Jo did her best，but the potatoes were still hard in the middle，the vegetables were cooked too long and fell to pieces，and the meat was burned black．The strawberries were not ready for eating，and she put salt on them instead of sugar！Unfortunately，this was not discovered until Laurie began eating them．He pretended everything was all right，but Amy took a spoonful and ran from the table．
'What's wrong？'said Jo．
Meg and Laurie told her．'Oh，no！'said Jo．Then she saw Laurie start to smile，and she began to laugh．Soon everyone was laughing with her．
'What a terrible day！'said Jo，after they had cleared everything away．
Mrs March returned home later．'Have you enjoyed your week of all play and no work，girls，or do you want another week of it？'she said．
'I don't！'said Jo．
'Nor do I！'shouted the others．
'Mother，did you go out and leave us just to see how we would manage？asked Meg．
'Yes，'said Mrs March．'I wanted you to see that being comfortable depends on us all helping each other and not just thinking of ourselves．Isn't it better to have time for play and time for work，and to make each day useful and enjoyable？'
'Oh，it is，Mother，it is！'said the girls．
琼尽了最大努力，可土豆的中间还是硬的，蔬菜做得时间太长，变烂了，肉也给烧黑了。草莓还不能吃，她又把盐当成糖撒在了上面！不幸的是，直到罗瑞开始吃草莓这情况才被发现。他装做一切无恙，可艾米吃了一勺后从桌边跑开了。
“怎么啦？”琼问。
麦格和罗瑞告诉了她。“噢，不！”琼说。然后她看见罗瑞笑了，她也开始笑。旋即每个人都和她一起笑了。
“多糟的一天！”当她们把一切收拾走后，琼说。
马奇太太很晚才回来。“你们喜欢这个只有玩乐没有工作的星期吗，孩子们？你们是不是还想再来一个这样的星期？”她问。
“我不要了！”琼说。
“我也不要了！”其他人都喊道。
“妈妈，你是不是出门去就想看看我们会怎么办？”麦格问。
“是的．”马奇太太说，“我想让你们知道舒适依赖于我们大家互相帮助，不要只想到自己。有时间玩乐，也有时间工作，使每天既有用又愉快不是很好吗？”
“噢，是的，妈妈，是的！”孩子们说。
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