作者：Louisa May Alcott
简介：小妇人是美国女作家路易莎·梅·奥尔柯特的代表作，以19世纪末期的美国家庭生活为背景，描写了马奇一家四姐妹的成长经历。
Chapter Six Beth Finds the Palace Beautiful
The big house was declared to be a Palace Beautiful by all, though it took some time for all to go, and little Beth found it particularly difficult to go. After old Mr, Laurence's visit, none of the girls felt too afraid of him, except shy Beth. At first, the girls were unwilling to accept favors which they could not return, as Mr. Laurence was quite wealthy, and the March girls were not. But, after a while, they found that Mr. Laurence was grateful for their attention to his grandson. So they soon forgot their pride.
Everyone liked Laurie and he privctely informed his tutor that "the Marches were splendid girls," With the delightful eargerness of youth, they took the lonely boy into their company. Never having known mother or sisters, he enjoyed their company a great deal.
What good times they had! Such plays, walks and evenings in the sitting room, and now and then such happy little parties at the great house. Meg could walk into the indoor garden whenever she liked, Jo looked over the new library, and Amy copied pictures and enjoyed the beauty of the place.
But Beth, though wishing for the grand piano, did not have the courage to go to the Laurences' home. She went once with Jo, but the old gentleman, not being aware of her shy manner, stared at her, and said "Hey!" so loud that he frightened her. She told her mother, and she ran away, declaring she would never go there anymore, not even for the dear piano/ Someone had told Mr. Laurence of this, and he decided he must mend the matter quickly. During one of his brief visits, he spoke about his love for music. Beth listened carefully, slowly moving closer to him.
"The hoy neglects his music now, and I'm glad of it, for he was getting too fond Of it But the piano suffers now, as there is no one else to use it. Wouldn't some of your girls like to run over and practice on it, ma 'am?"
Beth took a step forward, still not saying a word,
"They don't need to see or speak to anyone." he continued, "but run in at any time. I'm usually in my study at the other end of the house, and Laurie is out a great deal, and the servants are never near there after nine o'clock. Well, please tell the young ladies what I say, and if they don't care to come, well, never mind."
Then, he stood up suddenly, moving toward the door. Here a little hand slipped into his, and Beth looked up at him with a face full of gratitude, as she said —
"Oh, sir, they do care, very, very much!"
"Are you the musical girl?" he asked gently.
"I'm Beth. I love it dearly, and I'll come, if you are quite sure nobody will hear me — and be disturbed" she added, fearing to be rude.
"No one will be nearby, my dear. The house is empty half the day, so come and play as much as you like."
"How kind you are, sir!"
Hie old gentleman softly stroked her hair, and stooped down
to kiss her on the cheek, saying —
" I had a little girl once, with eyes like these. Good day, madam." And away he went in a great hurry.
The next day, Beth went to the great house with the piano, and was quite surprised to find some music on the piano. At last, Beth touched the instrument, beginning to play. She stayed till Hannah came to take her home to dinner, but she had no appetite, and could only sit and smile upon everyone.
After that, the little girl went to the great house nearly every day. She never knew that Mr. Laurence often opened his door to hear the old music he liked. She never saw Laurie standing in the hall to keep the servants away. And she never suspected that the music which she found on the piano was put there for her, and when Mrlaurence talked to her about music at home, she only thought how kind he was to tell things that helped her so much.
"Mother, I'm going to make Mr. Laurence a pair of slippers. He is so kind to me, I must thank him, and I don't know any other way. Can I do it?" asked Beth, a few weeks after his visit.
"Yes, dear. It will please him very much, and be a nice way of thanking him. The girls will help you, and I will pay for the material," replied Mrs. March happily.
Beth worked early and late on the slippers for quite some time, so they were soon finished, and she wrote a short, simple note, and with Laurie's help, got them onto Mr. Laurence's desk one morning before he was up.
Beth waited all day and part of the next before a response came from the old man. The next afternoon, however, when she returned from a walk around the neighborhood, she found a letter and a little piano waiting for her.
"Forme?" cried Beth.
"Yes, all for you, my precious! Isn't it splendid of him? Don't you think he's the dearest old man in the world? We didn't open the letter, but we are dying to know what he says," cried Jo, hugging her sister,
"You read it! I can't! Oh, it is too lovely!"
Miss March:
Dear Madam —
I have had many pairs of slippers in my life, but I never had any that suited me so well as yours. I hope you will allow me to send you something that once belonged to the little granddaughter I once had, I am grateful for your friendship and wish you the best
Sincerely,
James Laurence
"Oh, Beth, now that's an honor to be proud of I'm sure! Laurie told me how fond Mr. Laurence used to be of the child who died, and how he kept all her little things carefully. He's given you her piano. You'll have to go and thank him," said Jo,jokingly.
"Yes, I guess I'll go now before I get frightened thinking about it , " And to the amazement of the family, Beth walked to the Laurences' door.
They would have been still more amazed if they had seen what Beth did afterward. She went and knocked at the door of his office, and when he called out, "Come in!" she did go in, right up to Mr. Laurence, and held out her hand, saying, "I came to thank you, sir." But she didn't finish, for he looked so friendly that she forgot her speech, and suddenly remembered that he had lost the little girl he loved, she put both arms round his neck and kissed him.
The old gentleman was astonished, but he liked it! He then set her on his knee as he had done with his granddaughter. Beth no longer feared him from that moment, and sat there talking to him as comfortably as if she had known him all her life. When she went home, he walked with her to her gate, then shook hands gently.
第六章 贝丝发现美丽宫殿
这个大房子被所有人成为美丽供电，尽管所有人都去需要花点时间，但小贝发现这对她来说尤其困难。在老劳伦斯先生来家里拜访后，除了害羞的贝丝，没有女孩觉得很怕这位老人了。一开始，女孩们不愿接受她们无法偿还的帮助，因为劳伦斯先生相当富有，而马奇家的姑娘们则不是。但是，过了一段时间，她们发现劳伦斯先生非常感激她们对于自己孙子的关照。所以她们安心接受了他的帮助。
每个人都喜欢劳里，他私下告诉他的导师，“马奇家厉害的姑娘们”带他融入这个陌生的国家，他的话语青春洋溢。妈妈和姐妹的角色他并不了解，但他非常喜欢她们的陪伴。
他们一起度过了多么美好的时光！那些玩闹，散步，在屋子里闲聊的下午，偶尔在大房子里举办小型派对。梅格可以随时去那室内花园玩，乔喜欢新图书馆，艾米喜欢在这个漂亮的地方临摹。
贝丝，她虽然向往那家大钢琴，但她始终没有足够的勇气前往劳伦斯家。她曾和乔一起去过一次，但是老先生并没有注意到她害羞的性格，直直盯着她，大声的打招呼，他有些吓到她了。她告诉了妈妈，跑开了，并说再也不回去那了，就算那有心爱的钢琴也不去了。有人把这些告诉了劳伦斯先生，他决定要尽快解决这个问题。在他一次简短的拜访期间，他聊起了他对音乐的爱好。贝丝仔细地听了，慢慢地向他靠近。
“那小子现在放下了他的音乐，我很高兴，因为他有些太着迷了。但是钢琴现在落寞了，那里没人使用它。女士，你的女孩子们有没有兴趣去弹一弹钢琴，用它来练习呢？”
贝丝上前了一步，但是仍然没有开口。
“她们不需要去征得谁的同意，”他继续道，“随时都可以来。我通常都在房子的另一边做研究，劳里最近经常外出，仆人在九点前也不会出现在那附近。麻烦将这些告诉女孩们，如果她们不想来的话，也无所谓。”
之后，他突然起身，朝门口走去。这是一双小拖鞋出现在他的视野里，贝丝满脸真诚地抬头看向他，开口说，
“先生，她们很想很想去的。”
“你就是那个喜欢音乐的孩子？”他温柔地问。
“我叫贝丝。我非常喜欢音乐。如果你确定没人会听见我或觉得我打搅的话，我会去的。”她补充道，她担心自己会有些失礼。
“亲爱的，没人会在附近的。那房子大半天都是空荡荡的，如果想来弹钢琴的话，随时欢迎。”
“你真是个大好人，先生！”
老人家温柔地抚摸了贝丝的头发，并亲吻了她的脸颊，说道，
“我曾经也有个女孩，她的眼睛和你的很像。祝你愉快，女士。”然后他急匆匆地离开了。
第二天，贝丝去了那里弹钢琴，意外地在钢琴上发现了一些琴谱。最后，贝丝轻抚钢琴，开始弹奏。她一直待到汉娜来接她回家吃完饭，但是她没有任何胃口，只是坐在那冲每个人笑。
那之后，小贝丝几乎每天都去那里。她从不知道劳伦斯先生经常打开自己的门听她弹奏，他很喜欢她的音乐。她也没注意到劳里在厅里让仆人离去。她也从没有起疑，那些钢琴上的乐谱其实是专门为她准备的。当劳伦斯在家和她谈论音乐时，她只是觉得劳伦斯先生如此善良地给与她许多帮助。
“妈妈，我要给劳伦斯先生做一双拖鞋。他对我太好了，我要感谢他，而我我知道这个方法。我可以这样做吗？”在劳伦斯先生造访一周后，贝丝问她的母亲。
“当然可以，亲爱的。这会让他很开心的，也是一个很好的感谢方式。其他姐妹会帮助你的，我出钱来买这些材料。”马奇太太高兴地回答她。
贝丝从早到晚都在做这双拖鞋，忙活了一段时间，很快拖鞋就做好了，她还写了一张简短的字条。在劳里的帮助下，在一天早上，趁劳伦斯先生起床前，贝丝将拖鞋放在了他的桌前。
贝丝等了一天多，终于等到了老先生的回复。第二天下午，她从附近散步回来，她发现了一封信和一架小钢琴。
“这是给我的？”贝丝激动地流泪了。
“是的，都是给你的，我的宝贝！他真的太好了！你会觉得他是世界上最好的老人吗？我们没打开这封信，但我们都很好奇里面写了些什么。”乔拥抱着贝丝，也哭了。
“你来读它！我做不到！这太感人了！”
马奇小姐：
亲爱的女士——
我一生中有过许多双拖鞋，但是都没有你送的这双合脚。我希望你允许我送你些礼物，它们是我曾经的小孙女的东西，我很感谢来自你的友谊，希望你一些都好。
真诚的，
詹姆斯·劳伦斯
“贝丝，这绝对是件值得骄傲的事！劳里告诉过我劳伦斯先生多么喜欢这位已逝的孙女，一直将她的东西小心地收藏着。他给了你她的钢琴。你一定得去谢谢他。”乔玩笑地说。
“是的，我觉得我现在就得去，在我退缩之前。”这震惊了大家。贝丝走向了劳伦斯家的大门。
如果她们知道贝丝后来做了什么，她们会更惊讶的。她跑去敲了劳伦斯先生办公室的门。当他喊了声“请进”，贝丝进去了，跑到劳伦斯先生面前，伸出手说：“我是来感谢你的，先生”她还没有说完，因为他看起来如此慈祥，她意识忘记了她要说什么，突然想起他失去了他心爱的孙女，她伸出双臂挽住了他的脖子，亲了亲他。
老先生震惊又欣喜！他把小贝丝放在自己的膝盖上，就像对待自己的孙女一样。从这一刻起，贝丝再也不害怕他了，她舒服地和他聊着天，就仿佛一出生就认识他一样。当她离去时，劳伦斯先生将她送到了大门口，温柔地挥手告别。
翻译by 枯木v-自己翻着玩，如有雷同，不胜荣幸
