第十八章 阴暗的日子 A

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN A
第十八章 A
DARK DAYS
阴暗的日子
Beth did have the fever, and was much sicker than anyone but Hannah and the doctor suspected. The girls knew nothing about illness, and Mr. Laurence was not allowed to see her, so Hannah had everything her own way, and busy Dr. Bangs did his best, but left a good deal to the excellent nurse. Meg stayed at home, lest she should infect the Kings, and kept house, feeling very anxious and a little guilty when she wrote letters in which no mention was made of Beth's illness. She could not think it right to deceive her mother, but she had been bidden to mind Hannah, and Hannah wouldn't hear of 'Mrs. March bein' told, and worried just for sech a trifle.'
贝思确实发烧了，而且病情比谁都严重，只有汉娜和医生怀疑。姑娘们对疾病一无所知，劳伦斯先生又不被允许去看她，所以汉娜什么事都听她的，忙得不可开交的邦斯医生尽力而为，但把许多事情留给了出色的护士。梅格呆在家里，生怕传染给金夫妇。当她写信却只字不提贝思的病情时，她感到非常焦虑，还有点内疚。她觉得瞒着母亲是不对的，可是母亲吩咐她要照顾汉娜，而汉娜不肯听“夫人”的话。
Jo devoted herself to Beth day and night, not a hard task, for Beth was very patient, and bore her pain uncomplainingly as long as she could control herself. But there came a time when during the fever fits she began to talk in a hoarse, broken voice, to play on the coverlet as if on her beloved little piano, and try to sing with a throat so swollen that there was no music left, a time when she did not know the familiar faces around her, but addressed them by wrong names, and called imploringly for her mother. Then Jo grew frightened, Meg begged to be allowed to write the truth, and even Hannah said she 'would think of it, though there was no danger yet'. A letter from Washington added to their trouble, for Mr. March had had a relapse, and could not think of coming home for a long while.
乔日夜侍候贝思，这并不难，因为贝思很有耐心，只要能控制住自己，她毫无怨言地忍受着痛苦。但有一次发烧期间适合她开始说话嘶哑,破碎的声音,打在被单仿佛她心爱的小钢琴,并试图用喉咙唱歌的,没有音乐,当她不知道她身边的熟悉的面孔,但解决这些错误的名字,恳求地呼唤她的母亲。这时琼害怕了，麦格请求允许她把实情写下来，就连汉娜也说她“会考虑的，虽然还没有危险”。华盛顿来的一封信给他们增添了麻烦，因为马奇先生的病又复发了，很长一段时间都不想回家。
How dark the days seemed now, how sad and lonely the house, and how heavy were the hearts of the sisters as they worked and waited, while the shadow of death hovered over the once happy home. Then it was that Margaret, sitting alone with tears dropping often on her work, felt how rich she had been in things more precious than any luxuries money could buy—in love, protection, peace, and health, the real blessings of life. Then it was that Jo, living in the darkened room, with that suffering little sister always before her eyes and that pathetic voice sounding in her ears, learned to see the beauty and the sweetness of Beth's nature, to feel how deep and tender a place she filled in all hearts, and to acknowledge the worth of Beth's unselfish ambition to live for others, and make home happy by that exercise of those simple virtues which all may possess, and which all should love and value more than talent, wealth, or beauty. And Amy, in her exile, longed eagerly to be at home, that she might work for Beth, feeling now that no service would be hard or irksome, and remembering, with regretful grief, how many neglected tasks those willing hands had done for her. Laurie haunted the house like a restless ghost, and Mr. Laurence locked the grand piano, because he could not bear to be reminded of the young neighbor who used to make the twilight pleasant for him. Everyone missed Beth. The milkman, baker, grocer, and butcher inquired how she did, poor Mrs. Hummel came to beg pardon for her thoughtlessness and to get a shroud for Minna, the neighbors sent all sorts of comforts and good wishes, and even those who knew her best were surprised to find how many friends shy little Beth had made.
现在的日子是多么黑暗，这座房子是多么悲伤和孤独，当死亡的阴影笼罩着这个曾经幸福的家庭时，姐妹们的心情是多么沉重。玛格丽特一个人坐着，眼泪常常落在她的工作上，她感到自己在一些东西上是多么富有，这些东西比金钱能买到的任何奢侈品都要珍贵，比如爱情、保护、和平和健康，这些都是生活真正的幸福。然后它是乔,生活在黑暗的房间里,与痛苦的小妹妹总是在她的眼前,可怜的声音在她的耳朵,听起来学会看到贝思的大自然的美丽和甜蜜,感觉有多深和温柔的她填写所有的心,认识到贝思为他人而活的无私抱负的价值，并通过践行那些人人都能拥有的简单美德，使家庭幸福。所有人都应该热爱和珍视这些美德，而不是天赋、财富和美貌。被放逐的艾美渴望回到家中，为贝思工作。她现在感到，没有什么工作是困难的，也没有什么工作是令人厌烦的。她想起那些愿意帮忙的人曾为她做过多少被忽略的事情，心里充满遗憾和悲伤。劳里像个不安的鬼魂一样在屋里闹鬼，劳伦斯先生把大钢琴锁上了，因为他无法忍受有人让他想起那个曾经让他在黄昏时感到愉快的年轻邻居。每个人都错过了贝丝。送奶工,贝克、杂货店和屠夫问她怎么了,可怜的无角的夫人来对不起她的轻率和明娜的裹尸布,邻居发送各种各样的舒适和良好祝愿,甚至那些知道她最好的是惊讶地发现有多少朋友害羞的小贝丝。
Meanwhile she lay on her bed with old Joanna at her side, for even in her wanderings she did not forget her forlorn protege. She longed for her cats, but would not have them brought, lest they should get sick, and in her quiet hours she was full of anxiety about Jo. She sent loving messages to Amy, bade them tell her mother that she would write soon, and often begged for pencil and paper to try to say a word, that Father might not think she had neglected him. But soon even these intervals of consciousness ended, and she lay hour after hour, tossing to and fro, with incoherent words on her lips, or sank into a heavy sleep which brought her no refreshment. Dr. Bangs came twice a day, Hannah sat up at night, Meg kept a telegram in her desk all ready to send off at any minute, and Jo never stirred from Beth's side.
与此同时，她躺在床上，身边躺着老乔安娜，因为即使在流浪的时候，她也没有忘记她的被遗弃的门徒。她很想她的猫，但又不想让人把它们带来，唯恐它们会生病。在她安静的时候，她为乔忧心忡忡。她给艾美捎去爱意，让他们告诉母亲她很快就会写信，还经常向他们要纸笔，好让他们写个字，免得父亲认为她忽视了他。但是很快，连这些间歇的意识也结束了，她躺了一个小时又一个小时，翻来覆去，嘴里说着语无伦次的话，或者沉沉地睡着了，却没有使她恢复精神。班斯医生每天来两次，汉娜晚上没睡，麦格在书桌里放了一封电报，随时准备发出，琼则守在贝思身边。
The first of December was a wintry day indeed to them, for a bitter wind blew, snow fell fast, and the year seemed getting ready for its death. When Dr. Bangs came that morning, he looked long at Beth, held the hot hand in both his own for a minute, and laid it gently down, saying, in a low voice to Hannah, "If Mrs. March can leave her husband she'd better be sent for."
十二月一日对他们来说真是一个寒冷的日子，寒风凛冽，雪花纷飞，这一年似乎就要结束了。那天早晨，邦斯医生来了，他长时间地看着贝思，把那只滚烫的手握了一会儿，然后轻轻地放下，低声对汉娜说:“如果马奇太太能离开她丈夫，最好派人去请她。