美国语文第三册 第73期:玛丽的硬币

 　　There! I have drawn¹ the chairs into the right corners, and dusted the room nicely. 你瞧！我把椅子都拉到合适的角落里，把房间打扫得一尘不染。

　　How cold papa and mamma will be when they return from their long ride! 爸爸妈妈长途旅行，到家的时候该是多冷啊！

　　It is not time to toast the bread yet, and I am tired of reading. 现在还不是时候烤面包，而我看书也已经看烦了。

　　What shall I do? 我该做些什么呢？

　　Some how, I can't help thinking about the pale face of that little beggar² girl all the time. 不知道为什么，我总是忍不住想起那个乞讨的小女孩。

　　I can see the glad light filling her eyes, just as plain as I did when I laid the dime³ in her little dirty hand. 我面前浮现她眼里闪耀快乐的光彩，就像当我把一角硬币放到她脏兮兮的小手里时一样。

　　How much I had thought of that dime, too! 我也多么惦念那个一角硬币啊！

　　Grandpa gave it to me a whole month ago, and I had kept it ever since in my red box upstairs; 那是祖母一个月前给我的，从那以后我一直把它放在楼上的红盒子里。

　　but those sugar apples looked so beautiful, and were so cheap —only a dime a piece —that I made up my mind to have one. 可是那些释迦果看起来多漂亮啊，而且那么便宜——只要一角钱一个——于是我下定决心要去买一个。

　　I can see her—the beggar girl, I mean—as she stood there in front of the store, in her old hood⁴ and faded dress, looking at the candies laid all in a row. 我能看到她——那个乞讨的女孩，我的意思是——当时她站在商店前面，戴着旧头巾，穿着褪了色的裙子，看着那些摆成一行的糖果时，

　　I wonder what made me say, "Little girl, what do you want?" 我不知道是什么促使我说：“小姑娘，你想要什么？”

　　How she stare at me, just as if nobody had spoken kindly⁵ to her before. 她盯着我的神情显得多惊讶啊！

　　I guess she thought I was sorry for her,for she said, so earnestly⁶ and sorrowfully, "I was thinking how good one of those gingerbread rolls would taste." 就好像从来没有人和气地跟她说过话一样。我猜她是认为我为她感到难过，因为她语气急切而悲伤地答道：“我在想那些姜饼卷该会有多好吃。”

　　I haven't had anything to eat today. 今天我还没吃过东西。

　　Now, I thought to myself, "Mary Williams, you have had a good breakfast and a good dinner this day, and this poor girl has not had a mouthful." 那个时候，我在心里对自己说：“玛丽.威廉斯，你今天吃了丰盛的早餐和午餐，这个可怜的小女孩却一口饭都吃不上。”

　　You can give her your dime; she needs it a great deal more than you do. 你可以把你那个硬币给她，她比你更需要。

　　I could not resist that little girl's sorrowful, hungry look—so I dropped the dime right into her hand, and, without waiting for her to speak, walked straight away. 我无法抗拒那个小女孩悲伤、饥饿的神情——于是我把硬币塞到她的手里，不等她开口说话，就立刻走开了。

　　I'm so glad I gave her the dime, if I did have to go without the apple lying there in the window, and looking just like a real one. 我很高兴自己把硬币给了她，就像是我确实必须走开，让那个释迦果留在橱窗里，只是看起来像真的。

1 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

2 beggar   

n.乞丐，穷人，募捐者

参考例句：

• The beggar begged from the rich but they refused.那个乞丐向富人们乞讨，但遭到了拒绝。
• He is so rich and lives like a beggar.他非常有钱可是生活得象个乞丐。

3 dime   

n.（指美国、加拿大的钱币）一角

参考例句：

• A dime is a tenth of a dollar.一角银币是十分之一美元。
• The liberty torch is on the back of the dime.自由火炬在一角硬币的反面。

4 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

5 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

6 earnestly   

adv．认真地

参考例句：

• The boy earnestly asked that his application be granted. 那孩子热切地要求批准他的申请。
• I earnestly wish I could have been present at the meeting yesterday. 我倒真愿意能参加昨天的会议。