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A surprise for the Cuthberts
卡斯伯特兄妹倆大吃一驚
Matthew Cuthbert lived with his sister Marilla on their farm on Prince Edward Island in Canada. Their farm- house, Green Gables, was just outside the little village of Avonlea. Matthew was nearly sixty and had a long brown beard. His sister was five years younger. They were both tall and thin, with dark hair. Everybody in Avonlea knew that the Cuthberts were quiet people who worked very hard on their farm.
馬修·卡斯伯特和妹妹瑪麗拉住在加拿大愛德華太子島上他們的農場里。他們的農舍——格林·蓋布爾斯，就在埃文利小村外。馬修年近六旬，留著褐色的長胡子。妹妹瑪麗拉比他小5歲。他倆身材瘦高，長著深色的頭發。埃文利村的每一個人都知道，卡斯伯特兄妹是默默無聞、勤勤懇懇的莊戶人。
One afternoon Matthew drove the horse and cart to the sta-tion. "Has the five-thirty train arrived yet? "he asked the sta-tion-master.
一天下午，馬修駕著馬車來到火車站?！?點半的火車到了嗎？”他向站長詢問道。
"Yes, "the man replied. "And there"s a passenger who"s waiting for you. A little girl. "
“已經到了，”站長回答?！坝幸晃怀丝驼诘饶?，是一個小姑娘。”
"A little girl? "asked Matthew. "But I"ve come for a boy! The children"s home is sending us one of their orphan boys. We"re going to adopt him, you see, and he"s going to help me with the farm work. "
“小姑娘？”馬修問道，“但我是來接一個小男孩！那孤兒院給我們送來一個孤兒，我們準備收養他。你看，我還指望他幫忙干農活呢。”
"well, perhaps the children"s home didn"t have any boys, so they sent you a girl, "answered the stationmaster carelessly. "Here she is. "
“也許那孤兒院沒有男孩子，所以他們給你送來一個小姑娘，”站長漫不經心地答道，“她來了。”
Matthew turned shyly to speak to the child. She was about eleven, with long red hair in two plaits. Her face was small, white and thin, with a lot of freckles, and she had large grey-green eyes. She was wearing an old brown hat and a dress which was too small for her.
馬修訕訕地轉過身去面對那孩子。女孩大約十一歲，梳著兩條粗粗的紅色發辮，長滿雀斑的小臉又瘦又白，上面有一雙灰綠色的大眼睛。她戴著一頂褐色的舊帽子，衣服已小得不合身。
"Are you Mr Cuthbert of Green Gables? "she asked excitedly in a high, sweet voice. "I"m very happy to come and live with you, and belong to you. I"ve never belonged to anyone, you see. The people at the children"s home were very kind, but it"s not very exciting to live in a place like that, is it? "
“您是格林·蓋布爾斯的卡斯伯特先生嗎？”她問道，嗓音清晰甜美?！拔液芨吲d能來和你們生活在一起，成為您家的一員。您看，我還從來沒有真正成為哪家的成員呢。孤兒院的人都很好，但住在那種地方一點也不好玩，不是嗎？”
Matthew felt sorry for the child. How could he tell her that it was all a mistake? But he couldn"t just leave her at the sta-tion. He decided to take her home with him. Marilla could ex-plain the mistake to her.
馬修很同情這孩子。他怎么能告訴她這一切都搞錯了？他總不能把女孩一個人留在火車站。他決定先把孩子帶回家，讓瑪麗拉向小姑娘解釋。
He was surprised that he enjoyed the journey home. He was a quiet, shy man, and he didn"t like talking himself. But to-day, he only had to listen, because the little girl talked and talked and talked. She told him all about herself while they drove along.
讓馬修感到吃驚的是，在回家的路上他感覺非常愉快。他是個沉默、靦腆、少言寡語的人。但今天，他只要聽就足夠了，因為這小姑娘不停地說呀，說呀，說呀。一路上她向馬修講述關于自己的一切。
