GET there they did, however, in due season. —
他们在适当的时候到达了。 —

Mrs. Spencer lived in a big yellow house at White Sands Cove, and she came to the door with surprise and welcome mingled on her benevolent face.
斯宾塞夫人住在怀特桑兹湾的一栋大黄色房子里，她带着惊喜和欢迎的表情走到门前。

“Dear, dear,” she exclaimed, “you’re the last folks I was looking for today, but I’m real glad to see you. —
“亲爱的，亲爱的，”她惊叹道，“你们是我今天一直在找的最后一批客人，但我真的很高兴见到你们。 —

You’ll put your horse in? And how are you, Anne?”
你们要把马放进去吗？安妮，你好吗？”

“I’m as well as can be expected, thank you,” said Anne smilelessly. —
“我还算可以，谢谢，”安妮无笑容地说道。 —

A blight seemed to have descended on her.
一种枯萎似乎降临在她身上。

“I suppose we’ll stay a little while to rest the mare,” said Marilla, “but I promised Matthew I’d be home early. —
“我想我们会停留一会儿让马休息一下，”玛丽拉说道，”但我答应了马修会早点回家。” —

The fact is, Mrs. Spencer, there’s been a queer mistake somewhere, and I’ve come over to see where it is. —
事实是，斯宾塞夫人，某处出现了一个奇怪的错误，我是来看看是什么错误。 —

We send word, Matthew and I, for you to bring us a boy from the asylum. —
我们让你从收容所里带一个男孩来。 —

We told your brother Robert to tell you we wanted a boy ten or eleven years old.”
我们告诉你的哥哥罗伯特告诉你我们需要一个十一或十二岁的男孩。”

“Marilla Cuthbert, you don’t say so!” said Mrs. Spencer in distress. —
“玛丽拉·卡思伯特，你不会这么说！”史宾塞夫人痛苦地说。 —

“Why, Robert sent word down by his daughter Nancy and she said you wanted a girl—didn’t she Flora Jane? —
“罗伯特透过他的女儿南希传话给你，她说你需要一个女孩—对吗，弗洛拉·简？”向已经走出来的女儿求证。 —

” appealing to her daughter who had come out to the steps.
弗洛拉·简诚恳地证实说，“确实是，卡瑟伯特小姐。”

“She certainly did, Miss Cuthbert,” corroborated Flora Jane earnestly.
向她的女儿问道。

“I’m dreadful sorry,” said Mrs. Spencer. “It’s too bad; —
“很抱歉，”斯宾塞太太说。“这太糟糕了； —

but it certainly wasn’t my fault, you see, Miss Cuthbert. —
但这确实不是我的错，您知道，卡思伯特小姐。 —

I did the best I could and I thought I was following your instructions. —
我尽力了，而且我认为我是按照您的指示行事的。 —

Nancy is a terrible flighty thing. I’ve often had to scold her well for her heedlessness.”
南茜是个很爱冲动的女孩。我经常因她的粗心大意而责备她。”

“It was our own fault,” said Marilla resignedly. —
“这是我们自己的错，”玛丽拉顿然说道。 —

“We should have come to you ourselves and not left an important message to be passed along by word of mouth in that fashion. —
“我们本应该亲自来找你，而不是把一条重要的信息留给口头传达。 —

Anyhow, the mistake has been made and the only thing to do is to set it right. —
反正，错误已经发生了，唯一要做的就是纠正。 —

Can we send the child back to the asylum? —
我们可以把这个孩子送回收容所吗？ —

I suppose they’ll take her back, won’t they?”
我想他们会接收她，是吗？”

“I suppose so,” said Mrs. Spencer thoughtfully, “but I don’t think it will be necessary to send her back. —
“我想是的，”斯宾塞太太想了一下说，“但我认为没有必要把她送回去。 —

Mrs. Peter Blewett was up here yesterday, and she was saying to me how much she wished she’d sent by me for a little girl to help her. —
布鲁特太太昨天来这里，她告诉我她多么希望她找个小女孩通过我帮她。 —

Mrs. Peter has a large family, you know, and she finds it hard to get help. —
布鲁特太太有一大家子，你知道，她很难找到帮手。 —

Anne will be the very girl for you. I call it positively providential.”
安妮会是你最合适的女孩。我认为这是极为顺利的。”

Marilla did not look as if she thought Providence had much to do with the matter. —
玛丽拉看上去似乎并不觉得天意有多大关系。 —

Here was an unexpectedly good chance to get this unwelcome orphan off her hands, and she did not even feel grateful for it.
这是一个出乎意料的好机会，可以把这个不受欢迎的孤儿处理掉，但她甚至都不感激这一点。

She knew Mrs. Peter Blewett only by sight as a small, shrewish-faced woman without an ounce of superfluous flesh on her bones. —
她只是见过彼得·布鲁厄特夫人，一位小个子、面容严厉，骨瘦如柴的女人。 —

But she had heard of her. “A terrible worker and driver,” Mrs. Peter was said to be; —
但她听说过她。“彼得太太据说是一个可怕的工作和驾驶员， —

and discharged servant girls told fearsome tales of her temper and stinginess, and her family of pert, quarrelsome children. —
被解雇的女仆们讲述着她的脾气和吝啬，还有她那些调皮、爱吵架的孩子。 —

Marilla felt a qualm of conscience at the thought of handing Anne over to her tender mercies.
玛丽拉一想到要把安妮交给这样的人就感到一丝良心的不安。

“Well, I’ll go in and we’ll talk the matter over,” she said.
“好吧，我进去，我们会详谈此事，”她说道。

“And if there isn’t Mrs. Peter coming up the lane this blessed minute! —
“如果彼得太太并不是这一切恶劣的批评。 —

” exclaimed Mrs. Spencer, bustling her guests through the hall into the parlor, where a deadly chill struck on them as if the air had been strained so long through dark green, closely drawn blinds that it had lost every particle of warmth it had ever possessed. —
” 朗玛丽拉热情地把客人们带进门厅，进了客厅，那里一股令人发冷的寒气袭来，就好像空气经过深深绿色的紧闭百叶窗过滤那么久，早已失去了曾经拥有的一丝温暖。 —

“That is real lucky, for we can settle the matter right away. Take the armchair, Miss Cuthbert. —
“真是太幸运了，我们可以立即解决这个问题。请坐这把扶手椅，卡丝伯特小姐。 —

Anne, you sit here on the ottoman and don’t wiggle. Let me take your hats. —
安妮，你坐这个脚凳，不要动。让我给你们拿帽子。 —

Flora Jane, go out and put the kettle on. Good afternoon, Mrs. Blewett. —
佛洛拉简，出去把水壶放上。下午好，布鲁厄特太太。 —

We were just saying how fortunate it was you happened along. Let me introduce you two ladies. —
我们刚刚在说你恰好来了多么幸运。让我为你们介绍。 —

Mrs. Blewett, Miss Cuthbert. Please excuse me for just a moment. —
布鲁厄特太太，卡丝伯特小姐。不好意思，我就来会一下。 —

I forgot to tell Flora Jane to take the buns out of the oven.”
我忘了告诉佛洛拉简把小圆面包从烤箱里拿出来。”

Mrs. Spencer whisked away, after pulling up the blinds. —
史宾塞太太拉上百叶窗后，匆匆离开。 —

Anne sitting mutely on the ottoman, with her hands clasped tightly in her lap, stared at Mrs Blewett as one fascinated. —
安妮默默地坐在脚凳上，双手紧紧地握在腿上，目不转睛地看着布鲁厄特夫人，如同被吸引一般。 —

Was she to be given into the keeping of this sharp-faced, sharp-eyed woman? —
她会被交给这位尖脸尖眼的女人看护吗？ —

She felt a lump coming up in her throat and her eyes smarted painfully. —
她感到一团东西在喉咙里升起，眼睛剧痛。 —

She was beginning to be afraid she couldn’t keep the tears back when Mrs. Spencer returned, flushed and beaming, quite capable of taking any and every difficulty, physical, mental or spiritual, into consideration and settling it out of hand.
当斯宾塞夫人满面红光和兴奋地回来时，她感到胸口酸楚，很有可能无法控制住眼泪。

“It seems there’s been a mistake about this little girl, Mrs. Blewett,” she said. —
“伯雷特太太，看来对这个小女孩有所误会，”她说。 —

“I was under the impression that Mr. and Miss Cuthbert wanted a little girl to adopt. —
“我本以为卡思伯特夫妇要领养一个小女孩。 —

I was certainly told so. But it seems it was a boy they wanted. —
我的确是这样被告知的。但似乎他们想要的是个男孩。 —

So if you’re still of the same mind you were yesterday, I think she’ll be just the thing for you.”
如果你们仍然跟昨天一样的想法，我想她会正合你们的心意。”

Mrs. Blewett darted her eyes over Anne from head to foot.
伯雷特太太把目光从头到脚扫视了一遍安妮。

“How old are you and what’s your name?” she demanded.
“你多大了，叫什么名字？”她要求道。

“Anne Shirley,” faltered the shrinking child, not daring to make any stipulations regarding the spelling thereof, “and I’m eleven years old.”
“安妮·莎莉，”那个畏缩的小女孩颤声说，不敢对名字的拼写作任何规定，“我十一岁了。”

“Humph! You don’t look as if there was much to you. But you’re wiry. —
“哼！你看起来不像是个充实的孩子。但你很健壮。 —

I don’t know but the wiry ones are the best after all. —
我认为健壮的孩子毕竟是最好的。 —

Well, if I take you you’ll have to be a good girl, you know—good and smart and respectful. —
如果我收养你，你必须要表现乖巧，懂事，懂礼貌。 —

I’ll expect you to earn your keep, and no mistake about that. —
我会期望你自食其力，毫无错误可言。 —

Yes, I suppose I might as well take her off your hands, Miss Cuthbert. —
是的，我想我还是会收下你，卡思伯特小姐。 —

The baby’s awful fractious, and I’m clean worn out attending to him. —
宝宝烦躁得很厉害，我累坏了照顾他。 —

If you like I can take her right home now.”
如果你愿意，我现在就把她送回家。

Marilla looked at Anne and softened at sight of the child’s pale face with its look of mute misery—the misery of a helpless little creature who finds itself once more caught in the trap from which it had escaped. —
玛丽拉看着安妮，看到了孩子苍白的脸，带着无言的痛苦表情——一个无助小生命再次被困在无法逃脱的陷阱中的痛苦。 —

Marilla felt an uncomfortable conviction that, if she denied the appeal of that look, it would haunt her to her dying day. —
玛丽拉感到一种不舒服的信念，如果她拒绝了那眼神的诉求，这会一直困扰她到她临终的那一天。 —

More-over, she did not fancy Mrs. Blewett. —
而且，她也不喜欢布鲁特夫人。 —

To hand a sensitive, “highstrung” child over to such a woman! —
把一个敏感、“神经质”的孩子交给这样一个女人！ —

No, she could not take the responsibility of doing that!
不，她不能承担这个责任！

“Well, I don’t know,” she said slowly. —
“嗯，我不知道，”她慢慢地说。 —

“I didn’t say that Matthew and I had absolutely decided that we wouldn’t keep her. —
“我没有说马修和我绝对决定不留她。 —

In fact I may say that Matthew is disposed to keep her. —
事实上，我可以说，马修倾向于留她。 —

I just came over to find out how the mistake had occurred. —
我只是过来找出差错的原因。 —

I think I’d better take her home again and talk it over with Matthew. —
我想我最好把她带回家再和马修商量一下。 —

I feel that I oughtn’t to decide on anything without consulting him. —
我觉得在未征求他意见之前不应该做出任何决定。 —

If we make up our mind not to keep her we’ll bring or send her over to you tomorrow night. —
如果我们决定不留她，我们明天晚上会把她送过来或者送到你那里。 —

If we don’t you may know that she is going to stay with us. Will that suit you, Mrs. Blewett?”
如果不是的话，你可以知道她会留在我们这里。布鲁特太太，这样行吗？

“I suppose it’ll have to,” said Mrs. Blewett ungraciously.
“我想这就没得选了，”布鲁特太太不悦地说道。

During Marilla’s speech a sunrise had been dawning on Anne’s face. —
在玛丽拉讲话的时候，一个日出正在安妮的脸上逐渐绽放。 —

First the look of despair faded out; then came a faint flush of hope; —
绝望的表情消失了，取而代之的是一丝微弱的希望； —

her eyes grew deep and bright as morning stars. The child was quite transfigured; —
她的眼睛变得深邃明亮，如同早晨的星星。这个孩子完全变了一个人； —

and, a moment later, when Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Blewett went out in quest of a recipe the latter had come to borrow she sprang up and flew across the room to Marilla.
片刻之后，当斯宾塞太太和布鲁特太太外出寻找后者借来的食谱时，安妮突然跳起，飞奔过去冲到了玛丽拉面前。

“Oh, Miss Cuthbert, did you really say that perhaps you would let me stay at Green Gables? —
“哦，卡斯伯特小姐，您真的是说或许可以让我留在绿谷吗？ —

” she said, in a breathless whisper, as if speaking aloud might shatter the glorious possibility. —
”她屏住呼息般地低声说道，仿佛大声说出来可能就会粉碎这个美好的可能性。 —

“Did you really say it? Or did I only imagine that you did?”
“你真的说了这个吗？还是我只是幻想了？”安妮问道。

“I think you’d better learn to control that imagination of yours, Anne, if you can’t distinguish between what is real and what isn’t,” said Marilla crossly. —
“如果你不能分清现实和虚幻，那最好学会控制一下你的想象力，安妮，”玛丽拉生气地说道。 —

“Yes, you did hear me say just that and no more. —
“是的，你确实听到我说了只是这样而已。 —

It isn’t decided yet and perhaps we will conclude to let Mrs. Blewett take you after all. —
尚未决定，也许最终我们会决定让布鲁特太太收养你。 —

She certainly needs you much more than I do.”
无疑她比我更需要你。”

“I’d rather go back to the asylum than go to live with her,” said Anne passionately. —
“我宁愿回收容所也不愿意去跟她住，”安妮激动地说。 —

“She looks exactly like a—like a gimlet.”
“她看起来就像一把——像一把拉钉锥子。”

Marilla smothered a smile under the conviction that Anne must be reproved for such a speech.
玛丽拉笑意盈盈，心知必须责备安妮说出那样的话。

“A little girl like you should be ashamed of talking so about a lady and a stranger,” she said severely. —
“像你这样的小女孩说起一个妇人和一个陌生人来，应该感到羞耻的，”她说得很严厉。 —

“Go back and sit down quietly and hold your tongue and behave as a good girl should.”
“回去安静地坐下，闭上嘴巴，表现得像个好女孩。”

“I’ll try to do and be anything you want me, if you’ll only keep me,” said Anne, returning meekly to her ottoman.
“只要你能留着我，我会尽力做到和成为你想要的任何事情，”安妮顺从地说，然后回到她的小沙发上。

When they arrived back at Green Gables that evening Matthew met them in the lane. —
当他们那天晚上回到绿谷回家的时候，马修在小巷里迎接他们。 —

Marilla from afar had noted him prowling along it and guessed his motive. —
从远处，玛丽拉就看到他沿着小巷徘徊，猜到了他的动机。 —

She was prepared for the relief she read in his face when he saw that she had at least brought back Anne back with her. —
当他看到她至少把安妮带回来时，他脸上的宽慰让她感到心安。 —

But she said nothing, to him, relative to the affair, until they were both out in the yard behind the barn milking the cows. —
但她还是什么都没对他说，直到他们一起走到牲口棚后的院子里挤牛奶时。 —

Then she briefly told him Anne’s history and the result of the interview with Mrs. Spencer.
然后她简要地告诉他了安妮的故事和与斯宾塞夫人的会谈结果。

“I wouldn’t give a dog I liked to that Blewett woman,” said Matthew with unusual vim.
“我连一条我喜欢的狗都不会给那个布鲁厄特女人，”马修说得异常有力。

“I don’t fancy her style myself,” admitted Marilla, “but it’s that or keeping her ourselves, Matthew. —
“我也不太喜欢她的风格，”玛丽拉承认，“但那要么是交给她，要么是自己留下，马修。 —

And since you seem to want her, I suppose I’m willing—or have to be. —
既然你似乎想要她，我想我会愿意的，或者说必须愿意。 —

I’ve been thinking over the idea until I’ve got kind of used to it. It seems a sort of duty. —
我已经考虑了这个主意直到变得习惯。这似乎是一种责任。 —

I’ve never brought up a child, especially a girl, and I dare say I’ll make a terrible mess of it. —
我从来没有养过一个孩子，尤其是一个女孩，我敢说我会搞砸的。 —

But I’ll do my best. So far as I’m concerned, Matthew, she may stay.”
但我会尽力的。就我而言，马修，她可以留下来。”

Matthew’s shy face was a glow of delight.
马修害羞的脸上洋溢着喜悦。

“Well now, I reckoned you’d come to see it in that light, Marilla,” he said. —
“噢，现在我想你开始以那种角度看待这件事了，玛丽拉，”他说。 —

“She’s such an interesting little thing.”
“她是个很有趣的小家伙。”

“It’d be more to the point if you could say she was a useful little thing,” retorted Marilla, “but I’ll make it my business to see she’s trained to be that. —
“如果你说她是个有用的小家伙会更贴切些，”玛丽拉反驳道，“但我会尽力培养她成为那样的人。 —

And mind, Matthew, you’re not to go interfering with my methods. —
而且，马修，你不能干涉我的方式。 —

Perhaps an old maid doesn’t know much about bringing up a child, but I guess she knows more than an old bachelor. —
也许一个老处女不太懂怎么教养一个孩子，但我想她懂得比一个老单身汉更多。 —

So you just leave me to manage her. When I fail it’ll be time enough to put your oar in.”
所以你就让我来管理她吧。等我失败了再说你的话吧。”

“There, there, Marilla, you can have your own way,” said Matthew reassuringly. —
“好啦，好啦，玛丽拉，你可以按照你自己的方式去做，”马修安慰地说。 —

“Only be as good and kind to her as you can without spoiling her. —
“只要对她好和温柔就行了，不要溺爱她。 —

I kind of think she’s one of the sort you can do anything with if you only get her to love you.”
我有点觉得她是那种只要你让她爱你，你就可以对她们做任何事情的人。”

Marilla sniffed, to express her contempt for Matthew’s opinions concerning anything feminine, and walked off to the dairy with the pails.
玛丽拉嗤之以鼻，表达了她对马修对任何女性事物的看法的蔑视，然后拿起桶走向奶房。

“I won’t tell her tonight that she can stay,” she reflected, as she strained the milk into the creamers. —
“我今晚不会告诉她可以留下来的，”她在将牛奶倒进奶油分离器时想着。 —

“She’d be so excited that she wouldn’t sleep a wink. —
“她会兴奋得一夜都睡不着的。 —

Marilla Cuthbert, you’re fairly in for it. —
玛丽拉·卡思伯特，你将面临一番苦差事。 —

Did you ever suppose you’d see the day when you’d be adopting an orphan girl? —
你曾经想到有一天你会收养一个孤儿女孩吗？ —

It’s surprising enough; but not so surprising as that Matthew should be at the bottom of it, him that always seemed to have such a mortal dread of little girls. —
这已经够让人吃惊了；但不像马修竟然是这一切的始作俑者一样令人惊讶，他似乎总是对小女孩感到害怕。 —

Anyhow, we’ve decided on the experiment and goodness only knows what will come of it.”
无论如何，我们已经决定了这个实验，只有天知道会发生什么事情。