"It was full of petticoats with lace frills on them -- frills and frills," she whispered to her friend Jessie as she bent over her geography. "I saw her shaking them out. I heard Miss Minchin say to Miss Amelia that her clothes were so grand that they were ridiculous for a child. My mamma says that children should be dressed simply. She has got one of those petticoats on now. I saw it when she sat down."
“盒里装满了带饰边的衬裙——多的是饰边呀饰边”她对正伏案读地理课本的她的朋友杰西悄声说“我看见她把它们都抖搂出来。我听到铭钦女士对阿米莉亚小姐说萨拉的衣服是那么豪华，对于一个儿童来说是荒唐可笑的。我妈妈说儿童应该穿得简单朴素。萨拉现在就穿着其中的一条衬裙。她坐下来时，我看见了”
When Sara entered the schoolroom the next morning everybody looked at her with wide, interested eyes. By that time every pupil -- from Lavinia Herbert, who was nearly thirteen and felt quite grown up, to Lottie Legh, who was only just four and the baby of the school -- had heard a great deal about her. They knew very certainly that she was Miss Minchin's show pupil and was considered a credit to the establishment. One or two of them had even caught a glimpse of her French maid, Mariette, who had arrived the evening before. Lavinia had managed to pass Sara's room when the door was open, and had seen Mariette opening a box which had arrived late from some shop.
次日早晨萨拉走进教室时，每个人都好奇地睁大眼睛望着她。那时，所有的学生来自拉维尼娅·赫伯特，她还不到十三岁，却觉得已是个十足的大姑娘了，到洛蒂·利，才只四岁，是学校里的婴儿——都听说过很多关于萨拉的事了。她们明确知道她是为铭钦女士炫耀门面的学生，并且被认为是这所学校的荣誉。她们中有一两个甚至看到过一眼她那昨晚抵达的法国侍女马里耶特。拉维尼娅曾有意地走过萨拉的房门前，从开着的门中看到马里耶特正打开一只很晚才从商店送到的盒子。
"Oh," sniffed Lavinia, spitefully, "that is the way her slippers are made. My mamma says that even big feet can be made to look small if you have a clever shoemaker. I don't think she is pretty at all. Her eyes are such a queer color."
“哼”拉维尼娅嗤之以鼻，不怀好意地说“那是她绣鞋的做法关系。我妈说过，如果你找个手巧的鞋匠，就是大脚也能看上去像是小的。我认为她根本不漂亮。她眼睛的颜色很怪”
"She has silk stockings on!" whispered Jessie, bending over her geography also. "And what little feet! I never saw such little feet."
“她竟穿着长统丝袜哪”杰西悄声说，依然埋头看她的地理书“多小的脚啊！我从没见过这么小的脚”
"She isn't pretty as other pretty people are," said Jessie, stealing a glance across the room; "but she makes you want to look at her again. She has tremendously long eyelashes, but her eyes are almost green."
“她不像别的漂亮人儿那样漂亮”杰西说，偷偷地横扫了室内一眼“可是她使你还想多看她一眼。她有特别长的眼睫毛，而她的眼珠差不多是绿色的”
Sara was sitting quietly in her seat, waiting to be told what to do. She had been placed near Miss Minchin's desk. She was not abashed at all by the many pairs of eyes watching her. She was interested and looked back quietly at the children who looked at her. She wondered what they were thinking of, and if they liked Miss Minchin, and if they cared for their lessons, and if any of them had a papa at all like her own. She had had a long talk with Emily about her papa that morning.
萨拉安静地坐在她的座位上，等待着别人吩咐她做什么。她被安排在铭钦女士的讲桌近旁。在众目睽睽之下，她却并不感到局促不安。她饶有兴致地默默回视着那些注目于她的儿童，，已想不知道她们正在想什么，她们是否喜欢铭钦女士，是否操心她们的功课，以及她们中是否有人有个像她那样的爸爸。
She was a child full of imaginings and whimsical thoughts, and one of her fancies was that there would be a great deal of comfort in even pretending that Emily was alive and really heard and understood. After Mariette had dressed her in her dark-blue schoolroom frock and tied her hair with a dark-blue ribbon, she went to Emily, who sat in a chair of her own, and gave her a book.
她是个富于想象力的儿童，充满了奇思怪想，她的幻想之一就是假定埃米莉是活的，并且真的能听懂她的话，她想即使如此，也能从中得到莫大的安慰。等马里耶特帮她穿好了上课时穿的深蓝色连衣裙、用深蓝色的缎带束起了她的头发，她走到埃米莉自己的座椅前，交给她一本书。
"What I believe about dolls," she said, "is that they can do things they will not let us know about. Perhaps, really, Emily can read and talk and walk, but she will only do it when people are out of the room. That is her secret. You see, if people knew that dolls could do things, they would make them work. So, perhaps, they have promised each other to keep it a secret. If you stay in the room, Emily will just sit there and stare; but if you go out, she will begin to read, perhaps, or go and look out of the window. Then if she heard either of us coming, she would just run back and jump into her chair and pretend she had been there all the time."
“关于洋娃娃，我相信的是”她说“她们能够做不愿让我们知道的事情。也许埃米莉真的能够读书、讲话、走路，但是她只在人们离开房间以后才这样做。那是她的秘密。你想，如果人们知道洋娃娃们能做事情，就会让她们干活。也许她们曾经互相约定要严守秘密。如果你呆在室内，埃米莉就只顾静坐呆望，但是，如果你走出去了，她就会开始读书，或许走到窗前眺望。那时候如果她听到我们中有谁来了，她就会跑回去，跳进椅子，假装是一直坐在那儿的”
"He is on the sea now, Emily," she had said. "We must be very great friends to each other and tell each other things. Emily, look at me. You have the nicest eyes I ever saw -- but I wish you could speak."
那天早晨她和埃米莉曾关于她爸爸长谈了一次“他现在正在海上呢，埃米莉”她当时那样说“我们俩一定要做非常好的朋友，彼此讲悄悄话。埃米莉，看着我。你的眼睛是我所看到过的最漂亮的― 但我真希望你会讲话”
"You can read that while I am downstairs," she said; and, seeing Mariette looking at her curiously, she spoke to her with a serious little face.
“我在楼下的时候，你可以读书”她说。看到马里耶特正诧异地看着她，她一本正经地绷着小脸对马里耶特讲话了。
After Sara had sat in her seat in the schoolroom for a few minutes, being looked at by the pupils, Miss Minchin rapped in a dignified manner upon her desk.
萨拉在教室里就座后，同学们都望着她，这样坐了几分钟，铭钦女士威严地敲敲桌子。
"Comme elle est drole!" Mariette said to herself, and when she went downstairs she told the head housemaid about it. But she had already begun to like this odd little girl who had such an intelligent small face and such perfect manners. She had taken care of children before who were not so polite. Sara was a very fine little person, and had a gentle, appreciative way of saying, "If you please, Mariette," "Thank you, Mariette," which was very charming. Mariette told the head housemaid that she thanked her as if she was thanking a lady.
“她是多么滑稽啊”马里耶特用法语自言自语。她下了楼，对领头的女仆说起了这事。但是她已经开始喜欢这个奇特的小姑娘了，这孩子有如此聪慧的小脸蛋儿和如此完美的举止。她以前照管的儿童都没这样有礼貌。萨拉是个很好的小人儿，说起话来温文尔雅，带着感激的意味“劳驾，马里耶”，“谢谢，马里耶”。说得多么招人喜欢。马里耶特告诉领头的女仆说，萨拉向她道谢的口气就像是在向贵妇人道谢。
"Young ladies," she said, "I wish to introduce you to your new companion." All the little girls rose in their places, and Sara rose also. "I shall expect you all to be very agreeable to Miss Crewe; she has just come to us from a great distance -- in fact, from India. As soon as lessons are over you must make each other's acquaintance."
“小姐们”她说“我要把你们介绍给你们的新伙伴”小姑娘们全体起立，萨拉也站了起来“我希望你们都同克鲁小姐和好相处，她刚从很远的地方来到我们这里——具体地说，是从印度来的。等会儿一下课你们得互相认识一下”
"Elle a l'air d'une princesse, cette petite," she said. Indeed, she was very much pleased with her new little mistress and liked her place greatly.
“这小姑娘看起来像个公主”马里耶特用法语说。的确，她非常喜欢这个新的小主人，也非常喜欢她自己的职位。
The pupils bowed ceremoniously, and Sara made a little curtsy, and then they sat down and looked at each other again.
学生们郑重地鞠躬，萨拉也欠身还礼，于是她们又都坐下来，互相望着。
"Sara," said Miss Minchin in her schoolroom manner, "come here to me."
“萨拉”铭钦女士用她上课时的腔调说“过来，到我这儿来”
She had taken a book from the desk and was turning over its leaves. Sara went to her politely.
她从桌上拿起了一本书，正在翻着书页。萨拉有礼貌地向她走去。
"As your papa has engaged a French maid for you," she began, "I conclude that he wishes you to make a special study of the French language."
“既然你爸爸为你雇了一名法国女仆”她开始说“我断定他这是希望你特别要学好法语”
"I think he engaged her," she said, "because he -- he thought I would like her, Miss Minchin."
“我想爸爸雇用她是因为——”她说“因为他——他认为我会喜欢她，铭钦女士”
Sara felt a little awkward.
萨拉感到有点儿局促不安。
"I am afraid," said Miss Minchin, with a slightly sour smile, "that you have been a very spoiled little girl and always imagine that things are done because you like them. My impression is that your papa wished you to learn French."
“我看恐怕是——”铭钦女士稍微带着不快，微笑地说“恐怕你是个大大地给宠坏的小姑娘，总是想象是因为你喜欢人家才那样做事情的。我的印象是你爸爸希望你学习法语”
If Sara had been older or less punctilious about being quite polite to people, she could have explained herself in a very few words. But, as it was, she felt a flush rising on her cheeks. Miss Minchin was a very severe and imposing person, and she seemed so absolutely sure that Sara knew nothing whatever of French that she felt as if it would be almost rude to correct her. The truth was that Sara could not remember the time when she had not seemed to know French. Her father had often spoken it to her when she had been a baby. Her mother had been a French woman, and Captain Crewe had loved her language, so it happened that Sara had always heard and been familiar with it.
如果萨拉年龄稍大一些，或者不太拘泥于待人有礼貌的话，她原是能用很少几句话就为自己解释清楚的。可是，幼小拘礼的她感到一阵羞红涌上双颊。铭钦女士是个十分严厉、盛气凌人的人物，她似乎绝对肯定萨拉对法语一无所知，于是觉得若去纠正萨拉就显得笨拙了。实际情况是萨拉已记不清楚自己早在什么时候就懂法语了。当她还是婴儿时，父亲就常对她讲法语。她母亲是法国人，而克鲁上尉喜爱她的语言，所以萨拉能经常听到法语并熟悉它。
Sara's cheeks felt warm. She went back to her seat and opened the book. She looked at the first page with a grave face. She knew it would be rude to smile, and she was very determined not to be rude. But it was very odd to find herself expected to study a page which told her that "le pere" meant "the father," and "la mere" meant "the mother."
萨拉感到双颊发热。她回到座位上，打开那本书，面带愁容地看着第一页。她知道面带笑容是非礼的，她决计不做失礼的事。但是令人啼笑皆非的是竟然指望她学习这样一页法语书，上面教给“le pèr”的意思“父”“la mèr”的意思“母”。
One of Miss Minchin's chief secret annoyances was that she did not speak French herself, and was desirous of concealing the irritating fact. She, therefore, had no intention of discussing the matter and laying herself open to innocent questioning by a new little pupil.
铭钦女士有些不愿告人的烦恼，其中最主要的就是她本人不会说法语，她想隐瞒这个痛心的实情。所以她无意谈论此事，以免在这新来的小学生的幼稚无端的询问中暴露自己。
"That is enough," she said with polite tartness. "If you have not learned, you must begin at once. The French master, Monsieur Dufarge, will be here in a few minutes. Take this book and look at it until he arrives."
“够了，别说了”她说，礼貌而又尖刻“如果你没有学过法语，你必须立即开始学。法语教师杜法奇先生几分钟后就要来。拿上这本书，在他来到以前先看起来”
"I -- I have never really learned French, but -- but --" she began, trying shyly to make herself clear.
“我——我从来没有真正学过法语，但是——但是——”她开始羞涩地试图为自己辩白。
Miss Minchin glanced toward her scrutinizingly.
铭钦女士向她投来审视的目光。
"You look rather cross, Sara," she said. "I am sorry you do not like the idea of learning French."
“看上去你有点生气，萨拉”她说“很遗憾，你对学法语这个主意不喜欢”
And Sara did so, and did not smile, even when she found that "le fils" meant "the son," and "le frere" meant "the brother."
萨拉这样做了，并没有笑，即使当她看“le fil”的意思“儿”“le frèr”的意思“兄”的时候也没笑。
"I am very fond of it," answered Sara, thinking she would try again; "but --"
“我很喜欢法语”萨拉回答，想再努力辩白一下“但是——”
Monsieur Dufarge arrived very shortly afterward. He was a very nice, intelligent, middle-aged Frenchman, and he looked interested when his eyes fell upon Sara trying politely to seem absorbed in her little book of phrases.
杜法奇先生随即来到。他是一位很高尚、聪颖的中年法国人，当他的目光落到萨拉身上，看到她正规规矩矩地试图装着全神贯注于那一小本语言书的时候，显出很感兴趣的样子。
"You must not say `but' when you are told to do things," said Miss Minchin. "Look at your book again."
“当吩咐你做什么事情的时候，你不可以说但是”铭钦女士说“还是看你的书吧”
"When Monsieur Dufarge comes," she thought, "I can make him understand."
“等杜法奇先生来了”萨拉想着“我会让他明白的”
"Is this a new pupil for me, madame?" he said to Miss Minchin. "I hope that is my good fortune."
“这就是我的新学生吗，女士”他对铭钦女士说“我希望这是我的幸运”
"Her papa -- Captain Crewe -- is very anxious that she should begin the language. But I am afraid she has a childish prejudice against it. She does not seem to wish to learn," said Miss Minchin.
“她的爸爸——克鲁上尉——殷切希望她开始学法语。但是我担心她对这种语言有一种幼稚的偏见。她好像并不想学”铭钦女士说。
"I am sorry of that, mademoiselle," he said kindly to Sara. "Perhaps, when we begin to study together, I may show you that it is a charming tongue."
“这太遗憾了，小姐”他和善地对萨拉说，并且用法语称呼她为小姐“或许等我们一同开始学习了，我可以使你明白那是一种引人人胜的语言”
When she began to speak Miss Minchin started quite violently and sat staring at her over her eyeglasses, almost indignantly, until she had finished. Monsieur Dufarge began to smile, and his smile was one of great pleasure. To hear this pretty childish voice speaking his own language so simply and charmingly made him feel almost as if he were in his native land -- which in dark, foggy days in London sometimes seemed worlds away. When she had finished, he took the phrase book from her, with a look almost affectionate. But he spoke to Miss Minchin.
当她开始讲话时，铭钦女士猛然一惊，坐在那儿几乎是愤怒地从眼镜上方盯着她，直到她把话讲完。杜法奇先生露出笑容，那是十分欣喜的微笑。聆听这悦耳的童音讲他的家乡话，讲得如此纯真、如此迷人，使他觉得宛如回到了故乡——这在伦敦晦暗多雾的日子里，有时显得好像远在天地之外。萨拉讲完后，他从她手里拿了那本语言书，流露出近乎慈爱的目光。于是他对铭钦女士讲话了。
Little Sara rose in her seat. She was beginning to feel rather desperate, as if she were almost in disgrace. She looked up into Monsieur Dufarge's face with her big, green-gray eyes, and they were quite innocently appealing. She knew that he would understand as soon as she spoke. She began to explain quite simply in pretty and fluent French. Madame had not understood. She had not learned French exactly -- not out of books -- but her papa and other people had always spoken it to her, and she had read it and written it as she had read and written English. Her papa loved it, and she loved it because he did. Her dear mamma, who had died when she was born, had been French. She would be glad to learn anything monsieur would teach her, but what she had tried to explain to madame was that she already knew the words in this book -- and she held out the little book of phrases.
小萨拉从座位上站起来。她开始感到绝望，仿佛受到了羞辱一般。她仰望着杜法奇先生的脸，一双绿灰色的大眼睛在天真无邪地祈求着。她知道只要自己一开口，他就会明白了。于是她开始用漂亮流利的法语十分简洁地进行解释：那位女士不理解。她没有严格地学习过法语― 没有从书本上学过一一但是她爸爸和其他人经常对她说法语，而她读法文和写法文就像她读英文和写英文一样寻常。她爸爸爱法语，而她爱法语是因为爸爸爱它。她亲爱的妈妈是法国人，可是她一出世妈妈就死了。无论先生教什么，她都乐意学，但她刚才试图向那位女士解释的是她早就认得这本书中的词汇― 说着，她把那一小本语言书伸出来。
"You ought to have told me," exclaimed Miss Minchin, much mortified, turning to Sara.
“你该早告诉我啊”铭钦女士喊道，受了屈辱似地转向萨拉。
"I -- I tried," said Sara. "I -- I suppose I did not begin right."
“我——我曾试图解释”萨拉说“我― 我想我可能开始说得不好”
"Silence, young ladies!" she said severely, rapping upon the desk. "Silence at once!"
“安静，小姐们”她拍着桌子严厉地喊道“立即住嘴”
"Ah, madame," he said, "there is not much I can teach her. She has not LEARNED French; she is French. Her accent is exquisite."
“啊，女士”他说“我没有什么更多的东西可教给她了。她没有学过法语，她简直是个法国人。她的发音是极好的”
Miss Minchin knew she had tried, and that it had not been her fault that she was not allowed to explain. And when she saw that the pupils had been listening and that Lavinia and Jessie were giggling behind their French grammars, she felt infuriated.
铭钦女士知道她曾试图解释，也知道那并不是她的过错，因为没有允许她解释。当铭钦女士看到学生们一直在注意听着，而且拉维尼娅和杰西还在法语语法书的遮掩下嗤嗤地笑着，她感到怒不可遏。
And she began from that minute to feel rather a grudge against her show pupil.
从这一刻起，她开始怀恨这个可供炫耀的学生了。