評論
打印
"Mary Garrett's mother is better, and Mary came back to the school this morning,
“瑪麗．加勒特的母親好些了，瑪麗今天早上到校里來了，
and I shall have four new girls next week from the Foundry Close --
下星期我有四個從鑄造場來的新同學——
they would have come to-day but for the snow."
要不是這場雪今天該到了。”
"Indeed!"
“真的？”
"Mr. Oliver pays for two."
“奧利弗先生支付其中兩個的學費。”
"Does he?"
“是嗎？”
"He means to give the whole school a treat at Christmas."
“他打算在圣誕節請全校的客。”
"I know."
“我知道了。”
"Was it your suggestion?"
“是你的建議嗎，”
"No."
“不是。”
"Whose, then?"
“那么是誰的？”
"His daughter's, I think."
“他女兒的，我想。”
"It is like her: she is so good-natured."
“是像她建議的，她心地善良。”
"Yes."
“是呀。”
Again came the blank of a pause: the clock struck eight strokes.
談話停頓了下來，再次出現了空隙。時鐘敲了八下。
It aroused him; he uncrossed his legs, sat erect, turned to me.
鐘聲把他驚醒了，他分開交叉的腿，站直了身子，轉向我。
"Leave your book a moment, and come a little nearer the fire," he said.
“把你的書放—會兒吧，過來靠近點火爐”他說。
Wondering, and of my wonder finding no end, I complied.
我有些納悶，而且是無止境地納悶，于是也就答應了。
"Half-an-hour ago," he pursued,
“半小時之前，”他接著說，
"I spoke of my impatience to hear the sequel of a tale:
“我曾說起急于聽一個故事的續篇。
on reflection, I find the matter will be better managed by my assuming the narrator's part, and converting you into a listener.
后來想了一下，還是讓我扮演敘述者的角色，讓你轉化為聽眾比較好辦。
Before commencing, it is but fair to warn you that the story will sound somewhat hackneyed in your ears;
開場之前，我有言在先，這個故事在你的耳朵聽來恐怕有些陳腐，
but stale details often regain a degree of freshness when they pass through new lips.
但是過時的細節從另一張嘴里吐出來，常常又會獲得某種程度的新鮮感。
For the rest, whether trite or novel, it is short.
至于別的就不管了，陳腐也好，新鮮也好，反正很短。”
