002 给予的真谛

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The crackling from the fireplace gave the impression that all was well in the March home

壁炉里噼啪作响，让人觉得马奇家一切安好。

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Another crackling sound, that of Jo pushing down on her knuckles, told a different story

另一声噼啪响，是乔按压自己指关节的声音，却预示着不同的故事。

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" I wish this bothersome snow would stop."

“我真希望这烦人的雪能停下来。”

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Jo banged the window as she watched the gigantic snowflakes silently piling up on the ground

乔砰地敲了下窗户，她看着鹅毛大雪无声地在地上堆积起来。

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" Jo," shrieked Amy," that's so unladylike!"

“乔，”艾美尖叫道，“那太没淑女样子了！”

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Amy smoothed her dress and caressed her curls

艾美抚平自己的裙子，轻轻抚摸着自己的卷发。

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She could not stand it when her older sister acted like a boy

她无法忍受姐姐表现得像个男孩子。

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Jo, on the other hand, wished she could be a boy

而另一边，乔却渴望自己是个男孩子。

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She often complained: " Why do I have to wear this confining dress?

她常抱怨：“为什么我非得穿这束缚人的裙子？

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Why can't I wear trousers and kick my legs up and gallop around freely, like a horse?"

为什么我不能穿裤子，像马儿一样踢起双腿，自由驰骋？”

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Whenever Jo said such things, her older sister Meg would gently shake her head and say:

每当乔说这样的话，她的姐姐梅格总是轻轻摇头说：

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" Because whether you like it or not, you are a girl. And girls should behave as such."

"因为不管你喜不喜欢，你就是个女孩。女孩就该有女孩的样子。"

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On this cold winter day, however, Meg did not scold her tomboy sister

可这天实在太冷，梅格没有责怪她那个假小子妹妹。

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In fact, she agreed with Jo about the endlessly falling snow

事实上，她同意乔对这场下个不停的大雪的看法。

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" It's so cold and miserable," Meg lamented

"又冷又凄惨，"梅格叹道。

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" When we were rich, we could warm up every room in the house."

"我们家有钱的时候，能把每个房间都弄得暖暖的。"

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Now the only room that was heated was the living room in which they sat

而现在，只有她们坐着的这间客厅才生了火。

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" We didn't have to wear these unbecoming sweaters."

"也不用穿这些难看的毛衣。"

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Amy turned up her nose as if her sweater had a funny smell

艾美皱起鼻子，好像她的毛衣有股怪味似的。

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" Now our concerns are about how Father is faring under these treacherous conditions," added Jo

"现在我们惦记的，是爸爸在这么恶劣的环境下过得怎么样，"乔补了一句。

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She stomped over to the fireplace and rubbed her large hands together vigorously

她大步走到壁炉前，用力搓着那双大手。

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Being over the age at which men could enlist in the army, Father had volunteered his services as a clergyman

父亲已过参军年龄，便自愿去当随军牧师。

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The girls were too young to understand or to care what the Civil War was about

女孩们还太小，既不明白内战是怎么回事，也不在乎。

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They only wanted it to end so Father could return home

她们只希望战争结束，父亲就能回家。

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At one time, the March family had been very wealthy

马奇家也曾非常富有。

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Meg and Jo, the two oldest girls, could remember a time when they received many gifts all year around

梅格和乔是家里最大的两个孩子，她们还记得以前一年到头都能收到很多礼物。

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Now they didn't have enough money to buy even Christmas gifts for each other

如今她们连给彼此买圣诞礼物的钱都不够。

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" If you had five dollars..." Jo began

“要是你有五美元……”乔开了个头。

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( At this period of time, five dollars was a lot of money.)

（在那个时候，五美元是很大一笔钱。）

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" If you had five dollars," Jo repeated," what would you buy?"

“要是你有五美元，”乔重复道，“你会买什么？”

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The girls fell silent as their eyes grew bigger with fanciful thoughts

女孩们安静下来，眼睛因奇妙的幻想而睁得更大。

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" I know what I would buy," Amy gushed at last

“我知道我要买什么。”艾美终于忍不住说了起来。

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Her sisters turned to her

姐姐们都看向她。

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" Go on," urged Jo

“快说呀。”乔催促道。

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Amy's cheeks got pink and she pressed her hands together excitedly

艾美的脸红了，兴奋地双手紧握在一起。

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" I would buy a new set of watercolors," she said

“我要买一套新的水彩颜料。”她说。

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" And then I would buy two new hairpins: one red with silver butterflies, like my best friend Kitty has

“然后还要买两个新发夹：一个红色的，带着银蝴蝶，就像我最好的朋友基蒂那个一样。

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And the other blue like my eyes."

另一个要蓝色的，像我的眼睛。”

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" As for me," Meg said," I would buy beautiful silk material for a new dress

“至于我，”梅格说，“我要买漂亮的丝绸料子做一条新裙子。

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Maybe I would have some money left over for gloves since I desperately need new ones."

也许还能剩点钱买手套，我实在太需要新的了。”

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Meg held up her lovely hands, which were now pinkish red from the cold

梅格举起她那双可爱的手，手被冻得微微发红。

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Meg had many vanities but she took special pride in her hands

梅格有不少虚荣心，但她尤其以自己的双手为傲。

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" I," Jo blurted in a loud, comical voice

“我嘛，”乔用滑稽的大嗓门脱口而出，

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" would buy four bottles of black ink, a case of pens, twenty rolls of paper, and three hundred..." she paused for dramatic emphasis

“会买四瓶黑墨水、一盒笔、二十卷纸，还有三百个……”她为了制造戏剧效果停顿了一下。

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" Three hundred," she repeated again," leather cases for all the books I am going to publish."

“三百个，”她又重复了一遍，“皮面书套，装我将来要出版的所有书。”

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Jo dreamed of being a writer. Nothing suited her more than to sit at her desk and enter a world of make-believe and fantasy

乔梦想成为一名作家。没有比坐在书桌前，进入虚构与幻想的世界更让她惬意的事了。

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" You can't afford that many leather cases with only five dollars. That's ridiculous," Amy pointed out

“只有五美元可买不起那么多皮面书套，太可笑了。”艾美指出。

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" Well, so is this game," Jo retorted," because none of us actually has five dollars!"

“哼，这个游戏本身也可笑，”乔回敬道，“因为我们谁也没有真的五美元！”

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" Girls," Meg said in her " motherly " voice

“姑娘们，”梅格用她那“慈母般”的语气说。

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" Do stop arguing. You're behaving like children

“别吵了，你们这样像小孩一样。”

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Now, Beth, let's hear what you would do if you had five dollars."

来，贝丝，说说如果你有五美元，你会怎么做。

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Beth had a faraway look in her eyes. She was smiling

贝丝的眼神望向远方，脸上带着微笑。

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" First of all, I'd buy a new pair of slippers for Mother

“首先，我要给妈妈买一双新拖鞋。

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I noticed her old ones have several small holes in them," Beth said in her gentle, quiet way

我发现她那双旧的上面有好几个小洞了，”贝丝用她温柔又安静的语气说道。

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The other girls glanced at the familiar slippers next to the sofa

其他女孩瞥了一眼沙发旁那双熟悉的拖鞋。

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They all felt rather guilty when they saw that the well-worn slippers did, indeed, have many holes

当她们看到那双穿旧了的拖鞋确实布满破洞时，都觉得挺愧疚的。

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" And then I would buy Father a new scarf and hat in his favorite color," Beth continued

“然后我要给爸爸买一条新围巾和一顶新帽子，要选他最喜欢的颜色，”贝丝继续说。

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" If I had money left over, I would get each of you girls a handkerchief with your name on it. And one for Hannah, too."

“如果还有剩下的钱，我要给你们每个人买一条绣着名字的手帕。也要给汉娜买一条。”

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Of the four girls, Beth was by far the kindest and most loving

在四个女孩中，贝丝无疑是最善良、最有爱心的一个。

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She never said a bad word about anyone nor did she ever complain

她从没说过任何人的坏话，也从不抱怨。

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She had a positive view of everything and everyone

她对所有人和所有事总是看得开。

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" Oh, Beth!" Jo ran over and wrapped her arms around her sister." You make me feel so ashamed!

“哦，贝丝！”乔跑过去，紧紧抱住了妹妹。“你让我觉得自己好自私！

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Here I am thinking of myself, but you — " she sniffed, for Jo was a very emotional girl," — you even thought of Hannah, our housekeeper."

我只顾着考虑自己，可你——”她吸了吸鼻子，因为乔是个感情很丰富的女孩，“——你甚至想到了我们的管家汉娜。”

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Meg and Amy also gave Beth a hug. They, too, were feeling a little embarrassed about their selfishness

梅格和艾美也拥抱了贝丝。她们也同样为自己的自私感到有些不好意思。

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Even though the sisters had different personalities, they were very close and loved one another very much

虽然姐妹们的性格各不相同，但她们非常亲密，深爱着彼此。

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" Girls, what is going on?"

“姑娘们，这是怎么了？”

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The girls had not heard Mother come home

姑娘们没听到妈妈回家的声音。

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" Mother!" they cried and ran to give her a hug

“妈妈！”她们喊着，跑过去拥抱她。

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Mother's hands and cheeks were cold from the air outside, but her hugs and kisses warmed the girls up instantly

妈妈的手和脸颊被外面的冷空气冻得冰凉，但她的拥抱和亲吻立刻让姑娘们暖和了起来。

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Meg quickly removed Mother's heavy coat. Jo ran to get more wood for the fire

梅格赶紧帮妈妈脱下厚重的外套。乔跑去给壁炉添上了更多的木柴。

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Amy grabbed Mother's sweater, which was folded up on her chair, and gave it to her

艾美抓起叠放在妈妈椅子上的毛衣，递给了她。

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Beth quietly brought Mother's slippers to warm her feet

贝丝悄悄地拿来妈妈的拖鞋，让她暖暖脚。

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As Mother sat on her chair and rubbed her hands in front of the fire, Jo told her what they'd been talking about

妈妈坐在椅子上，在炉火前搓着手，乔告诉了她她们刚才谈论的话题。

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" We were so selfish, Mother," admitted Jo

“我们太自私了，妈妈。”乔承认道。

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" Except for Beth. She only cares about other people."

“除了贝丝。她心里只装着别人。”

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Mother smiled affectionately at each daughter and said: " I'm glad that you discovered your fault, girls

妈妈慈爱地对着每个女儿笑了笑，说道：“我很高兴你们发现了自己的缺点，姑娘们。

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But finding out our faults is only the first step

但是，发现缺点只是第一步。

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What we do with this knowledge is more important."

我们如何对待这个认识才更重要。”

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That evening, after a simple dinner, Mother and Hannah took inventory of the food pantry while the girls sat around the fireplace talking again

那天晚上，吃过简单的晚餐后，妈妈和汉娜去清点食物储藏室，姑娘们则又围坐在壁炉旁聊了起来。

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" I have some money saved up," Jo began

“我攒了一点钱，”乔率先开口。

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" It's only a little bit... but, well, I wanted... Mother... a little gift...," she stammered

“只有一点点……但是，嗯，我想……给妈妈……一个小礼物……”她结结巴巴地说。

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" Oh, Jo! What a lovely thought!" Beth understood right away what her sister was trying hard to express

“哦，乔！多美好的想法！”贝丝立刻明白了姐姐努力想表达的意思。

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" What's a lovely thought?" Amy asked irritably

“什么美好的想法？”艾美不耐烦地问。

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Unlike Beth, she had no idea what Jo was trying to say

不像贝丝，她完全不知道乔想说什么。

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" This Christmas none of us has much to give," Beth explained

“这个圣诞节，我们都没什么可送的，”贝丝解释道。

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" But with what we do have, Jo suggests that we should all give something to Mother."

“但乔建议说，我们可以用我们仅有的一点钱，一起送妈妈些东西。”

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Beth smiled at Jo, who nodded enthusiastically

贝丝对乔笑了笑，乔则热情地点了点头。

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" That's exactly what I wanted to say, Beth," she said gratefully

“那正是我想说的，贝丝。”她感激地说。

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Meg and Amy both agreed it was a splendid idea

梅格和艾美都赞同这是个绝妙的主意。

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They spent the rest of the evening discussing what Mother needed and what they could give her

那天晚上剩下的时间里，她们都在讨论妈妈需要什么，以及她们能送她什么。

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Although the girls would not receive gifts themselves, they were quite happy to learn the true meaning of giving

虽然姑娘们自己不会收到礼物，但她们非常开心地体会到了给予的真谛。