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LESSON 59 Through the snow
第五十九課 在雪中穿行
"Oh, mother!" said Maggie Brown, "look at pussy making her way through the snow, and putting down her little paws as if she were afraid of sinking over head, shoulders and all!"
“哦，媽媽！”Maggie Brown說“看貓雪中穿行，它把它的小爪子放下似乎是害怕它的頭，肩甚至全身都陷進雪里。”
Mrs. Brown had just come home. She had had a long, weary walk for miles through the snow. She had been heavily laden, and wearily her basket had hung on her arm, with several big parcels in it.
布朗太太剛回到家。她疲倦地走了很長很長的路穿過雪才回到家。她的手臂上掛著重重的裝滿包的籃子。
Maggie should have run to relieve her mother of that heavy basket, and taken care to have a nice cup of tea ready to warm her after so chilling a walk.
麥吉本該跑過去幫媽媽減輕重重的籃子的負擔，并準備好一杯熱茶為經歷如此寒冷的媽媽暖身的。
She loved her mother dearly, but she was rather a thoughtless girl; so she did not even help Mrs. Brown to pull off her boots, which were quite wet with melted snow.
她深愛自己的媽媽，但她又是一個沒有什么想法的人。因此，她并沒有幫布朗太太脫下她的已經被融化的雪浸濕的靴子。
"My feet are like ice," said Mrs. Brown; "and no wonder, for my very stockings are wet."
“我的雙腳冷得跟冰塊一樣，”布朗太太說，“而且，毫無疑問我的襪子都濕透了。”
"Poor little pussy! she has neither stockings nor boots," laughed Maggie; "and these velvet paws of hers will be half frozen with cold!
“可憐的小喵咪！她既沒有襪子也沒有靴子，”麥吉笑著說，“它那長著絨毛的爪子凍得都快要結冰了！”
"I wonder why she goes struggling on through the snow and the wet, when she might have such a warm place by our fire."
“我在想為什么它一定要在潮濕的雪中掙扎呢，什么時候它能像我們一樣在有火爐的溫暖的地方啊。”
"You forget that pussy has kittens in the loft of the stable," replied Mrs. Brown. "She cares more for them than she does for her own comfort. She comes here for a little food; but nothing would tempt her to remain.
“你忘了在馬廄的閣樓上那只貓咪有自己的孩子呀。”布朗太太回答道，“她關心自己的孩子比關心自己的舒服更重要。她來這兒是為了找食物而不是有什么使她逗留的。”
"When the stable-door was locked last night, the poor cat waited outside in the bitter cold, mewing and whining, till Joe got up and let her in, that she might get to her kittens again."
“昨晚馬廄的門被鎖上了，那只可憐的貓只能在門外痛苦的寒冷中等著，悲哀地喵喵叫著，一直到Joe起床讓她進去，她才可以再次回到小貓們的身邊。”
"Ah, pussy is a mother!" cried Maggie. "I wonder if those kittens will ever repay her for the trouble which they give her, and the love which she shows them."
“啊，那只喵咪是一個母親啊！”麥吉喊了一聲，“我想那些小貓崽們該怎么報償自己給母親造成的困難呢，該怎么回報母親給自己的愛呢。”
Mrs. Brown shook her head as she replied, "Pussy is like many a mother, who must look for little return for all that she does for her children, except the comfort of knowing that they never want for anything."
布朗太太搖搖頭回答道“喵咪就像很多母親一樣，一定是自己為孩子付出所有而期望很少回報的，不僅除了我們看到的舒適，而且她們仍不求其他的回報。”
Maggie turned quickly round. The gentle words had touched her heart. She looked at her tired parent, cold, hungry, and wet; then on the table, heaped with food for a little girl's eating, and with clothes for a little girl's wear.
麥吉立刻明白了。那些溫和的語言觸動了她的心。她看著自己疲憊的母親、寒冷、饑餓并且渾身濕透了，而在桌上，裝滿了給自己吃的食物，裝滿了給自己穿的衣服。
"Oh, mother," cried Maggie, "how thoughtless I have been!"
“哦，媽媽，”麥吉喊道，“我是多么的自私啊！”
In a minute she was down on her knees rubbing her mother's ice-cold feet, to bring back to them warmth and comfort.
她立刻跪下雙膝，揉搓媽媽冰冷的雙腳，讓它溫暖、舒服。
Then she ran for dry shoes, and for her own warm little shawl to wrap round her mother.
然后她跑著尋找干的鞋子并把自己溫暖的小圍巾包裹著媽媽。
Then she filled the kettle, and set it upon the fire, put the loaves on the shelf, the tea in the box, and the sugar into the brown jar.
接著她用水壺盛水，放到火爐上，把面包放進架子，把茶放進箱子，把糖放進褐色的罐子里。
Maggie never forgot the lesson; and never again had Mrs. Brown cause to think that her daughter could neglect her best earthly friend, or forget what a deep debt of love is due from a child to a tender mother.
麥吉永遠不會忘記這一課，也再不會忽略自己最早好朋友就是布朗太太了，而布朗太太也不會忘記自己從一個孩子成為一個溫柔的媽媽肩負著怎樣深沉的愛了。
QUESTIONS
問題
What did Maggie say to her mother? In what state was Mrs. Brown? What should Maggie have done? What kind of girl was she? Why were Mrs. Brown's feet like ice? What did Maggie say about pussy? What did Mrs. Brown say? At what did Maggie wonder? How is pussy like many a mother? What effect had Mrs. Brown's words on her daughter? What did Maggie do? What had Mrs. Brown never again cause to think?
麥吉和媽媽說了什么？布朗太太的狀態如何？麥吉應該做什么？她是怎樣一個女孩？為什么布朗太太覺得很冷？麥吉說貓咪怎樣呢？布朗太太又說了什么？麥吉在思考什么？貓咪是怎樣像許多母親一樣的？布朗太太的話對麥吉產生了什么效果？麥吉做了什么？布朗太太再不用引起麥吉什么思考了？
