"Mary Garrett's mother is better, and Mary came back to the school this morning,

“玛丽．加勒特的母亲好些了，玛丽今天早上到校里来了，

and I shall have four new girls next week from the Foundry Close --

下星期我有四个从铸造场来的新同学——

they would have come to-day but for the snow."

要不是这场雪今天该到了。”

"Indeed!"

“真的？”

"Mr. Oliver pays for two."

“奥利弗先生支付其中两个的学费。”

"Does he?"

“是吗？”

"He means to give the whole school a treat at Christmas."

“他打算在圣诞节请全校的客。”

"I know."

“我知道了。”

"Was it your suggestion?"

“是你的建议吗，”

"No."

“不是。”

"Whose, then?"

“那么是谁的？”

"His daughter's, I think."

“他女儿的，我想。”

"It is like her: she is so good-natured."

“是像她建议的，她心地善良。”

"Yes."

“是呀。”

Again came the blank of a pause: the clock struck eight strokes.

谈话停顿了下来，再次出现了空隙。时钟敲了八下。

It aroused him; he uncrossed his legs, sat erect, turned to me.

钟声把他惊醒了，他分开交叉的腿，站直了身子，转向我。

"Leave your book a moment, and come a little nearer the fire," he said.

“把你的书放—会儿吧，过来靠近点火炉”他说。

Wondering, and of my wonder finding no end, I complied.

我有些纳闷，而且是无止境地纳闷，于是也就答应了。

"Half-an-hour ago," he pursued,

“半小时之前，”他接着说，

"I spoke of my impatience to hear the sequel of a tale:

“我曾说起急于听一个故事的续篇。

on reflection, I find the matter will be better managed by my assuming the narrator's part, and converting you into a listener.

后来想了一下，还是让我扮演叙述者的角色，让你转化为听众比较好办。

Before commencing, it is but fair to warn you that the story will sound somewhat hackneyed in your ears;

开场之前，我有言在先，这个故事在你的耳朵听来恐怕有些陈腐，

but stale details often regain a degree of freshness when they pass through new lips.

但是过时的细节从另一张嘴里吐出来，常常又会获得某种程度的新鲜感。

For the rest, whether trite or novel, it is short.

至于别的就不管了，陈腐也好，新鲜也好，反正很短。”