, Marilla, were adopting the girl from an orphanage."

她说您和您妹妹玛丽拉，要领养这个孤儿院的女孩。”

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The girl watched Matthew. She was eleven years old and dressed in a very old and very ugly dress

女孩注视着马修。她十一岁，穿着一件非常破旧、非常难看的裙子。

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On her head was a worn-out, brown hat

头上戴着一顶破旧的棕色帽子。

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Under the hat were two braids of very thick, very red hair

帽子下面是两条辫子，扎着非常浓密、非常红的头发。

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Her face was small, white, and thin, and she had many freckles

她的脸小而苍白，而且很瘦，还长着许多雀斑。

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" I suppose you are Mr. Matthew Cuthbert of Green Gables?" she said in a clear, sweet voice

“我想您就是绿山墙的马修·卡斯伯特先生吧？”她用一种清晰甜美的声音说道。

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She held out her hand." I'm very glad to see you

她伸出手来。"真高兴见到您。

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I was afraid you weren't coming for me

我还担心您不来接我了呢。

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I had decided if you didn't come for me, I'd climb up that big wild cherry tree

我都打定主意了，要是您不来，我就爬上那棵大野樱桃树。

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It would be lovely to sleep in a wild cherry tree under the moon, don't you think?"

在月光下睡在野樱桃树上，一定很美妙，您不觉得吗？"

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Matthew shook the little hand awkwardly and wondered what to say

马修笨拙地握了握那只小手，不知该说什么好。

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Matthew could not say there was a mistake; he would take her home and let Marilla explain everything

马修没法说这是个误会；他打算先带她回家，让玛丽拉来解释这一切。

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" I'm sorry I was late," he said shyly

"抱歉我来晚了，"他腼腆地说。

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" Come along. The horse is over in the yard."

"来吧。马停在那边院子里。"

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" Oh, I'm very glad you came," the girl said," even if it would be nice to sleep in a cherry tree

"哦，您能来我真高兴，"女孩说，"虽说睡在樱桃树上可能也不错。

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It's wonderful I'm going to live with you and belong to you

我能跟您一起生活，成为您家的一份子，这太棒了。

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I've never belonged to anybody — not really."

我还从来没真正属于过谁呢。"

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The girl kept talking as they drove down the main road

他们驾着马车沿大路前行，女孩一直在说话。

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" Isn't it beautiful?" she said." I've always heard that Prince Edward Island is the prettiest place in the world

"这儿真美，不是吗？"她说。"我一直听说爱德华王子岛是世界上最漂亮的地方。

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I used to imagine living here, but I never expected I actually would

我以前总想象着能住在这里，可我从没指望过真能如愿。

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Am I talking too much?" she went on." People always tell me I do

我是不是话太多了？"她接着说。"别人总这么说我。

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If you say so, I'll stop. I can stop, though it is difficult."

要是您也这么说，我就不说了。我能停下来的，虽然挺难的。"

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Surprisingly, Matthew was enjoying himself. He'd never expected to enjoy the company of a young girl

马修竟意外地觉得很愉快。他从没想过自己会享受一个小姑娘的陪伴。

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He said shyly," Oh, you can talk as much as you like. I don't mind."

他腼腆地说："哦，你想说多少就说多少。我不介意的。"

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" I'm so glad. You and I will get along just fine. I feel nearly perfectly happy

"真开心。您和我一定能相处得很好。我觉得自己差不多要十全十美地快活了。

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I can't feel perfectly happy because — well, what color is this?" The girl held up one of her braids

我没法十全十美地快活，因为——嗯，这是什么颜色？"女孩拎起一根辫子问道。

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" It's red, isn't it?" he said

"是红色的，对吧？"他说。

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" Yes, it's red," she said, sighing." Now you see why I can't be perfectly happy

"没错，是红色的，"她叹了口气说。"这下您明白我为什么没法十全十美地快活了吧。

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Nobody with red hair can be perfectly happy."

长着红头发的人，是谁也没法十全十美地快活的。"

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" We're near home now," Matthew said uneasily

"我们快到家了，"马修不安地说。

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As they approached Green Gables, he did not think about Marilla or himself or the mistake

当他们接近绿山墙时，他心里想的不是玛丽拉，不是自己，也不是那个误会。

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He thought only about the child's disappointment when she discovered the truth

他满心只想着，这孩子一旦发现真相，该会有多么失望。