MATTHEW Cuthbert and the sorrel mare jogged comfortably over the eight miles to Bright River. It was a pretty road, running along between snug farmsteads, with now and again a bit of balsamy fir wood to drive through or a hollow where wild plums hung out their filmy bloom. —
马修·卡瑟伯特和栗母马舒适地慢跑着穿过八英里到达光明河。这是一条漂亮的路，穿过舒适的农舍，时而会经过一片芬芳的冷杉林或一处野梅飘香的空地。 —

The air was sweet with the breath of many apple orchards and the meadows sloped away in the distance to horizon mists of pearl and purple; while
空气中飘散着许多苹果园的甜香，而远处的草地则渐渐倾斜，直至紫罗兰和珍珠色的地平线远处；而

 “The little birds sang as if it were

“小鸟们歌唱，仿佛这是

 The one day of summer in all the year.”

一年中夏日的唯一之日。”

Matthew enjoyed the drive after his own fashion, except during the moments when he met women and had to nod to them—for in Prince Edward island you are supposed to nod to all and sundry you meet on the road whether you know them or not.
马修以自己独特的方式享受着驾驶的乐趣，除了遇到妇女并不得不向她们点头的时候——因为在爱德华王子岛上你被认为应该向你在路上遇到的所有人点头，无论你是否认识她们。

Matthew dreaded all women except Marilla and Mrs. Rachel; —
除了玛丽拉和瑞秋夫人，马修害怕所有的女人； —

he had an uncomfortable feeling that the mysterious creatures were secretly laughing at him. —
他有一种不舒服的感觉，认为这些神秘的生物暗地里在取笑他。 —

He may have been quite right in thinking so, for he was an odd-looking personage, with an ungainly figure and long iron-gray hair that touched his stooping shoulders, and a full, soft brown beard which he had worn ever since he was twenty. —
他对自己的外表是相当准确的，身材笨重，长长的铁灰色头发抵及驼背的肩膀，一头长满柔软棕色的胡须，从二十岁开始就留着。 —

In fact, he had looked at twenty very much as he looked at sixty, lacking a little of the grayness.
实际上，他在二十岁时看起来很像在六十岁时，只是多了一些灰白。

When he reached Bright River there was no sign of any train; —
当他到达光明河时，看不见任何列车的踪迹； —

he thought he was too early, so he tied his horse in the yard of the small Bright River hotel and went over to the station house. —
他以为自己太早了，于是他把马绑在光明河小旅馆的院子里，然后走向了车站。 —

The long platform was almost deserted; the only living creature in sight being a girl who was sitting on a pile of shingles at the extreme end. —
长长的站台上几乎空无一人；唯一能看到的生物是一个坐在最边端的一堆屋顶瓦片上的姑娘。 —

Matthew, barely noting that it was a girl, sidled past her as quickly as possible without looking at her. —
马修几乎没有注意到那是一个姑娘，急忙迅速地走过她，不敢看她。 —

Had he looked he could hardly have failed to notice the tense rigidity and expectation of her attitude and expression. —
倘若他看了，他几乎不会没注意到她紧绷的姿势和期待的表情。 —

She was sitting there waiting for something or somebody and, since sitting and waiting was the only thing to do just then, she sat and waited with all her might and main.
她坐在那里等待着某事或某人，因为在那时候坐着等待就是唯一要做的事情，于是她拼尽全力坐着等待。

Matthew encountered the stationmaster locking up the ticket office preparatory to going home for supper, and asked him if the five-thirty train would soon be along.
马修遇见了车站长在准备关上售票处准备回家吃晚饭，他问车站长五点半的火车会很快到吗。

“The five-thirty train has been in and gone half an hour ago,” answered that brisk official. —
“五点半的火车半个小时前就已经到站并离开了，”那位干脆利落的官员回答道。 —

“But there was a passenger dropped off for you—a little girl. —
“但有一个乘客送下车给您——一个小女孩。 —

She’s sitting out there on the shingles. —
她正坐在外面的木瓦上。 —

I asked her to go into the ladies’ waiting room, but she informed me gravely that she preferred to stay outside. —
我请她去女士等候室，但她郑重地告诉我她更喜欢待在外面。 —

‘There was more scope for imagination,’ she said. —
‘那里更有想象的空间，’她说。 —

She’s a case, I should say.”
她实在是个奇怪的孩子。”

“I’m not expecting a girl,” said Matthew blankly. “It’s a boy I’ve come for. —
“我不是来接一个女孩的，”马修茫然地说。“我来接的是一个男孩。 —

He should be here. Mrs. Alexander Spencer was to bring him over from Nova Scotia for me.”
应该是他在这里。亚历山大·斯潘塞夫人应该从新斯科舍州把他带过来给我。”

The stationmaster whistled.
车站长吹了个口哨。

“Guess there’s some mistake,” he said. —
“恐怕有什么误会，”他说。 —

“Mrs. Spencer came off the train with that girl and gave her into my charge. —
“斯潘塞夫人和那个女孩一起下车，把她托付给我。 —

Said you and your sister were adopting her from an orphan asylum and that you would be along for her presently. —
她说你和你妹妹要从孤儿院领养她，很快会来接她。 —

That’s all I know about it—and I haven’t got any more orphans concealed hereabouts.”
这就是我知道的一切——我这边也没有更多的孤儿藏起来。”

“I don’t understand,” said Matthew helplessly, wishing that Marilla was at hand to cope with the situation.
“我不明白，”马修无助地说，希望玛丽拉在场来处理这个情况。

“Well, you’d better question the girl,” said the station-master carelessly. —
“那你最好去问问那个女孩。”站长漫不经心地说道。 —

“I dare say she’ll be able to explain—she’s got a tongue of her own, that’s certain. —
“我敢说她能解释清楚——她自有其说话的能力。” —

Maybe they were out of boys of the brand you wanted.”
“也许你想要的牌子的男孩已经卖完了。”

He walked jauntily away, being hungry, and the unfortunate Matthew was left to do that which was harder for him than bearding a lion in its den—walk up to a girl—a strange girl—an orphan girl—and demand of her why she wasn’t a boy. —
他心满意足地走开了，因为饿了，而不幸的马修被留下来做比面对狮子更困难的事情——走向一个女孩——一个陌生的女孩——一个孤儿女孩，并要求她解释为什么她不是男孩。 —

Matthew groaned in spirit as he turned about and shuffled gently down the platform towards her.
马修心中叹息，他转身小心翼翼地朝着站台走去。

She had been watching him ever since he had passed her and she had her eyes on him now. —
自他路过她时，她一直在看着他，而现在她的目光又落在他身上。 —

Matthew was not looking at her and would not have seen what she was really like if he had been, but an ordinary observer would have seen this: —
马修没有看着她，如果他看着她，也不会看出她真正如何，但一个普通的观察者会看到这一点： —

A child of about eleven, garbed in a very short, very tight, very ugly dress of yellowish-gray wincey. —
一个大约十一岁的孩子，穿着一件非常短、非常紧、非常难看的黄灰色绵布连衣裙。 —

She wore a faded brown sailor hat and beneath the hat, extending down her back, were two braids of very thick, decidedly red hair. —
她戴着一顶褪色的褐色水手帽，在帽子下面，延伸到背后的是两束非常浓密的、确实是红色的辫子。 —

Her face was small, white and thin, also much freckled; —
她的脸很小，白皙而苗条，而且上面布满了雀斑； —

her mouth was large and so were her eyes, which looked green in some lights and moods and gray in others.
她的嘴很大，眼睛也很大，在某些光线和情绪下显绿，在其他情况下显灰。

So far, the ordinary observer; an extraordinary observer might have seen that the chin was very pointed and pronounced; —
至此，普通的观察者；一个特别敏锐的观察者可能会看到下巴非常尖锐和突出； —

that the big eyes were full of spirit and vivacity; that the mouth was sweet-lipped and expressive; —
大眼睛充满活力和生气；嘴唇甜美且富有表现力； —

that the forehead was broad and full; in short, our discerning extraordinary observer might have concluded that no commonplace soul inhabited the body of this stray woman-child of whom shy Matthew Cuthbert was so ludicrously afraid.
额头宽阔而饱满；简而言之，我们睿智的特别观察者可能会得出结论，这个被害羞的马修·卡思伯特如此滑稽地害怕的流浪女孩的身体里不会住着一个平凡的灵魂。

Matthew, however, was spared the ordeal of speaking first, for as soon as she concluded that he was coming to her she stood up, grasping with one thin brown hand the handle of a shabby, old-fashioned carpet-bag; —
然而，马修却被免去了首先开口的痛苦，因为一旦她发现他朝她走来，她就站起来，用一只纤细的棕色手抓着一只陈旧时尚的旧地毯袋的提手。 —

the other she held out to him.
另一只伸到他面前。

“I suppose you are Mr. Matthew Cuthbert of Green Gables? —
“我想你就是绿山修院的马修·卡瑟伯特先生吧？ —

” she said in a peculiarly clear, sweet voice. “I’m very glad to see you. —
”她用一种异常清晰甜美的声音说。“见到你我很高兴。 —

I was beginning to be afraid you weren’t coming for me and I was imagining all the things that might have happened to prevent you. —
我开始担心你不会来接我了，我开始想象所有可能阻止你来接我的事情。 —

I had made up my mind that if you didn’t come for me to-night I’d go down the track to that big wild cherry-tree at the bend, and climb up into it to stay all night. —
我已经决定，如果你今晚不来接我，我会沿着铁路走到那个弯道处那棵大野樱桃树那里，爬上去在那里过夜。 —

I wouldn’t be a bit afraid, and it would be lovely to sleep in a wild cherry-tree all white with bloom in the moonshine, don’t you think? —
我一点也不害怕，在月光下白花盛开的野樱桃树上睡觉一定很美，你觉得呢？ —

You could imagine you were dwelling in marble halls, couldn’t you? —
你可以想象自己是住在大理石大厅里，对吧？ —

And I was quite sure you would come for me in the morning, if you didn’t to-night.”
而且我非常确定，如果你今晚不来，明早你一定会来接我的。”

Matthew had taken the scrawny little hand awkwardly in his; then and there he decided what to do. —
马修笨拙地握住了那只瘦削的小手；他在那一刻决定了要做什么。 —

He could not tell this child with the glowing eyes that there had been a mistake; —
他无法告诉这双眼睛闪闪发光的孩子发生了错误； —

he would take her home and let Marilla do that. —
他会把她带回家，让玛丽拉来处理。 —

She couldn’t be left at Bright River anyhow, no matter what mistake had been made, so all questions and explanations might as well be deferred until he was safely back at Green Gables.
无论发生了什么错误，她都不能留在布莱特河，所以所有的问题和解释最好等到他安全回到绿山修院后再讲。

“I’m sorry I was late,” he said shyly. “Come along. —
“很抱歉我来迟了，”他害羞地说。“走吧。 —

The horse is over in the yard. Give me your bag.”
马车在院子里。把你的包给我。”

“Oh, I can carry it,” the child responded cheerfully. “It isn’t heavy. —
“哦，我可以自己拿，”孩子愉快地回答。“不重。 —

I’ve got all my worldly goods in it, but it isn’t heavy. —
我把所有的世俗财物都装在里面，但它并不沉重。 —

And if it isn’t carried in just a certain way the handle pulls out—so I’d better keep it because I know the exact knack of it. —
如果不以特定的方式携带它，手柄会脱落——所以最好保留它，因为我知道怎么用。 —

It’s an extremely old carpet-bag. Oh, I’m very glad you’ve come, even if it would have been nice to sleep in a wild cherry-tree. —
这是一个非常古老的旅行袋。哦，很高兴你来了，即使睡在樱桃树上也会很美好。 —

We’ve got to drive a long piece, haven’t we? Mrs. Spencer said it was eight miles. —
我们得开很长一段路，是吧？斯宾塞夫人说有八英里。 —

I’m glad because I love driving. Oh, it seems so wonderful that I’m going to live with you and belong to you. —
我很高兴，因为我喜欢驾驶。哦，我觉得和你一起生活、属于你是多么美妙啊。 —

I’ve never belonged to anybody—not really. But the asylum was the worst. —
我从来没有属于任何人过—真正的属于。但救济院是最糟的地方。 —

I’ve only been in it four months, but that was enough. —
我只在那里待了四个月，但已经够了。 —

I don’t suppose you ever were an orphan in an asylum, so you can’t possibly understand what it is like. —
我猜你从来没有在救济院里过孤儿的生活，所以你无法理解那是什么滋味。 —

It’s worse than anything you could imagine. —
那比你能想象的任何事情都要糟糕。 —

Mrs. Spencer said it was wicked of me to talk like that, but I didn’t mean to be wicked. —
斯宾塞夫人说我这样说很邪恶，但我并不是有意要邪恶。 —

It’s so easy to be wicked without knowing it, isn’t it? —
人不知道自己是邪恶的，是很容易的，不是吗？ —

They were good, you know—the asylum people. —
他们是好人，你知道—那里的人都很好。 —

But there is so little scope for the imagination in an asylum—only just in the other orphans. —
但在救济院里想象的余地很少—只有在与其他孤儿交往时。 —

It was pretty interesting to imagine things about them—to imagine that perhaps the girl who sat next to you was really the daughter of a belted earl, who had been stolen away from her parents in her infancy by a cruel nurse who died before she could confess. —
想象他们的事情是相当有趣的—想象坐在你旁边的女孩实际上是一位被残忍的护士在婴儿时期从她父母那里夺走的带着腰带的伯爵的女儿。 —

I used to lie awake at nights and imagine things like that, because I didn’t have time in the day. I guess that’s why I’m so thin—I am dreadful thin, ain’t I? —
我过去常常在晚上躺着想那些事情，因为白天没时间。我想这就是我为什么这么瘦—我非常消瘦，对吧？ —

There isn’t a pick on my bones. I do love to imagine I’m nice and plump, with dimples in my elbows.”
我没有皮包骨。我喜欢想象自己是丰满的，手肘上有酒窝。

With this Matthew’s companion stopped talking, partly because she was out of breath and partly because they had reached the buggy. —
于是玛修的伴侣停止了讲话，部分是因为她上气不接下气，部分是因为他们已经到了马车旁。 —

Not another word did she say until they had left the village and were driving down a steep little hill, the road part of which had been cut so deeply into the soft soil, that the banks, fringed with blooming wild cherry-trees and slim white birches, were several feet above their heads.
直到他们离开村庄，驶下一个陡峭的小山，路径一部分被深深切入松软土壤，沿岸有盛开的野樱桃树和修长的白桦树，两旁的土墙比他们的头高几英尺，她这位孩子才再没说话。

The child put out her hand and broke off a branch of wild plum that brushed against the side of the buggy.
孩子伸手折下了一根擦在马车侧面的野梅树枝。

“Isn’t that beautiful? What did that tree, leaning out from the bank, all white and lacy, make you think of?” she asked.
“这是多美啊？那棵从岸边歪斜出来，白色而蕾丝般的树，让你想起了什么呢？”她问。

“Well now, I dunno,” said Matthew.
“噢，我不知道，”马修说。

“Why, a bride, of course—a bride all in white with a lovely misty veil. —
“那么，当然是新娘啊—一个穿着全白，带着美丽薄雾面纱的新娘。 —

I’ve never seen one, but I can imagine what she would look like. —
我从未见过，但我可以想象她会是什么样子。 —

I don’t ever expect to be a bride myself. —
我自己永远不会指望成为新娘。 —

I’m so homely nobody will ever want to marry me—unless it might be a foreign missionary. —
我长得这么难看，没人会想嫁给我—除非是外国传教士。 —

I suppose a foreign missionary mightn’t be very particular. —
我猜外国传教士可能不太挑剔。 —

But I do hope that some day I shall have a white dress. That is my highest ideal of earthly bliss. —
但愿有一天我能有一件白色的裙子。那是我对尘世的最高向往。 —

I just love pretty clothes. And I’ve never had a pretty dress in my life that I can remember—but of course it’s all the more to look forward to, isn’t it? —
我就是喜欢漂亮的衣服。我记忆中从来没有穿过漂亮的衣服—但这样更值得期待，对吧？ —

And then I can imagine that I’m dressed gorgeously. —
然后我可以想象自己穿着华丽。 —

This morning when I left the asylum I felt so ashamed because I had to wear this horrid old wincey dress. —
今天早晨离开救济院时因为必须穿着这件可怕的粗呢连衣裙感到羞耻。 —

All the orphans had to wear them, you know. —
所有孤儿都必须穿上它们，你知道的。 —

A merchant in Hopeton last winter donated three hundred yards of wincey to the asylum. —
去年冬天，霍普顿的一位商人向救济院捐赠了三百码的细花布。 —

Some people said it was because he couldn’t sell it, but I’d rather believe that it was out of the kindness of his heart, wouldn’t you? —
有些人说这是因为他无法出售，但我宁愿相信这是出于他的善心，你不这么认为吗？ —

When we got on the train I felt as if everybody must be looking at me and pitying me. —
当我们上火车时，我感觉好像每个人都在看着我，同情我。 —

But I just went to work and imagined that I had on the most beautiful pale blue silk dress—because when you are imagining you might as well imagine something worth while—and a big hat all flowers and nodding plumes, and a gold watch, and kid gloves and boots. —
但我只是开始工作，想象自己穿着最美丽的淡蓝丝绸裙子——因为当你在想象的时候，最好想象些有价值的东西——戴着花朵和摇曳的羽毛大帽子，金表，还有麂皮手套和靴子。 —

I felt cheered up right away and I enjoyed my trip to the Island with all my might. —
我立刻感到振作起来，全心全意享受我的岛屿之旅。 —

I wasn’t a bit sick coming over in the boat. Neither was Mrs. Spencer although she generally is. —
在船上过去时我一点也不晕船。丽迪雅太太也一样，尽管她通常晕船。 —

She said she hadn’t time to get sick, watching to see that I didn’t fall overboard. —
她说她没时间晕船，得一直看着我，以防我摔下船。 —

She said she never saw the beat of me for prowling about. —
她说她从未见过比我更爱乱跑的人。 —

But if it kept her from being seasick it’s a mercy I did prowl, isn’t it? —
但是如果这让她免于晕船，我乱跑反而是种幸运，不是吗？ —

And I wanted to see everything that was to be seen on that boat, because I didn’t know whether I’d ever have another opportunity. —
我想看看船上所有值得一看的东西，因为我不知道自己以后是否会有另一个机会。 —

Oh, there are a lot more cherry-trees all in bloom! This Island is the bloomiest place. —
哦，还有更多盛开的樱花树！这个岛是最花的地方。 —

I just love it already, and I’m so glad I’m going to live here. —
我已经很喜欢这里了，我很高兴能在这里生活。 —

I’ve always heard that Prince Edward Island was the prettiest place in the world, and I used to imagine I was living here, but I never really expected I would. —
我一直听说爱德华王子岛是世界上最美丽的地方，我过去经常想象我住在这里，但我从未真正期待我会来这里。 —

It’s delightful when your imaginations come true, isn’t it? But those red roads are so funny. —
当你的想象成真时，那是太令人愉快了，不是吗？但那些红色的路好滑稽。 —

When we got into the train at Charlottetown and the red roads began to flash past I asked Mrs. Spencer what made them red and she said she didn’t know and for pity’s sake not to ask her any more questions. —
当我们在夏洛特镇上火车上，红色的道路开始迅速划过时，我问斯宾塞夫人是什么让它们变红的，她说她不知道，拜托不要再问她任何问题了。 —

She said I must have asked her a thousand already. —
她说我肯定问了她一千个问题了。 —

I suppose I had, too, but how you going to find out about things if you don’t ask questions? —
我想我可能确实问了，但如果不问问题，你怎么了解事物呢？ —

And what does make the roads red?”
那道路到底是什么让它们变红的呢？

“Well now, I dunno,” said Matthew.
“唔，现在，我不知道，”马修说。

“Well, that is one of the things to find out sometime. —
“唔，这是其中一件有朝一日要了解的事情。 —

Isn’t it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? —
想想看，有那么多事情值得了解，是不是很壮丽呢？ —

It just makes me feel glad to be alive—it’s such an interesting world. —
有这么多有趣的事物，这让我感到很高兴，这个世界是如此有趣。 —

It wouldn’t be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? —
如果我们知道所有事情，它就不会那么有趣了，是吧？ —

There’d be no scope for imagination then, would there? But am I talking too much? —
那时就没有想象的空间了，对吧？但是我是否说太多了？ —

People are always telling me I do. Would you rather I didn’t talk? —
人们总是告诉我我说得太多。你是不是希望我不要说话？ —

If you say so I’ll stop. I can stop when I make up my mind to it, although it’s difficult.”
如果你这么说，我会停下的。我一旦下定决心，就可以停下，虽然这有点困难。

Matthew, much to his own surprise, was enjoying himself. —
让马修自己感到意外的是，他很享受现在。 —

Like most quiet folks he liked talkative people when they were willing to do the talking themselves and did not expect him to keep up his end of it. —
像大多数安静的人一样，当健谈的人愿意自己说话并不指望他参与时，他喜欢健谈的人。 —

But he had never expected to enjoy the society of a little girl. —
但他从来没有预料到会喜欢一个小女孩的陪伴。 —

Women were bad enough in all conscience, but little girls were worse. —
女人们本来就让人困扰，但小女孩更让人讨厌。 —

He detested the way they had of sidling past him timidly, with sidewise glances, as if they expected him to gobble them up at a mouthful if they ventured to say a word. —
他厌恶她们一边畏畏缩缩地擦肩而过，一边斜眼看着他，仿佛他随时可能一口吞下她们，如果她们冒着说一句话的话。 —

That was the Avonlea type of well-bred little girl. —
那是埃文利小镇淑女气质的小女孩。 —

But this freckled witch was very different, and although he found it rather difficult for his slower intelligence to keep up with her brisk mental processes he thought that he “kind of liked her chatter. —
但这个长满雀斑的女巫大不相同，虽然他觉得自己有点跟不上她敏捷的思维过程，但他觉得“有点喜欢她的唠叨”。 —

” So he said as shyly as usual:
所以他像往常一样害羞地说：

“Oh, you can talk as much as you like. I don’t mind.”
“哦，你想说多少就说多少。我不介意。”

“Oh, I’m so glad. I know you and I are going to get along together fine. —
“哦，我很高兴。我知道你和我会相处得很好。 —

It’s such a relief to talk when one wants to and not be told that children should be seen and not heard. —
当一个人想说话而不被告知孩子应该只能看不能说时，真是一种解脱。 —

I’ve had that said to me a million times if I have once. —
我被这样说过无数次。 —

And people laugh at me because I use big words. —
人们因为我使用大词汇而嘲笑我。 —

But if you have big ideas you have to use big words to express them, haven’t you?”
但如果你有大想法，你就得用大词汇来表达，对吗？”

“Well now, that seems reasonable,” said Matthew.
“唔，那似乎很有道理，”马修说。

“Mrs. Spencer said that my tongue must be hung in the middle. —
“斯宾塞夫人说我的舌头肯定是悬在中间的。 —

But it isn’t—it’s firmly fastened at one end. —
但它不是—它牢牢固定在一端。 —

Mrs. Spencer said your place was named Green Gables. I asked her all about it. —
斯宾塞夫人说你住的地方叫绿山庄。我问了她所有关于那片地的事情。 —

And she said there were trees all around it. I was gladder than ever. I just love trees. —
她说树木围绕着绿垡。我比以往更高兴。我就是喜欢树木。 —

And there weren’t any at all about the asylum, only a few poor weeny-teeny things out in front with little whitewashed cagey things about them. —
疯人院周围并没有树木，只有一些矮小的可怜东倒西歪的树，在前面只有一些小白漆的笼子。 —

They just looked like orphans themselves, those trees did. —
那些树看起来自己也像是孤儿。 —

It used to make me want to cry to look at them. —
看着它们，我常常感到想哭。 —

I used to say to them, ‘Oh, you poor little things! —
我常对它们说：‘哦，可怜的小东西们！ —

If you were out in a great big woods with other trees all around you and little mosses and June bells growing over your roots and a brook not far away and birds singing in you branches, you could grow, couldn’t you? —
如果你们在大树林里，周围有其他的树木，根下长满了苔藓和六月钟花，附近有小溪，树枝上有鸟儿唱歌，你们会长大，不是吗？ —

But you can’t where you are. I know just exactly how you feel, little trees. —
但在那里，你们无法成长。我确切地了解你们的感受，小树木们。 —

’ I felt sorry to leave them behind this morning. —
早晨离开它们我感到很难过。 —

You do get so attached to things like that, don’t you? —
你会变得对像那样的东西很有感情，不是吗？ —

Is there a brook anywhere near Green Gables? —
绿垡附近有小溪吗？ —

I forgot to ask Mrs. Spencer that.”
我忘了问斯宾塞太太了。”

“Well now, yes, there’s one right below the house.”
“嗯，是的，在房子下面就有一条。”

“Fancy. It’s always been one of my dreams to live near a brook. —
“想象。住在小溪附近一直是我的梦想之一。 —

I never expected I would, though. Dreams don’t often come true, do they? —
虽然我从没奢望过我会住在那附近。梦想通常不会实现，是吧？ —

Wouldn’t it be nice if they did? But just now I feel pretty nearly perfectly happy. —
如果它们能实现该有多好？但此刻我感到几乎完全幸福。” —

I can’t feel exactly perfectly happy because—well, what color would you call this?”
我不能感到完全快乐，因为——嗯，你会怎么称呼这个颜色呢？

She twitched one of her long glossy braids over her thin shoulder and held it up before Matthew’s eyes. —
她将乌黑闪亮的一根长辫子扭到细细的肩膀上，将它举到马修的眼前。 —

Matthew was not used to deciding on the tints of ladies’ tresses, but in this case there couldn’t be much doubt.
马修不习惯决定女士秀发的色调，但在这种情况下没什么疑问。

“It’s red, ain’t it?” he said.
“这是红色，是吗？”他说。

The girl let the braid drop back with a sigh that seemed to come from her very toes and to exhale forth all the sorrows of the ages.
姑娘叹了口气，仿佛从她的脚趾传来，吐出所有古老的悲哀。

“Yes, it’s red,” she said resignedly. “Now you see why I can’t be perfectly happy. —
“是的，是红色的，”她顺从地说。“现在你知道为什么我不能完全快乐了。 —

Nobody could who has red hair. I don’t mind the other things so much—the freckles and the green eyes and my skinniness. —
有红发的人谁也不能，我也不例外。我不太在意其他的事——雀斑、绿眼睛和我的瘦弱。 —

I can imagine them away. I can imagine that I have a beautiful rose-leaf complexion and lovely starry violet eyes. —
我可以想象它们消失。我可以想象我有一张美丽的玫瑰叶般的面容和可爱的星空紫色眼睛。 —

But I cannot imagine that red hair away. I do my best. —
但我无法想象将红头发消失。我尽力了。 —

I think to myself, ‘Now my hair is a glorious black, black as the raven’s wing. —
我对自己说，‘现在我的头发是一种辉煌的黑色，黑得像乌鸦的翅膀一样。 —

’ But all the time I know it is just plain red and it breaks my heart. —
’但我心里明白它只是普通的红色，这让我伤心。 —

It will be my lifelong sorrow. I read of a girl once in a novel who had a lifelong sorrow but it wasn’t red hair. —
这将是我终身的悲哀。我曾经在一本小说中读到一个女孩有终身的悲哀，但那不是红头发。 —

Her hair was pure gold rippling back from her alabaster brow. —
她的头发是纯金色从她的雪白额头上波浪般地扩散开来。 —

What is an alabaster brow? I never could find out. —
什么是雪白的额头？我从来弄不清楚。 —

Can you tell me?”
你能告诉我吗？”

“Well now, I’m afraid I can’t,” said Matthew, who was getting a little dizzy. —
“嗯，抱歉，我无法告诉你，”麦修一边说一边感到有点晕眩。 —

He felt as he had once felt in his rash youth when another boy had enticed him on the merry-go-round at a picnic.
他感觉自己就像在年轻冲动时曾在野餐中被另一个男孩引诱坐上旋转木马时的感觉。

“Well, whatever it was it must have been something nice because she was divinely beautiful. —
“无论那是什么，一定是某种美好的东西，因为她天生丽质。 —

Have you ever imagined what it must feel like to be divinely beautiful?”
你有没有想过成为天生丽质是什么感觉？”

“Well now, no, I haven’t,” confessed Matthew ingenuously.
“嗯，不，我没有，”麦修坦白说。

“I have, often. Which would you rather be if you had the choice—divinely beautiful or dazzlingly clever or angelically good?”
“我经常想。如果给你选择的机会，你宁愿成为天生丽质、耀眼聪明还是天使般善良？”

“Well now, I—I don’t know exactly.”
“嗯，那个，我—我不太确定。”

“Neither do I. I can never decide. But it doesn’t make much real difference for it isn’t likely I’ll ever be either. —
“我也是一样。我总是无法决定。但实际上也没有多大差别，因为我很可能永远也不会成为其中任何一个。” —

It’s certain I’ll never be angelically good. —
“我是肯定永远也不会成为像天使一样的善良的人。” —

Mrs. Spencer says—oh, Mr. Cuthbert! Oh, Mr. Cuthbert! —
“史宾塞夫人说过——哦，卡思伯特先生！哦，卡思伯特先生！” —

! Oh, Mr. Cuthbert!!!”
“哦，卡思伯特先生！！！”

That was not what Mrs. Spencer had said; neither had the child tumbled out of the buggy nor had Matthew done anything astonishing. —
这并不是史宾塞夫人说的话；小孩也并没有从马车里摔下来，马修也没有做出任何惊人的事情。 —

They had simply rounded a curve in the road and found themselves in the “Avenue.”
他们只是在路上转过一个弯，发现自己来到了“大道”。

The “Avenue,” so called by the Newbridge people, was a stretch of road four or five hundred yards long, completely arched over with huge, wide-spreading apple-trees, planted years ago by an eccentric old farmer. —
“大道”，是纽布里奇人这样称呼的，是一条长约四到五百码、完全被年代久远的苹果树拱成门形的道路，当年被一位古怪的老农民种植。 —

Overhead was one long canopy of snowy fragrant bloom. —
头顶是一片长长的白色芬芳的花朵的天幕。 —

Below the boughs the air was full of a purple twilight and far ahead a glimpse of painted sunset sky shone like a great rose window at the end of a cathedral aisle.
在树荫下，空气中弥漫着一种紫色的黄昏，远处可以看到绘着晚霞的晴空，如同大教堂过道尽头的一扇玫瑰彩窗。

Its beauty seemed to strike the child dumb. —
它的美丽似乎让孩子惊呆了。 —

She leaned back in the buggy, her thin hands clasped before her, her face lifted rapturously to the white splendor above. —
她坐在马车里向后仰靠，纤细的双手合十放在胸前，她的脸欣喜地仰望着头顶的洁白光芒。 —

Even when they had passed out and were driving down the long slope to Newbridge she never moved or spoke. —
即使他们已经离开，驶下通往纽布里奇的长坡道，她仍然没有动过或说话。 —

Still with rapt face she gazed afar into the sunset west, with eyes that saw visions trooping splendidly across that glowing background. —
依然带着入迷的表情，她遥望西边的晚霞，她的眼睛看到了在那闪烁的背景中辉煌游行的幻象。 —

Through Newbridge, a bustling little village where dogs barked at them and small boys hooted and curious faces peered from the windows, they drove, still in silence. —
他们在纽布里奇，一个热闹的小村庄，被狗吠声和小男孩的叫喊声所伴随着，好奇的面孔从窗户里探出来，他们驾车而过，依然保持着沉默。 —

When three more miles had dropped away behind them the child had not spoken. —
当又有三英里在他们身后消失时，这个孩子还没有说话。 —

She could keep silence, it was evident, as energetically as she could talk.
她显然能保持沉默,就像她可以充分地交谈一样。

“I guess you’re feeling pretty tired and hungry,” Matthew ventured to say at last, accounting for her long visitation of dumbness with the only reason he could think of. —
“我猜你一定感到非常疲倦和饥饿,”马修最终冒险说出这个原因，解释她长时间的无言以唯一他能想到的理由。 —

“But we haven’t very far to go now—only another mile.”
“但是我们现在离终点不远了，只剩下一英里。”

She came out of her reverie with a deep sigh and looked at him with the dreamy gaze of a soul that had been wondering afar, star-led.
她深深地叹了口气，睁开梦幻般凝视的眼神望着他，像是一颗远离、由星星引领的灵魂。

“Oh, Mr. Cuthbert,” she whispered, “that place we came through—that white place—what was it?”
“哦，卡瑟伯特先生,”她低语道，“我们经过的那个地方—那个白色的地方—那是什么?”

“Well now, you must mean the Avenue,” said Matthew after a few moments’ profound reflection. —
“嗯，你一定是指大道,”马修沉思片刻后说道。 —

“It is a kind of pretty place.”
“那是一种漂亮的地方。”

“Pretty? Oh, pretty doesn’t seem the right word to use. Nor beautiful, either. —
“漂亮?哦，漂亮似乎不是一个适当的词。也不是美丽。 —

They don’t go far enough. Oh, it was wonderful—wonderful. —
这些词都不足以形容.哦，那是美妙的—奇妙的。 —

It’s the first thing I ever saw that couldn’t be improved upon by imagination. —
那是我见过的第一件无法用想象力改进的东西。 —

It just satisfies me here”—she put one hand on her breast—“it made a queer funny ache and yet it was a pleasant ache. —
它只是让我在这里感到满足”—她把一只手放在胸前—“它让我感到一种奇怪而愉快的疼痛. —

Did you ever have an ache like that, Mr. Cuthbert?”
你有过这样的疼痛吗，卡瑟伯特先生?”

“Well now, I just can’t recollect that I ever had.”
“嗯，我想不起自己有过。”

“I have it lots of time—whenever I see anything royally beautiful. —
“我经常有—每当我看到任何至尊美丽的东西。 —

But they shouldn’t call that lovely place the Avenue. There is no meaning in a name like that. —
但是他们不应该把那个可爱的地方称为大道. 那个名字没有意义。 —

They should call it—let me see—the White Way of Delight. Isn’t that a nice imaginative name? —
他们应该称它为——让我想想——快乐的白路。这不是一个很好的富有想象力的名字吗？ —

When I don’t like the name of a place or a person I always imagine a new one and always think of them so. —
当我不喜欢一个地方或一个人的名字时，我总是想象一个新的，并且总是这样称呼他们。 —

There was a girl at the asylum whose name was Hepzibah Jenkins, but I always imagined her as Rosalia DeVere. Other people may call that place the Avenue, but I shall always call it the White Way of Delight. —
疗养院里有一个名叫赫普西巴·詹金斯的女孩，但我总是想象她是罗莎莉亚·德维尔。其他人可能称那个地方为林荫道，但我将永远称它为快乐的白路。 —

Have we really only another mile to go before we get home? I’m glad and I’m sorry. —
我们真的只剩下一英里的路要回家吗？我感到高兴也感到难过。 —

I’m sorry because this drive has been so pleasant and I’m always sorry when pleasant things end. Something still pleasanter may come after, but you can never be sure. —
我感到难过是因为这次车程是如此愉快，当愉快的事情结束时我总是感到难过。之后可能会有更愉快的事情发生，但你永远不确定。 —

And it’s so often the case that it isn’t pleasanter. That has been my experience anyhow. —
而且往往情况并非如此愉快。至少在我的经验中是这样。 —

But I’m glad to think of getting home. —
但想到回家我感到高兴。 —

You see, I’ve never had a real home since I can remember. —
你知道，自我记忆以来我从未有过一个真正的家。 —

It gives me that pleasant ache again just to think of coming to a really truly home. —
想到真正地回到家中让我又感到一种愉快的悲伤。 —

Oh, isn’t that pretty!”
噢，那是多么漂亮啊！

They had driven over the crest of a hill. —
他们开过了山头。 —

Below them was a pond, looking almost like a river so long and winding was it. —
在他们下方是一个池塘，看起来几乎像一条河，因为它是如此漫长而蜿蜒。 —

A bridge spanned it midway and from there to its lower end, where an amber-hued belt of sand-hills shut it in from the dark blue gulf beyond, the water was a glory of many shifting hues—the most spiritual shadings of crocus and rose and ethereal green, with other elusive tintings for which no name has ever been found. —
一座桥横跨在中间，从那里延伸到下端，在那里琥珀色的沙丘带从深蓝色的海湾区分开来，水面是许多变幻的色调的荣耀——藏紫色、玫瑰色和飘忽的绿色，还有其他难以命名的神秘着色。 —

Above the bridge the pond ran up into fringing groves of fir and maple and lay all darkly translucent in their wavering shadows. —
在桥的上方，池塘流入松树和枫树的边缘林，完全被它们摇曳的影子映射出深暗的透光感。 —

Here and there a wild plum leaned out from the bank like a white-clad girl tip-toeing to her own reflection. —
这样的山李树在岸边有几处倾斜，像一个穿着白衣服的姑娘向她的倒影小跳。 —

From the marsh at the head of the pond came the clear, mournfully-sweet chorus of the frogs. —
池塘头部的沼泽地传来清脆、哀伤而甜美的青蛙合唱。 —

There was a little gray house peering around a white apple orchard on a slope beyond and, although it was not yet quite dark, a light was shining from one of its windows.
在斜坡上一个苹果园旁边，一栋小灰色的房子探出头来，虽然天色还没有完全暗下来，但有一扇窗户里透出一道光。

“That’s Barry’s pond,” said Matthew.
“那是巴里的池塘，”马修说。

“Oh, I don’t like that name, either. I shall call it—let me see—the Lake of Shining Waters. —
“哦，我也不喜欢那个名字。我会叫它——让我想想——闪亮水的湖。 —

Yes, that is the right name for it. I know because of the thrill. —
是的，这才是它的正确名字。我知道，因为它让我激动。 —

When I hit on a name that suits exactly it gives me a thrill. Do things ever give you a thrill?”
当我想到一个恰当的名字时，我会感到激动。有什么事情会让你感到激动吗？”

Matthew ruminated.
马修思考着。

“Well now, yes. It always kind of gives me a thrill to see them ugly white grubs that spade up in the cucumber beds. —
“嗯，是的。看到挖起黄瓜床的丑陋白虫总让我感到一种激动。 —

I hate the look of them.”
我讨厌它们的样子。”

“Oh, I don’t think that can be exactly the same kind of a thrill. Do you think it can? —
“哦，我觉得那可能不是完全相同类型的激动。你觉得呢？ —

There doesn’t seem to be much connection between grubs and lakes of shining waters, does there? —
虫虫和闪亮水的湖之间似乎没有什么联系对吧？ —

But why do other people call it Barry’s pond?”
但为什么其他人会叫它巴里的池塘呢？”

“I reckon because Mr. Barry lives up there in that house. Orchard Slope’s the name of his place. —
“我想是因为巴里先生住在那座房子里。果园坡是他家的名字。 —

If it wasn’t for that big bush behind it you could see Green Gables from here. —
如果不是后面那棵大灌木，你就可以从这里看到绿山庄了。 —

But we have to go over the bridge and round by the road, so it’s near half a mile further.”
但我们得走过桥再沿着路去，所以要多走半英里左右。”

“Has Mr. Barry any little girls? Well, not so very little either—about my size.”
“巴里先生有小姑娘吗？嗯，也不算太小，差不多和我一样大。”

“He’s got one about eleven. Her name is Diana.”
“他有一个大概十一岁的女儿。她叫黛安娜。”

“Oh!” with a long indrawing of breath. “What a perfectly lovely name!”
“哦！”她长长地吸了口气。“这个名字真是太可爱了！”

“Well now, I dunno. There’s something dreadful heathenish about it, seems to me. —
“唔，我不知道。这个名字有点像异教徒的感觉，我觉得。 —

I’d ruther Jane or Mary or some sensible name like that. —
我宁愿叫简或者玛丽，或者其他一些像那样明智的名字。 —

But when Diana was born there was a schoolmaster boarding there and they gave him the naming of her and he called her Diana.”
但是黛安娜出生时有一个家庭教师寄宿在那里，他给她起名叫黛安娜。”

“I wish there had been a schoolmaster like that around when I was born, then. —
“我希望我出生时也有这样的家庭教师。 —

Oh, here we are at the bridge. I’m going to shut my eyes tight. —
哦，我们终于到了桥上。我要紧闭双眼。 —

I’m always afraid going over bridges. I can’t help imagining that perhaps just as we get to the middle, they’ll crumple up like a jack-knife and nip us. —
经常过桥时我都害怕。我总是担心也许当我们到中间的时候，桥会像折叠的水果刀一样折断我们。 —

So I shut my eyes. But I always have to open them for all when I think we’re getting near the middle. —
所以我会闭上眼。但当我觉得我们快到中间时，我总得睁开眼。 —

Because, you see, if the bridge did crumple up I’d want to see it crumple. —
因为，你看，如果桥真的塌了，我想看到它倒塌。 —

What a jolly rumble it makes! I always like the rumble part of it. —
发出那脆响声多有趣啊！我总是喜欢那个脆响声的部分。 —

Isn’t it splendid there are so many things to like in this world? There we’re over. —
世界上有这么多喜欢的东西，真是太棒了！过去了。 —

Now I’ll look back. Good night, dear Lake of Shining Waters. —
现在我要回头看看。晚安，我亲爱的闪光湖。 —

I always say good night to the things I love, just as I would to people. —
我总是和我爱的事物说晚安，就像我对人一样。 —

I think they like it. That water looks as if it was smiling at me.”
我认为他们喜欢这里。那水看起来好像在向我微笑。

When they had driven up the further hill and around a corner Matthew said:
当他们驶上更远的山丘并绕过一个拐角时，马修说：

“We’re pretty near home now. That’s Green Gables over—”
“我们现在离家很近了。那边就是绿谷别墅了——”

“Oh, don’t tell me,” she interrupted breathlessly, catching at his partially raised arm and shutting her eyes that she might not see his gesture. —
“哦，别告诉我，”她激动地打断道，抓住他的一只部分抬起的手臂，并闭上眼睛，以免看到他的手势。 —

“Let me guess. I’m sure I’ll guess right.”
“让我猜猜看。我确定我会猜对的。”

She opened her eyes and looked about her. They were on the crest of a hill. —
她睁开眼睛四处看了看。他们站在一个山顶上。 —

The sun had set some time since, but the landscape was still clear in the mellow afterlight. —
太阳已经落山一段时间了，但风景在柔和的残阳中仍然清晰可见。 —

To the west a dark church spire rose up against a marigold sky. —
西边，一座黑色的教堂尖塔在金黄色的天空中拔地而起。 —

Below was a little valley and beyond a long, gently-rising slope with snug farmsteads scattered along it. —
在下方是一个小山谷，远处是一个长长的、渐渐上升的斜坡，散布着舒适的农舍。 —

From one to another the child’s eyes darted, eager and wistful. —
小女孩的眼睛急切而渴望地在这些地方穿梭着。 —

At last they lingered on one away to the left, far back from the road, dimly white with blossoming trees in the twilight of the surrounding woods. —
最后，她的目光停在左边的一座庄园上，远离马路，周围被暮色下的树木和盛开的白花包围着。 —

Over it, in the stainless southwest sky, a great crystal-white star was shining like a lamp of guidance and promise.
在这座庄园上空，湛蓝无瑕的西南天空中，一颗巨大的水晶白星就像一盏指引和希望的灯。

“That’s it, isn’t it?” she said, pointing.
“那就是了，对吗？”她指着说。

Matthew slapped the reins on the sorrel’s back delightedly.
马修高兴地拍打着火药色马的缰绳。

“Well now, you’ve guessed it! But I reckon Mrs. Spencer described it so’s you could tell.”
“好了，你猜对了！但我想斯宾塞夫人描述过了，所以你才能猜出来。”

“No, she didn’t—really she didn’t. —
“不，她没做到—真的她没做到。 —

All she said might just as well have been about most of those other places. —
她说的话实际上对大多数其他地方也适用。 —

I hadn’t any real idea what it looked like. But just as soon as I saw it I felt it was home. —
我并不真正知道它是什么样子。但只要我看到它，我就觉得那才是家。 —

Oh, it seems as if I must be in a dream. —
哦，我觉得自己一定是在做梦。 —

Do you know, my arm must be black and blue from the elbow up, for I’ve pinched myself so many times today. —
你知道，我的手臂从肘部到上面一定是青一块紫一块的，因为我今天掐了自己好多次。 —

Every little while a horrible sickening feeling would come over me and I’d be so afraid it was all a dream. —
每隔一会儿，一种可怕的恶心感会袭上心头，我会非常害怕这一切只是梦。 —

Then I’d pinch myself to see if it was real—until suddenly I remembered that even supposing it was only a dream I’d better go on dreaming as long as I could; —
然后我会掐自己一下来确认它是真的—直到突然间我记起即使这只是一个梦，我最好尽可能地继续做梦； —

so I stopped pinching. But it is real and we’re nearly home.”
所以我停止掐自己。但这是真实的，而且我们几乎到家了。”

With a sigh of rapture she relapsed into silence. Matthew stirred uneasily. —
她发出了一声喜悦的叹息，陷入了沉默。马修感到不安。 —

He felt glad that it would be Marilla and not he who would have to tell this waif of the world that the home she longed for was not to be hers after all. —
他感到高兴，因为将会是玛丽拉而不是他告诉这个世界的流浪者，她渴望的家并不会成为她的。 —

They drove over Lynde’s Hollow, where it was already quite dark, but not so dark that Mrs. Rachel could not see them from her window vantage, and up the hill and into the long lane of Green Gables. —
他们驶过林德沟，天色已经相当暗了，但还不至于连劳伦丝夫人都看不见他们从她的窗户位置出现，然后上山，进入长长的枫林牧场车道。 —

By the time they arrived at the house Matthew was shrinking from the approaching revelation with an energy he did not understand. —
当他们抵达房子时，马修对即将揭示的事实感到一种他不理解的紧张。 —

It was not of Marilla or himself he was thinking of the trouble this mistake was probably going to make for them, but of the child’s disappointment. —
他所想的不是这个错误可能给他们带来的麻烦，而是孩子的失望。 —

When he thought of that rapt light being quenched in her eyes he had an uncomfortable feeling that he was going to assist at murdering something—much the same feeling that came over him when he had to kill a lamb or calf or any other innocent little creature.
当他想到她眼中那种着迷的光芒会被扑灭时，他有一种不舒服的感觉，感觉自己将帮助杀害某种东西—当他不得不杀死一只羔羊或小牛或其他任何无辜的小动物时，他会产生同样的感觉。

The yard was quite dark as they turned into it and the poplar leaves were rustling silkily all round it.
当他们转入院子时，院子里非常黑暗，白杨叶子在周围轻轻地沙沙作响。

“Listen to the trees talking in their sleep,” she whispered, as he lifted her to the ground. —
“听听树在梦中交谈吧，”她轻声说着，当他把她放在地上时。 —

“What nice dreams they must have!”
“它们一定做着美好的梦！”

Then, holding tightly to the carpet-bag which contained “all her worldly goods,” she followed him into the house.
然后，她紧握着装着“她的一切家当”的手提包，跟着他走进了房子里。