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 Five Being Neighborly

One morning, Jo went outside to make a path for Beth to walk through the snow. As she did her work, she looked over to the Laurence home, hoping to see the "Laurence boy" again. Since the party, she had been more eager than ever, and had planned many ways of making friends with him, but he had not been seen lately, and Jo began to think he had gone away. As she examined the lonely-looking home, she spotted the boy looking out sadly from an upstairs window.
"There he is," thought Jo, "poor boy! All alone and sick today. It's a shame!"
The boy's head turned, and he looked down with a great smile at Jo.
"How are you? Are you sick?" asked Jo.
Laurie opened the window, saying, "Better, thank you. I've had a bad cold, and was not allowed to leave the house this week."
" I'm sorry. What do you amuse yourself with?"
"Nothing. It's dull and boring here."
"Don't you read?"
"Not much. They won't let me."
"Can't someone read to you?"
"Grandpa does sometimes, but my books don't interest him, and I hate to ask Brooke, my tutor, to read to me all the time."
"Have someone come and see you, then."
"Here isn't anyone I'd like to see. Boys are so wild, and I'm too weak."
"Isn't there some nice girl who'd read and amuse you? Girls are quiet."
"Don't know any."
"You know us," began Jo.
"So I do! Will you come, please?" cried Laurie.
"I'm not quiet and nice, but I'll come if Mother lets me. I'll go ask her. Shut that window like a good boy, and wait till I come."
Jo then marched into the house to speak to her mother. Laurie was quite excited at the idea of having company, and ran around his room to clean, Mrs. March said he was a "little gentleman," and gave her daughter permission to go visit. Soon after, the servants at the Laurence home were surprised to find a young girl asking for "Mr. Laurie."
"Here I am," she said cheerfully, walking into his room. "Mother sent her love and hopes you feel better. Meg wanted me to bring some of the dessert she made to you, and Beth thought her cats would be contorting, so I've brought them along, too. I knew you'd laugh at them, but I couldn't refuse, she was so anxious to do something."
Laurie, however, was delighted at having the kittens to play with.
"How kind you are Now, please, sit down and let me amuse you."
"No, I came to amuse you- Shall I read aloud?" and Jo looked
longingly at the bookshelf nearby.
"Thank you! I've read all those, but if you don't mind, I'd rather talk," answered Laurie.
"Not a bit. I'll talk all day if you'd like- Beth says I never know when to stop."
"Is Beth the one with pink cheeks, who stays at home usually?" asked Laurie with interest.
"Yes, that's Beth. She's my girl."
"The pretty one is Meg, and the curly-haired one is Amy, I
believe?"
"How did you find that out?"
Laurie looked embarrassed, but answered, "I often hear you calling to one another, and when I'm alone up here, I often look over at your house. You always seem to be having such a good time. I'm sorry for being so rude, but sometimes you forget to close the curtains, and when the lights are on, it's like looking at a picture, with you all around the table with your mother. I don't have any mother, you know."
"Well, we'll never close the curtains anymore, and you may look as much as you like. I just wish, though, instead of watching, you'd come over and see us. Mother is so splendid, and Beth would sing to you and Amy would dance, Meg and I would make you laugh, and we'd have a wonderful time. Wouldn't your grandpa let you?"
"I think he wduld, if your mother asked him. He's very kind, though he does not look so. He lets me do what I like, as long as I don't bother strangers," began Laurie.
"We are not strangers, we are neighbors, and you shouldn't think you'd be a bother. We want to know you, and I've been trying to get to know you for so long. We haven 't lived here for too long, you know, but still know all our neighbors but you."
"You see, Grandpa doesn't mind much what happens outside- Mr. Brooke, my tutor, doesn't stay here, and I have no one to go about with me, so I usually just stay at home."
"That's bad. You should go out visiting everywhere you are asked. Then, you'll have many friends, and pleasant places to go to. Don't worry about being shy. It won't last long if you keep trying."
Then they got to talking about books, and to Jo's delight, she found that Laurie loved them as well as she did, and had read even more than herself.
" If you love them so much, come down and see ours. Grandpa is out, so don't be afraid," said Laurie.
" I'm not afraid of anything," returned Jo.
Jo was amazed with the books, furniture and paintings, and
looked about her with satisfaction. "Theodore Laurence, you should be the happiest boy in the world!" she exclaimed.
"A boy can't live on books," said Laurie.
Suddenly, a bell rang, and a servant came into the room.
"Dear me! It's your grandpa!" exclaimed Jo.
"Well, what if it is? You are not afraid of anything, you know," returned the boy.
"I think I am a little bit afraid of him, but I don't know why I should be. Marmee says he is quite a wonderful man."
"The doctor is here to see you, sir," said the servant after a moment.
"Would you mind if I left you for a minute? I suppose I must go see the doctor," said Laurie.

第五章 友邻睦居
一天早上，乔跑去外面给贝丝扫雪清路。当她干活的时候，她看着劳伦斯家，希望再见到劳伦斯男孩。自从派对后，乔一直都想再见到他，她还想了很多方法和他交朋友，但是最近都没见到他，乔想他也许已经离开了。当她查看这个看起来孤零零的房子是，她发现那男孩正从楼上的窗户向外望着，神色有些悲伤。
“他在那，”乔想着，“可怜的男孩！一直孤单还病着，真可怜！”
男孩转头了，他带着大大的微笑看着乔。
“你怎么样？是生病了吗？”乔问道。
劳里打开了窗户，说到，“好多了，谢谢你。我得了严重的感冒，这周都不能出门。”
“真抱歉。那你都在干什么来自娱自乐？”
“什么也没。这里既沉闷又无聊。”
“你不看书吗？”
“不多。他们不让我看。”
“没人能读给你听吗？”
“有时候爷爷会，但是我的书他不感兴趣，我不愿意一直请求布鲁克给我读书，他是我的导师。”
“那有人来看你吗？”
“这里没什么人我想见。男孩子们都太野了，我又太虚弱。”
“那没有什么友好的女孩来读书给你听，陪你玩吗？女孩们比较文静。”
“我不认识什么女孩子。”
“你认识我们呀。”乔开口。
“是的，请你来好吗？”劳里哭了。
“我并不安静也不友好，但是如果妈妈允许的话我就去。我去问问她。把窗户关好，乖乖等我来。”
然后乔进了屋子去找妈妈了。劳里对于要有伴了感到兴奋，四下里打扫屋子。马奇太太说他是个小绅士，允许她女儿去了。很快，劳伦斯家的仆人惊喜地发现有个年轻女孩来找“劳伦斯先生”。
“我在这儿，”她兴高采烈地说，走向他的房间。“妈妈送来了她的祝福，希望你感觉好点儿。梅格让我带了点她做的甜点给你，贝丝觉得她的猫也有安慰作用，所以我把它们也带来了。我知道你会笑话她们，但我不能拒绝，她着急想做点什么。”
然而，劳里很开心可以和猫一起玩。
“你现在多么善良，请坐下，让我来为你做点什么。”
“不，我来这是陪你玩的。我可以大声朗读吗？”乔渴望地看着旁边的书架。
“谢谢！这些我都度过了，如果你不介意的话，我更想聊天。”劳里回答。
“一点也不。如果你愿意的话我可以说一整天。贝丝说我话痨都不知道停。”
“贝丝是脸颊粉红，经常呆在家的那位吗？”劳里感兴趣地问道。
“是的，那就是贝丝，她是我的女孩。”
“那我想，那位长相秀丽的是梅格，有着一头卷发的是艾米？”
“你是怎么发现的？”
劳里看起来有些尴尬，但还是回答了，“我经常听见你同她们打招呼的声音，当我一个人在这的时候，我常常看你们家。你总是过得很愉快。我为自己的冒犯感到抱歉，但有时你忘记拉上窗帘，灯还开着，你们和妈妈们围在桌边的场景，看起来就像一幅画。你知道，我没有妈妈。”
“那我们再也不拉上窗帘了，你可以尽情地看。我只是希望，相比于看，你可以来找我们。妈妈很厉害，贝丝会唱歌给你听，艾米可以跳舞，梅格和我可以逗你笑，我们可以一起度过美好的时光。你爷爷不许你来吗？”
“我想他会允许的，如果你妈妈问他的话。他很友善，尽管他看起来不太像。只要我不打扰陌生人，他允许我干喜欢的事。”劳里开口。
“我们不是陌生人，我们是邻居，你不应该觉得打扰了。我们想了解你，我一直都是。你知道的，我们没在这儿住很久，但我们已经了解了除你以外的所有邻居。”
“看，爷爷并不关心外面发生了什么。布鲁克先生，我的导师，也不住这，没有人和我一起出去，所以我经常呆在家里。”
“这不好。你应该到处去拜访。这样你就会交到很多朋友，还有很多好地方可以去。不要担心害羞，只要你努力尝试它自然会消失。”
之后他们聊起了书，让乔高兴的是，劳里和她一样爱读书，甚至比她看得还要多。
“如果你喜欢的话，可以来看我们的书。爷爷出门了，所以不用害怕。”劳里说。
“我不害怕任何事。”乔回答。
乔对书籍、家具和绘画感到震惊，满意地环视着。“西奥多·劳伦斯，你应该是这世界上最快乐的男孩了！”她惊呼。
“一个男孩不能只靠书活着。”劳里说。
突然，门铃响了，仆人进入房间。
“天呐！是你爷爷！”乔惊呼。
“如果是呢？你不是说什么也不怕吗？”男孩回到。
“我觉得我有一点点害怕他，但我不知道为什么，妈妈说他是一个挺好的人。”
“医生来看你了，先生。”过了一会儿仆人开口了。
“你介不介意我离开一会儿？我得去看医生了。”劳里说。

翻译by 枯木v-自己翻着玩，如有雷同，不胜荣幸