Jo was alone in the twilight, lying on the old sofa, looking at the fire, and thinking. It was her favorite way of spending the hour of dusk. No one disturbed her, and she used to lie there on Beth’s little red pillow, planning stories, dreaming dreams, or thinking tender thoughts of the sister who never seemed far away. Her face looked tired, grave, and rather sad, for tomorrow was her birthday, and she was thinking how fast the years went by, how old she was getting, and how little she seemed to have accomplished. Almost twenty-five, and nothing to show for it. Jo was mistaken in that. There was a good deal to show, and by-and-by she saw, and was grateful for it.
"An old maid, that’s what I’m to be. A literary spinster, with a pen for a spouse, a family of stories for children, and twenty years hence a morsel of fame, perhaps, when, like poor Johnson, I’m old and can’t enjoy it, solitary, and can’t share it, independent, and don’t need it. Well, I needn’t be a sour saint nor a selfish sinner, and, I dare say, old maids are very comfortable when they get used to it, but . . ." and there Jo sighed, as if the prospect was not inviting.
It seldom is, at first, and thirty seems the end of all things to five-and-twenty. But it’s not as bad as it looks, and one can get on quite happily if one has something in one’s self to fall back upon. At twenty-five, girls begin to talk about being old maids, but secretly resolve that they never will be.
At thirty they say nothing about it, but quietly accept the fact, and if sensible, console themselves by remembering that they have twenty more useful, happy years, in which they may be learning to grow old gracefully. Don’t laugh at the spinsters, dear girls, for often very tender, tragic romances are hidden away in the hearts that beat so quietly under the sober gowns, and many silent sacrifices of youth, health, ambition, love itself, make the faded faces beautiful in God’s sight. Even the sad, sour sisters should be kindly dealt with, because they have missed the sweetest part of life, if for no other reason.
And looking at them with compassion, not contempt, girls in their bloom should remember that they too may miss the blossom time. That rosy cheeks don’t last forever, that silver threads will come in the bonnie brown hair, and that, by-and-by, kindness and respect will be as sweet as love and admiration now.
Gentlemen, which means boys, be courteous to the old maids, no matter how poor and plain and prim, for the only chivalry worth having is that which is the readiest to pay deference to the old, protect the feeble, and serve womankind, regardless of rank, age, or color. Just recollect the good aunts who have not only lectured and fussed, but nursed and petted, too often without thanks, the scrapes they have helped you out of, the tips they have given you from their small store, the stitches the patient old fingers have set for you, the steps the willing old feet have taken, and gratefully pay the dear old ladies the little attentions that women love to receive as long as they live. The bright-eyed girls are quick to see such traits, and will like you all the better for them, and if death, almost the only power that can part mother and son, should rob you of yours, you will be sure to find a tender welcome and maternal cherishing from some Aunt Priscilla, who has kept the warmest corner of her lonely old heart for ’the best nevvy in the world’.
Jo must have fallen asleep (as I dare say my reader has during this little homily), for suddenly Laurie’s ghost seemed to stand before her, a substantial, lifelike ghost, leaning over her with the very look he used to wear when he felt a good deal and didn’t like to show it. But, like Jenny in the ballad . . .
"She could not think it he,"and lay staring up at him in startled silence, till he stooped and kissed her. Then she knew him, and flew up, crying joyfully . . .
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9
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哦,特迪!哦,我的特迪!”
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"Oh my Teddy! Oh my Teddy!"
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“亲爱的乔,你见到我高兴了,对吗?”
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"Dear Jo, you are glad to see me, then?"
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“高兴!我幸运的男孩,言语表达不了我的欢喜,艾美呢?”
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"Glad! My blessed boy, words can’t express my gladness. Where’s Amy?"
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“你妈妈把她留在了梅格家。我们顺道在那儿停留了一下,我没法子将我的妻子从她们手中救出来。”
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"Your mother has got her down at Meg’s. We stopped there by the way, and there was no getting my wife out of their clutches."
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“你的什么?”乔叫了起来,劳里不知不觉带着洋洋自得的口气说出了这两个字,泄露了秘密。
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"Your what?" cried Jo, for Laurie uttered those two words with an unconscious pride and satisfaction which betrayed him.
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“哎呀,糟了!我已经这样做了。”他看上去那样内疚,乔即刻和他过不去了。
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"Oh, the dickens! Now I’ve done it," and he looked so guilty that Jo was down on him like a flash.
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“你走了,然后结了婚!”
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"You’ve gone and got married!"
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“是的,请原谅。可是我决不会再结了。”他跪了下来,悔过似地握着手,脸上的表情充满淘气、欢乐与胜利。
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"Yes, please, but I never will again," and he went down upon his knees, with a penitent clasping of hands, and a face full of mischief, mirth, and triumph.
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“真的结了婚?”
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"Actually married?"
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“千真万确,谢谢。”
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"Very much so, thank you."
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“我的天哪!接下来你要做什么可怕的事呢?”乔喘着气跌坐回她的位子。
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"Mercy on us. What dreadful thing will you do next?" and Jo fell into her seat with a gasp.
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“你的祝贺不一般,就是不大客气,”劳里回答。他一副可怜兮兮的样子,但却又满足地满脸堆笑。
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"A characteristic, but not exactly complimentary, congratulation," returned Laurie, still in an abject attitude, but beaming with satisfaction.
"What can you expect, when you take one’s breath away, creeping in like a burglar, and letting cats out of bags like that? Get up, you ridiculous boy, and tell me all about it."
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“一个字也不告诉你,除非你让我坐到老地方,并且保证不再跟我过不去,用枕头设障碍。”
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"Not a word, unless you let me come in my old place, and promise not to barricade."
Jo laughed at that as she had not done for many a long day, and patted the sofa invitingly, as she said in a cordial tone, "The old pillow is up garret, and we don’t need it now. So, come and ’fess, Teddy."
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“听你叫-特迪-多么悦耳!除了你还没有谁那样叫我呢。”劳里带着非常满足的神气坐了下来。
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"How good it sounds to hear you say ’Teddy’! No one ever calls me that but you," and Laurie sat down with an air of great content.
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“艾美叫你什么?”
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"What does Amy call you?"
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“夫君。”
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"My lord."
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“这像她说的话,嗯,你看着也像。”乔的眼神分明表示:她发现她的男孩比以前更清秀了。
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"That’s like her. Well, you look it," and Jo’s eye plainly betrayed that she found her boy comelier than ever.
The pillow was gone, but there was a barricade, nevertheless, a natural one, raised by time, absence, and change of heart. Both felt it, and for a minute looked at one another as if that invisible barrier cast a little shadow over them. It was gone directly however, for Laurie said, with a vain attempt at dignity . . .
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“我看着像不像个结了婚的人和一家之主?”
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"Don’t I look like a married man and the head of a family?"
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“一点也不像,你也决不会像的。你长大些了,也更漂亮了,可是你还是以前的那个淘气鬼。”
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"Not a bit, and you never will. You’ve grown bigger and bonnier, but you are the same scapegrace as ever."
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“哎唷,真的,乔,你应该对我尊重些了,”劳里开口说,他对这一切很欣赏。
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"Now really, Jo, you ought to treat me with more respect," began Laurie, who enjoyed it all immensely.
"How can I, when the mere idea of you, married and settled, is so irresistibly funny that I can’t keep sober!" answered Jo, smiling all over her face, so infectiously that they had another laugh, and then settled down for a good talk, quite in the pleasant old fashion.
"It’s no use your going out in the cold to get Amy, for they are all coming up presently. I couldn’t wait. I wanted to be the one to tell you the grand surprise, and have ’first skim’ as we used to say when we squabbled about the cream."
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“你当然得到了,可是故事开错了头,给弄毁了。好了,开始说吧,全都告诉我,我太想知道了。”
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"Of course you did, and spoiled your story by beginning at the wrong end. Now, start right, and tell me how it all happened. I’m pining to know."
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“嗯,我那样做是想讨艾美的欢心,”劳里眨着眼开了口,这使乔叫了起来――
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"Well, I did it to please Amy," began Laurie, with a twinkle that made Jo exclaim . . .
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“一号小谎言。是艾美想讨你的欢心。接着说,可以的话,讲实话,先生。”
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"Fib number one. Amy did it to please you. Go on, and tell the truth, if you can, sir."
"Now she’s beginning to marm it. Isn’t it jolly to hear her?" said Laurie to the fire, and the fire glowed and sparkled as if it quite agreed. "It’s all the same, you know, she and I being one.
We planned to come home with the Carrols, a month or more ago, but they suddenly changed their minds, and decided to pass another winter in Paris. But Grandpa wanted to come home. He went to please me, and I couldn’t let him go alone, neither could I leave Amy, and Mrs. Carrol had got English notions about chaperons and such nonsense, and wouldn’t let Amy come with us. So I just settled the difficulty by saying, ’Let’s be married, and then we can do as we like’."
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“你当然会那么做的,你总是事事如意。”
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"Of course you did. You always have things to suit you."
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“并不总是那样。”劳里声音里有种东西,使乔赶快接话――
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"Not always," and something in Laurie’s voice made Jo say hastily . . .
"A trifle, perhaps, she’s such a captivating little woman I can’t help being proud of her. Well, then Uncle and Aunt were there to play propriety. We were so absorbed in one another we were of no mortal use apart, and that charming arrangement would make everything easy all round, so we did it."