Sara not only could tell stories, but she adored telling them. When she sat or stood in the midst of a circle and began to invent wonderful things, her green eyes grew big and shining, her cheeks flushed, and, without knowing that she was doing it, she began to act and made what she told lovely or alarming by the raising or dropping of her voice, the bend and sway of her slim body, and the dramatic movement of her hands. She forgot that she was talking to listening children; she saw and lived with the fairy folk, or the kings and queens and beautiful ladies, whose adventures she was narrating. Sometimes when she had finished her story, she was quite out of breath with excitement, and would lay her hand on her thin, little, quick-rising chest, and half laugh as if at herself.
萨拉不仅会讲故事，而且热衷于讲。当她坐在或站在人群围成的小圈子中间开始编造精采的情节时，一双绿眼睛变得又大又亮，双颊泛红；她会不知不觉地开始表演起来，用抑扬顿挫的语调、俯仰摇摆的苗条身躯和戏剧性的手势，使她所讲的内容既美妙又惊险。她忘记自己是在给孩子们讲故事，看见了她讲述的惊险故事中的神话人物，或者国王、王后以及美丽的贵妇人，并且同他们生活在一起。有时候，她讲完了故事，兴奋得上气不接下气，会把手放在她那瘦小的急促起伏着的胸脯上，半笑着像在自嘲似的。
Anyone who has been at school with a teller of stories knows what the wonder means -- how he or she is followed about and besought in a whisper to relate romances; how groups gather round and hang on the outskirts of the favored party in the hope of being allowed to join in and listen.
曾经在拥有善讲故事者的学校里呆过的人都知道，那种奇迹般的现象是怎样的——那会讲故事的人，她或他是怎样被追随着，被人低声下气地恳求讲述传奇故事；成群的人怎样聚集在这招人喜爱的故事会的外围不走，希望允许他们聆听。
Of course the greatest power Sara possessed and the one which gained her even more followers than her luxuries and the fact that she was "the show pupil," the power that Lavinia and certain other girls were most envious of, and at the same time most fascinated by in spite of themselves, was her power of telling stories and of making everything she talked about seem like a story, whether it was one or not.
当然，萨拉所具有的最大魅力就是她会讲故事，她能使谈话的所有内容无论是不是故事都似乎像个故事。这魅力比她的华丽衣物以及“可供炫耀的学生”这个地位能赢得更多的追随者；这魅力也是拉维尼娅和另外几个小女孩最为忌妒的，而同时也最能使她们不由自主地着迷。
She had been at Miss Minchin's school about two years when, one foggy winter's afternoon, as she was getting out of her carriage, comfortably wrapped up in her warmest velvets and furs and looking very much grander than she knew, she caught sight, as she crossed the pavement, of a dingy little figure standing on the area steps, and stretching its neck so that its wide-open eyes might peer at her through the railings. Something in the eagerness and timidity of the smudgy face made her look at it, and when she looked she smiled because it was her way to smile at people.
萨拉在铭钦女士的学校里呆了约两年了。冬季的一天下午，浓雾弥漫，她从她的马车里下来，舒适地裹着她最暖和的天鹅绒和裘皮衣服，看上去雍容华贵，大大超过了她的想象。当她跨过人行道时，忽然瞥见厨房前采光小天井的台阶上站着一个邋遢的小人，正睁大眼睛伸长脖子以便能通过栏杆仔细窥视她。那既表现出热情又有着畏怯的污迹斑斑的小脸上，还流露出一点什么，使萨拉对她看。萨拉看她时带着微笑，因为对人微笑正是她的一贯做法。
"When I am telling it," she would say, "it doesn't seem as if it was only made up. It seems more real than you are -- more real than the schoolroom. I feel as if I were all the people in the story -- one after the other. It is queer."
“我讲故事的时候，”萨拉会这样说，“那似乎不仅仅是编造的故事。它似乎比你本人更真实——比学校的教室还真实。我觉得仿佛自己就是故事里的各种人物——一个接一个。真是奇怪。”
But the owner of the smudgy face and the wide-open eyes evidently was afraid that she ought not to have been caught looking at pupils of importance. She dodged out of sight like a jack-in-the-box and scurried back into the kitchen, disappearing so suddenly that if she had not been such a poor little forlorn thing, Sara would have laughed in spite of herself. That very evening, as Sara was sitting in the midst of a group of listeners in a corner of the schoolroom telling one of her stories, the very same figure timidly entered the room, carrying a coal box much too heavy for her, and knelt down upon the hearth rug to replenish the fire and sweep up the ashes.
可是那张污迹斑斑的脸和睁大的眼睛的主人，显然担心自己被人发现正在窥视那地位优越的学生。她像匣子里藏着的那种玩具跳偶般匆匆回进厨房躲藏起来，一下子失去了踪影，若不是她显得这样的孤苦伶仃，萨拉会情不自禁地笑起来的。就在当天傍晚，在教室的一角，萨拉坐在一群听众中间讲故事，这小东西怯生生地走进房间，拎着一箱对她来说实在太沉重的煤，在壁炉前的地毯上跪下，给炉火添煤、清除炉灰。
It was a wonderful story about a princess who was loved by a Prince Merman, and went to live with him in shining caves under the sea.
这是个奇妙的故事，说的是一位公主被人鱼王子爱上了，跟他去住在海底闪着珠光宝气的洞府里。
She was cleaner than she had been when she peeped through the area railings, but she looked just as frightened. She was evidently afraid to look at the children or seem to be listening. She put on pieces of coal cautiously with her fingers so that she might make no disturbing noise, and she swept about the fire irons very softly. But Sara saw in two minutes that she was deeply interested in what was going on, and that she was doing her work slowly in the hope of catching a word here and there. And realizing this, she raised her voice and spoke more clearly.
她比在天井栏杆后面窥视时洁净些了，但看上去还是那么惊惶不安。她显然不敢正眼看这些孩子，也不敢显出在听的样子。她小心翼翼地用手指一块一块地添煤，以免发出扰人的响声，清理火炉用具时的动作也很轻柔。不到两分钟，萨拉就看出她对眼前发生的事深感兴趣，正慢慢地干着活，希望东一句西一句地听明白一些内容。萨拉领悟到这一点，就提高了嗓音讲述得更清晰了。
The small drudge before the grate swept the hearth once and then swept it again. Having done it twice, she did it three times; and, as she was doing it the third time, the sound of the story so lured her to listen that she fell under the spell and actually forgot that she had no right to listen at all, and also forgot everything else. She sat down upon her heels as she knelt on the hearth rug, and the brush hung idly in her fingers. The voice of the storyteller went on and drew her with it into winding grottos under the sea, glowing with soft, clear blue light, and paved with pure golden sands. Strange sea flowers and grasses waved about her, and far away faint singing and music echoed.
这个小奴仆在壁炉前将炉边的地面清扫了一次又一次。扫过了两次，再扫第三次，讲故事的声音是如此地诱人，以至于她被迷住了，忘记自己根本无权听故事，也忘记了其他的一切。她跪在壁炉前的地毯上，索性坐在脚后跟上，刷子闲吊在手指间。讲故事人的话音继续着，把她引入了迂回曲折的海底洞室。里面闪耀着柔和清澈的蓝光，地上铺的是纯净的金沙。奇异的海底花草在她周围荡漾，远处隐隐约约地回响着歌声与音乐声。
"The Mermaids swam softly about in the crystal-green water, and dragged after them a fishing-net woven of deep-sea pearls," she said. "The Princess sat on the white rock and watched them."
“那些美人鱼轻柔地在晶莹的绿色海水中游泳，身后拖曳着一张用深海的珍珠编成的渔网，”她讲着，“公主坐在白色的岩石上望着她们。”
"Sara's mamma knows everything," piped in Lottie. "So does my mamma --'cept Sara is my mamma at Miss Minchin's -- my other one knows everything. The streets are shining, and there are fields and fields of lilies, and everybody gathers them. Sara tells me when she puts me to bed."
“萨拉的妈妈样样事都知道，”洛蒂的声音参加进来。“我妈妈也知道——除了萨拉是我在铭钦女士这儿的妈妈外——我的另一个妈妈样样事都知道。萨拉带我上床睡觉时给我讲，那里的街道是亮光光的，一片片田野上尽是百合花，每个人都采集花朵。”
"My mamma!" said Sara, looking odd. "I don't believe she would mind in the least. She knows that stories belong to everybody."
“我的妈妈！”萨拉说，表情有些异样，“我相信她一点儿也不会介意。她知道故事属于每一个人。”
The culprit snatched up her brush, and scrambled to her feet. She caught at the coal box and simply scuttled out of the room like a frightened rabbit.
小罪人急忙抓住刷子爬了起来，端着煤箱，像一只受惊的兔子，径直逃出了房间。
"Well," she remarked, "I do not know whether your mamma would like you to tell stories to servant girls, but I know MY mamma wouldn't like ME to do it."
“是啊，”她说开了，“我不知道你妈妈是否喜欢你给丫环们讲故事，但是我知道我的妈妈不会喜欢我这样做的。”
Lavinia tossed her head with great elegance.
拉维尼娅十分优雅地扬起头来。
"I knew she was listening," she said. "Why shouldn't she?"
“我知道她在听，”她说。“为什么她就不该听呢？”
"That girl has been listening," she said.
“那丫头在听，”她说。
"I thought," retorted Lavinia, in severe recollection, that your mamma was dead. How can she know things?"
“我记得，”拉维尼娅反驳道，加紧思索着，“你妈妈早死了。她怎么能知道？”
The hearth brush fell from the work-roughened hand, and Lavinia Herbert looked round.
炉刷从那只因劳动而变粗糙的手中掉下来，听到这声音，拉维尼娅·赫伯特回过头来。
"Do you think she DOESN'T know things?" said Sara, in her stern little voice. Sometimes she had a rather stern little voice.
“你认为她不知道吗？”萨拉以她的严厉的小嗓音说。有时候她的小嗓音颇严厉。
Sara felt rather hot-tempered.
萨拉有点气愤。
Ah, indeed, Mademoiselle Sara might well ask. She was a forlorn little thing who had just taken the place of scullery maid -- though, as to being scullery maid, she was everything else besides. She blacked boots and grates, and carried heavy coal-scuttles up and down stairs, and scrubbed floors and cleaned windows, and was ordered about by everybody. She was fourteen years old, but was so stunted in growth that she looked about twelve. In truth, Mariette was sorry for her. She was so timid that if one chanced to speak to her it appeared as if her poor, frightened eyes would jump out of her head.
啊，的确，作为萨拉小姐完全可以问一问。她是个孤苦伶仃的小东西，刚刚接替厨房洗碗婢女的差使——然而虽然是个洗碗婢女，其他不论什么差事却样样都得干。她擦皮靴和壁炉，上下楼搬运沉甸甸的煤桶，擦地板，擦窗户，人人都把她呼来唤去。她十四岁了，但发育不良，看上去只有十二岁左右。说真的，马里耶特也觉得她可怜。她是那样畏怯，如果有人偶尔对她讲话，她那双可怜受惊的眼睛好像就要蹦出她的眼眶似的。
"There are much more splendid stories in Revelation," returned Sara. "Just look and see! How do you know mine are fairy stories? But I can tell you" -- with a fine bit of unheavenly temper -- "you will never find out whether they are or not if you're not kinder to people than you are now. Come along, Lottie." And she marched out of the room, rather hoping that she might see the little servant again somewhere, but she found no trace of her when she got into the hall.
“《圣经》的《启示录》中还有好多出色的故事哪，”萨拉回敬道。“仔细去看看吧！你怎么知道我的故事是捏造的神话？但是我要告诉你，”——不免流露出点凡人的脾气来——“你如果不能从此对人们和善一些，那你就永远弄不清那些故事是不是捏造的神话。来吧，洛蒂。”她大踏步走出房间，很希望能在什么地方再看到那个小丫头，但是当她进人大厅时却不见那丫头的踪迹。
"You wicked thing," said Lavinia, turning on Sara; "making fairy stories about heaven."
“你这个坏东西，”拉维尼娅转向萨拉说，“捏造关于天国的神话。”
"Who is that little girl who makes the fires?" she asked Mariette that night.
“那个生炉子的小女孩是谁？”那天夜里她问马里耶特。
Mariette broke forth into a flow of description.
马里耶特讲开了头就没个完。
"What is her name?" asked Sara, who had sat by the table, with her chin on her hands, as she listened absorbedly to the recital.
“她叫什么名字？”萨拉问道，她已在桌旁坐了下来，双手支着下巴颏儿，正入神地听马里耶特讲述。
But a few weeks later, on another foggy afternoon, when she entered her sitting room she found herself confronting a rather pathetic picture. In her own special and pet easy-chair before the bright fire, Becky -- with a coal smudge on her nose and several on her apron, with her poor little cap hanging half off her head, and an empty coal box on the floor near her -- sat fast asleep, tired out beyond even the endurance of her hard-working young body. She had been sent up to put the bedrooms in order for the evening. There were a great many of them, and she had been running about all day. Sara's rooms she had saved until the last. They were not like the other rooms, which were plain and bare. Ordinary pupils were expected to be satisfied with mere necessaries. Sara's comfortable sitting room seemed a bower of luxury to the scullery maid, though it was, in fact, merely a nice, bright little room. But there were pictures and books in it, and curious things from India; there was a sofa and the low, soft chair; Emily sat in a chair of her own, with the air of a presiding goddess, and there was always a glowing fire and a polished grate. Becky saved it until the end of her afternoon's work, because it rested her to go into it, and she always hoped to snatch a few minutes to sit down in the soft chair and look about her, and think about the wonderful good fortune of the child who owned such surroundings and who went out on the cold days in beautiful hats and coats one tried to catch a glimpse of through the area railing.
但是几星期后，又是一个多雾的下午，萨拉进入起居室时，发现自己面对一幕相当哀婉动人的场面。在明亮的炉火前，贝基坐在萨拉喜爱的、自己专用的安乐椅里熟睡着，鼻子上有一处煤灰污斑，围裙上也有几处，破旧的小帽子半挂在头上，近处的地板上有只空煤箱——她疲劳已极，竟然超过了那劳累的小身躯的忍受能力。她是被打发上楼来整理傍晚用的各个卧室的。房间很多，她跑来跑去，已有一整天。她将萨拉的房间留到最后。这些房间不像其他的那样朴素而空荡荡的。一般学生只应该满足于最起码的生活必需品。对这厨房婢女来说，萨拉舒适的起居室就像是豪华的闺房一样，虽然它实际上只不过是一间精巧明亮的小房间。但是室内有些图画和书籍，还有来自印度的珍奇物品；有一张沙发和一把软垫很低的椅子。埃米莉坐在她自己的椅子上，神气活像主事的女神，而壁炉总是擦得锃亮，炉火总是烧得红彤彤的，贝基把这间房留到下午干活的最后，因为进去了可以得到歇息，她总是希望能抓住几分钟在软椅子上坐下来，环顾一下四周，思量着享有这种环境的孩子，她有多好的运气，冷天外出时穿戴着美丽的帽子和外套，让你想通过采光小天井前的栏杆看上一眼。
Her name was Becky. Mariette heard everyone below-stairs calling, "Becky, do this," and "Becky, do that," every five minutes in the day.
她的名字叫贝基。马里耶特曾听到过楼下人人都喊“贝基，做这个”、“贝基，做那个”，一天到晚每隔五分钟就有人喊。
Sara sat and looked into the fire, reflecting on Becky for some time after Mariette left her. She made up a story of which Becky was the ill-used heroine. She thought she looked as if she had never had quite enough to eat. Her very eyes were hungry. She hoped she should see her again, but though she caught sight of her carrying things up or down stairs on several occasions, she always seemed in such a hurry and so afraid of being seen that it was impossible to speak to her.
马里耶特走后，萨拉坐在那里望着炉火，仔细地想了—会儿贝基的事。她编了个故事，贝基是故事中被虐待的女主人公。萨拉想她看上去好像从来没有充足的食物吃。她的眼神流露出饥饿的神色。萨拉希望能再见到她，可是虽然有几次瞥见她搬东西上下楼，她总是显得那样匆忙和害怕被人看见，实在不可能对她讲话。
On this particular afternoon she had been taking her dancing lesson, and the afternoon on which the dancing master appeared was rather a grand occasion at the seminary, though it occurred every week. The pupils were attired in their prettiest frocks, and as Sara danced particularly well, she was very much brought forward, and Mariette was requested to make her as diaphanous and fine as possible.
就在这个下午，萨拉上了舞蹈课。虽说每星期都有一次舞蹈课，但每当舞蹈教师出现的那个下午，总是培育院的盛大节日。到时候学生们穿上她们最漂亮的连衣裙，由于萨拉的舞跳得特别好，就被推到最前头，并且事先让马里耶特尽可能地把她穿戴得轻盈优美。
Sara seemed as much unlike her as if she were a creature from another world.
萨拉显得和她大不相同，就好像萨拉是来自另一世界的人物。
On this afternoon, when she had sat down, the sensation of relief to her short, aching legs had been so wonderful and delightful that it had seemed to soothe her whole body, and the glow of warmth and comfort from the fire had crept over her like a spell, until, as she looked at the red coals, a tired, slow smile stole over her smudged face, her head nodded forward without her being aware of it, her eyes drooped, and she fell fast asleep. She had really been only about ten minutes in the room when Sara entered, but she was in as deep a sleep as if she had been, like the Sleeping Beauty, slumbering for a hundred years. But she did not look -- poor Becky -- like a Sleeping Beauty at all. She looked only like an ugly, stunted, worn-out little scullery drudge.
这天下午，贝基坐下了，两条疼痛的短腿得到放松，感到非常轻松愉快，似乎全身都得到了抚慰，炉火散发的温暖与舒适像魔法一样在她身上蔓延，她看着那红红的煤炭，一丝疲倦的笑容悄悄地爬上那沾有污斑的脸上，她的头不知不觉地向前低下来，眼皮也耷拉下来，于是她入睡了。实际上她大约只比萨拉早十分钟进房，但她睡得很深沉，就像睡美人那样已沉睡了一百年。然而她——可怜的贝基！——看上去根本不像睡美人。她只像一个形容丑陋、发育不良、筋疲力尽的厨房小苦工。
"Oh!" cried Sara, softly, when she saw her. "That poor thing!"
“呀！”看到是她，萨拉轻柔地叫了一声，“这可怜的小家伙！”
When she entered the room, she floated in with a few of the butterfly steps -- and there sat Becky, nodding her cap sideways off her head.
她进入自己的房间时，正是踩着蝴蝶舞步飘进来的——贝基正坐在那儿，帽子斜挂在头上在打瞌睡。
It did not occur to her to feel cross at finding her pet chair occupied by the small, dingy figure. To tell the truth, she was quite glad to find it there. When the ill-used heroine of her story wakened, she could talk to her. She crept toward her quietly, and stood looking at her. Becky gave a little snore.
萨拉发现自己心爱的座椅被这衣衫褴褛的小人儿占了去，但并不生气，事实上，她很乐意看到她坐在那儿。等她故事中被虐待的女主人公醒来后，她就能和她谈话了。萨拉悄悄挪近她，站在那里看着她。贝基发出轻轻的鼾声。
Today a frock the color of a rose had been put on her, and Mariette had bought some real buds and made her a wreath to wear on her black locks. She had been learning a new, delightful dance in which she had been skimming and flying about the room, like a large rose-colored butterfly, and the enjoyment and exercise had brought a brilliant, happy glow into her face.
今天，给萨拉穿的是玫瑰色的连衣裙，而马里耶特曾买了一些含苞待放的鲜花，给她做了顶花冠，戴在她的黑鬈发上。她刚开始学习一种新颖、欢快的舞蹈，在这舞蹈中她要迅速绕着教室飞舞，就像一只玫瑰色的大蝴蝶；这欢乐的排练使她喜悦得面容光彩照人。
"I wish she'd waken herself," Sara said. "I don't like to waken her. But Miss Minchin would be cross if she found out. I'll just wait a few minutes."
“我希望她自己醒来，”萨拉说。“我不愿意叫醒她。可是铭钦女士若是发现了就会发脾气。我且等她几分钟吧。”
She took a seat on the edge of the table, and sat swinging her slim, rose-colored legs, and wondering what it would be best to do. Miss Amelia might come in at any moment, and if she did, Becky would be sure to be scolded.
她在桌子边缘上坐下来，摇摆着那双玫瑰色的细腿，迟疑着不知做什么好。阿米莉亚小姐随时会进来，如果她来了，贝基肯定会受到叱责。
"But she is so tired," she thought. "She is so tired!"
“可是她是那么累，”萨拉想，“的确那么累啊！”
She sprang up and clutched at her cap. She felt it dangling over her ear, and tried wildly to put it straight. Oh, she had got herself into trouble now with a vengeance! To have impudently fallen asleep on such a young lady's chair! She would be turned out of doors without wages.
贝基—跃而起，去抓自己的帽子。她发觉帽子挂在耳朵上，慌忙把它戴正。唉，她这下可有大麻烦啦。竟然冒冒失失地在这样一位小姐的座椅上睡熟了！她会被赶出大门，拿不到工钱。
A piece of flaming coal ended her perplexity for her that very moment. It broke off from a large lump and fell on to the fender. Becky started, and opened her eyes with a frightened gasp. She did not know she had fallen asleep. She had only sat down for one moment and felt the beautiful glow -- and here she found herself staring in wild alarm at the wonderful pupil, who sat perched quite near her, like a rose-colored fairy, with interested eyes.
一块闪着火焰的煤顷刻间结束了萨拉的困惑。它从一大块煤上爆开，落到炉子的围栏上。贝基惊醒了，睁开眼睛，吓得倒抽了一口气。她不知道自己睡着了。她只不过想坐一会儿，感受一下那炉火的美丽光辉——而此刻却发现自己正惊惶失措地望着那位了不起的学生，那学生居高临下，离她很近，像一个玫瑰色的仙女，带着关切的眼神。
She made a sound like a big breathless sob.
她透不过气来似的猛然哽咽了一声。
Sara jumped down, and came quite close to her.
萨拉从桌子边上跳下来，上前紧靠着贝基。
"Don't be frightened," she said, quite as if she had been speaking to a little girl like herself. "It doesn't matter the least bit."
“不要害怕，”她说，就像对跟自己一样的小姑娘一样。“一点儿也不要紧。”
"Oh, miss! Oh, miss!" she stuttered. "I arst yer pardon, miss! Oh, I do, miss!"
“呀，小姐！呀，小姐！”她结结巴巴地说，“我求你原谅，小姐！啊，我求你，小姐！”
How poor Becky stared at her! In fact, she had never heard such a nice, friendly sound in anyone's voice before. She was used to being ordered about and scolded, and having her ears boxed. And this one -- in her rose-colored dancing afternoon splendor -- was looking at her as if she were not a culprit at all -- as if she had a right to be tired -- even to fall asleep! The touch of the soft, slim little paw on her shoulder was the most amazing thing she had ever known.
贝基瞪眼望着她，样子多可怜啊！说真的，贝基从没在任何人那儿听到过这样动听而又友善的声音。她习惯于受差遣，被斥责，吃耳光。而这位小姐——穿着下午跳舞时的玫瑰色华丽服装——正望着她，好像她根本不是犯了罪的人——她似乎有权感到疲劳——甚至有权睡着！那柔软纤巧的小手在她肩上的触摸是她所体验过的最美好奇异的感觉。
Sara broke into a friendly little laugh, and put her hand on her shoulder.
萨拉忍不住友好地轻声笑起来，把手放到贝基肩上。
"I didn't go to do it, miss," protested Becky. "It was the warm fire -- an' me bein' so tired. It -- it WASN'T imperence!"
“并不是我要那样做的，小姐，”贝基申辩道。“都是那暖和的炉火——而我又是那么疲倦。这——这可不是故意冒犯！”
"Ain't -- ain't yer angry, miss?" she gasped. "Ain't yer goin' to tell the missus?"
“你不——不生气吗，小姐？”她喘吁吁地说。“你不去告诉女东家吗？”
"You were tired," she said; "you could not help it. You are not really awake yet."
“你累了，”萨拉说，“你忍不住才那样做的。你现在还没完全醒过来呢。”
"No one is anywhere about," she explained. "If your bedrooms are finished, perhaps you might stay a tiny while. I thought -- perhaps -- you might like a piece of cake."
“附近没有外人，”她解释道，“如果你把卧室都收拾好了，或许可以呆一小会儿。我想——或许——你可能喜欢吃一块蛋糕。”
The woeful fright in the coal-smutted face made her suddenly so sorry that she could scarcely bear it. One of her queer thoughts rushed into her mind. She put her hand against Becky's cheek.
萨拉为那张沾满了煤黑的脸上痛苦恐惧的表情伤心得难以自持。一个奇特的想法忽然窜人脑海。她伸手抚着贝基的面颊。
Becky did not understand in the least. Her mind could not grasp such amazing thoughts, and "an accident" meant to her a calamity in which some one was run over or fell off a ladder and was carried to "the 'orspital."
贝基一点儿也不明白。她的头脑无法理解这样奇异的想法，而“意外事件”对她来说通常只意味着有人被车碾了或者从梯子上摔下来之类的灾难，需要送进医院。
Sara ran to the door, opened it, and looked out and listened.
萨拉跑到门口，打开门，向外面张望倾听。
Becky lost her breath again.
贝基又透不过气来了。
"Have you done your work?" she asked. "Dare you stay here a few minutes?"
“你干完你的活儿了吗？”她问道。“你敢不敢在这儿再呆几分钟？”
"Yes," Sara answered, and she looked at her dreamily for a moment. But the next she spoke in a different tone. She realized that Becky did not know what she meant.
“是的，”萨拉回答，有点出神地看了贝基一会儿，接着就用完全不同的口气说话。她意识到贝基不懂她的意思。
"No," cried out Sara. "Of course I'm not."
“不，”萨拉大声说。“当然不。”
"Here, miss? Me?"
“这儿，小姐？我？”
"A' accident, miss," she fluttered respectfully. "Is it?"
“一个意外事件，小姐，”她恭恭敬敬地说，心中怦怦地跳着，“是吗？”
"Why," she said, "we are just the same -- I am only a little girl like you. It's just an accident that I am not you, and you are not me!"
“是啊，”萨拉说，“我们俩恰恰是一样的——我只不过是个像你—样的小姑娘。至于我不是你，你不是我，那只不过是个意外事件而已！”
The next ten minutes seemed to Becky like a sort of delirium. Sara opened a cupboard, and gave her a thick slice of cake. She seemed to rejoice when it was devoured in hungry bites. She talked and asked questions, and laughed until Becky's fears actually began to calm themselves, and she once or twice gathered boldness enough to ask a question or so herself, daring as she felt it to be.
随后的十分钟对贝基来说，就像是一种极度兴奋的梦境。萨拉打开食橱，递给她厚厚一片蛋糕。当蛋糕被她狼吞虎咽地吃下去时，萨拉显得很高兴。萨拉同她谈笑，询问，直到贝基的畏惧心理实际上已开始自行消逝，而且有那么一两次，贝基竟鼓足勇气提出了问题，自己觉得胆子很大了。
"Is that --" she ventured, looking longingly at the rose-colored frock. And she asked it almost in a whisper. "Is that there your best?"
“那是——”贝基冒昧地问道，羡慕地看着那玫瑰色的连衣裙，问话的声音低似耳语，“那是你最好的吗？”
"It is one of my dancing-frocks," answered Sara. "I like it, don't you?"
“这是我跳舞用的连衣裙中的一件，”萨拉回答。“我喜欢这件，你喜欢吗？”
For a few seconds Becky was almost speechless with admiration. Then she said in an awed voice, "Onct I see a princess. I was standin' in the street with the crowd outside Covin' Garden, watchin' the swells go inter the operer. An' there was one everyone stared at most. They ses to each other, `That's the princess.' She was a growed-up young lady, but she was pink all over -- gownd an' cloak, an' flowers an' all. I called her to mind the minnit I see you, sittin' there on the table, miss. You looked like her."
仰慕之情使贝基一时几乎说不出话来。随后她以敬畏的口气说：“有一次我看到一位公主。我当时站在街头，和科文特公园歌剧院①外面的人群一起看穿着时髦的人走进去。其中有一位，人人都争着看。都说‘那就是公主’。她是位年轻小姐，全身粉红色——长礼服、斗篷、鲜花和一切。我刚才看见你坐在桌子上的那一刻就想起了她，小姐。你看上去像她。”
Becky stared at her admiringly, and, as before, did not understand her in the least. She watched her with a sort of adoration. Very soon Sara left her reflections and turned to her with a new question.
贝基赞赏地瞪眼望着她，和以前一样，一点儿也不理解她的意思。她用崇拜的目光注视着她。萨拉迅即摆脱了沉思默想，向贝基提出一个新问题。
"I've often thought," said Sara, in her reflecting voice, "that I should like to be a princess; I wonder what it feels like. I believe I will begin pretending I am one."
“我常常想，”萨拉用她那种沉思的语调说，“我该乐意成为一位公主；我不晓得做公主的感觉是怎样的。我想我要开始假装我就是一位公主。”
"Yes, miss," confessed Becky, a little alarmed again. "I knowed I hadn't orter, but it was that beautiful I -- I couldn't help it."
“是的，小姐，”贝基承认，又有点惊慌。“我知道自己不该听，但是那故事太美了，我——我忍不住想听。”
"Becky," she said, "weren't you listening to that story?"
“贝基，”她说，“那一次你不是听了那个故事吗？”
Becky lost her breath again.
贝基又兴奋得喘不过气来了。
"Me hear it?" she cried. "Like as if I was a pupil, miss! All about the Prince -- and the little white Mer-babies swimming about laughing -- with stars in their hair?"
“让我听？”她惊呼道。“就当我也是个学生，小姐！那全是讲那个王子——还有那些白色的小人鱼，嘻嘻哈哈地游来游去，头发里闪着星星，是吗？”
"I liked you to listen to it," said Sara. "If you tell stories, you like nothing so much as to tell them to people who want to listen. I don't know why it is. Would you like to hear the rest?"
“我喜欢让你听，”萨拉说。“如果你讲故事，没有什么能比讲给那些想要听的人们听更令人高兴的了。我不懂这是为什么。你想听那故事的其余部分吗？”
"You haven't time to hear it now, I'm afraid," she said; "but if you will tell me just what time you come to do my rooms, I will try to be here and tell you a bit of it every day until it is finished. It's a lovely long one -- and I'm always putting new bits to it."
“恐怕你现在没时间听了，”她说，“但是只要你能告诉我什么时候来收拾我的屋子，我就会尽可能呆在这儿，每天给你讲一点，直到讲完为止。那是个可爱的长故事——而且我总是不断增加一点儿新的内容。”
Sara nodded.
萨拉点点头。
"You may," said Sara. "I'll tell it ALL to you."
“你可以有啊，”萨拉说。“我要把那故事全都讲给你听。”
"Then," breathed Becky, devoutly, "I wouldn't mind HOW heavy the coal boxes was -- or WHAT the cook done to me, if -- if I might have that to think of."
“那样的话，”贝基喘了口气，热诚地说，“我就不在乎煤箱有多重，——或者那厨子对我怎么样，如果——如果我可以有这个盼头的话。”
When Becky went downstairs, she was not the same Becky who had staggered up, loaded down by the weight of the coal scuttle. She had an extra piece of cake in her pocket, and she had been fed and warmed, but not only by cake and fire. Something else had warmed and fed her, and the something else was Sara.
贝基下楼时，已经不是原来那个被煤箱压弯了腰、蹒跚地上楼的贝基了。她衣袋里装着另外一块蛋糕，腹中充实，身上暖和，这不仅仅是由于蛋糕和炉火的作用。另外还有点儿什么使她觉得充实与温暖，那就是萨拉。
"If I WAS a princess -- a REAL princess," she murmured, "I could scatter largess to the populace. But even if I am only a pretend princess, I can invent little things to do for people. Things like this. She was just as happy as if it was largess. I'll pretend that to do things people like is scattering largess. I've scattered largess."
“如果我正是公主——一位真正的公主，”她喃喃自语，“我就能向老百姓撒赏钱。但是即使我只是位假装的公主，我也能想出些为老百姓做的小事情。就像这样的事情。就好比是赏钱一样，公主她会感到同样幸福的。我要假设做人们喜欢的事，就是发赏钱。我撒过赏钱啦。”
When she was gone Sara sat on her favorite perch on the end of her table. Her feet were on a chair, her elbows on her knees, and her chin in her hands.
贝基走后，萨拉在桌子一端她爱坐的地方坐下来。她双脚搁在椅子上，臂肘支在膝盖上，双手托住下巴颏儿。