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 Four Responsibilities
"oh dear, how hard it is to take up our duties again after such a wonderful party," Meg said sadly the next morning, as the holidays were now over, and she would have to return to work.
"I wish it was Christmas or New Year's all the time. Wouldn't it be fun?" answered Jo.
"It would seem nice to have little dinners and parties, and not work. It's like other people, you know, and I always envy girls who do such things. I'm so fond of wealth and comfort," said Meg.
"Well, we can't have it, so let's not complain but try to be cheerful about our work, as Marmee does."
So the girls went down to breakfast to find everyone rather upset. Beth had a headache; Amy was worried because she had not learned her lessons; Mrs. March was very busy trying to finish a letter, and Hannah was not cheerful, for being up late didn't suit her.
"There never was such an angry family!" cried Jo, when she discovered that she had sat on her hat.
"You're the angriest person in it ! " returned Amy.
"Girls, girls, do be quiet! I must finish this letter," cried Mrs, March.
"Hold your cats to comfort yourself Bethy. Goodbye, Marmee. We certainly are upset this morning, but we'll come home regular dhgels. Let's go, Meg!" exclaimed Jo as she prepared to leave.
They always looked back before turning the corner, for their mother was always at the window to smile and wave to them. It seemed as if they couldn't have got through the day without seeing that smile from their mother.
When Mr. March lost his land in trying to help an unfortunate friend, the two oldest girls begged to be allowed to do a little work. Their parents agreed, pleased that their girls wished to have independence. Margaret found a place as a governess, caring for a nearby family's children every morning. She felt rich with her small salary, and as she was "fond of wealth and comfort," her main problem was poverty. She found it more difficult than the other girls to bear her family's lack of wealth because she could remember a time when their home was beautiful and life was full of pleasure and comfort. She tried not to envy her friends, but she still longed for pretty things and a comfortable life.
Jo happened to suit Aunt March, who was getting older and needed someone younger to wait on her. The childless old lady had offered to take in one of the girls when the family's troubles began, and was quite offended because her offer was declined, but Mr. and Mrs. March only explained —
"We can't give up our girls for a dozen of fortunes. Rich or poor, we will stay together and be happy."
The old lady wouldn't speak to them for quite some time, but happened to meet jo at a friend's. She seemed quite charmed with Jo's honest manner, and proposed to hire her. This did not suit Jo at all, but she accepted the position since nothing better appeared and, to everyone's surprise, she got along quite well with the angry old woman. The real attraction, rather, was the large library of fine books. The minute Aunt March lay down to rest or was busy with company, Jo hurried to this quiet place to read. But, like all happiness, it did not last long- As soon as she had reached the heart of the story, she would hear, "Josephine! Josephine!" and she had to leave her precious book to return to her aunt.
Beth was too shy to go to school. She had tried, but suffered so much that it was given up, and she did her lessons at home with her father. After her father went to fight in the war, she continued faithfully by herself and did the best she could. She enjoyed staying home, and helped Hannah keep the home clean and comfortable for the workers, never thinking of any reward but to be loved- Long, quiet days she spent busy with her dolls and kittens, never lonely nor lazy, Beth did have troubles as well as the others, particularly because she couldn't take music lessons and have a fine piano. She loved music so dearly tried hard to learn, and practiced so patiently at the family's old instrument, that it did seem as if someone (not to hint Aunt
March) should help her. She sang while doing her work, and was never too tired to play the old instrument for Marmee and the girls, and day after day, said hopefully to herself, "I know I'll get my music some time, if I'm good."
"The Little Artist," as her sisters called her, had a talent for drawing, and was always drawing in her spare time. Amy's teachers complained that instead of paying attention in class, she was found drawing animals or flowers. She was quite popular among her friends, being happy and pleasing. Amy was rather spoiled, being the youngest child, and little Amy was certainly the most selfish of the four girls.
Amy told all her secrets to Meg, and by some strange attraction, gentle Beth told Jo hers. The two older girls were still quite close, but each took one of the younger ones to watch over — "playing mother," as they called it.
第四章 责任
“哦，天呐，在度过一个这样精彩的派对后，要重新承担起我们的责任多么难啊，”第二天早晨梅格沮丧地说道。因为假期已经过去了，现在她必须重新投入工作。
“我真希望一直都是圣诞节或新年。这样不是很开心吗？”乔回应了她。
“举办小晚餐和派对，不用工作，这样似乎很好。就像其他人一样，你知道，我总是羡慕这样的女孩子。我如此渴望财富和舒适。”梅格说。
“但是，我们没有这些。让我们停止抱怨，努力为工作欢欣鼓舞吧，像妈妈那样。”
于是她们走下楼吃早饭，却发现每个人都很沮丧。贝丝头痛；艾米因为没有学习功课而担心；马奇夫人正忙着写封信，汉娜也不开心，因为熬夜让她有些不适。
“从来没有一个如此愤怒的家庭！”当乔发现自己坐在她的帽子上时，她哭了。
“你是其中最愤怒的那个人！”艾米回她。
“孩子们，孩子们，安静！我必须要完成这封信，”马奇夫人也哭了。
“贝丝，抱着你的猫安慰一下自己吧。再见，妈妈。我们今天早上确实有些沮丧，但是我们回家时将会恢复以往。梅格，我们出发吧！”乔准备离开了，她说着。
她们总是在转角前回头看，因为她们地母亲总是站在窗口朝她们微笑并挥手。仿佛没有见到母亲的笑容，她们会很难撑过这一天。
当马奇先生为了帮助一位不幸的朋友而失去他的土地时，这两个最大的孩子希望可以出去打一些零工。他们的父母同意了，并且为他们的女儿希望独立而感到高兴。
玛格丽特找了个地方做家庭女教师，在每个早上照看周围家里的小孩。这份小小的薪水让她觉得富有，因为她向往财富和舒适，她的主要问题是贫穷。她比其他女孩更难忍受家里的贫穷，因为她记得曾有段时间家里很漂亮，生活富足且舒适。她努力不去嫉妒自己的朋友们，但她仍然十分向往漂亮的东西和一个舒适的生活。
乔恰好适合马奇婶婶，她逐渐年迈，需要个年轻人来照顾自己。在家里开始困难时，这个无儿无女的老妇人曾提出收养其中一个女孩，她非常生气因为这个提议被拒绝了，马奇夫妇只解释了——“我们不会为了一笔钱放弃自己的孩子。贫穷或富有，我们都要快乐地呆在一起。”
这位老夫人很久没有同他们讲话，偶然在一个朋友那遇见了乔。她对乔的诚实品质相当欣赏，提出想要雇佣她。这对乔来说并不合适，但她接受了这份工作，因为没有更好的机会出现。让每个人惊讶的是，她和这个愤怒的老太太相处得相当不错。真正吸引人的是一个藏书丰富的大型图书馆。马奇婶婶躺下休息或是忙于工作是，乔就会找个安静地地方读书。但是，和所有的幸福一样，这无法持久。一旦她读到了故事的高潮，她就会听到，“约瑟芬！约瑟芬！” 然后她就得放下珍贵的书回到婶婶身边。
贝丝太内向了不敢上学。她尝试过，但太痛苦了，不得不放弃，她在家跟着父亲完成功课。自从父亲去参战后，她尽力地独自完成学习。她喜欢呆在家里，帮助汉娜做清洁，给工人们提供舒适的环境，只希望被爱从未想过其他的奖励。安静的日子里，她和洋娃娃以及猫咪一起度过，从不孤单，也不懒惰。贝丝和其他人一样有自己的困境，尤其在于她不能上音乐课和拥有一架好钢琴。她非常喜欢音乐，努力去学，用家里的老乐器耐心地练习，似乎有人（不是暗示马奇婶婶）应该去帮助她。她会在工作时唱歌，永远也不厌倦给妈妈和姐妹们弹奏音乐。日复一日，她满怀希望地告诉自己，“如果我没事的话，我会有时间玩音乐。”
“小小艺术家”，如姐妹们的称呼，她有画画的天赋，在空余时间总是画画。艾米的老师层抱怨，在课上相较于专心听讲，她更喜欢画画小动物或是花。她在朋友间很受欢迎，既快乐又讨人喜欢。艾米有点被宠坏了，因为她是最小的孩子，小艾米绝对是四个女孩中最自私的一个。
艾米把自己的小秘密告诉了梅格，由于某些莫名的吸引，温柔的贝丝会和乔分享自己的秘密。这两个最大的女孩十分亲密，但是她们每个人照看一个小的——“扮演妈妈”，她们这样称呼这个行为。
翻译by 枯木v-自己翻着玩，如有雷同，不胜荣幸
