019 改良协会

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Mrs. Lynde, an old friend of Marilla's, had come to Green Gables to visit and discuss the latest town " news," though most people called it gossip

林德太太是玛丽拉的老朋友，她来绿山墙做客，并讨论镇上最新的“新闻”——虽然大多数人管那叫闲话。

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" I've heard that you started an improvement society, Anne. Is it true?" asked Mrs. Lynde

“我听说你创办了一个改进会，安妮。是真的吗？”林德太太问道。

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" Not really," said Anne, flushing." I was just talking it over with some friends. Many towns have improvement societies now."

“也不完全是，”安妮脸一红，说道，“我只是和一些朋友在商量这事儿。现在很多镇子都有改进会了。”

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" It's not a good idea," said Mrs. Lynde." People don't like being improved, Anne."

“这可不是个好主意，”林德太太说，“没人喜欢被改进，安妮。”

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" We're not improving the people," said Anne

“我们不是要改进人，”安妮说。

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" We want to make Avonlea prettier. For instance, we're thinking of painting the town hall."

“我们是想让埃文利变得更漂亮。比如说，我们正考虑粉刷市政厅呢。”

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Mrs. Lynde was unconvinced, but soon the Avonlea Improvement Society was organized

林德太太并不信服，但很快，埃文利改进会就组织起来了，

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with Gilbert Blythe as president, Fred Wright as vice-president, Anne Shirley as secretary, and Diana Barry as treasurer

吉尔伯特·布莱斯担任主席，弗雷德·赖特担任副主席，安妮·雪莉担任秘书，黛安娜·巴里担任财务主管。

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The Improvement Society received some disapproval and a good deal of ridicule from Avonlea's older citizens

这个改进会遭到了埃文利一些年长居民的反对和不少嘲讽。

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Mr. Wright said a better name for the Society would be the " Dating Club."

赖特先生说，这个协会叫“约会俱乐部”更合适。

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Mr. Bell said that he might be willing to paint his barn, but there was no way he'd hang lace curtains in his stables

贝尔先生说他或许愿意粉刷他的谷仓，但他绝不可能在马厩里挂蕾丝窗帘。

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Despite these jokes the " Improvers " set to work

尽管有这些玩笑话，“改进者”们还是开始行动了。

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Anne and Diana walked along an Avonlea road, visiting each house

安妮和戴安娜沿着埃文利的一条路走着，挨家挨户地拜访。

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They were collecting donations for the Improvement Society to paint the town hall

她们正在为改进会募集捐款，用来粉刷市政厅。

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Their first stop was the home of Catherine and Eliza Andrews

她们的第一站是凯瑟琳和伊丽莎·安德鲁斯的家。

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" If Catherine is here, we might get some money," said Diana," but if Eliza is there, we won't."

“如果凯瑟琳在家，我们或许能筹到点钱，”戴安娜说，“但要是伊丽莎在，我们就别想了。”

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Eliza Andrews answered the door, looking very grim

伊丽莎·安德鲁斯开了门，一脸不悦。

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As the girls explained their errand, Catherine came to the door

在女孩们解释来意时，凯瑟琳也来到了门口。

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Eliza listened with a frown, but Catherine smiled

伊丽莎皱着眉头听着，但凯瑟琳面带微笑。

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" I won't give any money for that hall, not a cent," said Eliza sourly

“我不会为那个市政厅出一分钱，一毛都没有，”伊丽莎没好气地说。

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" It's just a place for young people to meet

“那不过是年轻人聚会的地方罢了。

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Young people should stay at home. This world is getting worse every day!"

年轻人就该待在家里。这世道真是一天不如一天！”

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" I think it's getting better!" said Catherine firmly

“我倒觉得越来越好了！”凯瑟琳坚定地说。

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Eliza changed the subject." How are Marilla's eyes, Anne? Is she blind yet?"

伊丽莎岔开了话题。“玛丽拉的眼睛怎么样了，安妮？她失明了吗？”

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" Her eyes aren't any worse," Anne replied meekly

“她的眼睛没再恶化。”安妮温顺地回答。

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Anne and Diana left disappointed, but as they headed down the road a woman ran up behind them

安妮和戴安娜失望地离开了，但她们沿路往前走时，一位女士从后面追了上来。

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It was Catherine Andrews with a dollar in her hand

是凯瑟琳·安德鲁斯，手里攥着一块钱。

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" Good luck with the Improvement Society!" she said. The girls cheered up

“祝改进会顺利！”她说。女孩们又高兴了起来。

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Their next visit was to Mrs. Bell, who looked very healthy but spent a half an hour describing all her aches and pains

下一个拜访对象是贝尔太太，她看起来十分健康，却花上半个小时细数自己全身的疼痛。

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Mrs. Bell gave them money but said she couldn't donate next year because she would probably be in her grave by then

贝尔太太给了她们钱，却说下一年没法儿捐了，因为那时她大概已长眠于地下了。

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The worst reception was at the Fletchers '

最不受待见的，是在弗莱彻家。

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Anne and Diana saw two faces in the window as they walked up to the door, but when Anne knocked, nobody answered

安妮和戴安娜走向门口时，看见窗户里有两张脸，可安妮敲了门，却没人应。

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Eventually the Improvers raised enough money to paint the hall

最后，改进会终于筹够了钱，可以粉刷会堂了。

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They decided on dark green and asked Mr. Joshua Pye, an uncle of Anthony Pye, to paint it

她们选定深绿色，并请安东尼·派伊的叔叔，约书亚·派伊先生来粉刷。

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They had to give the contract to a member of the Pye family, or else none of the four Pye families would donate any money

她们不得不把活儿包给派伊家的人，不然，那四户派伊家就一分钱也不会捐。

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Mr. Roger Pye brought the hall paint home that night, and Mr. Joshua Pye began painting the next day

当晚，罗杰·派伊先生把油漆带回了会堂，第二天，约书亚·派伊先生就开始动工了。

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He was not disturbed in his task

他干活时没人打扰。

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The hall was so closely surrounded by a wood of fir trees that it was invisible to anyone not driving right by it

会堂四周杉树林密密匝匝，除非正好驾车经过，否则根本看不见。

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Mr. Joshua Pye finished his job Friday afternoon and went home to Carmody

约书亚·派伊先生周五下午干完活，就回卡莫迪的家了。

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Later Mrs. Lynde drove by the hall

后来，林德太太驾车路过了会堂。

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She was curious to see what the hall looked like in its new coat of paint

她很好奇，想看看刷了新漆的会堂是什么样子。

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When Mrs. Lynde rounded the curve and saw the brilliant blue town hall, she dropped the reins and said," Good gracious!"

当林德太太转过弯，看到那栋亮蓝色的镇会堂时，她惊得松开了缰绳，喊道：“天哪！”

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She stared for a moment and then laughed hysterically

她盯着看了一会儿，然后歇斯底里地大笑起来。

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News of the mistake quickly spread through Avonlea

这个弄错漆色的事很快就传遍了埃文利。

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" Oh, it's simply dreadful!" Anne exclaimed." I just can't believe Joshua Pye has gone and painted the hall blue instead of green

“哦，这简直太可怕了！”安妮叫道。“我真不敢相信，约书亚·派伊竟把会堂刷成了蓝色，而不是绿色。

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It's the blue that people use to paint carts and wheelbarrows

那是人们用来刷马车和手推车的蓝色呀。

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And Mrs. Lynde says it's the most hideous color for a building that she's ever seen."

林德太太还说，这是她见过用在房子上最丑的颜色了。”

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" How on earth could such a mistake have happened?" asked Diana

“这样的错误究竟是怎么发生的？”戴安娜问。

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The blame for this disaster was eventually pinned on the Pyes

这场灾难的责任最终被归咎于派伊家。

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The shades of paint were selected from a numbered color card

油漆的颜色是从一张带有编号的色卡上挑选的。

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The Improvers had chosen the color number 147 and had told Roger Pye

改进会的人选了色号147，并告诉了罗杰·派伊。

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However, Roger had somehow bought color number 157 instead

然而，罗杰不知怎么的买了色号157。

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" I must cry, even if I am almost 17 years old, Marilla," Anne later sobbed

“就算我快17岁了，我也非得哭一下不可，玛丽拉，”安妮后来抽泣着说。

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" It is so embarrassing — people will think the Improvement Society is a joke

“这太尴尬了——大家会以为改进会是个笑话。

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They'll never again listen to our ideas or give us donations."

他们再也不会听我们的主意，也不会给我们捐款了。”

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In life, however, things often turn out differently from how we expect

然而，在生活中，事情的发展往往出乎我们的意料。

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The Avonlea people did not laugh at the Improvement Society

埃文利的人们并没有嘲笑改进会。

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They had donated money to have the town hall painted, and they were angry about the mistake

他们捐了钱是为了粉刷镇会堂，结果出了这个差错，大家都很生气。

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Public indignation centered on the Pyes. People felt that Joshua Pye should have realized it was the wrong color

公众的愤慨集中在了派伊家身上。人们觉得约书亚·派伊本该意识到颜色不对。

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Joshua Pye argued that he painted the hall the color he was given, and it wasn't his job to question the Improvement Society's taste in color

约书亚·派伊辩解说，他只是按给的油漆刷了会堂，质疑改进会选色的品味可不是他的工作。

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Despite Joshua Pye's arguments, the people of Avonlea still took the Improvement Society's side

尽管约书亚·派伊如此辩解，埃文利的人们还是站在改进会这一边。

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People believed the Improvers had worked hard, and many of them took inspiration from the Society's example

大家相信改进会的成员付出了努力，许多人还深受该会榜样的激励。

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Mr. Major Spencer said he would plant flowers around the town, and Mr. Bell decided to paint his old barn

梅杰·斯宾塞先生说他会在镇子周围种上花，贝尔先生也决定粉刷他的旧谷仓。

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Anne, however, was still upset about the town hall

然而，安妮仍然为镇会堂的事感到沮丧。

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" Never mind, Anne," Marilla consoled her." Most paint fades uglier over time

“别往心里去，安妮，”玛丽拉安慰她。“大部分油漆都是越褪色越难看。

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But that blue started out as ugly as it can be. So it's bound to fade prettier."

可那种蓝一开始就丑到极致了，所以它肯定会越褪越好看的。”

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Anne smiled, but she was not convinced

安妮笑了，但她并没有被说服。