MRS. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies’ eardrops and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cuthbert place; —
瑞秋·林德太太住在阿文利主路的一个小洼地里，洼地被桦树和女人的耳环花环绕，中间有一条小溪，溪水源头在古柏瑟特老地方的树林深处； —

it was reputed to be an intricate, headlong brook in its earlier course through those woods, with dark secrets of pool and cascade; —
据说在树林中很早之前，这条溪水是一条曲折险峻的溪流，隐藏着深邃的池塘和小瀑布的秘密； —

but by the time it reached Lynde’s Hollow it was a quiet, well-conducted little stream, for not even a brook could run past Mrs. Rachel Lynde’s door without due regard for decency and decorum; —
但当它流经林德太太的洼地时，已经变成了一条温和有序的小溪，因为即使一条小溪也不能在瑞秋·林德太太的门口流过时不注重体面和礼仪； —

it probably was conscious that Mrs. Rachel was sitting at her window, keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed, from brooks and children up, and that if she noticed anything odd or out of place she would never rest until she had ferreted out the whys and wherefores thereof.
它可能感觉到林德太太坐在窗边，密切关注经过的一切，无论是小溪还是儿童，如果她察觉到任何异常或不寻常的事情，她就会一直追根究底，直到找出原因和结果；

There are plenty of people in Avonlea and out of it, who can attend closely to their neighbor’s business by dint of neglecting their own; —
阿文利有不少人，其中一部分人专注于邻居的事务，却忽略了自己的事务； —

but Mrs. Rachel Lynde was one of those capable creatures who can manage their own concerns and those of other folks into the bargain. —
但瑞秋·林德太太是那种有能力同时处理自己事务和其他人事务的人之一； —

She was a notable housewife; her work was always done and well done; —
她是一个出色的家庭主妇；她的工作总是做得又快又好； —

she “ran” the Sewing Circle, helped run the Sunday-school, and was the strongest prop of the Church Aid Society and Foreign Missions Auxiliary. —
她“主持”着妇女缝纫圈，帮忙管理主日学，也是教会援助协会和外国宣教协会中最有力的支持者； —

Yet with all this Mrs. Rachel found abundant time to sit for hours at her kitchen window, knitting “cotton warp” quilts—she had knitted sixteen of them, as Avonlea housekeepers were wont to tell in awed voices—and keeping a sharp eye on the main road that crossed the hollow and wound up the steep red hill beyond. —
即便如此，瑞秋太太还有充足的时间坐在厨房窗边数小时，手工编织“棉纱”被子—据说她已经编织了十六个，阿文利家庭主妇常常带着敬畏的口吻说—并且在监视横穿洼地、然后沿红色陡坡上山的主路上一切一切； —

Since Avonlea occupied a little triangular peninsula jutting out into the Gulf of St. Lawrence with water on two sides of it, anybody who went out of it or into it had to pass over that hill road and so run the unseen gauntlet of Mrs. Rachel’s all-seeing eye.
因为阿文利位于一个小三角形的半岛上，向圣劳伦斯湾突出，两侧是水，无论何人进出都必须走这条山路，必须经过瑞秋太太无所不见的眼睛；

She was sitting there one afternoon in early June. The sun was coming in at the window warm and bright; —
一个六月初的下午，她就坐在那儿；阳光透过窗户，暖洋洋的照射进来； —

the orchard on the slope below the house was in a bridal flush of pinky-white bloom, hummed over by a myriad of bees. —
屋子下面的倾斜果园全是粉白色樱桃花般的盛开，被无数蜜蜂嗡嗡叫着； —

Thomas Lynde—a meek little man whom Avonlea people called “Rachel Lynde’s husband”—was sowing his late turnip seed on the hill field beyond the barn; —
托马斯·林德——阿文利人们称为“瑞秋·林德的丈夫”的一个温顺小个子男人——正在他的谷仓以外的山场上播种洋葱； —

and Matthew Cuthbert ought to have been sowing his on the big red brook field away over by Green Gables. —
马修·卡瑟伯特应该也在他的绿谷农庄遥远处的大红色溪水田里播种； —

Mrs. Rachel knew that he ought because she had heard him tell Peter Morrison the evening before in William J. Blair’s store over at Carmody that he meant to sow his turnip seed the next afternoon. —
瑞秋太太知道他应该去那里，因为她昨晚在威廉·J·布莱尔的卡莫迪店里听见他告诉彼得·莫里森，说他打算第二天下午播种他的洋葱种子。 —

Peter had asked him, of course, for Matthew Cuthbert had never been known to volunteer information about anything in his whole life.
彼得当然问了他，因为马修·卡思伯特在他一生中从未主动提供过任何信息。

And yet here was Matthew Cuthbert, at half-past three on the afternoon of a busy day, placidly driving over the hollow and up the hill; —
然而，在一个忙碌的下午的三点半，马修·卡思伯特泰然地驾驶着车子穿过低谷，驶上山坡； —

moreover, he wore a white collar and his best suit of clothes, which was plain proof that he was going out of Avonlea; —
此外，他穿着白领结和他最好的衣服，这明显表明他要离开阿夫奈利； —

and he had the buggy and the sorrel mare, which betokened that he was going a considerable distance. —
而且，他的马车和栗色母马表明他要走相当远的路。 —

Now, where was Matthew Cuthbert going and why was he going there?
那么，马修·卡思伯特到底要去哪里，为什么要去那里呢？

Had it been any other man in Avonlea, Mrs. Rachel, deftly putting this and that together, might have given a pretty good guess as to both questions. —
如果是埃文利的其他男人，拉切尔太太或许可以猜到这两个问题的答案。 —

But Matthew so rarely went from home that it must be something pressing and unusual which was taking him; —
但是马修很少离开家，所以他肯定是有特别重要或异常的事情要处理； —

he was the shyest man alive and hated to have to go among strangers or to any place where he might have to talk. —
他是最害羞的人，讨厌去与陌生人交往或到可能需要交谈的地方。 —

Matthew, dressed up with a white collar and driving in a buggy, was something that didn’t happen often. —
马修穿着白领结，坐在马车里，这样的情况并不经常发生。 —

Mrs. Rachel, ponder as she might, could make nothing of it and her afternoon’s enjoyment was spoiled.
拉切尔太太思索了一会儿，却一无所获，她的下午快乐被破坏了。

“I’ll just step over to Green Gables after tea and find out from Marilla where he’s gone and why,” the worthy woman finally concluded. —
“我等晚饭后就去绿门别墅找玛丽拉，问问他去哪里了，为什么去了，”这位值得尊敬的女士最终得出结论。 —

“He doesn’t generally go to town this time of year and he never visits; —
“他这个时候通常不会去城里，也不会去作访； —

if he’d run out of turnip seed he wouldn’t dress up and take the buggy to go for more; —
如果他的萝卜籽用光了，他也不会打扮得整整齐齐，开着马车去买更多； —

he wasn’t driving fast enough to be going for a doctor. —
他开得不快，也不像是去请医生。 —

Yet something must have happened since last night to start him off. —
但是昨晚以后一定发生了什么事情，才会让他出门。” —

I’m clean puzzled, that’s what, and I won’t know a minute’s peace of mind or conscience until I know what has taken Matthew Cuthbert out of Avonlea today.”
我感到非常困惑，我不会安心，也不会放心，直到知道是什么原因让马修·卡瑟伯特今天离开了阿文利村。

Accordingly after tea Mrs. Rachel set out; she had not far to go; —
因此，茶后，蕾切尔夫人便出发了；她的目的地并不遥远； —

the big, rambling, orchard-embowered house where the Cuthberts lived was a scant quarter of a mile up the road from Lynde’s Hollow. —
那所大大的、杂乱的、被果园环绕的房子，卡瑟伯特一家居住的地方，距离林德山谷只有一条狭窄的四分之一英里长的路。 —

To be sure, the long lane made it a good deal further. —
确实，这条长长的小路使它看起来更远。 —

Matthew Cuthbert’s father, as shy and silent as his son after him, had got as far away as he possibly could from his fellow men without actually retreating into the woods when he founded his homestead. —
马修·卡瑟伯特的父亲，多像他之后的儿子一样害羞和沉默，当年在创建自己的农场时，尽可能地远离了其他人类，而没有真的躲进树林里。 —

Green Gables was built at the furthest edge of his cleared land and there it was to this day, barely visible from the main road along which all the other Avonlea houses were so sociably situated. —
绿谷农舍建在他清理出来土地的最边缘，直到今天也还在那里，半藏在主干道旁的觅食欢乐村里所有其他房子间的视野之外。 —

Mrs. Rachel Lynde did not call living in such a place living at all.
蕾切尔·林德根本不认为住在这样一个地方算是生活。

“It’s just staying, that’s what,” she said as she stepped along the deep-rutted, grassy lane bordered with wild rose bushes. —
“这只是存活，就是这样，”她在深深车辙、草丛满布、被野玫瑰灌木环绕的小路上说着。 —

“It’s no wonder Matthew and Marilla are both a little odd, living away back here by themselves. —
“这根本不奇怪马修和玛丽拉都有点怪怪的，他们自己住在这么偏僻的地方。 —

Trees aren’t much company, though dear knows if they were there’d be enough of them. —
树木并不是很好的伴侣，尽管天晓得，如果它们是的话，那就会有足够多了。 —

I’d ruther look at people. To be sure, they seem contented enough; —
我宁愿看人。说真的，他们看起来相当满足； —

but then, I suppose, they’re used to it. —
但我想他们大概是习惯了。 —

A body can get used to anything, even to being hanged, as the Irishman said.”
一个人什么都能习惯，甚至被吊死，就像爱尔兰人说的那样。”

With this Mrs. Rachel stepped out of the lane into the backyard of Green Gables. —
说着，蕾切尔夫人走出小径，来到了绿谷农舍的后花园。 —

Very green and neat and precise was that yard, set about on one side with great patriarchal willows and the other with prim Lombardies. —
这个花园非常绿意盎然、整洁而精致，在一侧环绕着庞大的老柳树，另一侧则是整齐的伦巴底梧桐树。 —

Not a stray stick nor stone was to be seen, for Mrs. Rachel would have seen it if there had been. —
毫无杂草和碎石，因为如果有的话，蕾切尔夫人一定会看到。 —

Privately she was of the opinion that Marilla Cuthbert swept that yard over as often as she swept her house. —
她私下认为，玛丽拉·卡思伯特清扫院子的频率和清扫房子一样高。 —

One could have eaten a meal off the ground without over-brimming the proverbial peck of dirt.
人们甚至可以在地上吃一顿饭，也不会有太多尘土。

Mrs. Rachel rapped smartly at the kitchen door and stepped in when bidden to do so. —
蕾切尔夫人在厨房门前轻轻敲了敲，得到邀请后就走了进去。 —

The kitchen at Green Gables was a cheerful apartment—or would have been cheerful if it had not been so painfully clean as to give it something of the appearance of an unused parlor. —
格林蓋布尔斯的厨房是一个开朗的房间，如果不是因为过分干净，让它看起来有些像一个没怎么用过的客厅的话，它本应是开朗的。 —

Its windows looked east and west; through the west one, looking out on the back yard, came a flood of mellow June sunlight; —
它的窗户朝东和西；透过西面的窗户，可以看到后院洒进来的六月温暖的阳光； —

but the east one, whence you got a glimpse of the bloom white cherry-trees in the left orchard and nodding, slender birches down in the hollow by the brook, was greened over by a tangle of vines. —
但东边的窗户，透过它可以看到左边果园中盛开的白色樱桃树和低洼处溪边优雅的白桦树，这里已被一团藤蔓覆盖。 —

Here sat Marilla Cuthbert, when she sat at all, always slightly distrustful of sunshine, which seemed to her too dancing and irresponsible a thing for a world which was meant to be taken seriously; —
玛丽拉·卡思伯特总是微微不信任阳光，对她来说，阳光似乎太浮躁和不负责任了，对于一个应该认真对待的世界来说。 —

and here she sat now, knitting, and the table behind her was laid for supper.
她现在坐在这里，织着毛衣，她后面的桌子已摆好了晚餐。

Mrs. Rachel, before she had fairly closed the door, had taken a mental note of everything that was on that table. —
蕾切尔夫人在关上门之前，已经心里默默记下桌子上的每一样东西。 —

There were three plates laid, so that Marilla must be expecting some one home with Matthew to tea; —
摆着三个盘子，所以玛丽拉一定是在等着马修带着某人回家吃晚饭； —

but the dishes were everyday dishes and there was only crab-apple preserves and one kind of cake, so that the expected company could not be any particular company. —
但盘子都是普通的，只有一种果酱和一种蛋糕，所以来访的人应该不是什么特别的人。 —

Yet what of Matthew’s white collar and the sorrel mare? —
马修的白衣领和栗毛的母马呢？ —

Mrs. Rachel was getting fairly dizzy with this unusual mystery about quiet, unmysterious Green Gables.
蕾切尔夫人简直被这个关于宁静而不神秘的格林蓋布尔斯的常见性悬念搞得眩晕。

“Good evening, Rachel,” Marilla said briskly. —
“晚上好，蕾切尔，”玛丽拉爽快地说道。 —

“This is a real fine evening, isn’t it? —
“这是一个真正美好的夜晚，不是吗？ —

Won’t you sit down? How are all your folks?”
请坐下。你家里人都好吗？”

Something that for lack of any other name might be called friendship existed and always had existed between Marilla Cuthbert and Mrs. Rachel, in spite of—or perhaps because of—their dissimilarity.
在玛丽拉·卡思伯特和蕾切尔夫人之间存在着一种或许可以称之为友谊的东西，尽管——或者说更确切地说，也许正是因为——她们之间有着明显的不同之处。

Marilla was a tall, thin woman, with angles and without curves; —
玛丽拉是一个又高又瘦的女人，棱角分明，没有曲线； —

her dark hair showed some gray streaks and was always twisted up in a hard little knot behind with two wire hairpins stuck aggressively through it. —
她深色的头发上有一些灰白的条纹，总是死板地扭成一个小巧的发髻，髻后插着两根铁丝发夹。 —

She looked like a woman of narrow experience and rigid conscience, which she was; —
她看起来像是一个经验有限、道德观念严格的女人，而她确实如此； —

but there was a saving something about her mouth which, if it had been ever so slightly developed, might have been considered indicative of a sense of humor.
但是她的嘴唇上有一种挽救的特质，如果稍微丰满一点，可能会被认为是具有幽默感的象征。

“We’re all pretty well,” said Mrs. Rachel. —
“我们都很好，”蕾切尔夫人说。 —

“I was kind of afraid you weren’t, though, when I saw Matthew starting off today. —
“不过当我看见马修今天出门的时候，我有点担心你们不好。 —

I thought maybe he was going to the doctor’s.”
我还以为他是去找医生呢。”

Marilla’s lips twitched understandingly. She had expected Mrs. Rachel up; —
玛丽拉的嘴唇理解地抽动了一下。她预料到了蕾切尔夫人会上门； —

she had known that the sight of Matthew jaunting off so unaccountably would be too much for her neighbor’s curiosity.
她知道马修这样莫名其妙地出门对她好奇的邻居来说会是太棘手了。

“Oh, no, I’m quite well although I had a bad headache yesterday,” she said. —
“哦，不，我很好，尽管昨天我头疼得厉害，”她说。 —

“Matthew went to Bright River. We’re getting a little boy from an orphan asylum in Nova Scotia and he’s coming on the train tonight.”
“马修去了明亮河。我们从新斯科舍的一所孤儿院接收一个小男孩，他今晚要坐火车来。”

If Marilla had said that Matthew had gone to Bright River to meet a kangaroo from Australia Mrs. Rachel could not have been more astonished. —
如果玛丽拉说马修是去明亮河接一个来自澳大利亚的袋鼠，蕾切尔夫人都不会更惊讶了。 —

She was actually stricken dumb for five seconds. —
她实际上愣住了，一时说不出话来。 —

It was unsupposable that Marilla was making fun of her, but Mrs. Rachel was almost forced to suppose it.
玛丽拉在开她玩笑，这是不可思议的，但瑞秋夫人几乎被迫这样认为。

“Are you in earnest, Marilla?” she demanded when voice returned to her.
“玛丽拉，你是认真的吗？”她恢复了声音后要求道。

“Yes, of course,” said Marilla, as if getting boys from orphan asylums in Nova Scotia were part of the usual spring work on any well-regulated Avonlea farm instead of being an unheard of innovation.
“是的，当然，”玛丽拉说，仿佛从新斯科舍孤儿院领养男孩是埃文利农场的春季常规工作，而不是一个闻所未闻的创新。

Mrs. Rachel felt that she had received a severe mental jolt. She thought in exclamation points. —
瑞秋夫人感觉自己受到了严重的心灵冲击。她想到这里时总是感叹号连篇。 —

A boy! Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert of all people adopting a boy! From an orphan asylum! —
一个男孩！玛丽拉和马修·卡思伯特居然领养了一个男孩！从孤儿院！ —

Well, the world was certainly turning upside down! —
这个世界真的颠倒了！ —

She would be surprised at nothing after this! Nothing!
这之后她对任何事都不会感到惊讶了！一点都不！

“What on earth put such a notion into your head?” she demanded disapprovingly.
“你脑子里怎么会冒出这种想法？”她不以为然地要求道。

This had been done without her advice being asked, and must perforce be disapproved.
没有征求她的意见就这么做，必须加以反对。

“Well, we’ve been thinking about it for some time—all winter in fact,” returned Marilla. —
“嗯，其实我们想了很久，整个冬天，”玛丽拉回答道。 —

“Mrs. Alexander Spencer was up here one day before Christmas and she said she was going to get a little girl from the asylum over in Hopeton in the spring. —
“亚历山大·斯宾塞太太在圣诞节前的一天来这里，她说她打算在春天从霍普顿的孤儿院领养一个小女孩。 —

Her cousin lives there and Mrs. Spencer has visited here and knows all about it. —
她的表亲住在那里，斯宾塞太太去过那里，了解详情。 —

So Matthew and I have talked it over off and on ever since. We thought we’d get a boy. —
所以马修和我从那时起时不时地谈起这事。我们想领养一个男孩。 —

Matthew is getting up in years, you know—he’s sixty—and he isn’t so spry as he once was. —
你知道马修年纪大了，他已经六十岁了，没有以前那么活跃了。 —

His heart troubles him a good deal. And you know how desperate hard it’s got to be to get hired help. —
他的心烦意乱得很厉害。你知道想要找到雇仆有多难。 —

There’s never anybody to be had but those stupid, half-grown little French boys; —
总是只有那些愚蠢的、半大不小的法国小男孩； —

and as soon as you do get one broke into your ways and taught something he’s up and off to the lobster canneries or the States. —
一旦你成功训练好一个，教会他点东西，他就会跑去龙虾加工厂或美国。 —

At first Matthew suggested getting a Home boy. But I said ‘no’ flat to that. —
起初马修建议找一个“家里的男孩”。但我坚决反对。 —

‘They may be all right—I’m not saying they’re not—but no London street Arabs for me,’ I said. —
“也许他们都还好——我不是说他们不好——但对于我来说，不要伦敦的街头混混，”我说。 —

‘Give me a native born at least. There’ll be a risk, no matter who we get. —
“至少要找个本地出生的。无论我们找谁，都会有风险。 —

But I’ll feel easier in my mind and sleep sounder at nights if we get a born Canadian. —
但如果我们找个加拿大出生的，我心里会安心些，晚上也能睡个好觉。 —

’ So in the end we decided to ask Mrs. Spencer to pick us out one when she went over to get her little girl. —
”最终，我们决定在斯宾塞夫人去接她的小女儿时请她给我们挑一个。 —

We heard last week she was going, so we sent her word by Richard Spencer’s folks at Carmody to bring us a smart, likely boy of about ten or eleven. —
我们上周听说她要去，所以通过理查德·斯宾塞家的人在卡莫迪告诉她带回一个聪明能干的十一二岁男孩。 —

We decided that would be the best age—old enough to be of some use in doing chores right off and young enough to be trained up proper. —
我们决定这个年龄最合适——足够大开始做一些杂务，又足够年轻可以被规范培养。 —

We mean to give him a good home and schooling. —
我们打算给他一个良好的家庭和教育。 —

We had a telegram from Mrs. Alexander Spencer today—the mail-man brought it from the station—saying they were coming on the five-thirty train tonight. —
今天亚历山大·斯宾塞夫人给我们寄来了一封电报——邮差从车站带来的——说他们今晚五点半的火车要来。 —

So Matthew went to Bright River to meet him. —
马修去布莱特河去接他。 —

Mrs. Spencer will drop him off there. Of course she goes on to White Sands station herself.”
斯宾塞夫人会在那里把他交给马修。她自己当然要去怀特山站。”

Mrs. Rachel prided herself on always speaking her mind; —
瑞秋太太自豪自己总是直言不讳； —

she proceeded to speak it now, having adjusted her mental attitude to this amazing piece of news.
她现在开始说话了，已经调整好了对这个令人惊奇的消息的心态。

“Well, Marilla, I’ll just tell you plain that I think you’re doing a mighty foolish thing—a risky thing, that’s what. —
“嗯，玛丽拉，我得坦白告诉你我认为你正在做一件非常愚蠢的事情—一个很冒险的事情，就是这样。 —

You don’t know what you’re getting. You’re bringing a strange child into your house and home and you don’t know a single thing about him nor what his disposition is like nor what sort of parents he had nor how he’s likely to turn out. —
你不知道你要带进家里的是谁。你把一个陌生的孩子带进你的家里，你对他一无所知，不知道他的性格，他的父母是什么样的，他将来会变成怎样。 —

Why, it was only last week I read in the paper how a man and his wife up west of the Island took a boy out of an orphan asylum and he set fire to the house at night—set it on purpose, Marilla—and nearly burnt them to a crisp in their beds. —
为什么，就在上周我看报纸上有一对岛上西边的夫妇从一所孤儿院带出一个男孩，他在夜间烧房子—故意的，玛丽拉—几乎把他们在床上烧得焦了。 —

And I know another case where an adopted boy used to suck the eggs—they couldn’t break him of it. —
我还知道另外一个例子，一个被收养的男孩会吸鸡蛋—他们根本无法改掉他。 —

If you had asked my advice in the matter—which you didn’t do, Marilla—I’d have said for mercy’s sake not to think of such a thing, that’s what.”
如果你在这件事情上向我征求建议——虽然你没有那么做，玛丽拉-我会说求求你别想这样的事情，就是这样。”

This Job’s comforting seemed neither to offend nor to alarm Marilla. She knitted steadily on.
乔布斯的安慰似乎既没有冒犯也没有惊动玛丽拉。她一直在织毛衣。

“I don’t deny there’s something in what you say, Rachel. I’ve had some qualms myself. —
“我不否认你说的有道理，拉切尔。我自己也有些犹豫。 —

But Matthew was terrible set on it. I could see that, so I gave in. —
但是马修非常坚决。我看得出来，所以我妥协了。 —

It’s so seldom Matthew sets his mind on anything that when he does I always feel it’s my duty to give in. —
马修很少对什么事情下定决心，所以当他下决心时，我总觉得有责任妥协。 —

And as for the risk, there’s risks in pretty near everything a body does in this world. —
至于风险，在这个世界上几乎每件事情都有风险。 —

There’s risks in people’s having children of their own if it comes to that—they don’t always turn out well. —
就算是生自己的孩子也有风险—他们不一定会发展得好。 —

And then Nova Scotia is right close to the Island. —
而且新斯科舍就在岛上附近。 —

It isn’t as if we were getting him from England or the States. —
我们不是从英格兰或美国接过来的。 —

He can’t be much different from ourselves.”
他不可能和我们差异很大。”

“Well, I hope it will turn out all right,” said Mrs. Rachel in a tone that plainly indicated her painful doubts. —
“嗯，我希望一切都会好起来，”拉切尔太太以一种不容置疑的口吻说道，明显流露出她的疑虑。 —

“Only don’t say I didn’t warn you if he burns Green Gables down or puts strychnine in the well—I heard of a case over in New Brunswick where an orphan asylum child did that and the whole family died in fearful agonies. —
“只是不要说我没有警告过你，如果他把格林葛柏烧了或者往井里放鼠药——我听说过在新不伦瑞克发生过这样的案例，一个孤儿院的孩子做了这种事，整个家族都在极度的痛苦中死去。 —

Only, it was a girl in that instance.”
只是，在那种情况下是一个女孩。”

“Well, we’re not getting a girl,” said Marilla, as if poisoning wells were a purely feminine accomplishment and not to be dreaded in the case of a boy. —
“嘿，我们不会收养一个女孩，”玛丽拉说，好像毒害井水只是女性的本领，而在男孩身上不必担心。 —

“I’d never dream of taking a girl to bring up. I wonder at Mrs. Alexander Spencer for doing it. —
“我从来不会想收养一个女孩来养大。我很惊讶亚历山大·斯宾塞太太竟然做到了。 —

But there, she wouldn’t shrink from adopting a whole orphan asylum if she took it into her head.”
但是，她要是有这个念头的话，就算是收养整个孤儿院她也不会退缩。”

Mrs. Rachel would have liked to stay until Matthew came home with his imported orphan. —
拉切尔太太本想等到马修带着他引进的孤儿回家。 —

But reflecting that it would be a good two hours at least before his arrival she concluded to go up the road to Robert Bell’s and tell the news. —
但是考虑到马修至少还要再过两个小时才能到家，她决定沿着路去罗伯特·贝尔家告诉这个消息。 —

It would certainly make a sensation second to none, and Mrs. Rachel dearly loved to make a sensation. —
这无疑会引起轰动，而拉切尔太太非常喜欢引起轰动。 —

So she took herself away, somewhat to Marilla’s relief, for the latter felt her doubts and fears reviving under the influence of Mrs. Rachel’s pessimism.
所以她离开了，对玛丽拉而言有点解脱，因为在拉切尔太太的悲观情绪的影响下，后者的疑虑和恐惧又复苏了。

“Well, of all things that ever were or will be! —
“唉，这么多奇闻轶事！ —

” ejaculated Mrs. Rachel when she was safely out in the lane. —
”拉切尔太太在小路上走着时喃喃自语。 —

“It does really seem as if I must be dreaming. —
“我真的觉得我一定是在做梦。 —

Well, I’m sorry for that poor young one and no mistake. —
唉，那个可怜的年轻人，真够糟糕的。 —

Matthew and Marilla don’t know anything about children and they’ll expect him to be wiser and steadier that his own grandfather, if so be’s he ever had a grandfather, which is doubtful. —
马修和玛丽拉对孩子一窍不通，他们会期待他比他自己的祖父更聪明更坚定，如果他真的有个祖父的话，这也是值得怀疑的。 —

It seems uncanny to think of a child at Green Gables somehow; —
在绿色山庄想象出一个孩子似乎有些诡异； —

there’s never been one there, for Matthew and Marilla were grown up when the new house was built—if they ever were children, which is hard to believe when one looks at them. —
在那里从来没有过一个孩子，因为当新房子建好的时候，马修和玛丽拉早已成年，如果他们曾经是孩子的话，这实在难以置信当人们看着他们时。 —

I wouldn’t be in that orphan’s shoes for anything. —
我可不愿作那个孤儿，无论如何。 —

My, but I pity him, that’s what.”
唉，但是我挺同情他的，就是这样。”

So said Mrs. Rachel to the wild rose bushes out of the fulness of her heart; —
这是说的Mrs. Rachel对着野玫瑰说出了自己的心声； —

but if she could have seen the child who was waiting patiently at the Bright River station at that very moment her pity would have been still deeper and more profound.
但是如果她此时能看见那个正耐心等待在布莱特河车站的孩子，她的同情将会更深更深。