"I don't like you going," her mother said again. "It's a rich-people's party." "I’m going because I’ve been invited," she said. "And I’ve been invited because Luciana is my friend." "Ah yes, your ‘friend’," her mother grumbled. "Listen, Rosaura, that girl is not your friend. You know what you are to her? The maid’s daughter, that’s all."
“我不想讓你去。”她媽媽又說了一遍，“那是一個富人派對。”“我要去，因為我受到邀請了，”她說，“我受到邀請是因為盧恰娜是我的朋友。”“嗯，對，你的‘朋友’，”她媽媽嘟囔地附和道。“聽好了，羅紹拉，那個女孩不是你的朋友。你知道她是怎么看待你的嗎？女仆的女兒，僅此而已。”
Rosaura blinked hard: she wasn't going to cry. Instead, she yelled: "You know nothing about being friends!" Every afternoon she used to go to Luciana's house and they would both finish their homework while Rosaura's mother did the cleaning. Rosaura loved everything in the big house, and she also loved the people who lived there.
羅紹拉用力眨了眨眼睛。她沒哭，反而喊道：“你根本不知道什么是朋友！”每天下午，她都會去盧恰娜家，與她一起完成家庭作業，與此同時，羅紹拉的母親會在盧恰娜家打掃房間。羅紹拉喜歡這所大房子里的一切，也喜歡住在里面的人。
"I'm going because it will be the loveliest party in the whole world! There will be a magician and he will bring a monkey!" The mother swung around, stared at her daughter angrily, and pompously put her hands on her hips. "Monkeys at a birthday?" she said. "Nonsense!"
“我要去，因為它會是全世界最令人愉快的派對！派對會請來一位魔術師，他還會帶來一只猴子！”母親轉過身，生氣地盯著女兒，夸張地把雙手放在臀部上，說：“生日派對請來猴子？這簡直太荒謬了！”
"I'll die if I don't go," Rosaura now whispered, almost without moving her lips. And she wasn't sure whether she had been heard, but on the morning of the party she discovered that her mother had starched her Christmas dress. And in the afternoon, after washing her hair, her mother rinsed it in apple vinegar so that it would be all nice and shiny. Before going out, Rosaura admired herself in the mirror, with her white dress and glossy hair, and thought she looked very pretty.
“不讓我去，我寧可去死。”羅紹拉低聲咕噥道，說話時嘴唇幾乎沒動。而且，她也不確定她媽媽是否聽到她說什么了。但在派對的那天早晨，她發現她的母親已經為她準備好了圣誕禮服。那天下午，媽媽還幫她洗了頭發，之后又用蘋果醋沖洗了她的頭發，這讓她的頭發看上去非常光鮮亮麗。外出前，羅紹拉在鏡子前好好地欣賞了一下自己，覺得自己穿著白色連衣裙，再加上滿頭順滑的秀發，看起來非常漂亮。
Luciana’s mother, Senora Ines, also seemed to notice. As soon as she saw her, she said, "How lovely you look today, Rosaura." Rosaura blushed, said hello to her and Luciana and looked around, and saw more balloons, flags and confetti than she ever had seen in her entire life. Suddenly, a girl with a bow in her hair said to her: "And you? Who are you?" "I'm a friend of Luciana," replied Luciana.
盧恰娜的母親伊內斯太太似乎也注意到了她的美麗變身。她一見到羅紹拉就說：“羅紹拉，你今天看起來太可愛啦！”羅紹拉紅著臉頰，羞澀地向伊內斯太太和盧恰娜打了招呼。然后環顧四周，她看到了許許多多的氣球、旗子和五彩紙屑，比她之前一生中見過的都多。突然，一個頭發上扎著蝴蝶結的女孩對她說：“你又是誰呢？”“我是盧恰娜的朋友。”羅紹拉回答說。
"No," said the girl with the bow, "you are not a friend of Luciana because I'm her cousin and I know all her friends. And I don't know you. “So what!?" said Rosaura. "I come here every afternoon with my mother and we do our homework together." The girl with the bow shrugged her shoulders. "That's not being friends, so where do you know her from?" she said impatiently. Rosaura remembered her mother's words perfectly. She took a deep breath and said: "I'm the daughter of the employee." Her mother had told her very clearly: "If someone asks, you say proudly that you're the daughter of the employee; that's all!"
“不會吧？”扎著蝴蝶結的女孩說，“你不可能是盧恰娜的朋友，我是她的表姐，我認識她所有的朋友，可我不認識你。”“那又怎樣！？”羅紹拉說，“我每天下午都會和我媽媽一起來她家，而且我們會一起做作業。”扎著蝴蝶結的女孩聳了聳肩，說：“那不算朋友。你是怎么認識她的？”她不耐煩地問道。羅紹拉清楚地記得母親對她說過的話。她深吸一口氣，說道：“我是雇員的女兒。”她的母親曾經非常明確地告訴她：“如果有人問，你就自豪地說你是雇員的女兒，一個字也不用多說！”
"What employee?" said the girl with the bow. "Employee in a shop?”"No," said Rosaura angrily. "My mother doesn't sell anything in any shop!" "So how come she's an employee?" said the girl with the bow. Just then, Senora Ines arrived saying shh shh, and asked Rosaura if she wouldn't mind helping serve out the hot-dogs, as she knew the house so much better than the others. "See?" said Rosaura to the girl with the bow, and when no one was looking she kicked her in the shin.
“哪里的雇員？”扎著蝴蝶結的女孩問。“商店里的雇員？”“不是，”羅紹拉生氣地回答道，“我媽媽不在商店工作，也不賣任何東西！”“那她怎么會是雇員呢？”扎著蝴蝶結的女孩追問道。就在這時，伊內斯太太來到她們面前，讓她倆安靜一下，并問羅紹拉是否愿意幫忙向客人們分發熱狗，因為她比其他人更了解這棟房子的情況。“看到了吧？”羅紹拉對那個扎著蝴蝶結的女孩說，然后在沒有任何人注意到的情況下，踢了一下那個女孩的小腿。
The best came after Luciana blew out the candles on the cake. Senora Ines had asked Rosaura to help pass the cake around, and she had enjoyed the task immensely, because everyone called out to her,shouting "Me, me.!" To Luciana, she gave the largest piece, and to the girl with the bow she gave a slice so thin one could see through it.
最精彩的部分出現在盧恰娜吹滅蛋糕上的蠟燭后。伊內斯太太要羅紹拉幫忙向客人們遞送蛋糕，她非常喜歡這項任務，因為每個人都會向她喊著：“來我這里，來我這里！”她把最大的一塊給了盧恰娜，把薄薄的一小片給了扎蝴蝶結的女孩。
After the cake came the magician, a true magician! He could untie handkerchiefs by blowing on them and make a chain with links that had no openings. A monkey was his assistant during all his tricks; a real monkey! Rosaura thought that this was truly the most amusing party in the whole world.
分完蛋糕后，魔術師閃亮登場，是位貨真價實的魔術師哦！他在手帕上吹一口氣，就能把手帕上的結解開，還可以將沒有開口的鐵環連接成一串。一只猴子是他所有表演的全程助演——是一只真猴子！羅紹拉覺得這次派對絕對稱得上全世界最有趣的派對。
At the end of the day, her mother came to pick her up. Tired, but still very excited, Rosaura told her mother everything that had happened at the party, that there was a real monkey, and how wonderful it had been to watch the magician and the monkey performing. Senora Ines, smiling,overheard her and said: "Please wait here a second." Her mother suddenly seemed worried. "Why does she want you to wait? Did you misbehave?" she asked Rosaura. "It's nothing! Said Rosaura. She just wants to get the presents for those who are leaving! Like at all real parties!” Senora Ines came out into the hall with two bags, one pink and one blue. First she went up to a fat boy, gave him a yo-yo out of the blue bag, and the fat boy left with his mother. Then she went up to a girl with pigtails and gave her a bracelet out of the pink bag, and the girl left too.
派對結束時，她媽媽來接她。羅紹拉玩累了，但仍然非常興奮。她將派對上發生的一切都講給了媽媽聽——派對上真的來了一只真猴子，以及觀看魔術師和猴子表演是多么美妙。伊內斯太太無意中聽到羅紹拉在說話，于是微笑著對她說：“請在這兒稍等片刻。”她媽媽突然感到非常擔心，問羅紹拉：“她為什么要你等一下？你做錯了什么事嗎？”。“沒什么！”羅紹拉說。她只是要送給每個要離開的人禮物！就像所有真正的派對一樣！”伊內斯太太拿著兩個袋子來到門廳，一個粉紅色的和一個藍色的。她先走到一個胖男孩跟前，從藍色的袋子里掏出一個溜溜球給了他，然后胖男孩和他的母親一起離開了。隨后，她又走到一個扎著辮子的女孩跟前，從粉紅色的袋子里掏出一個手鐲給了她，然后女孩也離開了。
Finally, she came back to Rosaura and her mother. She had a big smile on her face and Rosaura liked that. Senora Ines looked down at her,then looked up at her mother, and then said something that made Rosaura proud, "What a marvellous daughter you have, Herminia." For an instant,Rosaura thought that she'd give her two presents: a bracelet and a yo-yo.
最后，她回到羅紹拉和她的母親身邊，臉上露出燦爛的笑容，是羅紹拉喜歡的那種笑容。伊內斯太太低頭看了看羅紹拉，然后抬頭看了看她的母親，又說了一些讓羅紹拉感到自豪的話——“赫爾米尼亞，你的女兒棒極了！”一瞬間，羅紹拉認為這位太太會給她兩件禮物——手鐲和溜溜球。
Senora Ines bent down as if she looked for something. She didn't look in the pink bag. Nor did she look in the blue bag. Instead she rummaged in her purse. In her hand appeared two bills. "Just to remind you, your rent and electricity bill are due by the end of next week." she said while handing them over, and with a devilish smile she told Rosaura: "Thank you for all your help, my little pet." Rosaura felt her whole body stiffen, pressed herself against her mother's legs, and wished she never would become like the people that organized rich-people's parties.
伊內斯太太彎下腰，好像在找什么東西。她并沒有向粉紅色和藍色的袋子里面瞅，而是在她的錢包里翻找著什么。然后，她的手中出現了兩份賬單。“只是想提醒您，您的租金和電費賬單下周就到期了。”她一邊說，一邊把賬單遞了過來。與此同時，她露出惡魔般的微笑，并對羅紹拉說：“謝謝你能來幫忙，可愛的小家伙。”羅紹拉覺得自己全身都僵住了，緊緊地靠在媽媽的雙腿上，心里唯一的念頭是，希望自己永遠不要變得像組織富人派對的那些人那樣。