《小婦人》是由美國女作家露易莎·梅·奧爾科特創作的長篇小說，首次出版於1868年。該作是一部以美國南北戰爭爲背景，以19世紀美國新英格蘭地區的一個普通家庭四個姐妹之間的生活瑣事爲藍本的帶有自傳色彩的家庭倫理小說。小說受到當時的大思想家愛默生的影響，強調了個人尊嚴與自立自律的觀念;內容平實卻細膩，結構單純而寓意深遠，富有強烈的感染力。

《小婦人》是一本以女性角色爲主，強調女權意識的半自傳體小說。文中注重表現女性意識，宣揚美好品質。

CHAPTER ONE 第一章 PLAYING PILGRIMS 朝聖

"Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.

“沒有禮物聖誕節怎麼過？”喬躺在小地毯上咕噥。

"It's so dreadful to be poor!" sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress.

“貧窮真可怕！”梅格發出一聲嘆息，低頭望着身上的舊衣服。

"I don't think it's fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things, and other girls nothing at all," added little Amy, with an injured sniff.

“有些女孩子擁有榮華富貴，有些卻一無所有，我認爲這不公平。”艾美鼻子輕輕一哼，三分出於輕蔑，七分出於嫉妒。

"We've got Father and Mother, and each other," said Beth contentedly from her corner.

“但我們有父母姐妹，”坐在一角的貝思提出抗議。

The four young faces on which the firelight shone brightened at the cheerful words, but darkened again as Jo said sadly, "We haven't got Father, and shall not have him for a long time." She didn't say "perhaps never," but each silently added it, thinking of Father far away, where the fighting was.

這句令人愉快的話使爐火映照下的四張年輕的臉龐明亮起來。”我們沒有父親，很長一段時間都將沒有，”喬傷心地說。聽到這句話，大家的臉又暗淡下去。她雖沒說"可能永遠沒有"，但每個人心裏都把這句話悄悄說了一遍，同時想起遠在戰場的父親。

Nobody spoke for a minute; then Meg said in an altered tone, "You know the reason Mother proposed not having any presents this Christmas was because it is going to be a hard winter for everyone; and she thinks we ought not to spend money for pleasure, when our men are suffering so in the army. We can't do much, but we can make our little sacrifices, and ought to do it gladly. But I am afraid I don't," and Meg shook her head, as she thought regretfully of all the pretty things she wanted.

大家一時無言。一會梅格換了個聲調說：“你們知道媽媽爲什麼建議今年聖誕節不派禮物嗎？因爲寒冷的冬天就要來了，而我們的男人在軍營裏受苦受難，我們不應該花錢尋樂。雖然我們能力有限，但可以在這方面做出一點小小的犧牲，而且應該做得高高興興。不過我可並不高興。”梅格搖搖腦袋。想到那些夢寐以求的漂亮禮物，她感到遺憾不已。

"But I don't think the little we should spend would do any good. We've each got a dollar, and the army wouldn't be much helped by our giving that. I agree not to expect anything from Mother or you, but I do want to buy _Undine and Sintran_ for myself. I've wanted it so long," said Jo, who was a bookworm.

“我看我們那丁點兒錢也幫不上什麼忙。我們每人只得一元錢，獻給部隊也沒多大用處。我們不要期待媽媽給我們什麼禮物，不過我真的很想買一本《水中女神》，那本書我早就想買了，”喬說。她是個書呆子。

"I planned to spend mine in new music," said Beth, with a little sigh, which no one heard but the hearth brush and kettle-holder.

“我本來打算買些新樂譜，”貝思輕輕嘆了口氣說，聲音輕得誰也聽不到。

"I shall get a nice box of Faber's drawing pencils; I really need them," said Amy decidedly.

“我要買一盒精緻的費伯氏畫筆。我真的很需要，”艾美乾脆地說。

grumble ['ɡrʌmbl] n. 怨言, 滿腹牢騷 v. 抱怨rug [rʌɡ] n. 小地毯dreadful ['dredful] adj. 可怕的sigh [saɪ] vi. 嘆息，嘆氣 n. 嘆息，嘆氣bookworm n. 書呆子decidedly [di'saididli] adv. 斷然，果斷地， 明確地，毫無疑問

"Mother didn't say anything about our money, and she won't wish us to give up everything. Let's each buy what we want, and have a little fun; I'm sure we work hard enough to earn it," cried Jo, examining the heels of her shoes in a gentlemanly manner.

“媽媽沒說過這錢該怎麼花，要是看着我們兩手空空，她也不會高興的。我們倒不如各自買點自己喜歡的東西高興高興。爲掙這些錢，我們花了我多少心血！“喬大聲說道，蠻有紳士風度地審視着自己的鞋跟。

"I know I do--teaching those tiresome children nearly all day, when I'm longing to enjoy myself at home," began Meg, in the complaining tone again.

“可不是嘛--差不多一天到晚都得教那些討厭的孩子，現在多想回家輕鬆一下啊！”梅格又開始抱怨了。

`You don't have half such a hard time as I do,' said Jo. `How would you like to be shut up for hours with a nervous, fussy old lady, who keeps you trotting, is never satisfied, and worries you till you're ready to fly out of the window or cry?'`It's naughty to fret; but I do think washing dishes and keeping things tidy is the worst work in the world. It makes me cross; and my hands get so stiff, I can't practice well at all'; and Beth looked at her rough hands with a sigh that anyone could hear that time.

“你何嘗趕得上我辛苦呢？”喬說，”想想好幾個小時和一個吹毛求疵、神經質的老太太關在一起，被她使喚得團團轉，她卻永遠不會感到滿意，把你折騰得真想從這個世界上消失或者乾脆大哭一場，你會感覺怎樣？”“怨天尤人並不好，但我真的覺得洗碗打掃房子是全世界最痛苦的事情。這讓我脾氣暴躁不算，雙手也變得僵硬，連琴也彈不了。”貝思望着自己粗糙的雙手嘆一口氣，這回每個人都聽到了。

`I don't believe any of you suffer as I do.' cried Amy; `for you don't have to go to school with impertinent girls, who plague you if you don't know your lessons, and laugh at your dresses, and label your father if he isn't rich, and insult you when your nose isn't nice.

“我不相信有誰比我更痛苦，”艾美嚷道，”因爲你們都不用去上學。那些女孩子粗俗無禮，如果你不懂功課，她們就讓你下不了臺，她們笑話你的衣着，爸爸沒有錢要被她們標價，鼻子長得不漂亮也要被她們侮辱。”

'`If you mean libel, I'd say so, and not talk about labels, as if papa was a pickle-bottle,' advised Jo, laughing.

“你是說'譏謗'吧？別唸成'標價'，好像爸爸是個醃菜瓶子似的，”喬邊笑邊糾正。

shut up 關在fussy ['fʌsi] adj. 愛挑剔的，難取悅的；易煩惱的trot [trɑt] vi. （馬）小跑；（人）慢跑； 快步走 文中引申爲忙得團團轉fret [fret] n. 煩躁, 磨損, 焦急 v. 煩惱, 不滿, 磨損 It's naughty to fret 怨天尤人並不好cross adj. 交叉的，相反的；乖戾的；生氣的stiff [stɪf] adj. 呆板的；堅硬的；僵硬的；嚴厲的impertinent [ɪm'pɝtnənt] adj. 不恰當的；無禮的；粗魯的；不相干的 pertinent 相關的，切題的libel ['laɪbl] vt. 中傷；控告；對…進行誹謗labels ['lebl] v. 貼標籤於；把…稱爲pickle ['pɪkl] n. 泡菜

`I know what I mean, and you needn't be satirical about it. It's proper to use good words, and improve your vocabulary,' returned Amy, with dignity.

“我知道我在說什麼你對此不必'冷嘲日（熱）諷'，用好的字眼沒什麼不對，這有助於增加'字（詞）匯'，”艾美義正辭嚴地反擊。

`Don't peck at one another, children. Don't you wish we had the money papa lost when we were little, Jo? Dear me! how happy and good we'd be, if we had no worries!' said Meg, who could remember better times.

“別鬥嘴了，姑娘們。喬，難道你不希望我們擁有爸爸在我們小時候失去的錢嗎？哦，如果我們沒有煩惱，那該多幸福啊！”梅格說。她還記得過去的好時光。

`You said, the other day, you thought we were a deal happier than the King children, for they were fighting and fretting all the time, in spite of their money.'`So I did, Beth. Well, I think we are; for, though we do have to work, we make fun for ourselves, and are a pretty jolly set, as Jo would say.'`Jo does use such slang words!' observed Amy, with a reproving look at the long figure stretched on the rug. Jo immediately sat up, put her hands in her pockets, and began to whistle.

“但前幾天你說我們比起王孫公子來要幸福多了，因爲他們雖然有錢，卻一天到晚明爭暗鬥，煩惱不休。”“我是這麼說過，貝思，嗯，現在也還是這麼想，因爲，雖然我們不得不幹活，但我們可以互相嬉戲，而且，如喬所說，是蠻快活的一夥。”“喬就是愛用這些粗俗的字眼！”艾美抨擊道，用一種譴責的眼光望着躺在地毯上的長身軀。喬立即坐起來，雙手插進衣袋，吹起了口哨。

satirical [sə'tɪrɪkl] adj. 諷刺性的；譏諷的dignity ['dɪɡnəti] n. 尊嚴peck [pɛk] vi. 啄食；扔石頭；吹毛求疵 peck at one another 鬥嘴 slang [slæŋ] adj. 俚語的 vi. 用粗話罵reprove[ri'pru:viŋ] v. 責備；指摘stretch [strɛtʃ] vt. 伸展,張開

今天的讀書分享就先到這了，喜歡的朋友們一定要關注，每天都會更新後續內容，跟着小編一起讀英文原著吧~

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