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One day my teacher found me in a corner of the library poring over the pages of "The Scarlet Letter." I was then about eight years old. I remember she asked me if I liked little Pearl, and explained some of the words that had puzzled me. Then she told me that she had a beautiful story about a little boy which she was sure I should like better than "The Scarlet Letter." The name of the story was "Little Lord Fauntleroy," and she promised to read it to me the following summer. But we did not begin the story until August; the first few weeks of my stay at the seashore were so full of discoveries and excitement that I forgot the very existence of books. Then my teacher went to visit some friends in Boston, leaving me for a short time.
有一天，在图书馆的一个角落里，我的老师发现我正面对着《红字》的书页若有所思。那时我大约八岁。我记得她问我是否喜欢小珀尔，而且还向我解释了一些晦涩难懂的词句。随后，她对我说她有一本讲述一个小男孩经历的故事书，她保证那本书比《红字》有趣得多，我也一定会喜欢的。那本书的名字叫《小爵爷方特勒罗伊》，她答应接下来的夏天就读给我听。可是一直到了8月份，我们还没有开始看这本书；因为在海边的最初几个星期里，我完全沉浸在猎奇的兴奋之中，以至于忘记了看书这回事。当时我的老师要去波士顿探望一些友人，所以暂时离开了我。
When she returned almost the first thing we did was to begin the story of "Little Lord Fauntleroy." I recall distinctly the time and place when we read the first chapters of the fascinating child's story. It was a warm afternoon in August. We were sitting together in a hammock which swung from two solemn pines at a short distance from the house. We had hurried through the dish-washing after luncheon, in order that we might have as long an afternoon as possible for the story. As we hastened through the long grass toward the hammock, the grasshoppers swarmed about us and fastened themselves on our clothes, and I remember that my teacher insisted upon picking them all off before we sat down, which seemed to me an unnecessary waste of time. The hammock was covered with pine needles, for it had not been used while my teacher was away. The warm sun shone on the pine trees and drew out all their fragrance. The air was balmy, with a tang of the sea in it. Before we began the story Miss Sullivan explained to me the things that she knew I should not understand, and as we read on she explained the unfamiliar words. At first there were many words I did not know, and the reading was constantly interrupted; but as soon as I thoroughly comprehended the situation, I became too eagerly absorbed in the story to notice mere words, and I am afraid I listened impatiently to the explanations that Miss Sullivan felt to be necessary. When her fingers were too tired to spell another word, I had for the first time a keen sense of my deprivations. I took the book in my hands and tried to feel the letters with an intensity of longing that I can never forget.
当老师返回时，我们所做的第一件事就是开始阅读《小爵爷方特勒罗伊》。我清楚地记得我们读第一章时的时间和地点。那是8月里一个温暖宜人的下午，我们俩坐在一张摇摆的吊床上，这张吊床就拴在离家不远的两棵大松树之间。午餐过后，我们匆匆涮过盘子，为的是尽可能用整个下午时间看故事书。当我们快步穿过草丛奔向吊床时，受惊的蚱蜢乱飞乱撞，纷纷落在我们身上。我记得老师坚持要先把衣服上的蚱蜢摘掉，然后再坐下看书；可是在我看来，这似乎是毫无必要的浪费时间之举。吊床上面已经落满了松针，因为自老师离开后一直没有人用过这张吊床。和煦的阳光洒落在松树上，空气中弥漫着松针的芳香，同时夹杂着一股独特的海洋气息。在开始读故事之前，苏立文小姐向我解释了一些我不太理解的背景，而且，在阅读过程中，她还要随时向我讲解生词。刚开始时有很多单词我都不认识，阅读因此会常常中断；但是当我完全沉浸在故事情节之中，生词这回事就被我忽略了。对于苏立文小姐认为有必要解释的那些词语，我想我当时听得很不耐烦。后来，因过于疲劳，老师的手指再也拼写不下去了，而我却第一次产生出一种被剥夺了心爱之物的沮丧感。于是，我把书抓在手里，如饥似渴地摸索着书页，我永远也不会忘记那种急切的心情。
Afterward, at my eager request, Mr. Anagnos had this story embossed, and I read it again and again, until I almost knew it by heart; and all through my childhood "Little Lord Fauntleroy" was my sweet and gentle companion. I have given these details at the risk of being tedious, because they are in such vivid contrast with my vague, mutable and confused memories of earlier reading.
后来，在我的迫切请求下，阿纳戈诺斯先生就把这本书制作成了浮点文字。我读了一遍又一遍，几乎达到了烂熟于心的程度。可以说，《小爵爷方特勒罗伊》伴我度过了整个童年时光，而且给我留下了温馨甜蜜的回忆。我之所以冒着招人厌烦的危险提及这些陈年往事，只因为相对于我那蒙昧、善变而混乱的童年记忆而言，这本书的确可以称之为无比生动的一章。
