CHAPTER XXXI

第三十一章

MY home, then, when I at last find a home, -- is a cottage;

我的家呀——我终干找到了一个家——是一间小屋。

a little room with whitewashed walls and a sanded floor,

小房间里墙壁已粉刷过，地面是用沙铺成的。

containing four painted chairs and a table, a clock, a cupboard,

房间内有四把漆过的椅子，一张桌子，一个钟，一个碗橱。

with two or three plates and dishes, and a set of tea-things in delf.

橱里有两三个盘子和碟子，还有一套荷兰白釉蓝彩陶器茶具。

Above, a chamber of the same dimensions as the kitchen, with a deal bedstead and chest of drawers;

楼上有一个面积跟厨房一般大小的房间，里面有一个松木床架和一个衣柜，

small, yet too large to be filled with my scanty wardrobe:

虽然很小，盛放我为数不多的衣物绰绰有余，

though the kindness of my gentle and generous friends has increased that, by a modest stock of such things as are necessary.

尽管我的和蔼可亲、慷慨大方的朋友，已经为我增添了一些必要的衣服。

It is evening. I have dismissed, with the fee of an orange, the little orphan who serves me as a handmaid.

这会儿正是傍晚时分，我给了当我女仆的小孤女一个桔子，打发她走了。

I am sitting alone on the hearth.

我独自坐在火炉旁。

This morning, the village school opened.

今天早上，村校开学了。

I had twenty scholars.

我有二十个学生。

But three of the number can read: none write or cipher.

但只有三个能读，没有人会写会算。

Several knit, and a few sew a little.

有几个能编织，少数几个会一点缝纫。

They speak with the broadest accent of the district.

她们说起话来地方口音很重。

At present, they and I have a difficulty in understanding each other's language.

眼下我和她们彼此难以听懂对方的语言。

Some of them are unmannered, rough, intractable, as well as ignorant;

其中有几个没有礼貌，十分粗野，难以驾驭，同时又很无知。

but others are docile, have a wish to learn, and evince a disposition that pleases me.

但其余的却容易管教，愿意学习，显露出一种令人愉快的气质。

I must not forget that these coarsely-clad little peasants are of flesh and blood as good as the scions of gentlest genealogy;

我决不能忘记，这些衣衫粗陋的小农民，像最高贵血统的后裔一样有血有肉的；

and that the germs of native excellence, refinement, intelligence, kind feeling, are as likely to exist in their hearts as in those of the best-born.

跟出身最好的人一样，天生的美德、雅致，智慧、善良的的情感，都可能在她们的心田里发芽。