010 辛苦工作

旁白 neutral

Sara spent a terrible first night in the attic. Her bed felt hard

莎拉在阁楼度过了糟糕的第一夜。她的床硬邦邦的。

旁白 neutral

The room was pitch black, and the wind howled over the roof

房间一片漆黑，风在屋顶上呼啸。

旁白 neutral

But there was something worse

但还有更糟糕的事。

旁白 neutral

Sara heard scratching and squeaking in the walls. She knew what that meant

莎拉听到墙里传来抓挠声和吱吱声。她知道那意味着什么。

旁白 neutral

Becky had told her about the mice and rats living in the attic

贝基告诉过她，阁楼里住着老鼠。

旁白 neutral

Sara pulled the thin blanket over her head and tried to sleep

莎拉把薄毯子拉过头顶，试图入睡。

旁白 neutral

" My papa is dead!" she kept whispering to herself." My papa is dead!"

“我的爸爸死了！”她不停地低声对自己说。“我的爸爸死了！”

旁白 neutral

The next morning when Sara went down to breakfast, she saw that someone was sitting in her seat next to Miss Minchin. It was Lavinia

第二天早上，莎拉下楼吃早饭时，看到有人坐在她平时坐的位子上，就在敏钦小姐旁边。是拉文尼亚。

旁白 neutral

" Sara, you will begin your new duties at once," Miss Minchin said coldly

“莎拉，你马上要开始你的新工作了，”敏钦小姐冷冷地说。

旁白 neutral

" Sit with the younger girls and make sure they behave

“去和年纪小的女孩们坐在一起，看着她们守规矩。

旁白 neutral

You should have been here earlier. Lottie has already spilled her tea."

你应该早点到这儿。洛蒂已经把茶洒了。

旁白 neutral

Sara's duties at breakfast were only the beginning

萨拉在早餐时的职责只是个开始。

旁白 neutral

The headmistress knew that Sara was smart and could be sent on complicated errands

校长知道萨拉很聪明，可以派她去干复杂的差事。

旁白 neutral

She could even pay bills

她甚至能付账单。

旁白 neutral

So soon Sara was sent out at all times of day and in any weather

因此很快萨拉就不分昼夜、不论天气如何都被派出去。

旁白 neutral

Sara worked hard and didn't complain

萨拉努力工作，没有抱怨。

旁白 neutral

For a while she thought this would make everyone like her

有一段时间，她以为这样会让大家都喜欢她。

旁白 neutral

But the other servants were delighted at her downfall

但其他仆人却为她的落魄而高兴。

旁白 neutral

The maids gave her the worst jobs to do. The cook always scolded her

女仆们把最差的活儿给她干。厨子总是责骂她。

旁白 neutral

It was convenient for them to have a new servant to blame for every problem at the school

对他们来说，有个新仆人来为学校里的每个问题承担责难，很是便利。

旁白 neutral

Of course Sara no longer went to any classes

当然，萨拉不再去上任何课了。

旁白 neutral

" I'm afraid I'll forget everything I've learned," she said to Miss Minchin

"我怕我会忘掉所有学过的东西，" 她对明钦女士说。

旁白 neutral

" Well, you could use the schoolroom at night," the headmistress said grudgingly

"好吧，你晚上可以用教室，" 女校长不情愿地说。

旁白 neutral

Each night Sara sat alone in the schoolroom, reading old books

每天晚上，萨拉独自坐在教室里，读着旧书。

旁白 neutral

As time passed, her clothes became shabbier

随着时间的推移，她的衣服越来越破旧。

旁白 neutral

Miss Minchin told the other girls not to talk to Sara anymore

明钦女士告诉其他女孩不要再和萨拉说话了。

旁白 neutral

Sara now had to eat downstairs in the kitchen

萨拉现在得在楼下的厨房里吃饭。

旁白 neutral

Each day she worked hard, trudging through the wet streets carrying parcels and baskets

每天她辛苦干活，拖着沉重的步子走在湿漉漉的街上，提着包裹和篮子。

旁白 neutral

Her heart was breaking, but she was determined not to show it

她的心碎了，但她决心不表露出来。

旁白 neutral

" Soldiers don't complain," she reminded herself

"士兵不抱怨，" 她提醒自己。

旁白 neutral

" So I will not either. I will pretend I am at war."

“那我也不在乎。我就当自己是在打仗。”

旁白 neutral

Becky was still kind to Sara

贝基对萨拉依然很好。

旁白 neutral

Every day she helped Sara to dress and undress

她每天都会帮萨拉穿衣和脱衣。

旁白 neutral

But Becky was so busy with her own chores, she didn't have much time to talk

但贝基自己也是杂务缠身，所以没多少时间跟她说话。

旁白 neutral

One day Ermengarde saw Sara coming down the hall

有一天，埃芒加德看见萨拉从走廊那头过来。

旁白 neutral

Sara was carrying a pile of clothes to be mended

萨拉抱着一摞需要缝补的衣服。

旁白 neutral

Sara looked so pale and poor, Ermengarde wasn't sure what to say

萨拉看上去是那么苍白、穷困，埃芒加德一时不知该说什么才好。

旁白 neutral

So she blurted out the first thing she thought of

于是，她脱口说出了脑海里冒出的第一个念头。

旁白 neutral

" Oh... oh... How are you, Sara? Are you very unhappy?"

“哦……哦……你还好吗，萨拉？你是不是很不开心？”

旁白 neutral

" What do you think?" Sara suddenly felt annoyed

“你觉得呢？”萨拉突然觉得有些恼火。

旁白 neutral

She marched past Ermengarde without another word

她一言不发，径直从埃芒加德身边走过。

旁白 neutral

" Ermengarde is just like the others," Sara said to herself

“埃芒加德和其他人一样，”萨拉自言自语道。

旁白 neutral

" She doesn't really want to talk to me."

“她并不是真的想跟我说话。”

旁白 neutral

Whenever they met after that, Sara always looked the other way

从那以后，每次相遇，萨拉总是扭头看向别处。

旁白 neutral

And Ermengarde always felt too awkward and embarrassed to speak

而埃芒加德也总是感到太过尴尬和难为情，开不了口。

旁白 neutral

But things had changed greatly for Ermengarde too

但埃芒加德的情况也发生了巨变。

旁白 neutral

Without Sara, Ermengarde was lonely and miserable

没有了萨拉，埃芒加德孤独又痛苦。

旁白 neutral

She constantly made mistakes during lessons, and she spent hours by herself, just staring out the window

她上课时频频出错，还总是一个人久久地凝视窗外发呆。

旁白 neutral

One night when Sara returned to the attic, she saw a flicker of light under her door

一天晚上，萨拉回到阁楼时，看到门缝下闪烁着微光。

旁白 neutral

" That's strange," she thought

“真奇怪，”她想。

旁白 neutral

She opened the door slowly. Inside was Ermengarde

她慢慢地打开门。里面是埃芒加德。

旁白 neutral

She was sitting on the footstool, dressed in her nightgown and a red shawl

她坐在脚凳上，穿着睡衣，披着一条红披肩。

旁白 neutral

" Ermengarde!" cried Sara." What are you doing here?"

"埃芒加德！" 莎拉喊道。"你在这里做什么？"

旁白 neutral

Ermengarde stumbled up from the footstool

埃芒加德跌跌撞撞地从脚凳上站起来。

旁白 neutral

She shuffled across the attic in her bedroom slippers

她穿着拖鞋，趿拉着走过阁楼。

旁白 neutral

Her eyes and nose were pink from crying

她的眼睛和鼻子都哭红了。

旁白 neutral

" I couldn't bear it anymore," said Ermengarde

"我再也受不了了，" 埃芒加德说。

旁白 neutral

" You may be able to live without me, but I can't live without you

"你也许可以没有我，但我不能没有你。

旁白 neutral

Why won't you speak to me?"

你为什么不和我说话？"

旁白 neutral

" I thought you didn't like me

"我以为你不喜欢我了。

旁白 neutral

Everything is different now — I'm a servant," Sara reminded her

现在一切都不同了——我是仆人了，" 莎拉提醒她。

旁白 neutral

" I don't care about that," said Ermengarde

"我才不在乎那个呢，" 埃芒加德说。

旁白 neutral

" Can't we be best friends again?"

"我们就不能重新做最好的朋友吗？"

旁白 neutral

" Oh yes!" Sara rushed into Ermengarde's arms." I've missed you!"

"哦，当然可以！" 莎拉冲进埃芒加德的怀里。"我好想你！"

旁白 neutral

Ermengarde looked around the room." Sara, how can you stand living here?"

埃芒加德环顾房间。"萨拉，你怎么能忍受住在这里？"

旁白 neutral

Sara looked around the room too

莎拉也环顾了一下房间。

旁白 neutral

" Other people have lived in worse places," she replied

"还有人在更糟糕的地方住过呢，" 她回答。

旁白 neutral

" Think of the prisoners in the Bastille prison during the French Revolution."

"想想法国大革命时巴士底狱里的囚犯吧。"

旁白 neutral

" You could make up a story!" said Ermengarde

"你可以编个故事！" 埃芒加德说。

旁白 neutral

" That's a wonderful idea!"

"这主意太棒了！"

旁白 neutral

Sara felt her imagination stirring for the first time since her father had died

莎拉感到，自父亲去世以来，她的想象力头一次被触动了。

旁白 neutral

" I could pretend that Miss Minchin is the jailer

"我可以假装明钦女士是狱卒。

旁白 neutral

And Becky is the prisoner in the next cell!"

贝基就是隔壁牢房的囚犯！"

旁白 neutral

Sara's eyes were glowing, and she was already starting to look more like her old self

莎拉的眼睛闪闪发光，她已经开始看起来更像过去的自己了。

旁白 neutral

" I will tell myself the stories, and it will be a great comfort to me!"

"我要把这些故事讲给自己听，那会给我带来很大的安慰！"

旁白 neutral

" I'll creep up here every night to hear the stories too!" Ermengarde promised

"我也会每天晚上悄悄溜上来听故事的！" 埃芒加德保证道。