名著精讀:《小婦人》第二章:聖誕快樂 第6節
Another bang of the street door sent the basket under the sofa, and the girls to the table, eager for breakfast.
臨街的大門又響了一下，籃子再次藏到沙發下面，姑娘們圍坐在桌子邊，等着吃早餐。
"Merry Christmas, Marmee! Many of them! Thank you for our books. We read some, and mean to every day," they all cried in chorus.
“聖誕快樂，媽咪！謝謝你送給我們的書。我們讀了一點，以後每天都要讀，“姐妹們齊聲喊道。
"Merry Christmas, little daughters! I'm glad you began at once, and hope you will keep on. But I want to say one word before we sit down. Not far away from here lies a poor woman with a little newborn baby. Six children are huddled into one bed to keep from freezing, for they have no fire. There is nothing to eat over there, and the oldest boy came to tell me they were suffering hunger and cold. My girls, will you give them your breakfast as a Christmas present?"
“聖誕快樂，小姑娘們！真高興你們馬上就開始學習，可要堅持下去埃不過坐下之前我想説幾句話。離這兒不遠的地方，躺着一個可憐的婦人和一個剛生下來的嬰兒。六個孩子為了不被凍僵擠在一張牀上，因為他們沒有火取暖。那裏沒有吃的，最大的孩子來告訴我他們又冷又餓。姑娘們，你們願意把早餐送給他們做聖誕禮物嗎？”
They were all unusually hungry, having waited nearly an hour, and for a minute no one spoke, only a minute, for Jo exclaimed impetuously, "I'm so glad you came before we began!"
她們剛才等了差不多一個小時，現在正餓得慌，有一陣子大家都默不作聲--就那麼一陣子，只聽喬衝口而出道：“我真高興，早餐還沒開始呢！”
"May I go and help carry the things to the poor little children?" asked Beth eagerly.
“我幫着把東西拿給那些可憐的孩子好嗎？”貝思熱切地問道。
"I shall take the cream and the muffings," added Amy, heroically giving up the article she most liked.
“我來拿奶油和鬆餅，”艾美接着説，英雄似地放棄了自己最喜歡吃的東西。
Meg was already covering the buckwheats, and piling the bread into one big plate.
梅格已動手把蕎麥蓋上，把麪包堆放到一個大盤子裏。
"I thought you'd do it," said Mrs. March, smiling as if satisfied. "You shall all go and help me, and when we come back we will have bread and milk for breakfast, and make it up at dinnertime."
“我早料到你們會這樣做，”馬奇太太舒心地微笑道，”你們都去幫我，回來後早餐吃點牛奶麪包，到正餐的時候再補回來。”
They were soon ready, and the procession set out. Fortunately it was early, and they went through back streets, so few people saw them, and no one laughed at the queer party.
大家很快準備妥當，隊伍出發了。幸虧時候尚早，她們又打后街穿過，沒幾個人看到她們，也沒人取笑這支奇怪的隊伍。
us n. 合唱隊,歌舞隊，齊聲説道，副歌部分 vt. 合唱
The audience joined in the chorus.
唱到歌曲的副歌時, 觀眾也跟着齊唱起來。
le n. 雜亂一團, 混亂, 擁擠 v. 推擠, 亂堆, 草率了事
The boys huddled together in the cave to keep warm.
男孩子們在山洞裏擠成一團取暖。
tuously adv. 衝動地
Last year we accomplished many things, but some were overdone or done impetuously.
去年一年我們做了很多事情，有些事情是搞多了搞急了。
ically adv. 英勇地
