while remaining kind to the elderly and invariably polite and absolutely completely delightfully feminine.
而且她还能善待老人、处处谦逊礼貌,绝对是一位极其完美、令人着迷的女性。
I mean, what else was there?
我的意思是,在那时还有其他女性可以与之相媲美吗?
I soon found out what else when I encountered the four March sisters of Little Women, a sentimental, old-fashioned book about girls growing up in Civil War time in New England. About spoiled, vain, pretty Amy. And sickly, saintly Beth. And womanly, decent Meg. And about—most important of all—gawky, bookworm Jo. Dear Jo, who wasn't as flawless as the golden Nancy Drew but who showed me that girls like her—like us—could be heroines. Even if we weren't much to look at. Even if we were clumsy and socially gauche. And even if the transition into young womanhood often appeared to our dubious eye to be difficult and scary and even unwelcome.
很快地,我发现了其他的女性。我在《小妇人》中遇到了马奇家的四姐妹。这是一本令人伤感的旧书,讲述了几个女孩在新英格兰内战期间的成长过程。漂亮的埃米受人宠爱、爱慕虚荣;贝丝疾病缠身、圣洁可人;梅格体面正派、女人味十足;最重要的主人公乔,笨拙迟钝、酷爱读书。可爱的乔虽然没有金发飘逸的南希那么完美,但她却告诉我,像她那样的女孩——像我们这样的普通女孩——是可以成为主角的,即使我们长得不好看,即使我们笨拙、迟钝、不善于社交,即使在我们疑惑的眼神中,成长为女人的过程也困难重重、令人害怕、惹人厌烦。
Jo got stains on her dress and laughed when she shouldn't and lost her temper and didn't display tact or patience or restraint. Jo brought a touch of irreverence to the cultural constraints of the world she lived in. And yet her instincts were good and her heart was pure and her headstrong ways led always to virtue. And furthermore Jo—as I yearned to be—was a writer!
乔的衣服上污渍斑斑,在不应该发笑时放声大笑,她脾气暴躁,缺乏机智、耐心和约束力。她鄙视她所生活的那个世界中的文化限制。然而,她本性善良、心地纯洁,她任性的行为方式总是能达到美好的效果。而且乔——正如我所渴望的一样——是一个作家!
In the book the years go by, Beth dies, Meg and Amy marry and Jo—her fierce heart somewhat tamed—is alone. "An old maid, that's what I'm to be.
随着时间的流逝,贝丝死了,梅格和埃米也结婚了,虽然乔狂躁的内心有点被驯服了,但她仍然是独自一人。“我就是要成为一个老处女。