名著精讀:《小婦人》第三章:勞倫斯家的男孩 第3節

"You may have it, you may! Only don't stain it, and do behave nicely. Don't put your hands behind you, or stare, or say 'Christopher Columbus!' will you?"

“你可以戴我的，可以！只是別把它弄髒了，而且一定要言行檢點。別把手放在身後，不要瞪着眼看人，不要說'我的天哪！'好嗎？”

"Don't worry about me. I'll be as prim as I can and not get into any scrapes, if I can help it. Now go and answer your note, and let me finish this splendid story."

“別擔心。我會盡量板着面孔，不去闖禍，如果我能做到的話。你現在去給人家回個條吧，讓我把這個精彩故事看完。”

So Meg went away to 'accept with thanks', look over her dress, and sing blithely as she did up her one real lace frill, while Jo finished her story, her four apples, and had a game of romps with Scrabble.

梅格於是去寫她的"萬分感謝地接受"等話，把衣裳再過了一次目，又愉快地唱着歌兒把網眼花邊鑲好。這邊喬讀完故事，吃掉四個蘋果，又和扒扒嬉戲了一番。

On New Year's Eve the parlor was deserted, for the two younger girls played dressing maids and the two elder were absorbed in the all-important business of 'getting ready for the party'. Simple as the toilets were, there was a great deal of running up and down, laughing and talking, and at one time a strong smell of burned hair pervaded the house.

Meg wanted a few curls about her face, and Jo undertook to pinch the papered locks with a pair of hot tongs.

除夕，客廳裏顯得特別的靜，兩個姐姐在專心致志地做異常重要的事情--"爲晚會做準備"，兩個妹妹則侍候她們化妝。雖然化妝並不複雜，姐妹們還是跑上跑下，又說又笑，有一陣子屋子裏瀰漫着一股強烈的燒焦頭髮的異味。梅格想弄幾縷捲曲的劉海，喬便將的頭髮用紙片包起來，再用一把燒熱的火鉗夾祝。

"Ought they to smoke like that?" asked Beth from her perch on the bed.

"頭髮會這樣冒煙嗎？”貝思倚在牀上問。

"It's the dampness drying," replied Jo.

“這是溼氣在蒸發哩，”喬答。

"What a queer smell! It's like burned feathers," observed Amy, smoothing her own pretty curls with a superior air.

“味道真怪！像是燒焦了的羽毛，”艾美一邊評論一邊自豪地摸摸自己美麗的曲發。

"There, now I'll take off the papers and you'll see a cloud of little ringlets," said Jo, putting down the tongs.
　　
“好了，我把紙片拿開，你們就會看到一堆小鬈髮了，”喬說着放下火鉗。

[prim] adj. 規規矩矩的，呆板的，拘謹的 vt. 使一本正經，使整潔

You can't tell that joke to her she's much too prim and proper.
可別給她講那樣的笑話--她這人過於古板和認真。

into scrapes 陷入困境,惹上麻煩

hely['blaiðli] adv. 愉快地，無掛慮地

She continued blithely on in spite of all difficulties.
雖然困難重重，她卻仍然無憂無慮地幹下去。

ade v. 瀰漫，遍及，漫延

Her work is pervaded by nostalgia for a past age.
她的作品充滿了懷舊之情。