026 海边的课程

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August 19

8月19日

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Dear Daddy Longlegs

亲爱的长腿叔叔，

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Here I am at Mrs. Paterson's cottage by the sea

我现在就在帕特森太太的海滨小屋里。

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My window looks out on the loveliest landscape

我的窗外是再可爱不过的风景了。

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Or seascape, I guess

或者该说，是海景吧。

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Water, rocks, and sky are all I can see

我能看到的只有海水、岩石和天空。

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Did I describe my job in my last letter?

我在上一封信里描述过我的工作了吗？

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Mrs. Paterson's older daughter, Marion, is starting college this fall

帕特森太太的大女儿玛丽恩今年秋天就要上大学了。

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I'm tutoring her in English, Latin, and algebra

我正在辅导她的英语、拉丁语和代数。

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I'm also working on English and Latin with Florence, the younger daughter

我还要给小女儿弗洛伦斯上英语和拉丁语课。

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And what a job it is!

这活儿可真不简单！

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I don't know how Marion is going to succeed at college

我真不知道玛丽昂将来怎么考上大学。

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And Florence is hopeless!

弗洛伦丝更是没指望！

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Pretty, but not very bright

长得漂亮，可惜脑子不太灵光。

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On my first morning, Mrs. Paterson asked me to come into her study

第一天早上，帕特森太太叫我到她书房去。

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" I know you're the girls' tutor," Mrs. Paterson said

“我知道你是女孩们的家教，”帕特森太太说。

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" But I don't want you working them too hard."

“不过，我不想让她们学得太辛苦。”

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" No, ma'am."

“好的，太太。”

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" I want them to spend most of the day outdoors

“我希望她们白天大部分时间都在户外。”

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Perhaps you can find a pretty place to set up your classroom."

说不定你能找个漂亮地方当教室。”

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" I'll try, ma'am

"我会试试的，太太。

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But if Marion's going to start college, she'll need to concentrate."

但如果玛丽昂要上大学，她需要专注学业。"

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" I'm sure you'll figure out what to do."

"我相信你会想到办法的。"

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And with that Mrs. Paterson went back to reading a letter

说完，帕特森太太就回去看信了。

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So I took the girls outside, and we tramped around until we found a spot hidden in the cliffs

于是我带女孩们出去，我们跋涉了一会儿，在悬崖间找到一处隐蔽的地方。

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At first, even I had trouble concentrating

一开始，连我都很难集中注意力。

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Every time a ship passed by, I thought of sailing to Europe

每当有船经过，我就想象自己乘船去欧洲。

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And I wondered what I was missing

心想自己都错过了什么。

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" I'll never understand any of this!"

"这个我永远也搞不懂！"

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Marion tossed her math book onto the ground

玛丽昂把数学书扔到了地上。

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" Mother is making me go to college, but I don't see why

“妈妈非要让我上大学，可我真不明白为什么。

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It's a girls' college too

而且还是个女子学院。

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How am I supposed to find a husband there?"

在那儿我怎么可能找到丈夫呢？”

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" If you get an education, then you'll be able to work," I said

“如果你受了教育，就能工作。”我说。

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Florence giggled, and Marion said," Married women don't have time to work!"

弗洛伦斯咯咯地笑起来，玛丽昂说：“结了婚的女人哪有时间工作！”

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I frowned at them

我朝她们皱了皱眉。

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" Don't you want to learn math and grammar?"

“你们不想学数学和语法吗？”

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" I've got no use for math," Marion said

“数学对我没用。”玛丽昂说。

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" And grammar is boring!"

“而且语法太无聊了！”

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" I agree," Florence chimed in

“我同意。”弗洛伦斯插嘴道。

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" I worry about you two," I murmured

“我为你们两个担心，”我喃喃道。

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And it was true

这倒是真的。

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Their conversation is so boring

她们的谈话太无聊了。

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But I suppose that won't matter if they marry boring men

不过要是她们嫁给无趣的男人，我想那也无所谓了。

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I've certainly met quite a few boring ones this summer!

这个夏天我可真是遇到了不少无趣的人！

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Fortunately, I only have to tutor the girls for half the day

幸好，我只需给女孩们上半天课。

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By the way, I received a letter from Jervie

顺带一提，我收到杰维的来信了。

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It's quite a short letter from Paris

这封来自巴黎的信还挺短的。

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He's still upset that I refused to follow his advice about going to Europe

他还在因为我没听他的建议去欧洲而生气。

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He says if he gets back in time, he'll see me for a few days at Lock Willow Farm

他说要是能及时赶回来，会在洛克柳农场见我几天。

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( If he gets back in time!

（要是他能及时回来就好了！

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Does he expect me to sit around, hoping he'll arrive?)

难不成他指望我就这么干坐着等他来？）

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I think he'll forgive me for staying here this summer

我想他会原谅我今年夏天留在这里的。

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But I'll probably have to be very sweet and docile

不过，我可能得表现得很乖巧听话才行。

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I also received a letter from Sallie

我还收到了莎莉的来信。

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She wants me to come to their summer house for two weeks in September

她想让我九月份去她家的避暑别墅玩两周。

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Do I have to ask your permission to do that?

这件事我需要征得你的许可吗？

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Or am I old enough to do what I want?

还是说，我已经长大了，可以自己作主了？

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Never mind

算了，当我没问。

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I know I'm old enough because I'm a college senior

我知道我已经够大了，毕竟我都大四了。

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Having worked all summer, I feel like taking a vacation

工作了整个夏天，我想去度个假。

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I want to see the mountains and the lake

我想去看看山和湖。

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I want to see Sallie and her brother

我想见见莎莉和她的哥哥。

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Jimmy is going to teach me to canoe. That'll be fun!

吉米要教我划独木舟，那一定很有趣！

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But here's my real motive for going to Sallie's

但我去莎莉家的真正动机是这个。

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I want Jervie to arrive at Lock Willow and find that I'm not there

我想让杰维到洛克威洛时，发现我不在。

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I know that's mean

我知道这很刻薄。

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But I MUST show him that he can't tell me what to do

但我必须让他明白，他不能对我指手画脚。

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The only person who can do that is you — and not all the time

唯一能这样做的人是你——而且也不是任何时候都行。

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I'm off to the woods!

我这就去林子里！

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Yours ever

你永远的

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Judy

朱迪

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September 6

9月6日

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Dear Daddy Longlegs

亲爱的长腿叔叔

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I'm at Sallie's summer house in the mountains

我现在在莎莉家的山中避暑别墅。

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I'm pleased to say that I've been here for five days

我高兴地告诉你，我已经在这儿待了五天了。

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By the time your letter arrived at Mrs. Paterson's cottage, I had already left

你的信寄到帕特森太太小屋时，我已经离开了。

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So I couldn't go to Lock Willow as you ordered

所以我无法按你的命令去洛克威洛了。

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Mrs. Paterson forwarded your letter to me here

帕特森太太把你的信转寄到了这里。

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If you want me to obey in the future, tell your secretary to write more quickly

如果你希望我以后服从，就叫你的秘书写信快点吧。

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The woods are lovely, and so is the house

树林很可爱，房子也很漂亮。

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The weather is delightful, and I enjoy spending time with the McBrides

天气令人心旷神怡，我也很享受和麦克布莱德一家相处的时光。

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The whole world is wonderful. I'm very happy!

整个世界都很美好。我太开心了！

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Oh, I have to stop writing

哦，我得停笔了。

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Jimmy is calling me to go canoeing. Good-bye!

吉米在叫我去划独木舟。再见啦！

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Yours

你的

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Judy

朱迪

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P. S. I'm sorry to have disobeyed you

附：很抱歉违背了你的意愿。

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But I'm curious about one thing

不过我对一件事很好奇。

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Why are you so against my having a little fun?

你为什么这么反对我找点乐子呢？

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I worked hard all summer tutoring those ridiculous girls

我整个夏天都在辛苦地给那两个傻乎乎的女孩当家教。

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I deserve a break

我理应休息一下。

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In spite of all your faults, I still appreciate you

尽管你有种种不是，我依然感激你。