ANNE had been a fortnight at Green Gables before Mrs. Lynde arrived to inspect her. —
安妮在绿崖村已经住了两个星期，才迎来了琳德太太来视察她。 —

Mrs. Rachel, to do her justice, was not to blame for this. —
要公正地评判，蕾切尔太太并不为此负责任。 —

A severe and unseasonable attack of grippe had confined that good lady to her house ever since the occasion of her last visit to Green Gables. —
一场突如其来的重感冒使得这位善良的女士自上次去绿崖村后就一直呆在家里。 —

Mrs. Rachel was not often sick and had a well-defined contempt for people who were; —
蕾切尔太太很少生病，对于生病的人甚至有一种莫名的鄙夷； —

but grippe, she asserted, was like no other illness on earth and could only be interpreted as one of the special visitations of Providence. —
但她说，感冒不同于地球上的任何其他疾病，只能被解释为上帝的特殊降临。 —

As soon as her doctor allowed her to put her foot out-of-doors she hurried up to Green Gables, bursting with curiosity to see Matthew and Marilla’s orphan, concerning whom all sorts of stories and suppositions had gone abroad in Avonlea.
医生允许她出门后，她连忙赶去绿崖村，满腔好奇地想看看马修和玛丽拉的孤儿，因为外界对安妮的种种故事和猜测已经传开了。

Anne had made good use of every waking moment of that fortnight. —
安妮充分利用了那两个星期里每一分每一秒的时间。 —

Already she was acquainted with every tree and shrub about the place. —
她已经熟悉了园子里的每颗树木和灌木。 —

She had discovered that a lane opened out below the apple orchard and ran up through a belt of woodland; —
她发现了苹果园下面一条小道，穿过一片林地； —

and she had explored it to its furthest end in all its delicious vagaries of brook and bridge, fir coppice and wild cherry arch, corners thick with fern, and branching byways of maple and mountain ash.
她探索了这条小道，一路上经历了清澈冰冷的溪流，小桥，杉树丛，野樱桃拱门，绿荫重重的角落，以及枫树和红果树的分岔小路。

She had made friends with the spring down in the hollow—that wonderful deep, clear icy-cold spring; it was set about with smooth red sandstones and rimmed in by great palm-like clumps of water fern; —
她与园子底部那个令人惊叹的深邃，清澈，冰冷的泉水结下了友谊；它四周围绕着光滑的红砂岩，并被一片片像棕榈一样的水蕨环绕； —

and beyond it was a log bridge over the brook.
在泉水那边还有一座跨溪的原木桥。

That bridge led Anne’s dancing feet up over a wooded hill beyond, where perpetual twilight reigned under the straight, thick-growing firs and spruces; —
桥引领着安妮跳舞的脚步穿过了远处的一个林地丘陵，那儿终年笼罩在修长，茂密的冷杉和云杉下的永恒黄昏中； —

the only flowers there were myriads of delicate “June bells,” those shyest and sweetest of woodland blooms, and a few pale, aerial starflowers, like the spirits of last year’s blossoms. —
那里唯一的花朵是成千上万的婀娜多姿的“六月铃”，它们是最害羞和最甜美的林中花朵，以及一些苍白的，像去年花儿的灵魂般的淡淡的星形花。 —

Gossamers glimmered like threads of silver among the trees and the fir boughs and tassels seemed to utter friendly speech.
蜘蛛丝在树木和冷杉树枝间闪烁着银色的光，而云杉树枝和花穗似乎发出友好的言语。

All these raptured voyages of exploration were made in the odd half hours which she was allowed for play, and Anne talked Matthew and Marilla half-deaf over her discoveries. —
所有这些被捕获的探险旅程都是在她被允许玩的零零碎碎的时间里进行的。安妮对她的发现滔滔不绝地与马修和玛丽拉讲述，几乎把他们说聋了。 —

Not that Matthew complained, to be sure; —
虽然马修没有抱怨， —

he listened to it all with a wordless smile of enjoyment on his face; —
但他却带着无言的微笑，津津乐道地倾听着。 —

Marilla permitted the “chatter” until she found herself becoming too interested in it, whereupon she always promptly quenched Anne by a curt command to hold her tongue.
玛丽拉容许她“唠叨”，直到她发现自己对此产生了太多兴趣，然后她总是立即用生硬的命令命令安妮闭嘴。

Anne was out in the orchard when Mrs. Rachel came, wandering at her own sweet will through the lush, tremulous grasses splashed with ruddy evening sunshine; —
当瑞秋太太来时，安妮正在果园里闲逛，随心所欲地穿过被夕阳泼洒着的郁郁葱葱、颤动的草地。 —

so that good lady had an excellent chance to talk her illness fully over, describing every ache and pulse beat with such evident enjoyment that Marilla thought even grippe must bring its compensations. —
所以这位好夫人有充分的机会全面地谈论她的疾病，描述着每一处疼痛和脉搏跳动，以至于玛丽拉认为即使是感冒也会带来它的补偿。 —

When details were exhausted Mrs. Rachel introduced the real reason of her call.
当细节讨论完毕后，瑞秋太太介绍了她来的真正原因。

“I’ve been hearing some surprising things about you and Matthew.”
“我听说了一些关于你和马修的令人惊讶的事情。”

“I don’t suppose you are any more surprised than I am myself,” said Marilla. —
“我想你也许并不比我更惊讶”，玛丽拉说。 —

“I’m getting over my surprise now.”
“我现在正在克服我的惊讶”。

“It was too bad there was such a mistake,” said Mrs. Rachel sympathetically. —
“出现这样的误会真是太糟糕了”，瑞秋太太充满同情地说。 —

“Couldn’t you have sent her back?”
“你不能把她送回去吗？”

“I suppose we could, but we decided not to. Matthew took a fancy to her. —
“我想我们是可以的，但我们决定不这样做。马修对她有好感。 —

And I must say I like her myself—although I admit she has her faults. —
我必须说我也喜欢她—虽然我承认她也有她的缺点。 —

The house seems a different place already. —
屋子看起来已经是一个不同的地方了。 —

She’s a real bright little thing.”
她确实是个聪明的小家伙。

Marilla said more than she had intended to say when she began, for she read disapproval in Mrs. Rachel’s expression.
其实，当玛丽拉开始说话时，她说得比打算说的还要多，因为她从蕾切尔夫人的表情中读出了不满。

“It’s a great responsibility you’ve taken on yourself,” said that lady gloomily, “especially when you’ve never had any experience with children. —
“这是一项巨大的责任，你擅自承担了这些责任，”那位女士阴郁地说道，“尤其是你从未有过与孩子打交道的经验。 —

You don’t know much about her or her real disposition, I suppose, and there’s no guessing how a child like that will turn out. —
我想你对她或她真实性格的了解不多，我猜测不出这样的孩子将会变成什么样。 —

But I don’t want to discourage you I’m sure, Marilla.”
但我当然不想让你灰心，玛丽拉。”

“I’m not feeling discouraged,” was Marilla’s dry response, “when I make up my mind to do a thing it stays made up. —
“我并不感到沮丧，”玛丽拉干巴巴地回答道，“一旦我下定决心要做一件事，那就不会改变。 —

I suppose you’d like to see Anne. I’ll call her in.”
我想你也想见见安妮。我会把她叫进来。”

Anne came running in presently, her face sparkling with the delight of her orchard rovings; —
安妮随后跑了进来，脸上闪耀着她在果园闲逛时的喜悦； —

but, abashed at finding the delight herself in the unexpected presence of a stranger, she halted confusedly inside the door. —
但在半路上遇到了这个陌生人，安妮感到尴尬，迟疑地停在了门口。 —

She certainly was an odd-looking little creature in the short tight wincey dress she had worn from the asylum, below which her thin legs seemed ungracefully long. —
她穿着从收容所穿来的紧身粗呢裙子，非常奇怪，下面那双细长的腿显得有些笨拙。 —

Her freckles were more numerous and obtrusive than ever; —
她的雀斑比以往更多更显眼； —

the wind had ruffled her hatless hair into over-brilliant disorder; —
风吹乱了她没有戴帽子的头发，使它显得异常耀眼； —

it had never looked redder than at that moment.
此刻她的头发看起来比以往任何时候都红。

“Well, they didn’t pick you for your looks, that’s sure and certain,” was Mrs. Rachel Lynde’s emphatic comment. —
“当然他们不是因为你的外表才选中你的，这是肯定的，”蕾切尔·林德女士强调道。 —

Mrs. Rachel was one of those delightful and popular people who pride themselves on speaking their mind without fear or favor. —
蕾切尔女士是那种令人愉快且受欢迎，以坦率直言自豪的人。 —

“She’s terrible skinny and homely, Marilla. Come here, child, and let me have a look at you. —
“玛丽拉，她又瘦又难看。过来，孩子，让我看看你。” —

Lawful heart, did any one ever see such freckles? —
“天啊，谁见过那么多雀斑？” —

And hair as red as carrots! Come here, child, I say.”
“还有像胡萝卜一样红的头发！过来，孩子，我说。”

Anne “came there,” but not exactly as Mrs. Rachel expected. —
安妮“走了过来”，但并非如瑞秋太太所期望的那样。 —

With one bound she crossed the kitchen floor and stood before Mrs. Rachel, her face scarlet with anger, her lips quivering, and her whole slender form trembling from head to foot.
她一跃跨过厨房地板，站在瑞秋太太面前，脸因愤怒而涨红，嘴唇颤抖，瘦弱的身体从头到脚都在颤抖。

“I hate you,” she cried in a choked voice, stamping her foot on the floor. —
“我恨你”，她哽咽着说，脚在地板上重重地踩着。 —

“I hate you—I hate you—I hate you—” a louder stamp with each assertion of hatred. —
“我恨你—我恨你—我恨你—”每次说出仇恨之词都更重一踏。 —

“How dare you call me skinny and ugly? —
“你怎么敢说我又瘦又丑？ —

How dare you say I’m freckled and redheaded? —
“你怎么敢说我满脸雀斑，头发火红？ —

You are a rude, impolite, unfeeling woman!”
你是一个粗鲁、没礼貌、麻木的女人！”

“Anne!” exclaimed Marilla in consternation.
“安妮！”玛丽拉惊讶地叫道。

But Anne continued to face Mrs. Rachel undauntedly, head up, eyes blazing, hands clenched, passionate indignation exhaling from her like an atmosphere.
但安妮毫不畏惧地面对著瑞秋太太，头抬起来，眼睛炽热，手握拳，激愤的愤慨如同环绕在她身上的气息。

“How dare you say such things about me?” she repeated vehemently. —
“你怎么敢这样说我？”她情绪激烈地重复。 —

“How would you like to have such things said about you? —
“你会喜欢别人这样说你吗？ —

How would you like to be told that you are fat and clumsy and probably hadn’t a spark of imagination in you? —
“你会喜欢被告知你又胖又笨，可能一点想象力都没有吗？” —

I don’t care if I do hurt your feelings by saying so! I hope I hurt them. —
我不在乎如果我这么说会伤害到你的感情！我希望我伤害到了。 —

You have hurt mine worse than they were ever hurt before even by Mrs. Thomas’ intoxicated husband. —
你伤害了我的感情，比以往任何时候都更加严重，甚至比托马斯太太那喝醉的丈夫还要严重。 —

And I’ll never forgive you for it, never, never!”
我永远不会原谅你，永远不会，永远！”

Stamp! Stamp!
砰！砰！

“Did anybody ever see such a temper!” exclaimed the horrified Mrs. Rachel.
“有谁见过这样的脾气！”震惊的瑞秋太太惊呼道。

“Anne go to your room and stay there until I come up,” said Marilla, recovering her powers of speech with difficulty.
“安妮，去你的房间待着，等我上去的时候再说，”玛丽拉艰难地恢复了讲话的能力。

Anne, bursting into tears, rushed to the hall door, slammed it until the tins on the porch wall outside rattled in sympathy, and fled through the hall and up the stairs like a whirlwind. —
安妮崩溃地哭泣着冲向门厅，猛地关上门，使得门外阳台墙上的锡罐也跟着共鸣起来，像旋风般穿过门厅冲上楼梯。 —

A subdued slam above told that the door of the east gable had been shut with equal vehemence.
楼上悄然关上的声音表明东侧北楼的门被同样激烈地关上了。

“Well, I don’t envy you your job bringing that up, Marilla,” said Mrs. Rachel with unspeakable solemnity.
“噢，玛丽拉，我真不羡慕你要去处理这个事情，”瑞秋太太沉重地说道。

Marilla opened her lips to say she knew not what of apology or deprecation. —
玛丽拉张开嘴想要说一些道歉或辩解的话。 —

What she did say was a surprise to herself then and ever afterwards.
她说出的话对她自己来说是个惊喜，那时以后都是如此。

“You shouldn’t have twitted her about her looks, Rachel.”
“你不应该拿她的外表开玩笑，瑞秋。”

“Marilla Cuthbert, you don’t mean to say that you are upholding her in such a terrible display of temper as we’ve just seen? —
“玛丽拉卡思伯特，你难道是要说你支持她展现出我们刚刚见到的如此可怕的脾气？”瑞秋太太愤怒地要求道。 —

” demanded Mrs. Rachel indignantly.
“不，”玛丽拉缓慢地说，“我并不是在为她辩解。

“No,” said Marilla slowly, “I’m not trying to excuse her. —
我只是在说实话。” —

She’s been very naughty and I’ll have to give her a talking to about it. —
她太顽皮了，我得好好和她谈谈。 —

But we must make allowances for her. She’s never been taught what is right. —
但我们必须谅解她。她从未被教导过什么是对的。 —

And you were too hard on her, Rachel.”
而且你对她太严厉了，瑞秋。

Marilla could not help tacking on that last sentence, although she was again surprised at herself for doing it. —
尽管马丽拉再次对自己感到惊讶，但她还是忍不住补充了最后那句话。 —

Mrs. Rachel got up with an air of offended dignity.
瑞秋太太站起来，带着一种受冒犯的尊严。

“Well, I see that I’ll have to be very careful what I say after this, Marilla, since the fine feelings of orphans, brought from goodness knows where, have to be considered before anything else. —
“嗯，我看我此后得非常小心自己说什么了，马丽拉，因为天知道从哪里带来的孤儿的细腻感情必须放在任何事情之前考虑。 —

Oh, no, I’m not vexed—don’t worry yourself. —
哦，不，我不生气—别担心。 —

I’m too sorry for you to leave any room for anger in my mind. —
我太替你难过了，脑子里没有怒火的余地。 —

You’ll have your own troubles with that child. —
你将会为这个孩子遇到自己的麻烦。 —

But if you’ll take my advice—which I suppose you won’t do, although I’ve brought up ten children and buried two—you’ll do that ‘talking to’ you mention with a fair-sized birch switch. —
但如果你接受我的建议—尽管我想你不会这么做，虽然我养育了十个孩子并埋葬了两个—你最好用一根相当大的桦树枝来进行你提到的“谈话”。 —

I should think that would be the most effective language for that kind of a child. —
我认为那会是对这类孩子最有效的表达方式。 —

Her temper matches her hair I guess. Well, good evening, Marilla. —
她的脾气和她的头发一样火爆吧。嗯，晚安，马丽拉。 —

I hope you’ll come down to see me often as usual. —
我希望你会像往常一样经常来看我。 —

But you can’t expect me to visit here again in a hurry, if I’m liable to be flown at and insulted in such a fashion. —
但如果我容易受到这样的攻击和侮辱，你别指望我会匆匆忙忙再来这里拜访。 —

It’s something new in my experience.”
这是我经历中的一件新事。”

Whereat Mrs. Rachel swept out and away—if a fat woman who always waddled could be said to sweep away—and Marilla with a very solemn face betook herself to the east gable.
当瑞秋太太四下一看——如果一个总是像鸭子一样摇摇摆摆的胖女人还能这样说的话——玛丽拉神情庄严地走向东侧的小阁楼。

On the way upstairs she pondered uneasily as to what she ought to do. —
上楼的路上，她焦虑地思考着自己该怎么做才对。 —

She felt no little dismay over the scene that had just been enacted. —
她对刚刚发生的一幕感到不小的惊愕。 —

How unfortunate that Anne should have displayed such temper before Mrs. Rachel Lynde, of all people! Then Marilla suddenly became aware of an uncomfortable and rebuking consciousness that she felt more humiliation over this than sorrow over the discovery of such a serious defect in Anne’s disposition. —
安妮居然在瑞秋·琳恩太太面前发脾气，这真是多么不幸！突然，玛丽拉开始意识到一个令人不安的自责之感，她对自己因安妮性格上的严重缺陷而感到羞愧，比对这一发现感到的难过更多。 —

And how was she to punish her? The amiable suggestion of the birch switch—to the efficiency of which all of Mrs. Rachel’s own children could have borne smarting testimony—did not appeal to Marilla. —
她该怎么惩罚她呢？玛丽拉并不赞成用桦树枝鞭打孩子，因为，如果有人要用这种方式对付安妮，瑞秋太太的孩子们本来可以提供大量的痛苦见证。 —

She did not believe she could whip a child. —
她不相信自己有能力打孩子。 —

No, some other method of punishment must be found to bring Anne to a proper realization of the enormity of her offense.
不，必须想出其他惩罚的方法，让安妮意识到自己的过错有多么严重。

Marilla found Anne face downward on her bed, crying bitterly, quite oblivious of muddy boots on a clean counterpane.
玛丽拉发现安妮俯卧在床上，痛哭流涕，完全没有意识到在洁净的床单上踩了脏靴。

“Anne,” she said not ungently.
“安妮，”她说得并不严厉。

No answer.
没有回答。

“Anne,” with greater severity, “get off that bed this minute and listen to what I have to say to you.”
“安妮，”语气更为严厉，“立刻下床，听我对你说的话。”

Anne squirmed off the bed and sat rigidly on a chair beside it, her face swollen and tear-stained and her eyes fixed stubbornly on the floor.
安妮从床上蠕动下来，僵硬地坐在椅子上，她的脸肿胀泪痕斑斑，眼睛顽固地盯着地板。

“This is a nice way for you to behave. Anne! Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”
“这是你行为得体的方式吗，安妮！你不觉得自己羞于启齿吗？”

“She hadn’t any right to call me ugly and redheaded,” retorted Anne, evasive and defiant.
“她无权说我丑陋而红头发。”安妮回答，模凌两可，又挑衅。

“You hadn’t any right to fly into such a fury and talk the way you did to her, Anne. I was ashamed of you—thoroughly ashamed of you. —
“安妮，你对她发火，说出那样的话，是完全没有权利的。我为你感到羞愧——完全羞愧。” —

I wanted you to behave nicely to Mrs. Lynde, and instead of that you have disgraced me. —
我希望你对琳德太太要有礼貌，但你却让我蒙羞了。 —

I’m sure I don’t know why you should lose your temper like that just because Mrs. Lynde said you were red-haired and homely. —
我确实不明白为什么你因为琳德太太说你红头发、长相难看就发脾气。 —

You say it yourself often enough.”
你自己经常这么说。

“Oh, but there’s such a difference between saying a thing yourself and hearing other people say it,” wailed Anne. “You may know a thing is so, but you can’t help hoping other people don’t quite think it is. —
“噢，说出来和听别人说完全不一样，”安妮哀怨地说。“有些事你自己知道，但就是希望别人不这么认为。” —

I suppose you think I have an awful temper, but I couldn’t help it. —
我想你可能觉得我脾气很暴躁，但我控制不住。 —

When she said those things something just rose right up in me and choked me. —
当她说这些话时，我心里顿时升起一股愤怒。 —

I had to fly out at her.”
我只好冲动地反驳。

“Well, you made a fine exhibition of yourself I must say. —
“你简直就是在展示你自己，我不得不说。” —

Mrs. Lynde will have a nice story to tell about you everywhere—and she’ll tell it, too. —
琳德太太到处都会对你有什么可笑的故事—而她会讲给别人听的。 —

It was a dreadful thing for you to lose your temper like that, Anne.”
你发脾气实在太可怕了，安妮。

“Just imagine how you would feel if somebody told you to your face that you were skinny and ugly,” pleaded Anne tearfully.
“想象一下，如果有人当面告诉你你瘦得难看，你会有什么感受，”安妮哭泣着恳求。

An old remembrance suddenly rose up before Marilla. —
一个旧记忆突然浮现在玛丽拉面前。 —

She had been a very small child when she had heard one aunt say of her to another, “What a pity she is such a dark, homely little thing. —
她还是个小孩的时候，曾听见一位姨妈对另一位说，“多么遗憾，她长得这么黑、这么难看。 —

” Marilla was every day of fifty before the sting had gone out of that memory.
”直到玛丽拉五十岁生日之前，那个记忆的刺痛都没有消失。

“I don’t say that I think Mrs. Lynde was exactly right in saying what she did to you, Anne,” she admitted in a softer tone. —
“我不是说琳德太太这样对待你是对的，安妮，”她以柔和的语气承认。 —

“Rachel is too outspoken. But that is no excuse for such behavior on your part. —
“瑞秋太直言不讳了。但这并不是你行为不当的借口。 —

She was a stranger and an elderly person and my visitor—all three very good reasons why you should have been respectful to her. —
她是个陌生人，一个老人，也是我的客人—这三点都是你应该对她表示尊重的很好的理由。 —

You were rude and saucy and”—Marilla had a saving inspiration of punishment—“you must go to her and tell her you are very sorry for your bad temper and ask her to forgive you.”
你当时粗鲁无礼，胆大包天，”玛丽拉突然有了惩罚的灵感。“你得去找她，告诉她你很抱歉因为发脾气，请求她原谅你。”

“I can never do that,” said Anne determinedly and darkly. —
“我永远没有办法做到那一点，”安妮坚定而阴暗地说。 —

“You can punish me in any way you like, Marilla. —
“你可以用任何方式来惩罚我，玛丽拉。 —

You can shut me up in a dark, damp dungeon inhabited by snakes and toads and feed me only on bread and water and I shall not complain. —
你可以把我关在一个黑暗潮湿的地牢里，里面住满了蛇和蟾蜍，只喂我面包和水我也不会抱怨。 —

But I cannot ask Mrs. Lynde to forgive me.”
但我无法向林太太道歉。”

“We’re not in the habit of shutting people up in dark damp dungeons,” said Marilla drily, “especially as they’re rather scarce in Avonlea. —
“我们不习惯把人关在黑暗潮湿的地牢里，”玛丽拉干巴巴地说，“尤其是在埃文利这种地方很少见到那样的地牢。 —

But apologize to Mrs. Lynde you must and shall and you’ll stay here in your room until you can tell me you’re willing to do it.”
“但你必须向林太太道歉，你得待在你的房间里，直到你告诉我你愿意这么做。”

“I shall have to stay here forever then,” said Anne mournfully, “because I can’t tell Mrs. Lynde I’m sorry I said those things to her. —
“那我就得永远待在这里了，”安妮悲伤地说，“因为我无法告诉林太太我很抱歉我对她说了那些话。 —

How can I? I’m not sorry. I’m sorry I’ve vexed you; —
我怎么能够呢？我不后悔。我只是后悔让你生气了。 —

but I’m glad I told her just what I did. It was a great satisfaction. —
但我很高兴告诉她我当时说的话。真是一种巨大的满足。 —

I can’t say I’m sorry when I’m not, can I? —
当我不抱歉的时候怎么能说我抱歉呢？ —

I can’t even imagine I’m sorry.”
我甚至都无法想象自己会后悔。”

“Perhaps your imagination will be in better working order by the morning,” said Marilla, rising to depart. —
“也许明天早上你的想象力会恢复正常，”玛丽拉站起身走了出去。 —

“You’ll have the night to think over your conduct in and come to a better frame of mind. —
你会有整个晚上来反思你的行为，并进入更好的心态。 —

You said you would try to be a very good girl if we kept you at Green Gables, but I must say it hasn’t seemed very much like it this evening.”
你说如果我们留你在格林赶，你会尽量做一个非常乖巧的女孩，但我必须说，今晚并没有看出来。

Leaving this Parthian shaft to rankle in Anne’s stormy bosom, Marilla descended to the kitchen, grievously troubled in mind and vexed in soul. —
留下这句犹抛未射的讽刺，让安妮心头翻腾，玛丽拉下到厨房去，心里烦躁不安。 —

She was as angry with herself as with Anne, because, whenever she recalled Mrs. Rachel’s dumbfounded countenance her lips twitched with amusement and she felt a most reprehensible desire to laugh.
她既生安妮的气，又生自己的气，因为每当想起瑞秋夫人那惊讶的表情，她的嘴唇就抽动着，感觉一股不应该的笑意。

A
她愈发生气于自己，也生气于安妮，因为每当回想起瑞秋夫人惊讶的样子，她的嘴唇就开始抽动，感觉出一股不该的笑意。