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 TWO A Merry Christmas

Jo was the first to wake up on Christmas morning. No presents were next to the fireplace, and for a moment she felt disappointed as she remembered long ago when she would awake to find presents filling the sitting room. Then, she remembered her mother's promise, and went to wake her sisters.
"Where is Mother?" asked Meg, as she and Jo ran down the stairs.
"Some poor child came here begging for your mother's help, and she went right away to see what the child needed. I've never met another woman so generous," replied Hannah, who had lived with the family since Meg was born, and was considered by them all more as a friend than a servant.
"She will be back soon, so let's finish getting breakfast ready," said Meg.
"Now, there's Mother coming. Hide the gifts, quick!" cried Jo, as the door opened.
"Merry Christmas, Marmee!" they cried together.
"Merry Christmas, little daughters! Now, I want to ask you something before we sit down for breakfast. Not far away from here lies a poor woman with a newborn baby. Six children are freezing together in one bed, for they have no fire. There is nothing to eat over there, and the oldest boy came to tell me they were suffering from hunger and cold. My girls, will you give them your breakfast as a Christmas present?"
They were all quite hungry, and for a minute no one spoke, but Jo soon exclaimed, " I'm glad you came before we began eating!"
"I thought you'd do it." said Mrs, March, smiling with satisfaction, "We shall all go, and when we come back, we will have bread and milk for breakfast."
They were soon ready and began their walk to see the sick woman and her children. A poor, miserable room it was, with broken windows, no fire, a sick mother, crying baby, and a group of pale, hungry children crowded together to keep warm.
Hannah brought wood for the fireplace while Mrs. March gave the mother tea and porridge and comforted her with promises of help while she dressed the baby tenderly. The girls prepared the table and set the children near the fire, feeding them, laughing and talking. That was a happy breakfast, though they didn't eat any of it. When they went away, leaving comfort behind, they were the merriest of girls, and were quite content to eat bread and milk on Christmas morning.
After returning home, the girls prepared their presents for their mother, Mrs. March was both surprised and touched at receiving the gifts. The slippers went on her feet immediately, a new handkerchief was put in her pocket, and scented with Amy's perfume that came in a fancy bottle she purchased instead of the pencils she had planned to buy for herself.
The morning events took so much time that the rest of the day was spent preparing for the evening play, as the family was not wealthy enough to afford going to the theater. On Christmas night, twelve neighbor girls sat on one of the family beds to watch the performance.
The guests watched in wonder, sometimes laughing, crying, or looking astonished at the events in the story. At the close of the performance, they cheered and clapped eagerly. Soon after,
Hannah came in to announce that dinner was ready.
This extraordinary meal was a surprise to all, and when they saw the table, they looked at each other in amazement. It was not surprising that Marmee would find a way to surprise the girls with a treat, but such a fine meal as this was never had, since the start of the war. There was ice cream, cake, fruit, chocolates, and in the middle of the table were flowers! They stared at the table in wonder before turning to their mother, looking pleased.
"Our neighbor, old Mr, Laurence sent this to us," Mrs. March began.
"The Laurence boy's grandfather! I don't know what made him think of doing such a thing, we don't know him!" exclaimed Meg.
"Hannah told one of his servants about your breakfast party. He is an odd old gentleman, but that pleased him. He knew my father years ago, and he sent me a polite note this afternoon saying he hoped I would allow him to send you all a little present."
"His grandson told him to do it, I know he did! He's such a wonderful young man. I wish we could know him better. He looks as if he'd like to know us, but he's shy."
"I like his manners and he looks like a little gentleman, so I would certainly like to know him better," declared Amy.
"Yes, we'll have another play sometime that he can come see. Perhaps he'll help act. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
"How pretty these flowers are! " exclaimed Meg as she
began examining them with great interest.
"They are lovely!" returned their mother.
"I wish I could send some to Father. I'm afraid he isn't
having such a merry Christmas as we are," said Beth quietly.

第二章 欢乐圣诞
圣诞节早上，乔是第一个醒来的。壁炉旁没有任何礼物。有那么一瞬间，乔感到有些失落，因为她记得很久以前，她醒来时会发现房间里堆满了礼物。之后，她想起妈妈的承诺，去叫醒了其他姐妹。
“妈妈在哪？”梅格一边和乔跑下楼梯，一边问。
“一个可怜的孩子跑来这寻求你妈妈的帮助，她立刻去查看那孩子的情况了，看看他需要什么。我从来没见过和她一样慷慨的女人。”汉娜回答了梅格。汉娜从梅格出生起就住在这个家里，大家都把她当成朋友而不仅仅是仆人。
“她马上就要回来了，让我们尽快准备好早饭吧，”梅格说。
“现在，妈妈回来了。藏好礼物，快！”门打开时，乔哭了。
“圣诞快乐，妈妈！”大家都哭了。
“圣诞快乐，我的孩子们！现在，趁我们坐下吃早饭前，我想问你们一些事情。在离这不远的地方有一个带着新生儿的贫穷妇人。因为他们没有火，六个孩子挤在一张床上受冻。她们也没有任何事物，最大的那个男孩跑来告诉我他们正在受冻挨饿。我的姑娘们，你们愿意把自己的早餐送给他们作为圣诞礼物吗？”
她们现在也很饿，一会儿都没人开口说话。但是很快乔开口了，“我很高兴你在我们开吃前就来了！”
“我相信你们会这么做的。”马奇太太说着，脸上带着满意的笑容，“我们应该一起去，等我们回来的时候，我们可以吃面包和牛奶作为早餐。”
她们马上收拾好，出发去看这个生病的妇女和她的孩子们。一个破旧的、悲惨的房间，窗户破了，没有生活，一位生病的母亲，哭泣的婴儿，还有一群肤色苍白、饥饿的孩子挤在一起取暖。
汉娜带来了木头给壁炉生火，与此同时，马奇夫人给这位母亲准备了茶和粥，一边安慰她并承诺给予他们帮助，一遍温柔地给婴儿穿上衣服。女孩们收拾好了饭桌，让孩子们靠着火坐下，给他们喂饭，和他们谈笑。这真是顿幸福的早餐。虽然她们什么都没吃。她们离开了，但温暖留下了。她们是最快乐的女孩，在圣诞节的早上吃面包和牛奶她们也很满足。
回家后，女孩们准备了给妈妈的礼物，马奇夫人收到礼物时，既惊喜又感动。她立马换上了新拖鞋，将新手帕放进了口袋，用上了艾米送的香水。香水装在一个精美的瓶子里，艾米放弃了一直想买的铅笔，买了这个好看的香水瓶。
早上耗费了太多时间，以至于这天余下的时间都用来筹备晚间戏剧，因为这个家庭不够富裕，负担不了去剧院的费用。在圣诞夜，12个邻里女孩一起坐在她们家的床上观看演出。
客人们看得很入迷，时而笑，时而哭，有时震惊于故事情节。演出结束时，他们热切地欢呼和鼓掌。很快，汉娜进来说晚饭准备好了。
这顿丰盛的大餐震惊了每个人，当她们看到桌子上的菜时，她们惊讶地看着彼此。这并不稀奇，妈妈总是能够给她们创造惊喜，但这样一顿大餐是从战争开始以来从未有过的。
桌上有冰淇淋，蛋糕，水果，巧克力，桌子中央还摆上了鲜花。她们痴痴地盯着桌子，然后视线转向母亲，看起来很开心。
“我们的邻居，老劳伦斯先生给我们寄来了这个，”马奇夫人开口道。
“小劳伦斯的爷爷！我不知道为什么他会想起来做这些，我们甚至不认识他！”梅格惊呼。
“汉娜告诉了他的一位仆人有关你们的早餐派对。他是一个古怪的老绅士，这举动让他很高兴。很多年前他就认识我父亲了，今天下午，他寄给我一封礼貌的纸条，希望能够允许他给你们所有人送一份小礼物。”
“是他的孙子告诉他这么做的，我知道！他是个优秀的年轻人。我希望我们可以更了解他。他看起来似乎也对我们很感兴趣，不过他有些害羞。”
“我欣赏他的举止，他看起来像一位小小的绅士，我也愿意更多地了解他，”艾米声称。
“可以，我们也可以再准备一次戏剧，邀请他来看。也许他还愿意帮忙出演，这样不是很棒吗？”
“这些花真漂亮！”梅格一边说，一遍带着浓厚的兴趣开始研究起来。
“它们确实可爱！”妈妈说。
“我希望我可以寄一些给爸爸。我担心他无法度过像我们这样快乐的圣诞，”贝丝低声说。

翻译by 枯木v-自己翻着玩，如有雷同，不胜荣幸