001 小妇人登场

旁白 neutral

Oh, hello. Welcome to our home. I'm Jo March and I'm here to share with you a little about the story you are going to read

哦，你们好。欢迎来到我们家。我是乔·马奇，我来和大家简单聊聊你们将要读到的这个故事。

旁白 neutral

As you may know, it is entitled Little Women

你们可能知道，书名叫《小妇人》。

旁白 neutral

It's a story about my family─well, more specifically, about me and my three sisters:

这是个关于我们家的故事——嗯，更确切地说，是关于我和我三个姐妹的：

旁白 neutral

Meg, who is the oldest; Beth, who is a couple of years younger than me; and the baby of the family, Amy

大姐梅格；比我小几岁的贝丝；还有家里最小的妹妹，艾米。

旁白 neutral

Our story is based on the true-life story of the author, Louisa May Alcott, who also had three sisters

我们的故事是根据作者路易莎·梅·奥尔科特的真实生活写成的，她也有三个姐妹。

旁白 neutral

Louisa May Alcott was born on November 29, 1832

路易莎·梅·奥尔科特出生于1832年11月29日。

旁白 neutral

Like me, she was the second daughter in a family of four girls

和我一样，她也是家里四个女孩中的老二。

旁白 neutral

Louisa grew up in Concord, Massachusetts, USA

路易莎在美国马萨诸塞州的康科德长大。

旁白 neutral

From a young age, Louisa loved to write

路易莎从小就爱写作。

旁白 neutral

She wrote poetry and even several thrillers, believe it or not

她写过诗，甚至还写过几部惊险小说，信不信由你。

旁白 neutral

She was also an avid reader, fueling her imagination with works from Shakespeare to Charlotte Bronte

她也是一位热心的读者，从莎士比亚到夏洛特·勃朗特的作品中汲取想象力。

旁白 neutral

As you read Little Women, you may see a strong resemblance between my character and Louisa

当你阅读《小妇人》时，你可能会发现我的性格与路易莎十分相似。

旁白 neutral

In fact, according to Louisa, she did indeed base my character on herself

事实上，据路易莎所说，她确实以自己为原型塑造了我这个角色，

旁白 neutral

while her real sisters─Anna, Lizzie, and May─are depicted by Meg, Beth, and Amy respectively

而她的亲姐妹——安娜、莉齐和梅——则分别由梅格、贝丝和艾米来刻画。

旁白 neutral

Little Women was published in 1868

《小妇人》出版于1868年。

旁白 neutral

The story is set during the American Civil War

故事背景设定在美国内战时期。

旁白 neutral

Father is away at war, not as a soldier, but as a chaplain

父亲远赴战场，不是作为士兵，而是作为一名随军牧师。

旁白 neutral

He is a very thoughtful, kind man, who instills in us, his daughters, a strong sense of morals and family values

他是一位非常体贴、善良的人，向我们这些女儿灌输了强烈的道德观和家庭价值观。

旁白 neutral

At one time Father used to be very rich but now, after the war, our family is struggling financially

父亲曾经非常富有，但现在，战争过后，我们家经济拮据。

旁白 neutral

Mother is the most loving, caring person in the world

母亲是世界上最慈爱、最体贴的人。

旁白 neutral

She is not perfect, but she makes every effort to help us girls learn life's important lessons

她并不完美，但她竭尽全力帮助我们这些女孩学习人生重要的道理，

旁白 neutral

as well as treasure the moments we share together as a family

也珍惜我们一家人共度的时光。

旁白 neutral

My sister Meg is a lovely person who has a strong sense of responsibility and looks after her younger sisters

我的姐姐梅格是个可爱的人，她很有责任感，会照顾妹妹们。

旁白 neutral

Meg does have her faults, though, and one of them is vanity

不过，梅格也有她的缺点，其中之一就是爱慕虚荣。

旁白 neutral

She longs to have fashionable, pretty things, as most girls do

她渴望拥有时髦漂亮的东西，就像大多数女孩一样。

旁白 neutral

But what can one do if family finances don't permit such treats?

可如果家里经济不允许这种享受，又能怎么办呢？

旁白 neutral

Next comes me. As I mentioned, the author Louisa and I share many traits

接下来是我。正如我提到的，作者路易莎和我有很多相似之处。

旁白 neutral

I am also a writer and I love to read

我也是一名作家，而且热爱阅读。

旁白 neutral

I'm not pretty like Meg or gentle like Beth, but I have a very strong personality, as my family will tell you

我不像梅格那样漂亮，也不像贝丝那样温柔，但我的个性很强，我的家人会这么说。

旁白 neutral

My biggest weak point is my short temper and I often lose control of it

我最大的缺点就是脾气急躁，经常控制不住。

旁白 neutral

It gets me into many arguments and sometimes causes mishaps

这让我卷入许多争吵，有时还会惹出些小麻烦。

旁白 neutral

But I'm loyal and true to my family and friends

但我对家人和朋友忠诚又真诚。

旁白 neutral

I will do anything for them. I'm a bit of a tomboy, which means I act like a boy

我愿意为他们做任何事。我有点像个假小子，意思是我的举止像男孩。

旁白 neutral

In fact, I'll admit I sometimes wish I were a boy

事实上，我承认我有时真希望自己是个男孩。

旁白 neutral

This kind of thinking also gets me into trouble

这种想法也给我惹上麻烦。

旁白 neutral

Beth is my darling little sister. I have a soft spot for her as she is the most gentle and shy creature you will ever come across

贝丝是我亲爱的小妹妹。我特别偏爱她，因为她是你所能遇到的最温柔、最害羞的人儿。

旁白 neutral

Like Mother, Beth is very caring and she holds nothing back when it comes to helping others

像妈妈一样，贝丝非常体贴，在帮助别人时总是不遗余力。

旁白 neutral

Beth never complains or upsets people and she would rather do something herself than be a bother to others. She loves music

贝丝从不抱怨或惹人不快，她宁愿自己做事也不愿给别人添麻烦。她热爱音乐。

旁白 neutral

Her voice is as angelic as her personality

她的嗓音就和她的品性一样，如天使般美好。

旁白 neutral

Finally, there's Amy, the youngest of our clan

最后，还有艾米，我们家族里最小的妹妹。

旁白 neutral

I suppose Amy and I are the pair of sisters who argue the most

我猜艾米和我是姐妹中争吵最多的一对。

旁白 neutral

Just between you and me, she irritates me so

就我们私下里说，她真能把我惹毛了。

旁白 neutral

However, I admit Amy does have her good traits

不过，我承认艾米确实有她的优点。

旁白 neutral

One of them is her beauty. She is like a porcelain doll

其中之一就是她的美貌。她就像一个瓷娃娃。

旁白 neutral

When she smiles at you, you forget all your troubles

当她对你微笑时，你会忘记所有的烦恼。

旁白 neutral

She is also a very talented artist

她还是个很有天赋的艺术家。

旁白 neutral

I wouldn't be surprised if she became a famous painter one day

如果有一天她成了有名的画家，我也不会惊讶。

旁白 neutral

One of Amy's weaknesses is her selfishness

艾米的缺点之一就是自私。

旁白 neutral

She's the youngest so I can understand this somewhat

她是最小的，所以这点我多少能理解。

旁白 neutral

But this characteristic gets her into several scrapes, which Amy thankfully learns from

但这种性格让她惹了好几次麻烦，好在艾米会从中吸取教训。

旁白 neutral

So now you know a little about my family and something about Louisa May Alcott

现在，你对我的家庭和路易莎·梅·奥尔科特都有了一些了解。

旁白 neutral

As I mentioned before, our family lived during the American Civil War

正如我之前提到的，我们一家生活在美国内战时期。

旁白 neutral

Life at that time was quite different from what it is like for you today

那时候的生活，跟你们现在的生活大不相同。

旁白 neutral

For example, look at my clothes

比如说，看看我这身衣服。

旁白 neutral

Not only did we have to wear these long dresses, but when a woman went out, she was expected to wear gloves and carry a parasol

我们不仅要穿这种长裙，女士出门时，还得戴上手套，拿着阳伞。

旁白 neutral

Given that I'm a tomboy, can you imagine how difficult it was for me to wear such things?

想想我是个假小子，你就能明白，穿成这样对我来说有多难受了吧？

旁白 neutral

My sisters had to remind me every time I wasn't dressed in a " ladylike " way

每次我穿得不够"淑女"，姐姐们总得提醒我。

旁白 neutral

At this time, women were expected to behave in a certain manner as well

那个年代，人们对女性的言行举止，也有特定的期望。

旁白 neutral

For most women, their purpose in life consisted of finding a marriage mate and having children

对大多数女性来说，人生的目的就是找个结婚对象、生儿育女。

旁白 neutral

I resisted such notions and got myself into a lot of trouble for it

我抗拒这种想法，也因此给自己惹了不少麻烦。

旁白 neutral

But I, like Louisa, am a firm believer that women should have their independence

不过，我和路易莎一样，坚信女性应该拥有自己的独立。

旁白 neutral

Another thing you might find unusual is our way of life

还有件事你们可能觉得奇怪，那就是我们的生活方式。

旁白 neutral

It was common in our time to have servants and housekeepers

我们那个年代，雇仆人和管家是很普遍的。

旁白 neutral

My family, as well as Louisa Alcott, hated the idea of slavery

我们家，还有路易莎·奥尔科特，都非常痛恨奴隶制。

旁白 neutral

We would never regard our beloved Hannah as a slave

我们绝不会把我们亲爱的汉娜当作奴隶。

旁白 neutral

She is trusted and loved and is a great help to our family

她深受我们信任和爱戴，是我们家的大帮手。

旁白 neutral

Something else you may find peculiar is how the young men and women interact

可能还有一点你们会觉得奇怪，就是年轻男女之间的交往方式。

旁白 neutral

In my day, society was much more conservative

在我那个时代，社会风气保守得多。

旁白 neutral

It was not considered proper for young people to date or go out unless they intended to marry

年轻人除非打算结婚，否则单独约会或外出，都被看作是不合礼数的。

旁白 neutral

It's true that many married at a young age, but we had strict rules that allowed or did not allow certain behaviors

确实，很多人年纪轻轻就结婚了，但我们有着严格的规矩，有些行为是允许的，有些则不行。

旁白 neutral

Time is constantly changing and that can't be helped

时代在不断地变化，这是没办法的事。

旁白 neutral

Fashions, manners, customs, and traditions change, too

时尚、礼仪、风俗和传统，也都在变。

旁白 neutral

Some things, however, are timeless: learning how to grow up, learning how to deal with family issues, learning to love and respect others

然而，有些东西是永恒的：学着如何长大，学着处理家庭问题，学着去爱和尊重他人，

旁白 neutral

and of course─most important of all─learning who you are

当然——最重要的一点——是学着认识你自己。

旁白 neutral

Little Women is a story about just those things

《小妇人》正是关于这些事情的故事。

旁白 neutral

Even though it was written more than a hundred years ago

尽管它写于一百多年前，

旁白 neutral

I hope that you will find lessons you can learn from and apply in your life today

但我希望，你们能从中汲取经验，并用在今天的生活里。