029 变化

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On the surface, everything at the March home appeared to return to normal

表面上看，马奇家的一切似乎恢复了正常。

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Amy was back home, showing off her ring ( not mentioning to Meg that she had left it to her in her will )

艾米回到了家，炫耀着她的戒指（没跟梅格提她在遗嘱里把戒指留给梅格的事），

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and entertaining the family with funny episodes about Aunt March and her parrot, Polly

还讲着马奇姑婆和她的鹦鹉波莉的趣事，逗得全家开心。

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Beneath the smiles and laughter, however, the sisters had changed considerably;

然而，在欢声笑语的表象之下，姐妹们已经大为改变；

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they were no longer the carefree young girls they used to be before Beth's illness

她们不再是贝丝生病前那些无忧无虑的少女了。

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Perhaps the person who changed the most was Beth herself

也许，变化最大的人正是贝丝自己。

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Outwardly, she seemed to regain her health and sunny disposition

外表上，她似乎恢复了健康和阳光的性格。

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Her optimistic and innocent world, however, had been shattered when the Hummel baby died in her arms, giving Beth a close encounter with death

然而，当胡梅尔家的婴儿在她怀中死去，让贝丝与死亡擦肩而过时，她那乐观天真的世界就已破碎。

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Beth withdrew even more into herself as if an inner light in her had been switched off

贝丝变得更加孤僻内向，仿佛她内心的一盏灯被关掉了。

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Seeing the change in Beth, Jo knew that she could never forgive herself for contributing to the loss of happiness in her sister's life

看到贝丝的变化，乔明白，她永远无法原谅自己，因为是她导致了妹妹生命中快乐的部分流失。

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" Jo? Jo!" Amy called sharply

“乔？乔！”艾米尖声喊道。

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Lost in thought, Jo did not even hear Amy speaking to her

正在出神的乔，甚至没听到艾米在跟她说话。

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" Sorry, Amy. What did you say?" she asked

“抱歉，艾米。你说什么？”她问道。

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" I asked,' Where is Laurie?' He was incredibly faithful," said Amy

“我问，‘劳瑞在哪儿？’他可真是太够意思了，”艾米说，

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" visiting me every day at Aunt March's so I wouldn't go insane with worry

“每天都到马奇姑婆家来看我，好让我不至于担心得发疯。

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Without him, I would have died!" Then realizing her poor choice of words, she quickly added," I mean, it would have been just awful!"

没有他，我可能就死了！”随即她意识到自己措辞不当，连忙补充道：“我是说，那可就太糟了！”

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" Am I his keeper?" barked Jo spitefully

“我是他的保姆吗？”乔尖酸地回了一句。

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" Frankly, Laurie is the least of my concerns now

“说实话，我现在最不关心的就是劳瑞了。

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My thoughts are occupied with far more important matters at the moment."

我现在的思绪都被更重要的事情占据着。”

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Meg, noticing Jo's peculiar response, knew that her sister was not on speaking terms with Laurie because of the tasteless joke he had played

梅格注意到乔反常的反应，明白妹妹是因为劳瑞那个没品的玩笑在和他闹别扭。

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Meg also knew that Jo, although she was pretending to the world and herself that it didn't matter, was deeply troubled by the rift in their friendship

梅格也知道，虽然乔对世人也对自己假装不在意，但她其实对他们友谊的裂痕深感困扰。

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" I think we should have Laurie and his grandfather over for dinner tonight," Meg suggested while she looked away from Jo's piercing glare

“我想我们今晚应该请劳瑞和他爷爷过来吃晚饭，”梅格一边建议，一边避开乔那锐利的瞪视。

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" Why should we?" Jo asked sharply

“我们为什么要请？”乔尖刻地问。

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" Jo! You ought to be ashamed of yourself after all the Laurences have done for us," scolded Amy righteously

“乔！在劳伦斯家为我们做了这么多之后，你应该为自己感到羞耻，”艾米义正词严地责备道。

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" We are indebted to them forever for their selfless deeds."

“他们无私的善举，我们会永远感激不尽。”

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" I agree with Meg," said Mother, giving Amy a warning look to go easy on Jo

“我同意梅格的想法，”母亲说着，给了艾米一个警告的眼神，让她对乔温和些。

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" We should invite them this evening if they're available."

“如果他们今晚有空，我们应该邀请他们过来。”

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" Can I ask Laurie myself?" Amy jumped up, clapping her hands like a little girl

“我能自己去邀请劳瑞吗？”艾米跳了起来，像个小女孩一样拍着手。

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Glancing at Jo, Mother replied," Yes, you may."

母亲瞥了乔一眼，回答道：“嗯，你去吧。”

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When Mother and Amy left together with Meg trailing closely behind

当母亲和艾米一同离开，梅格紧随其后时，

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Beth turned to her sister with worried eyes and asked," Is everything all right with you and Laurie?"

贝丝转向姐姐，眼中满是担忧，问道：“你和劳瑞之间还好吗？”

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Pressing her lips together, Jo forced a smile and took Beth's pale, thin hand

乔抿了抿嘴唇，勉强挤出一个笑容，握住了贝丝苍白瘦削的手。

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" Friendships are forged through time, experience, and overcoming obstacles

“友谊是经过时间、经历和共同克服障碍才锤炼出来的。

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Laurie and I have hit a barrier at the moment," Jo said truthfully," but I'm confident that we will get over this."

劳瑞和我眼下是遇到了障碍，”乔坦诚地说，“但我有信心我们能跨过去。”

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Squeezing her hand gently, Beth rested her head on Jo's shoulder

贝丝轻轻地握了握她的手，把头靠在乔的肩上。

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On such short notice, a lot of tightly organized teamwork was needed to put together a meal quickly

时间这么紧，要快速张罗出一顿饭，需要大家紧密协作，分工明确。

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For the rest of the day, everyone busily took charge of certain tasks to ensure a highly hospitable evening for their neighbors

那天剩下的时间里，每个人都忙碌地承担起各自的任务，以确保能为邻居们营造一个宾至如归的夜晚。

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" It's half-past six already! They'll be here any minute!"

“已经六点半了！他们随时会到！”

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Amy panicked as she set the cutlery on the table

艾米一边在桌上摆放餐具，一边慌乱不已。

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" Meg, did you check the potatoes?" Mother asked as she rushed toward the kitchen

“梅格，你看过土豆了吗？”妈妈一边问，一边匆匆朝厨房走去。

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" They're all done," answered Meg, careful not to collide with Mother as she carried out a large steaming dish

“都准备好了。”梅格答道，一边小心翼翼地端着冒热气的大菜盘，以免撞到妈妈。

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While the others scrambled around the kitchen, Jo volunteered to help Beth downstairs so she could join the festivities

其他人在厨房里忙作一团，乔自告奋勇扶贝丝下楼，好让她也能参加庆祝。

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" My legs feel like rubber," giggled Beth as she struggled to maintain her balance on shaky legs

“我的腿像橡皮一样。”贝丝咯咯笑着，努力用颤抖的双腿站稳。

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" Just hang on to me," said Jo, holding Beth around the waist and arm

“抓紧我就行。”乔说着，搂住贝丝的腰和手臂。

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Her progress was painstakingly slow, but in the end Beth managed to seat herself on the sofa, then Jo wrapped a thick blanket around her for warmth

她走得缓慢吃力，但贝丝最终还是坐到了沙发上，乔接着用一条厚毯子把她裹暖和。

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As Beth smiled up at her sister, there was a knock at the door, and Jo was the only one available to answer it

贝丝朝姐姐微笑时，传来了敲门声，只有乔有空去开门。

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" Good evening, Mr. Laurence," Jo greeted Laurie's grandfather as she opened the door

“晚上好，劳伦斯先生。”乔开门时向劳瑞的爷爷打招呼。

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She merely nodded to Laurie, who returned the curt gesture

她只对劳瑞点了点头，劳瑞也草草地回了一下。

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Mr. Laurence immediately made his way toward Beth, who welcomed her dear friend with a weak but genuine smile

劳伦斯先生立刻朝贝丝走去，贝丝用虚弱但真诚的微笑迎接这位亲爱的朋友。

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Standing together awkwardly, Laurie and Jo spoke at the same time

劳瑞和乔尴尬地站在一起，同时开了口。

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" So how...,"" What did...,"

“那么……怎么样……”“什么……”

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" You go first," said Jo

“你先说，”乔说。

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" It's nothing," replied Laurie

“没什么，”劳瑞回答。

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" Laurie!" Amy shouted cheerfully as she ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck

“劳瑞！”艾米高兴地喊着，跑到他身边，搂住了他的脖子。

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Grateful for the interruption, Jo escaped to help Meg set the table

乔因这打断而心生感激，便抽身去帮梅格摆桌子。

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Dinner talk was light and full of laughter — the main entertainment was Amy, who repeated her stories from Aunt March's

晚餐的谈话轻松愉快，充满欢笑——主要的娱乐来自艾米，她重复着从马奇姑婆家听来的趣事。

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If anyone noticed the tension between Laurie and Jo, they did not mention it

即便有人注意到劳瑞和乔之间的紧张关系，他们也没有提起。

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" Jo, can you bring some more bread from the oven?" Mother asked kindly

“乔，你能从烤箱里再拿些面包来吗？”母亲和善地问。

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Jo stood up, grabbed the bread basket and was heading toward the kitchen when she overheard Mr. Laurence saying

乔站起身，抓起面包篮，真朝厨房走去时，无意中听到劳伦斯先生说道：

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" Laurie, can you bring me a glass of water?"

“劳瑞，你能给我倒杯水吗？”

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Even though Mother protested that one of the girls could get it, Mr. Laurence insisted his grandson should go

尽管妈妈反对，说让女孩们去拿就好，劳伦斯先生却坚持要让他的孙子去，

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thereby driving Laurie into the kitchen where Jo was

于是劳瑞就被支使去了乔所在的厨房。

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Trying to ignore him, Jo tossed the bread into the basket as quickly as she could without acknowledging his presence

乔想无视他，飞快地把面包扔进篮子里，就当他不存在。

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But since they were thrown together in a situation like this, they couldn't avoid talking

但既然处境如此，他们被凑到了一起，就无法避而不谈了。

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" Jo?" Laurie spoke first

“乔？”劳瑞先开了口。

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She turned to him without speaking

她只是转向他，没说话。

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" I don't know how to make things right," he said quietly

“我不知道该怎样弥补过错，”他轻声说道。

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" Could you forgive me and accept me as a friend again?"

“你能原谅我，再接受我做你的朋友吗？”

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Jo felt a lump in her throat as she looked at Laurie bowing his head, staring down at his hands

看着劳瑞低着头，眼睛盯着自己的手，乔感到喉咙哽住了。

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All her animosity, anger, and hurt melted away in an instant

她所有的敌意、愤怒和委屈瞬间都烟消云散了。

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" Silly boy," she mumbled," of course I can."

“傻小子，”她咕哝道，“我当然可以。”

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Jo grabbed him roughly by the neck and playfully messed up his hair

乔粗鲁地一把搂住他的脖子，顽皮地弄乱了他的头发。

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" I'm really sorry, Jo," Laurie said sincerely

“我真的非常抱歉，乔，”劳瑞诚恳地说。

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" Let's just forget about it," said Jo

“我们就忘了这事吧，”乔说。

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The two friends smiled at each other and knew that everything was going to be fine

两位朋友相视一笑，知道一切都会好起来的。

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Suddenly a loud commotion arose from the living room, forcing Jo and Laurie to cut short their reunion

突然，客厅里响起一阵喧闹，迫使乔和劳瑞不得不提前结束这次重归于好。

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Meg and Amy were beside themselves as they ran toward a tall thin man standing in the doorway

梅格和艾米欣喜若狂，朝门口站着的那个高高瘦瘦的男人跑去。

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" Father! Father!" they screamed, as Mother stood still at the table, wiping her eyes with her napkin

“爸爸！爸爸！”她们尖叫着，而妈妈则静静地站在桌旁，用餐巾擦着眼睛。

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" I'm home, my little girls," said Father happily as he hugged and kissed each of his daughters

“我到家了，我的小姑娘们，”爸爸高兴地说着，拥抱亲吻了他的每一个女儿。

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Behind him stood Mr. Brookes, quiet as ever, but staring at only one person in the room: Meg

他身后站着布鲁克斯先生，一如既往地安静，但目光却只落在屋里的一个人身上：梅格。

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Lifting Beth from her chair and putting her on his lap, Father gathered his girls around him and said," How I missed my little women."

爸爸把贝丝从椅子上抱起来，放在自己腿上，把女儿们聚拢到身边，说道：“我可真想念我的小妇人们啊。”

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When Mr. Laurence, Laurie, and Mr. Brookes tried to leave unnoticed, Father called out

当劳伦斯先生、劳瑞和布鲁克斯先生想悄悄离开时，爸爸大声说道：

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" Please stay. Tonight we're celebrating with both family and friends."

“请留步。今晚，我们既和家人、也和朋友一起庆祝。”

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And that is exactly what they did

而他们也正是这么做的。