010 艾米的酸橙

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The March girls never lacked ideas about how to keep themselves entertained at home

马奇家的女孩们从不缺在家自娱自乐的点子。

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And having a piano in the house only added to the fun

家里有架钢琴更添了乐趣。

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" Beth, can you play this one next?"

“贝丝，接下来能弹这首吗？”

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Amy asked about an old folk song she had liked as a little girl

艾米问起一首她小时候喜欢的老民谣。

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" It reminds me of my childhood," the 12-year-old girl recalled fondly

“这让我想起童年，”十二岁的女孩深情回忆。

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Mother turned away, hiding a smile, while Jo rolled her eyes and said in a teasing tone

母亲转过身去，忍住笑意，乔翻了个白眼，逗弄道：

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" And now that you are so old, you want to relive the days of your youth, do you?"

“现在你都这么老了，想重温青春岁月，是吧？”

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" You don't know how hard my life is right now," Amy started to protest

“你不知道我现在多难，”艾米正要抗议。

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Before a quarrel could start, Beth hastily began playing Amy's request

争吵还没开始，贝丝急忙弹起艾米点的曲子。

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It was true what Amy said. School had changed quite a bit since her older sisters had attended

艾米说得没错。学校自姐姐们上学那会儿，确实变了不少。

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Nowadays, girls Amy's age were more outspoken, bold, and daring

如今，像艾米这么大的女孩更加直言不讳、大胆且勇敢。

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As a result, some girls pressured others to do things they would not normally do

因此，有些女孩会迫使别人去做她们平时不会做的事。

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Wanting to please and be accepted, sometimes they gave in to the pressure, as Amy did today

为了讨好别人、被接纳，她们有时会屈服于压力，就像今天的艾米一样。

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The day started off like any other day: Meg and Jo were running late as usual, thanks to Jo

这一天和往常一样开始了：梅格和乔又迟到了，多亏了乔。

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Beth was dressed and ready to leave for Mr. Laurence's

贝丝已经穿戴整齐，准备去劳伦斯先生家。

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Mother and Hannah had faithfully prepared everyone's breakfast and packed Amy's lunch

妈妈和汉娜忠实地为大家准备好了早餐，也给艾米包好了午餐。

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Amy, on the other hand, was unusually quiet

而艾米却异常安静。

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Noticing her sister's odd behavior, Meg asked," Is there something the matter, Amy?"

梅格注意到妹妹的古怪举动，问道：“艾米，有什么事吗？”

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Dramatically shaking her head, Amy sighed, then lamented," Yes, there is."

艾米戏剧性地摇了摇头，叹了口气，然后哀怨地说：“是啊，有事。”

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" Won't you tell me what it is?"

“你不愿意告诉我是什么事吗？”

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Meg further inquired, keeping one eye on Jo, who had come downstairs just a second earlier but then stomped back up muttering under her breath

梅格继续追问，一边留意着乔——乔刚下楼一秒，就又跺着脚上楼，嘴里嘟嘟囔囔的。

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Amy brushed her golden curls, lowered her eyes, and said in a soft, pitiful voice

艾米捋了捋她的金色卷发，垂下眼睛，用轻柔可怜的声音说，

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" Today is my turn to buy limes for the girls but I haven't got any money."

"今天轮到我来买酸橙请女孩子们吃，但我没有钱。"

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" Limes? What for?" Meg asked, surprised

"酸橙？做什么用？"梅格惊讶地问。

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" Well, Christina, Katy, Mary, and Julia..."

"嗯，克里斯蒂娜、凯蒂、玛丽和茱莉亚……"

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Amy named the most popular girls in her school and continued,"... started the most marvelous game

艾米说出了学校里最受欢迎的几个女生的名字，继续说道："……她们发起了一个超棒的游戏。

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Each week a girl buys a bag of limes and gives one to her true friends

每个星期，会有一个女生买一袋酸橙，分给她真正的朋友们。

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If you are given a lime, that means that you are considered a friend

如果有人收到酸橙，那就意味着她被当成朋友看待。

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And the girls have all been so kind to me

那些女孩一直都对我这么好。

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I never knew I had so many friends!" Amy cried modestly

我从不知道我有这么多朋友！"艾米腼腆地叫道。

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" So today you are the one handing out the limes," Meg stated

“那么今天轮到你发酸橙了，”梅格说。

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Nodding, Amy exclaimed," Oh, dearest Meg! Could you help me out?

艾米点点头，喊道：“哦，最亲爱的梅格！你能帮帮我吗？

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I don't even have a penny! What will the girls think if I don't have any limes to give them?"

我连一分钱都没有！如果我没有酸橙给她们，姑娘们会怎么想？”

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Sweet understanding Meg merely opened her purse and took out a quarter

善解人意的梅格只是打开钱包，拿出了一枚二十五美分硬币。

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( Now back in those days, a quarter was worth a lot of money!

（要知道，在那个年代，二十五美分可是很多钱呢！

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Just see how many limes Amy could buy with 25 cents!)

看看艾米用二十五美分能买到多少酸橙吧！）

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" Thank you!" squealed Amy, jumping up and down and hugging her sister

“谢谢你！”艾米尖声叫着，又蹦又跳地拥抱了姐姐。

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" A quarter will get me a bag of 25, maybe 26, if Mr. Peters gives me an extra

“一枚二十五美分能买一袋二十五个，如果彼得斯先生多给我一个，也许能买二十六个。

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The girls will be so pleased!" Yelling her loud good-byes cheerfully to everyone, Amy dashed out the door, clutching the quarter tightly in her hand

姑娘们会很高兴的！”艾米高兴地大声向所有人道别，紧紧攥着硬币，冲出了门。

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" What's made her so happy all of a sudden?" barked Jo, taking two stairs at a time

“什么事让她突然这么高兴？”乔一边两步并作一步下楼，一边粗声问道。

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" I'll tell you on the way," Meg smiled as she and Jo also left the house

“路上再告诉你。”梅格笑着说，和乔一起也离开了家。

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Before going to school, Amy raced over to Mr. Peter's, the grocer, and bought a big bag of limes

上学之前，艾米冲到杂货店彼得先生那里，买了一大袋酸橙。

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As Amy had hoped, he included one extra

正如艾米希望的，他多加了一个。

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Carrying the limes to school made Amy feel powerful, since she could choose who would be her friend or not

提着酸橙去学校，让艾米觉得自己很有权威，因为她可以选谁做自己的朋友。

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Holding her head up high and proud, Amy walked into her classroom, deliberately rustling the paper bag so the sound would attract the ears of the other girls

艾米骄傲地昂着头走进教室，故意把纸袋弄得沙沙响，好让声音传到其他女孩的耳朵里。

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As she expected, some girls ran over to her at once, complimenting her hair, her outfit, and anything else they could think of

正如她所料，几个女孩立刻跑过来，夸她的头发、她的衣服，还有她们能想到的一切。

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" Amy! Your hair looks so soft today!" shrieked one girl

“艾米！你今天的头发看着好柔顺！”一个女孩尖叫道。

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" Where did you get that dress? I want the exact same one!" cried another

“你的裙子哪里买的？我要买条一模一样的！”另一个女孩喊道。

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Soon Amy was surrounded by most of her classmates, each one trying to get a lime to prove they were her friend

很快，艾米就被大部分同学围住了，人人都想得到一个酸橙，好证明自己是她的朋友。

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" Amy? Is that you?" asked a girl who walked over, wearing a pretty pink dress and matching ribbon

“艾米？是你吗？”一个女孩走过来问道，她穿着漂亮的粉裙子，系着相配的缎带。

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The crowd moved to make room for her

人群让开一条路，给她腾出地方。

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She glided lightly across and stood before Amy

她轻盈地滑过地面，站到艾米面前。

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" Hello, Mary," Amy said cheerfully as she opened her bag and chose a plump shiny green lime to give to her

“你好，玛丽，”艾米开心地说，一边打开书包，挑了一颗饱满油亮的青酸橙递给她。

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Accepting the lime with just a smile and nod, Mary glided past Amy and went to her desk

玛丽只是微微一笑、点了点头，接过酸橙，便从艾米身旁滑步走过，回到自己座位上。

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" Hi, Amy! What's in the bag?" asked another girl walking over, wearing a green and white dress

“嗨，艾米！包里装的是什么呀？”另一个穿着绿白相间裙子的女孩边问边走过来。

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It was Jenny, who had handed out limes last week, but didn't give one to Amy

原来是詹妮，上周她分酸橙的时候，偏偏没给艾米。

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" How cheeky! She knows what I have," Amy thought to herself

“脸皮真厚！她明知我有什么，”艾米心里想。

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Aloud she smiled and said in an extra sweet voice," Oh, it's nothing special."

可她脸上却堆起笑，用一种格外甜腻的语气说：“哦，没什么特别的。”

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Jenny's eyes flashed and she was about to say something nasty when Kitty, Amy's best friend, grabbed her arm and said," He's coming!"

詹妮眼睛一闪，正要说些难听的话，艾米最好的朋友凯蒂一把抓住她的胳膊说：“他来了！”

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The girls scattered to their seats

女孩们四散跑回自己的座位。

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Amy shoved the bag of limes into her desk and sat up straight, trying to look innocent

艾米把那袋酸橙塞进课桌，坐得笔直，努力装出一副无辜的样子。

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Mr. Davis, the teacher, a thin, balding man in his thirties, had only one complaint in life: that he was teaching a class of girls

老师戴维斯先生三十多岁，身材瘦削，头发稀疏，他这辈子唯一的怨言就是：偏偏教了一班女生。

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With boys, all Mr. Davis needed to do was lift his stick, furrow his eyebrows and frown, and the class would do just as he instructed

换作男生，戴维斯先生只需举起教鞭、皱起眉头、沉下脸，全班就会乖乖照做。

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With girls, Mr. Davis quickly learned, it was very different

可对女生，戴维斯先生很快就领教了，根本不是一回事。

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Many tears, tantrums, and frequent silent treatments resulted if he tried to discipline them in any way

但凡他尝试管教一下，结果往往是泪流满面、大发脾气，外加频繁的冷战。

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Still, Mr. Davis was very strict and stuck to his methods no matter what

尽管如此，戴维斯先生依然非常严厉，不论遇到什么情况，都坚持自己的那套管教方式。

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That should have warned the girls since he had made it clear from the beginning that they were not to bring any limes to school

这本该给女孩们敲响警钟，因为他一开始就明确说过，不准带任何酸橙到学校。

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" Good morning, class," Mr. Davis greeted the girls in his usual mechanical way

“早上好，同学们，”戴维斯先生用他一贯机械刻板的方式向女孩们问候。

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" We have a quiz this morning and I expect all of you to..."

“今天上午我们有个小测验，我希望你们所有人都……”

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His speech was interrupted by Jenny, who frantically waved her hand in the air

他的话被詹妮打断了，她正拼命在空中挥手。

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Frowning, Mr. Davis asked," Yes, Jenny?"

戴维斯先生皱起眉头，问道：“什么事，詹妮？”

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" Mr. Davis, I have an allergy and I think someone here has what I'm allergic to," she said in an innocent voice

“戴维斯先生，我过敏，我感觉这儿有人带了我过敏的东西，”她用天真无邪的语气说道。

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" What would that be?" Mr. Davis sighed

“会是什么东西？”戴维斯先生叹了口气。

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" Lemons...," she paused then continued,"... and limes."

“柠檬……”她顿了顿，然后接着说，“……还有酸橙。”

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Everyone gasped loudly. Amy felt her cheeks burn and her heart pump loudly

所有人倒吸一口凉气。艾米觉得脸火辣辣的，心怦怦直跳。

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Mr. Davis did not say anything at first, but after what seemed like forever, he spoke in a calm but threatening tone

戴维斯先生起初一言不发，但仿佛过了漫长的一段时间后，他才开口，语气平静却充满威胁。

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" Who has brought limes to school? Who has deliberately broken my rule?"

“谁把酸橙带到学校了？谁故意违反了我的规定？”

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Mr. Davis slapped his thin stick against the palm of his hand

戴维斯先生用细教鞭拍打着自己的手掌。

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No one dared to speak, because everyone, including Amy, knew that Mr. Davis would surely use that stick on anyone who broke his rules

没人敢出声，因为在场每个人，包括艾米在内，都心知肚明，戴维斯先生一定会用那根教鞭抽打任何违反规定的人。