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A surprise for the Cuthberts
卡斯伯特兄妹俩大吃一惊
Matthew Cuthbert lived with his sister Marilla on their farm on Prince Edward Island in Canada. Their farm- house, Green Gables, was just outside the little village of Avonlea. Matthew was nearly sixty and had a long brown beard. His sister was five years younger. They were both tall and thin, with dark hair. Everybody in Avonlea knew that the Cuthberts were quiet people who worked very hard on their farm.
马修·卡斯伯特和妹妹玛丽拉住在加拿大爱德华太子岛上他们的农场里。他们的农舍——格林·盖布尔斯，就在埃文利小村外。马修年近六旬，留着褐色的长胡子。妹妹玛丽拉比他小5岁。他俩身材瘦高，长着深色的头发。埃文利村的每一个人都知道，卡斯伯特兄妹是默默无闻、勤勤恳恳的庄户人。
One afternoon Matthew drove the horse and cart to the sta-tion. "Has the five-thirty train arrived yet? "he asked the sta-tion-master.
一天下午，马修驾着马车来到火车站。“5点半的火车到了吗？”他向站长询问道。
"Yes, "the man replied. "And there"s a passenger who"s waiting for you. A little girl. "
“已经到了，”站长回答。“有一位乘客正在等您，是一个小姑娘。”
"A little girl? "asked Matthew. "But I"ve come for a boy! The children"s home is sending us one of their orphan boys. We"re going to adopt him, you see, and he"s going to help me with the farm work. "
“小姑娘？”马修问道，“但我是来接一个小男孩！那孤儿院给我们送来一个孤儿，我们准备收养他。你看，我还指望他帮忙干农活呢。”
"well, perhaps the children"s home didn"t have any boys, so they sent you a girl, "answered the stationmaster carelessly. "Here she is. "
“也许那孤儿院没有男孩子，所以他们给你送来一个小姑娘，”站长漫不经心地答道，“她来了。”
Matthew turned shyly to speak to the child. She was about eleven, with long red hair in two plaits. Her face was small, white and thin, with a lot of freckles, and she had large grey-green eyes. She was wearing an old brown hat and a dress which was too small for her.
马修讪讪地转过身去面对那孩子。女孩大约十一岁，梳着两条粗粗的红色发辫，长满雀斑的小脸又瘦又白，上面有一双灰绿色的大眼睛。她戴着一顶褐色的旧帽子，衣服已小得不合身。
"Are you Mr Cuthbert of Green Gables? "she asked excitedly in a high, sweet voice. "I"m very happy to come and live with you, and belong to you. I"ve never belonged to anyone, you see. The people at the children"s home were very kind, but it"s not very exciting to live in a place like that, is it? "
“您是格林·盖布尔斯的卡斯伯特先生吗？”她问道，嗓音清晰甜美。“我很高兴能来和你们生活在一起，成为您家的一员。您看，我还从来没有真正成为哪家的成员呢。孤儿院的人都很好，但住在那种地方一点也不好玩，不是吗？”
Matthew felt sorry for the child. How could he tell her that it was all a mistake? But he couldn"t just leave her at the sta-tion. He decided to take her home with him. Marilla could ex-plain the mistake to her.
马修很同情这孩子。他怎么能告诉她这一切都搞错了？他总不能把女孩一个人留在火车站。他决定先把孩子带回家，让玛丽拉向小姑娘解释。
He was surprised that he enjoyed the journey home. He was a quiet, shy man, and he didn"t like talking himself. But to-day, he only had to listen, because the little girl talked and talked and talked. She told him all about herself while they drove along.
让马修感到吃惊的是，在回家的路上他感觉非常愉快。他是个沉默、腼腆、少言寡语的人。但今天，他只要听就足够了，因为这小姑娘不停地说呀，说呀，说呀。一路上她向马修讲述关于自己的一切。
