005 女仆

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Three years passed and Sara was still at Miss Minchin's school

三年过去了，萨拉仍然在铭钦女士的学校里。

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One winter afternoon Sara returned from a drive in her carriage

一个冬天的下午，萨拉乘坐马车兜风后回来了。

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As usual she was dressed in her warmest velvets and furs

像往常一样，她穿着最暖和的天鹅绒衣服和皮草。

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A dirty child stood in the stairway leading to the school's kitchen

一个脏兮兮的孩子站在通往学校厨房的楼梯上。

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Sara smiled at her." Hello!"

萨拉对她笑了笑。"你好！"

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The girl looked frightened and darted into the kitchen

女孩看上去吓了一跳，窜进了厨房。

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" She must be a servant here," Sara thought

"她一定是这里的仆人，"萨拉心想。

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That evening Sara was telling stories to girls in the schoolroom

那天晚上，萨拉正在教室里给女孩们讲故事。

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Sara's gift at telling stories was, of course, the greatest power that she had

萨拉讲故事的天赋，当然是她所拥有的最强大的能力。

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When she sat in a circle and began to invent things, her green eyes grew big and began to shine

当她围坐在一圈开始编故事时，她的绿眼睛就会变大，开始闪闪发光。

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Her cheeks flushed, and her hands fluttered as she told the tale

她讲故事时双颊绯红，双手激动地比划着。

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The young servant girl came in to tend the fire

那个年轻的女仆进来照看炉火。

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Everyone was listening intently, even Lavinia

每个人都聚精会神地听着，就连拉维尼娅也不例外。

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She was very jealous of Sara's ability to tell stories

她非常嫉妒萨拉讲故事的能力。

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" The mermaids swam about in the green water," Sara went on

“美人鱼在碧绿的水中游来游去，”萨拉继续说道。

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" A princess watched them from the shore."

“一位公主在岸边注视着她们。”

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Sara noticed that the servant was working slowly in order to listen

萨拉注意到那个女仆为了听故事，故意放慢了手中的活儿。

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She swept the hearth in front of the fire, and then swept it again

她扫了扫炉前的石地，然后又扫了一遍。

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Sara began talking louder so the girl could hear

萨拉开始提高声音，好让那个女孩能听见。

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The servant girl was so interested in the story that she suddenly dropped her dustpan

那个女仆听得太入迷了，突然失手掉了簸箕。

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" That servant was listening!" cried Lavinia as the girl fled

“那个仆人在偷听！”女孩逃走时，拉维尼娅喊道。

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Sara felt a flash of anger." I knew she was listening. I don't mind."

萨拉心中涌起一丝怒气。“我知道她在听。我不介意。”

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" Well, you should mind!" Lavinia said

“哼，你应该介意！”拉维尼娅说。

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That night Sara asked Mariette about the servant girl

那天晚上，萨拉向玛丽埃特打听那个女仆的事。

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" Her name is Becky," replied Mariette

“她叫贝基，”玛丽埃特回答。

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" She's the kitchen maid and has to work very hard

“她是厨房女佣，活计很重。

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All day long she scrubs floors and cleans windows, and carries heavy things up and down the stairs

整天不是擦地板、擦窗户，就是把重物搬上搬下楼梯。

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She's very timid, and all the other servants are cruel to her

她胆子很小，其他仆人又都欺负她。

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They constantly order her around."

老是把她呼来喝去的。”

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" Oh, the poor girl," said Sara

“哦，可怜的姑娘，”萨拉说。

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After Mariette left, Sara thought about Becky for a long time

玛丽埃特走后，萨拉久久地想着贝基。

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She even made up some stories about the hard-working servant girl

她甚至编了几个关于这个勤劳女仆的故事。

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One evening, several weeks later, Sara entered her room and found Becky asleep in her chair

几周后的一个晚上，萨拉走进房间，发现贝基在她的椅子上睡着了。

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" Oh!" cried Sara softly." There she is!"

“哦！”萨拉轻声喊道，“她在这儿！”

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Sara sat down, and watched Becky sleep for a moment

萨拉坐下来，看了一会儿贝基睡觉。

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" Miss Minchin would be angry if she found out about this

“如果明钦小姐发现这事，她会生气的。”

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But the poor girl looks so tired

“但这可怜的女孩看起来太累了。”

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I'll let her sleep for just a few more minutes."

“我就让她再多睡几分钟。”

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But then a flaming piece of coal broke off and fell on the hearth

但这时，一块燃烧着的煤脱落下来，掉在了壁炉地上。

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The sound startled Becky, who opened her eyes with a frightened gasp

那声音惊醒了贝基，她吓得倒吸一口气，睁开了眼睛。

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She sprang up and straightened her cap

她猛地站起来，整了整帽子。

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Then she caught sight of Sara and her eyes widened

然后她看见了萨拉，眼睛睁得大大的。

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Surely Becky would lose her job now!

贝基这下肯定要丢掉工作了！

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" Oh, I'm so sorry, miss!" she cried

“哦，真对不起，小姐！”她哭喊道。

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" I didn't mean to fall asleep in your chair. I just sat down for a minute."

“我不是故意在你的椅子上睡着的。我只是坐了一会儿。”

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" It's all right." Sara laughed and put her hand on Becky's shoulder

“没关系。”萨拉笑着把手放在贝基的肩上。

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" You were tired. You couldn't help it."

“你累了。没办法的。”

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Becky stared at Sara

贝基凝视着萨拉。

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No one had ever spoken to her in such a kind and friendly way

从来没有人如此和善友好地对她说过话。

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" Aren't you angry, miss?" She gasped

“你不生气吗，小姐？”她喘着气说。

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" Aren't you going to tell Miss Minchin?"

“你不打算告诉明钦小姐吗？”

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" Of course not." Sara reached out and touched Becky's cheek

“当然不。”萨拉伸出手，摸了摸贝基的脸颊。

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" We're really the same, you and I. We're both just children

“我们其实是一样的，你和我。我们都只不过是孩子罢了。

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It's only luck that I'm not you and you're not me."

不过是运气使然，让我没有成为你，你也没有成为我。”

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Becky didn't know how to respond to this. She just said," Yes, miss."

贝基不知该如何回应，只是说：“是的，小姐。”

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" Have you finished your work? Can you stay a few more minutes?" Sara asked

“你的活儿干完了吗？能再多待几分钟吗？”萨拉问道。

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" Here, miss? Me?"

“在这里吗，小姐？我吗？”

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" Yes. I thought you might like a piece of cake."

“是的。我想你也许想来块蛋糕。”

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The next ten minutes seemed like a dream to Becky

接下来的十分钟对贝基来说就像一场梦。

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Sara opened a cupboard and gave her a thick slice of cake

萨拉打开一个橱柜，给了她厚厚一片蛋糕。

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Sara talked and laughed and asked Becky questions

萨拉有说有笑，还问了贝基一些问题。

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Becky began to calm down

贝基渐渐放松了下来。

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She admired the beautiful pink dress that Sara was wearing

她羡慕地看着萨拉身上那漂亮的粉色连衣裙。

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" Once I saw a princess outside the opera house," said Becky

“有一次我在歌剧院外面见到一位公主，”贝基说。

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" You look just like her in that dress."

“你穿这件裙子，简直和她一模一样。”

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Sara laughed." I think I'll start pretending to be a princess."

萨拉笑了。“我想我以后要开始假扮一位公主了。”

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Sara knew that princesses often gave gifts to other people

萨拉知道，公主们常常会赠送礼物给别人。

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She knew exactly the sort of gift that would please Becky

她非常清楚什么样的礼物会让贝基开心。

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" I could tell you some more of my mermaid story every day," offered Sara

“我可以每天都给你多讲一点我的美人鱼故事，”萨拉提议道。

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" You mean I could hear it just like the other girls?" Becky asked

“你是说……我能跟其他小姐们一样听故事？”贝基问道。

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" Yes," Sara answered

“是的。”萨拉回答。

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Becky returned to the kitchen, warm, fed, and happy

贝基回到厨房，身上暖暖的，吃饱了，心里也很快乐。

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Upstairs in her room, Sara was happy too. She was only a pretend princess

在楼上的房间里，萨拉也很开心。她不过是个假扮的公主。

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But she had found a way to give real gifts to a poor servant girl

但她已经找到了一个办法，能给一个贫穷的女仆女孩送去真实的礼物。