DEAR ME, there is nothing but meetings and partings in this world, as Mrs. Lynde says,” remarked Anne plaintively, putting her slate and books down on the kitchen table on the last day of June and wiping her red eyes with a very damp handkerchief. —
亲爱的我，这个世界上只有相聚和离别，就像琳德夫人说的那样，”安妮抱怨地说着，在六月的最后一天将她的粉板和书放在厨房桌上，并用一块非常潮湿的手绢擦拭着她的红肿眼睛。 —

“Wasn’t it fortunate, Marilla, that I took an extra handkerchief to school today? —
“马修拉，今天我带了一块额外的手绢去学校真是太幸运了。 —

I had a presentiment that it would be needed.”
我预感到它会派上用场。”

“I never thought you were so fond of Mr. Phillips that you’d require two handkerchiefs to dry your tears just because he was going away,” said Marilla.
“我从来没想过你对菲利普斯先生有多喜欢，以至于需要两块手绢擦干眼泪，只因为他要走了，”玛丽拉说。

“I don’t think I was crying because I was really so very fond of him,” reflected Anne. “I just cried because all the others did. —
“我不认为我是因为真的那么喜欢他才哭的，”安妮反思道。“我只是因为其他人都哭了。 —

It was Ruby Gillis started it. Ruby Gillis has always declared she hated Mr. Phillips, but just as soon as he got up to make his farewell speech she burst into tears. —
开始是鲁比•吉利斯引发的。鲁比•吉利斯一直说她讨厌菲利普斯先生，但就在他起身发表告别演讲时，她突然泪如泉涌。 —

Then all the girls began to cry, one after the other. I tried to hold out, Marilla. —
然后所有女孩依次开始哭泣。我试图坚持住，马修拉。 —

I tried to remember the time Mr. Phillips made me sit with Gil—with a boy; —
我试图回忆起菲利普斯先生让我和一个男孩坐在一起的情形； —

and the time he spelled my name without an ‘e’ on the blackboard; —
以及他在黑板上拼写我的名字时没有加‘e’； —

and how he said I was the worst dunce he ever saw at geometry and laughed at my spelling; —
以及他说我是他见过的几何学中最笨的一个，嘲笑我的拼写； —

and all the times he had been so horrid and sarcastic; —
以及他一直那么讨厌和讽刺； —

but somehow I couldn’t, Marilla, and I just had to cry too. —
但不知怎么的，我无法顶住，马修拉，我只好流泪了。 —

Jane Andrews has been talking for a month about how glad she’d be when Mr. Phillips went away and she declared she’d never shed a tear. —
简•安德鲁斯一个月来一直在讲述菲利普斯先生离开时她有多庆幸，她宣称她永远不会流泪。 —

Well, she was worse than any of us and had to borrow a handkerchief from her brother—of course the boys didn’t cry—because she hadn’t brought one of her own, not expecting to need it. —
拉，但她比我们任何人都更糟糕，不得不从她哥哥那里借了一块手绢 – 当然男孩们没有哭 – 因为她没有自己的带，没想到会需要。 —

Oh, Marilla, it was heartrending. Mr. Phillips made such a beautiful farewell speech beginning, ‘The time has come for us to part. —
哦，马修拉，这太令人心碎了。菲利普斯先生发表了如此美丽的告别演说开始，“我们分别的时刻到来了。 —

’ It was very affecting. And he had tears in his eyes too, Marilla. —
这真是令人感动。而且马利拉，他眼中也有泪水。 —

Oh, I felt dreadfully sorry and remorseful for all the times I’d talked in school and drawn pictures of him on my slate and made fun of him and Prissy. —
哦，我感到非常抱歉和愧疚，为我在学校里说过话，用板擦画他的画，取笑他和普里西的次数。 —

I can tell you I wished I’d been a model pupil like Minnie Andrews. —
我可以告诉你，我真希望自己像米妮·安德鲁斯那样是一个模范学生。 —

She hadn’t anything on her conscience. The girls cried all the way home from school. —
她没有任何愧疚。女孩们从学校回家的路上哭了一路。 —

Carrie Sloane kept saying every few minutes, ‘The time has come for us to part,’ and that would start us off again whenever we were in any danger of cheering up. —
凯莉·斯隆每隔几分钟就说一次，“我们该分别了”，这样一说我们每次一有快要高兴的迹象就又开始哭起来。 —

I do feel dreadfully sad, Marilla. But one can’t feel quite in the depths of despair with two months’ vacation before them, can they, Marilla? —
我感到非常难过，马利拉。但有两个月的假期在面前，人一定不能陷入绝望的深渊，对吧，马利拉？ —

And besides, we met the new minister and his wife coming from the station. —
而且，我们遇见了新牧师和他的妻子从车站回来。 —

For all I was feeling so bad about Mr. Phillips going away I couldn’t help taking a little interest in a new minister, could I? —
尽管我对菲利普斯先生的离开感到很难过，但在一个新的牧师身上我还是忍不住对他们感兴趣，对吧？ —

His wife is very pretty. Not exactly regally lovely, of course—it wouldn’t do, I suppose, for a minister to have a regally lovely wife, because it might set a bad example. —
他的妻子很漂亮。当然并没有像王室女性那样绝美，我相信，一个牧师有一位王室女性般的妻子可能会树立一个不好的榜样。 —

Mrs. Lynde says the minister’s wife over at Newbridge sets a very bad example because she dresses so fashionably. —
林德太太说她家那边的牧师妻子树立了一个很坏的榜样，因为她穿得太时尚了。 —

Our new minister’s wife was dressed in blue muslin with lovely puffed sleeves and a hat trimmed with roses. —
我们新牧师的妻子穿着蓝色的薄绸衣服，花边袖子和帽子上有玫瑰花装饰。 —

Jane Andrews said she thought puffed sleeves were too worldly for a minister’s wife, but I didn’t make any such uncharitable remark, Marilla, because I know what it is to long for puffed sleeves. —
简·安德斯说她认为泡泡袖对一个牧师的妻子来说太世俗了，但我没有说出这样不仁慈的话，因为我知道渴望有泡泡袖是什么滋味。 —

Besides, she’s only been a minister’s wife for a little while, so one should make allowances, shouldn’t they? —
此外，她只是牧师的妻子没多久，所以人们应该多包涵，不是吗？ —

They are going to board with Mrs. Lynde until the manse is ready.”
他们将和林德太太住在一起，直到牧师的官邸准备好。

If Marilla, in going down to Mrs. Lynde’s that evening, was actuated by any motive save her avowed one of returning the quilting frames she had borrowed the preceding winter, it was an amiable weakness shared by most of the Avonlea people. —
如果说玛丽拉今晚去琳德太太家并不完全是她声称的为了还去年冬天借的织被架，那是埃文利村大部分人都有的一种可爱的软弱。 —

Many a thing Mrs. Lynde had lent, sometimes never expecting to see it again, came home that night in charge of the borrowers thereof. —
许多事物都是林德夫人借出去的，有时甚至没想过会再看到，但那天晚上它们都被借物者带回了家。 —

A new minister, and moreover a minister with a wife, was a lawful object of curiosity in a quiet little country settlement where sensations were few and far between.
一个新牧师，而且还有一个妻子的牧师，在一个宁静的乡村聚落里是一个合法的好奇对象，这里的感动很少，难得出现。

Old Mr. Bentley, the minister whom Anne had found lacking in imagination, had been pastor of Avonlea for eighteen years. —
安妮之前觉得缺乏想象力的老本特利先生已经在埃文利住了十八年了。 —

He was a widower when he came, and a widower he remained, despite the fact that gossip regularly married him to this, that, or the other one, every year of his sojourn. —
他来的时候是鳏夫，离开时也是鳏夫，尽管流言每年都会把他嫁给这个那个，或另一个人。 —

In the preceding February he had resigned his charge and departed amid the regrets of his people, most of whom had the affection born of long intercourse for their good old minister in spite of his shortcomings as an orator. —
在上一年的二月，他递交辞呈，并离开了，虽然他未能成为一位演说家，但他在人们心中却有着长期交往的感情。 —

Since then the Avonlea church had enjoyed a variety of religious dissipation in listening to the many and various candidates and “supplies” who came Sunday after Sunday to preach on trial. —
从那时起，埃文利教堂开始享受听一连串来教堂讲道的候选人和“替班牧师”们的快感，每个星期天都有不同的人来试讲。 —

These stood or fell by the judgment of the fathers and mothers in Israel; —
这些人得到以色列老辈们的评判； —

but a certain small, red-haired girl who sat meekly in the corner of the old Cuthbert pew also had her opinions about them and discussed the same in full with Matthew, Marilla always declining from principle to criticize ministers in any shape or form.
但在老卡斯伯特的座位角落里坐着的一个红头发小姑娘对他们也有自己的看法，并且总是和马修讨论，玛丽拉原则上不会批评任何形式的牧师。

“I don’t think Mr. Smith would have done, Matthew” was Anne’s final summing up. —
“我认为史密斯先生不合适，马修。”安妮做出了最后的结论。 —

“Mrs. Lynde says his delivery was so poor, but I think his worst fault was just like Mr. Bentley’s—he had no imagination. —
“林德夫人说他的表达能力很差，但我认为他最大的缺点就像本特利先生一样—他缺乏想象力。 —

And Mr. Terry had too much; he let it run away with him just as I did mine in the matter of the Haunted Wood. Besides, Mrs. Lynde says his theology wasn’t sound. —
特里先生想象力太丰富了；他让它失控，就像我在“鬼林”一事上做得太过分了一样。此外，林德夫人说他的神学不够坚实。 —

Mr. Gresham was a very good man and a very religious man, but he told too many funny stories and made the people laugh in church; —
格雷厄姆先生是一个很好的人，一个很虔诚的人，但他讲了太多有趣的故事，让人们在教堂里笑个不停； —

he was undignified, and you must have some dignity about a minister, mustn’t you, Matthew? —
他不够庄重，但一个牧师必须有些庄重，对吗，马修？ —

I thought Mr. Marshall was decidedly attractive; —
我觉得马歇尔先生很有魅力； —

but Mrs. Lynde says he isn’t married, or even engaged, because she made special inquiries about him, and she says it would never do to have a young unmarried minister in Avonlea, because he might marry in the congregation and that would make trouble. —
但林德夫人说他既未结婚也未订婚，因为她特意打听了他，她说不能在埃文利有一位年轻的未婚牧师，因为他可能会在教众中结婚，那会造成麻烦。 —

Mrs. Lynde is a very farseeing woman, isn’t she, Matthew? —
莫丝·林德夫人是一个很有远见的女人，对吧，马修？ —

I’m very glad they’ve called Mr. Allan. I liked him because his sermon was interesting and he prayed as if he meant it and not just as if he did it because he was in the habit of it. —
很高兴他们叫来了艾伦先生。我喜欢他，因为他的布道很有趣，祈祷时看起来很虔诚，而不是因为习惯而敷衍了事。 —

Mrs. Lynde says he isn’t perfect, but she says she supposes we couldn’t expect a perfect minister for seven hundred and fifty dollars a year, and anyhow his theology is sound because she questioned him thoroughly on all the points of doctrine. —
林德夫人说他并不完美，但她说七百五十美元一年可能无法期望一个完美的牧师，而且他的神学很正确，因为她对所有教义问题都仔细询问过他。 —

And she knows his wife’s people and they are most respectable and the women are all good housekeepers. —
她了解他妻子的家人，他们很体面，所有女人都是好管家。 —

Mrs. Lynde says that sound doctrine in the man and good housekeeping in the woman make an ideal combination for a minister’s family.”
林德夫人说，在男人是正确的信条，在女人是善于管理家务的这种理想组合下，对一个牧师家庭来说是最理想的。

The new minister and his wife were a young, pleasant-faced couple, still on their honeymoon, and full of all good and beautiful enthusiasms for their chosen lifework. —
新牧师和他的妻子是一对年轻的、笑脸常常挂在脸上的夫妇，仍处于蜜月期，对他们选择的事业充满了一切美好、热情洋溢的想法。 —

Avonlea opened its heart to them from the start. —
阿文利为他们敞开了怀抱。 —

Old and young liked the frank, cheerful young man with his high ideals, and the bright, gentle little lady who assumed the mistress-ship of the manse. —
老少对这位坦诚、开朗的年轻人，以及那位富有高尚理想的明亮、温和的小夫人都很喜爱。 —

With Mrs. Allan Anne fell promptly and wholeheartedly in love. —
安妮立刻全心全意地喜欢上了艾伦夫人。 —

She had discovered another kindred spirit.
她发现了另一个心灵相通的人。

“Mrs. Allan is perfectly lovely,” she announced one Sunday afternoon. —
“艾伦夫人真是个完美的人，”她一个星期天下午宣布。 —

“She’s taken our class and she’s a splendid teacher. —
“她担任了我们的班主任，她是一位出色的老师。 —

She said right away she didn’t think it was fair for the teacher to ask all the questions, and you know, Marilla, that is exactly what I’ve always thought. —
她立刻说她认为老师问所有问题并不公平，你知道的，玛丽拉，这正是我一直以来的想法。 —

She said we could ask her any question we liked and I asked ever so many. —
她说我们可以问她任何问题，我问了很多个。 —

I’m good at asking questions, Marilla.”
我问问题很在行，玛丽拉。”

“I believe you” was Marilla’s emphatic comment.
玛丽拉强调地说：“我相信你。”

“Nobody else asked any except Ruby Gillis, and she asked if there was to be a Sunday-school picnic this summer. —
没有人问了其他问题，只有鲁比·吉利斯问了，她问这个夏天是否会有主日学校野餐。 —

I didn’t think that was a very proper question to ask because it hadn’t any connection with the lesson—the lesson was about Daniel in the lions’ den—but Mrs. Allan just smiled and said she thought there would be. —
我觉得这是一个不太恰当的问题，因为它与课程没有任何关联——课程是关于但以理在狮子坑的故事——但艾伦夫人只是微笑着说她认为会有的。 —

Mrs. Allan has a lovely smile; she has such exquisite dimples in her cheeks. —
艾伦夫人笑容可爱；她脸颊上有着如此精致的酒窝。 —

I wish I had dimples in my cheeks, Marilla. —
玛丽拉，我希望我的脸上也有酒窝。 —

I’m not half so skinny as I was when I came here, but I have no dimples yet. —
我来这里时并不像现在这么瘦小，但我的脸上还没有酒窝。 —

If I had perhaps I could influence people for good. —
如果我有了酒窝，或许我可以影响别人做善事。 —

Mrs. Allan said we ought always to try to influence other people for good. —
艾伦夫人说我们应该永远努力影响他人做好事。 —

She talked so nice about everything. I never knew before that religion was such a cheerful thing. —
她谈论的每件事都很美好。我以前从未意识到宗教是如此令人愉快的一件事。 —

I always thought it was kind of melancholy, but Mrs. Allan’s isn’t, and I’d like to be a Christian if I could be one like her. —
我一直以为它有点忧郁，但艾伦夫人并不是，我希望我能成为一个像她那样的基督徒。 —

I wouldn’t want to be one like Mr. Superintendent Bell.”
我不想成为像贝尔主任那样的人。”

“It’s very naughty of you to speak so about Mr. Bell,” said Marilla severely. —
玛丽拉严肃地说：“你这样说贝尔主任是非常不礼貌的。” —

“Mr. Bell is a real good man.”
安妮同意说：“贝尔主任确实是个好人。”

“Oh, of course he’s good,” agreed Anne, “but he doesn’t seem to get any comfort out of it. —
“哦，当然他是好人。”安妮同意道，“但他似乎没有从中得到任何安慰。 —

If I could be good I’d dance and sing all day because I was glad of it. —
如果我能做到善良，我会因为高兴而整天跳舞、唱歌。 —

I suppose Mrs. Allan is too old to dance and sing and of course it wouldn’t be dignified in a minister’s wife. —
我猜艾伦太太岁数太大了，跳舞唱歌肯定不太体面，尤其是作为一位牧师的妻子。 —

But I can just feel she’s glad she’s a Christian and that she’d be one even if she could get to heaven without it.”
但我能感觉到她很高兴自己是基督徒，即使不信奉基督她也会这样。

“I suppose we must have Mr. and Mrs. Allan up to tea someday soon,” said Marilla reflectively. —
“我想我们得很快请艾伦夫妇来喝茶，”玛丽拉深思熟虑地说。 —

“They’ve been most everywhere but here. Let me see. —
“他们几乎去过所有地方，就是没来这里。让我想想。 —

Next Wednesday would be a good time to have them. —
下周三应该是个好时间，请他们来。 —

But don’t say a word to Matthew about it, for if he knew they were coming he’d find some excuse to be away that day. —
但千万别告诉马修，因为如果他知道他们要来，他会找借口那天不在家。 —

He’d got so used to Mr. Bentley he didn’t mind him, but he’s going to find it hard to get acquainted with a new minister, and a new minister’s wife will frighten him to death.”
他已经习惯了本特利先生，对他无所谓，但要和新的牧师熟络起来就不容易了，新牧师夫人会吓坏他的。”

“I’ll be as secret as the dead,” assured Anne. “But oh, Marilla, will you let me make a cake for the occasion? —
“我会守口如瓶的，”安妮保证道。“但是，玛丽拉，你能让我为这个场合做个蛋糕吗？ —

I’d love to do something for Mrs. Allan, and you know I can make a pretty good cake by this time.”
我很想为艾伦夫人做点什么，你知道我现在做蛋糕已经有些水平了。”

“You can make a layer cake,” promised Marilla.
“你可以做一个双层蛋糕，”玛丽拉答应道。

Monday and Tuesday great preparations went on at Green Gables. —
周一和周二，绿谷的准备工作进行得如火如荼。 —

Having the minister and his wife to tea was a serious and important undertaking, and Marilla was determined not to be eclipsed by any of the Avonlea housekeepers. —
请牧师和夫人来喝茶是一项严肃而重要的事情，玛丽拉决心不让任何阿夫奈利的主妇比她更出色。 —

Anne was wild with excitement and delight. —
安妮兴奋不已，乐此不疲。 —

She talked it all over with Diana Tuesday night in the twilight, as they sat on the big red stones by the Dryad’s Bubble and made rainbows in the water with little twigs dipped in fir balsam.
周二黄昏，她和黛安娜一边坐在公主泡沫旁边的大红石头上，一边用灌木脂浸过的小树枝在水中制造彩虹，一边与黛安娜谈论着一切。

“Everything is ready, Diana, except my cake which I’m to make in the morning, and the baking-powder biscuits which Marilla will make just before teatime. —
“一切都准备妥当了，黛安娜，除了明天我要做的蛋糕，还有玛丽拉将在下午茶时间做的发酵粉小饼干。 —

I assure you, Diana, that Marilla and I have had a busy two days of it. —
我向你保证，黛安娜，玛丽拉和我这两天忙得不可开交。 —

It’s such a responsibility having a minister’s family to tea. —
招待牧师的家庭喝茶真是一项责任重大的任务。 —

I never went through such an experience before. You should just see our pantry. —
这是我前所未有的经历。你应该看看我们的餐具间。 —

It’s a sight to behold. We’re going to have jellied chicken and cold tongue. —
真是一道风景。我们打算做果冻鸡肉和冷牛舌。 —

We’re to have two kinds of jelly, red and yellow, and whipped cream and lemon pie, and cherry pie, and three kinds of cookies, and fruit cake, and Marilla’s famous yellow plum preserves that she keeps especially for ministers, and pound cake and layer cake, and biscuits as aforesaid; —
我们会有两种果冻，一红一黄，还有打发奶油、柠檬派、樱桃派和三种饼干，水果蛋糕，以及玛丽拉专门为牧师备的著名的黄李子酱，还有磅蛋糕和千层蛋糕，如前述的饼干； —

and new bread and old both, in case the minister is dyspeptic and can’t eat new. —
还有新面包和老面包，以防牧师的消化不良，无法吃新面包。 —

Mrs. Lynde says ministers are dyspeptic, but I don’t think Mr. Allan has been a minister long enough for it to have had a bad effect on him. —
林德太太说牧师都有消化不良，但我觉得艾伦先生担任牧师还不够长，消化系统还没受太大影响。 —

I just grow cold when I think of my layer cake. Oh, Diana, what if it shouldn’t be good! —
想到我的千层蛋糕我就胆战心惊。哦，黛安娜，如果不好怎么办！ —

I dreamed last night that I was chased all around by a fearful goblin with a big layer cake for a head.”
昨晚我梦到我被一个可怕的小妖精追着跑，头上竟然是一个大千层蛋糕。”

“It’ll be good, all right,” assured Diana, who was a very comfortable sort of friend. —
“当然会好的，”黛安娜安慰道，她是个非常令人舒适的朋友。 —

“I’m sure that piece of the one you made that we had for lunch in Idlewild two weeks ago was perfectly elegant.”
“我相信你两周前在艾尔德怀尔为午餐做的那块千层蛋糕绝对是完美的。”

“Yes; but cakes have such a terrible habit of turning out bad just when you especially want them to be good,” sighed Anne, setting a particularly well-balsamed twig afloat. —
“是的；但蛋糕有个非常糟糕的习惯，就是在你特别希望它好的时候，常常会失败，” 安妮叹气着，将一根特别香的树枝放入水中。 —

“However, I suppose I shall just have to trust to Providence and be careful to put in the flour. —
“不过，我想我只能相信上帝，当心放面粉了。 —

Oh, look, Diana, what a lovely rainbow! Do you suppose the dryad will come out after we go away and take it for a scarf?”
哦，看，黛安娜，多美的彩虹！你认为榉树女神我们走后会出来，把它当披巾吗？”

“You know there is no such thing as a dryad,” said Diana. Diana’s mother had found out about the Haunted Wood and had been decidedly angry over it. —
“你知道木灵是不存在的，”黛安娜说。黛安娜的母亲发现了有关闹鬼的树林的事，对此非常生气。 —

As a result Diana had abstained from any further imitative flights of imagination and did not think it prudent to cultivate a spirit of belief even in harmless dryads.
因此，黛安娜决定不再进行任何模仿想象的飞行，也不认为培养对无害的树仙信仰是明智的。

“But it’s so easy to imagine there is,” said Anne. “Every night before I go to bed, I look out of my window and wonder if the dryad is really sitting here, combing her locks with the spring for a mirror. —
“但想象它真的存在是如此容易，”安妮说道。“每天晚上睡觉前，我都会从窗户往外看，想象树仙是不是真的坐在这里，用春天当镜子梳理她的头发。” —

Sometimes I look for her footprints in the dew in the morning. —
有时早晨我还会在露水中寻找她的脚印。 —

Oh, Diana, don’t give up your faith in the dryad!”
哦，黛安娜，不要放弃对树仙的信仰！

Wednesday morning came. Anne got up at sunrise because she was too excited to sleep. —
星期三早晨来临了。安妮因为过于兴奋而在日出时起床。 —

She had caught a severe cold in the head by reason of her dabbling in the spring on the preceding evening; —
由于前一天在泉水中泼水玩耍，她的头部感冒严重； —

but nothing short of absolute pneumonia could have quenched her interest in culinary matters that morning. —
但仅有严重的肺炎才能扑灭她对烹饪事务的兴趣。 —

After breakfast she proceeded to make her cake. —
早饭后，她着手做蛋糕。 —

When she finally shut the oven door upon it she drew a long breath.
当最终将炉门关闭时，她长长地吁了口气。

“I’m sure I haven’t forgotten anything this time, Marilla. But do you think it will rise? —
“我确定这次没有忘记任何东西，玛丽拉。但你认为它会发酵吗？ —

Just suppose perhaps the baking powder isn’t good? I used it out of the new can. —
想想看啊，也许发酵粉不好？我是从新罐头里用的。 —

And Mrs. Lynde says you can never be sure of getting good baking powder nowadays when everything is so adulterated. —
林德夫人说如今所有东西都被掺假，你永远不可能确认买到好的发酵粉。 —

Mrs. Lynde says the Government ought to take the matter up, but she says we’ll never see the day when a Tory Government will do it. —
林德夫人说政府应该介入此事，但她说我们永远也见不到保守党政府会这么做。 —

Marilla, what if that cake doesn’t rise?”
玛丽拉，如果那个蛋糕不发酵怎么办？”

“We’ll have plenty without it” was Marilla’s unimpassioned way of looking at the subject.
“没有蛋糕我们也有很多其他食物。” 这是玛丽拉对这件事的无动于衷的态度。

The cake did rise, however, and came out of the oven as light and feathery as golden foam. —
蛋糕确实膨胀了，从烤箱里拿出来时像金色的泡沫一样轻盈。 —

Anne, flushed with delight, clapped it together with layers of ruby jelly and, in imagination, saw Mrs. Allan eating it and possibly asking for another piece!
安妮兴奋地脸红，把它与红宝石果冻一起放在一起，想象着艾伦太太吃它，可能会要求再来一块！

“You’ll be using the best tea set, of course, Marilla,” she said. —
“玛丽拉，你当然会用最好的茶具，”她说。 —

“Can I fix the table with ferns and wild roses?”
“我可以用蕨类植物和野玫瑰摆饰桌子吗？”

“I think that’s all nonsense,” sniffed Marilla. —
“我认为那些都是废话，”玛丽拉嗤之以鼻。 —

“In my opinion it’s the eatables that matter and not flummery decorations.”
“在我看来，重要的是吃的东西，而不是花哨的装饰。”

“Mrs. Barry had her table decorated,” said Anne, who was not entirely guiltless of the wisdom of the serpent, “and the minister paid her an elegant compliment. —
安妮说：“巴里太太的桌子装饰得很漂亮，”她并非完全没有蛇的智慧，“牧师对此表示了优雅的赞美。” —

He said it was a feast for the eye as well as the palate.”
“他说那不仅是口腹之欲的享受，也是视觉上的盛宴。”

“Well, do as you like,” said Marilla, who was quite determined not to be surpassed by Mrs. Barry or anybody else. —
“嗯，你爱怎么弄就怎么弄吧，”玛丽拉坚决不愿被巴里太太或其他人超越。 —

“Only mind you leave enough room for the dishes and the food.”
“只要留足够的空间放餐具和食物就行。”

Anne laid herself out to decorate in a manner and after a fashion that should leave Mrs. Barry’s nowhere. —
安妮竭尽全力以一种方式和风格来装饰，使巴里太太的桌子相形见绌。 —

Having abundance of roses and ferns and a very artistic taste of her own, she made that tea table such a thing of beauty that when the minister and his wife sat down to it they exclaimed in chorus over it loveliness.
她有大量的玫瑰和蕨类植物，加上自己非常有艺术品味，她把茶几装饰得如此美丽，以至于当牧师和他的妻子坐下来时，他们异口同声地赞叹着它的美丽。

“It’s Anne’s doings,” said Marilla, grimly just; —
“这是安妮的功劳，”玛丽拉冷冷地说； —

and Anne felt that Mrs. Allan’s approving smile was almost too much happiness for this world.
安妮感到艾伦太太的赞许微笑几乎让她快乐得难以言喻。

Matthew was there, having been inveigled into the party only goodness and Anne knew how. —
马修也在那里，被诱骗参加这个聚会，只有善良和安妮知道。 —

He had been in such a state of shyness and nervousness that Marilla had given him up in despair, but Anne took him in hand so successfully that he now sat at the table in his best clothes and white collar and talked to the minister not uninterestingly. —
他一直处于害羞和紧张的状态，马丽拉已经对他绝望了，但安妮成功地控制了他，现在他穿着最好的衣服，白领，坐在桌旁，与牧师谈话，内容也不无趣。 —

He never said a word to Mrs. Allan, but that perhaps was not to be expected.
他从未对艾伦夫人说过一句话，但或许这是可以预料的。

All went merry as a marriage bell until Anne’s layer cake was passed. —
一切都在进行得很顺利，直到安妮的蛋糕被传来。 —

Mrs. Allan, having already been helped to a bewildering variety, declined it. —
艾伦夫人已经被帮忙拿了各种不同的食物，所以拒绝了。 —

But Marilla, seeing the disappointment on Anne’s face, said smilingly:
但马丽拉看到安妮脸上的失望表情，笑着说:

“Oh, you must take a piece of this, Mrs. Allan. Anne made it on purpose for you.”
“哦，你一定要尝一块，艾伦夫人。安妮是特意为你做的。”

“In that case I must sample it,” laughed Mrs. Allan, helping herself to a plump triangle, as did also the minister and Marilla.
“既然如此，我必须品尝一下，” 艾伦夫人笑着说，自己挖了一大块三角形，牧师和马丽拉也跟着吃了一些。

Mrs. Allan took a mouthful of hers and a most peculiar expression crossed her face; —
艾伦夫人尝了一口，她的脸上出现了一种非常奇怪的表情； —

not a word did she say, however, but steadily ate away at it. —
但她什么也没有说，一口口地吃着。 —

Marilla saw the expression and hastened to taste the cake.
马丽拉看到了这个表情，赶紧尝了这块蛋糕。

“Anne Shirley!” she exclaimed, “what on earth did you put into that cake?”
“安妮·雪莉！” 她惊叫道，“你到底在这蛋糕里放了什么？”

“Nothing but what the recipe said, Marilla,” cried Anne with a look of anguish. —
“只是食谱上写的啊，马丽拉，” 安妮绝望地说。 —

“Oh, isn’t it all right?”
“哦，它没问题吗？”

“All right! It’s simply horrible. Mr. Allan, don’t try to eat it. —
“没问题！简直恶心透顶。艾伦先生，不要试着吃了。 —

Anne, taste it yourself. What flavoring did you use?”
安妮，你尝一下。你用了什么调味料？”

“Vanilla,” said Anne, her face scarlet with mortification after tasting the cake. —
“香草，” 安妮说道，品尝完蛋糕后脸颊因尴尬而绯红。 —

“Only vanilla. Oh, Marilla, it must have been the baking powder. —
“只有香草。哦，玛丽拉，一定是发酵粉。 —

I had my suspicions of that bak—”
我就怀疑那发……”

“Baking powder fiddlesticks! Go and bring me the bottle of vanilla you used.”
“发酵粉胡说八道！去给我拿来你用的那瓶香草。”

Anne fled to the pantry and returned with a small bottle partially filled with a brown liquid and labeled yellowly, “Best Vanilla.”
安妮跑进食品储藏室，拿着一个半满的小瓶回来，瓶上有一个黄色标签，写着“最好的香草”。

Marilla took it, uncorked it, smelled it.
玛丽拉拿过去，打开瓶盖，闻了闻。

“Mercy on us, Anne, you’ve flavored that cake with Anodyne Liniment. —
“天啊，安妮，你用止痛膏调味那蛋糕了。 —

I broke the liniment bottle last week and poured what was left into an old empty vanilla bottle. —
我上周打破了止痛膏瓶，把剩下的倒在一个空的香草瓶里。 —

I suppose it’s partly my fault—I should have warned you—but for pity’s sake why couldn’t you have smelled it?”
这事或多或少也是我的错——我应该事先警告你的——但是请问你为什么就不闻呢？”

Anne dissolved into tears under this double disgrace.
面对这双重耻辱，安妮泪如泉涌。

“I couldn’t—I had such a cold!” and with this she fairly fled to the gable chamber, where she cast herself on the bed and wept as one who refuses to be comforted.
“我没法……我感冒得很厉害！” 说完，她几乎是飞奔到了屋顶的卧室，扑倒在床上，像一个拒绝被安慰的人一样哭泣。

Presently a light step sounded on the stairs and somebody entered the room.
突然楼梯上传来了轻快的脚步声，有人走进了房间。

“Oh, Marilla,” sobbed Anne, without looking up, “I’m disgraced forever. —
“哦，玛丽拉，” 安妮抽泣着说，没抬头，“我这辈子都会被羞辱的。 —

I shall never be able to live this down. It will get out—things always do get out in Avonlea. —
我永远无法活过这个耻辱。这事会传出去的—在阿文利总会传出去。 —

Diana will ask me how my cake turned out and I shall have to tell her the truth. —
黛安娜会问我蛋糕做得怎么样，我不得不给她说实话。” —

I shall always be pointed at as the girl who flavored a cake with anodyne liniment. —
我将永远被指责为那个在蛋糕里加了止痛膏的女孩。 —

Gil—the boys in school will never get over laughing at it. —
吉尔——学校里的男孩们永远会笑谈这件事。 —

Oh, Marilla, if you have a spark of Christian pity don’t tell me that I must go down and wash the dishes after this. —
哦，玛丽拉，如果你有一点基督教的怜悯心，就别告诉我我必须去洗碗。 —

I’ll wash them when the minister and his wife are gone, but I cannot ever look Mrs. Allan in the face again. —
牧师夫妇走后我会洗的，但我再也无法直视艾伦夫人了。 —

Perhaps she’ll think I tried to poison her. —
也许她会觉得我试图害她。 —

Mrs. Lynde says she knows an orphan girl who tried to poison her benefactor. —
林德夫人说她认识一个孤儿女孩曾试图害她的恩人。 —

But the liniment isn’t poisonous. It’s meant to be taken internally—although not in cakes. —
但止痛膏不是有毒的。它是用来内服的——虽然不是放在蛋糕里的。 —

Won’t you tell Mrs. Allan so, Marilla?”
你不会告诉艾伦夫人吗，玛丽拉？”

“Suppose you jump up and tell her so yourself,” said a merry voice.
“那么你就跳起来亲自告诉她吧，”一个欢快的声音说道。

Anne flew up, to find Mrs. Allan standing by her bed, surveying her with laughing eyes.
安妮飞起身来，看见艾伦夫人站在她的床边，笑眼盯着她。

“My dear little girl, you mustn’t cry like this,” she said, genuinely disturbed by Anne’s tragic face. —
“我亲爱的小姑娘，你不应该这样哭”，她真诚地对安妮悲伤的脸表现出担忧。 —

“Why, it’s all just a funny mistake that anybody might make.”
“噢，不，这只是一个任何人都可能犯的有趣错误。”

“Oh, no, it takes me to make such a mistake,” said Anne forlornly. —
“噢，不，只有我才会犯这样的错误，”安妮沮丧地说。 —

“And I wanted to have that cake so nice for you, Mrs. Allan.”
“我想让那个蛋糕对你来说如此美好，艾伦夫人。”

“Yes, I know, dear. And I assure you I appreciate your kindness and thoughtfulness just as much as if it had turned out all right. —
“是的，我知道，亲爱的。我向你保证，我和如果一切顺利一样，同样欣赏你的善良和体贴。 —

Now, you mustn’t cry any more, but come down with me and show me your flower garden. —
现在，你不能再哭了，跟我下来，给我看看你的花园吧。 —

Miss Cuthbert tells me you have a little plot all your own. —
卡丝伯特小姐告诉我，你有一个专属的小花园。 —

I want to see it, for I’m very much interested in flowers.”
我想看看，因为我对花很感兴趣。”

Anne permitted herself to be led down and comforted, reflecting that it was really providential that Mrs. Allan was a kindred spirit. —
安妮跟着她下去，接受了安慰，心想艾伦太太真是众神的恩赐。 —

Nothing more was said about the liniment cake, and when the guests went away Anne found that she had enjoyed the evening more than could have been expected, considering that terrible incident. —
关于调理蛋糕的事再没提起，客人离开后，安妮发现自己享受这个晚上的程度超出了预期，考虑到那起可怕的事件。 —

Nevertheless, she sighed deeply.
然而，她深深地叹了口气。

“Marilla, isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”
“玛丽拉，想想明天是个全新的一天，没有任何错误。”

“I’ll warrant you’ll make plenty in it,” said Marilla. —
“我敢打赌，你在那一天会犯很多错误的，”玛丽拉说。 —

“I never saw your beat for making mistakes, Anne.”
“安妮，你出了名的犯错误多。”

“Yes, and well I know it,” admitted Anne mournfully. —
“是的，我很清楚，”安妮悲伤地承认。 —

“But have you ever noticed one encouraging thing about me, Marilla? —
“但你有没有发现一个鼓舞人心的事情，玛丽拉？ —

I never make the same mistake twice.”
我从不犯同样的错误两次。”

“I don’t know as that’s much benefit when you’re always making new ones.”
“你总是犯新的错误，我不知道这有多大好处。”

“Oh, don’t you see, Marilla? There must be a limit to the mistakes one person can make, and when I get to the end of them, then I’ll be through with them. —
“哦，你没看出来吗，玛丽拉？一个人能犯的错误是有限度的，等到我把它们都犯完，我就能告别错误了。 —

That’s a very comforting thought.”
这种想法真是令人欣慰。”

“Well, you’d better go and give that cake to the pigs,” said Marilla. —
“”好吧，你最好把那块蛋糕拿给猪吃，”玛丽拉说。 —

“It isn’t fit for any human to eat, not even Jerry Boute.”
“这不适合任何人吃，甚至杰瑞·鲍特也不行。”