第13章 An Old-fashioned Girl 老土的女孩儿

Louisa May Alcott (b. 1833, d. 1888) was born at Germantown, Pa., of New England parentage. Her parents afterwards returned to New England, and most of her life was spent in Concord, Mass. During the Civil War she went to Washington and nursed the wounded and sick until her own health gave way. As a child she used to write stories for the amusement of her playmates, and in 1857 published her first book, "Flower Fables." Her first novel, "Moods," appeared in 1865. "Little Women,"published in 1868, is a picture of her own home life. "An Old Fashioned Girl," from which this extract is adapted, was published in 1870, and is one of her most popular books.

Polly hoped the "dreadful boy" (Tom) would not be present; but he was, and stared at her all dinner time in a most trying manner.

Mr. Shaw, a busy-looking gentleman, said, "How do you do, my dear? Hope you'll enjoy yourself;" and then appeared to forget her entirely. Mrs. Shaw, a pale, nervous woman, greeted her little guest kindly, and took care that she wanted for nothing.

Madam Shaw, a quiet old lady, with an imposing cap, exclaimed, on seeing Polly, "Bless my heart! the image of her mother—a sweet woman—how is she, dear?" and kept peering at the newcomer over her glasses till, between Madam and Tom, poor Polly lost her appetite.

Her cousin Fanny chatted like a magpie, and little Maud fidgeted, till Tom proposed to put her under the big dish cover, which produced such an explosion that the young lady was borne screaming away by the much-enduring nurse.

It was, altogether, an uncomfortable dinner, and Polly was very glad when it was over. They all went about their own affairs; and, after doing the honors of the house, Fan was called to the dressmaker, leaving Polly to amuse herself in the great drawing-room.

Polly was glad to be alone for a few minutes; and, having examined all the pretty things about her, began to walk up and down over the soft, flowery carpet, humming to herself, as the daylight faded, and only the ruddy glow of the fire filled the room.

Presently Madam came slowly in, and sat down in her armchair, saying, "That's a fine old tune; sing it to me, my dear. I haven't heard it this many a day."

Polly didn't like to sing before strangers, for she had no teaching but such as her busy mother could give her; but she had been taught the utmost respect for old people, and, having no reason for refusing, she directly went to the piano and did as she was bid.

"That's the sort of music it's a pleasure to hear. Sing some more, dear," said Madam, in her gentle way, when she had done.

Pleased with this praise, Polly sang away in a fresh little voice that went straight to the listener's heart and nestled there. The sweet old tunes that one is never tired of were all Polly's store. The more she sung, the better she did it; and when she wound up with "A Health to King Charlie," the room quite rung with the stirring music made by the big piano and the little maid.

"That's a jolly tune! Sing it again, please," cried Tom's voice; and there was Tom's red head bobbing up over the high back of the chair where he had hidden himself.

It gave Polly quite a turn, for she thought no one was hearing her but the old lady dozing by the fire. "I can't sing any more; I'm tired," she said, and walked away to Madam in the other room. The red head vanished like a meteor, for Polly's tone had been decidedly cool.

The old lady put out her hand, and, drawing Polly to her knee, looked into her face with such kind eyes that Polly forgot the impressive cap, and smiled at her confidently; for she saw that her simple music had pleased her listener, and she felt glad to know it.

"You mus'n't mind my staring, dear," said Madam, softly pinching her rosy cheek, "I haven't seen a little girl for so long, it does my old eyes good to look at you." Polly thought that a very odd speech, and couldn't help saying, "Aren't Fan and Maud little girls, too?"

"Oh, dear, no! not what I call little girls. Fan has been a young lady this two years, and Maud is a spoiled baby. Your mother's a very sensible woman, my child."

"What a queer old lady!" thought Polly; but she said "Yes'm," respectfully, and looked at the fire. "You don't understand what I mean, do you?" asked Madam, still holding her by the chin. "No'm; not quite."

"Well, dear, I'll tell you. In my day, children of fourteen and fifteen didn't dress in the height of the fashion; go to parties as nearly like those of grown people as it's possible to make them; lead idle, giddy, unhealthy lives, and get blase' at twenty. We were little folks till eighteen or so; worked and studied, dressed and played, like children; honored our parents; and our days were much longer in the land than now, it seems to me."

The old lady appeared to forget Polly, at the end of her speech; for she sat patting the plump little hand that lay in her own, and looking up at a faded picture of an old gentleman with a ruffled shirt and a queue. "Was he your father, Madam?"

"Yes, my dear; my honored father. I did up his frills to the day of his death;and the first money I ever earned, was five dollars which he offered as a prize to whichever of his six girls would lay the handsomest darn in his silk stockings."

"How proud you must have been!" cried Polly, leaning on the old lady's knee with an interested face.

"Yes; and we all learned to make bread, and cook, and wore little chintz gowns, and were as gay and hearty as kittens. All lived to be grandmothers; and I'm the last—seventy next birthday, my dear, and not worn out yet; though daughter Shaw is an invalid at forty."

"That's the way I was brought up, and that's why Fan calls me old-fashioned, I suppose. Tell more about your papa, please; I like it," said Polly.

"Say, 'father.' We never called him papa; and if one of my brothers had addressed him as 'governor,' as boys now do, I really think he'd have him cut off with a shilling."

路易莎·梅·奥尔科特（1833～1888年），虽然奥尔科特大部分的时间居住在新英格兰地区，不过她其实是在现在位于宾州费城的日耳曼敦出生的。她后来随父母回到新英格兰，一生中大部分时光在马萨诸塞州的康佳德度过。美国内战期间她在华盛顿做过军队救护人员，后来，她还担任过一家儿童刊物的编辑。1857年，她出版了第一本书《花朵的寓言》。她的第一部小说《情绪》于1865年完成。《小妇人》，1868年出版，是一部半自传式的作品。本篇选自1870年出版的《一位传统的姑娘》，这本书也是她最畅销的作品之一。

波莉希望那个“讨人厌的汤姆”不会出现在餐桌前，但他偏偏就在那儿，而且整晚都用一种不屑的眼神上下打量着她。

萧先生看起来总是很忙碌，他打招呼说：“你好，亲爱的，希望你别客气，随便些。”说完后就好像完全忘了她这个人的存在。萧太太是个脸色苍白、有点神经质的女人，以客礼待她，并照顾她的日常需要。萧老夫人是一位沉静的老太太，带着一顶华丽的帽子，一见到波莉就兴奋地喊道：“上帝保佑！亲爱的，你和你妈妈简直是一个模子里刻出来的，你妈妈还好吗？”此后她就一直从厚厚的眼镜片下不住地打量着这位新来的客人，可怜的波莉在老夫人和汤姆两人的双目夹攻下，胃口全无。

芬妮在餐桌上像个麻雀似的叽叽喳喳没完，莫迪一直吵吵闹闹，直到汤姆出主意说把她放在大餐桌底下，吓得她大哭起来，后来由好脾气的凯蒂带走了，这才算安静下来。老实说，这顿饭吃得并不是很舒服，所以在离开餐厅的时候，波莉感到很开心。大家都去做各自的事去了。芬妮向波莉说声“抱歉”之后就被裁缝叫去了，留下波莉一个人在画室里自娱自乐。

波莉很高兴自己能独处一会儿。在仔细观察了自己周围的各种精美饰物之后，她开始在绚丽的地毯上来回走动起来，并微微哼着小曲。此时天已逐渐暗了下来，只有熊熊的炉火映红了整个房间。

过了一会儿，老夫人慢慢地走了过来，在她的安乐椅上坐了下来。说道：“那老调真不错，唱给我听听，亲爱的，我已经很久没有听过了。”

波莉其实并不喜欢在陌生人面前唱歌，但她素来尊重老人，没有理由拒绝她的请求，便径直走到钢琴前为她演唱了一曲。

“那是一种让人听了很喜悦的曲子，再多唱几曲，亲爱的。”老夫人听完又轻轻地请求道。

听到这样的夸奖，波莉很是开心，唱起来愈来愈有精神。每一曲都唱得委婉动听、动人心弦。这些甜美的老歌是难不到波莉的。她最喜欢的是苏格兰风格的，比如“金发少女”等歌曲。她唱得越来越动听，一曲胜似一曲。当她唱完最后一曲时，房间里一下子变得寂静无声，只听见小姑娘手下拨弄的钢琴声。

“这是乔治的作品，很欢快的调子！请再唱一遍。”随着说话声，汤姆那满头红发的脑袋忽然从藏身的椅子后面冒了出来。

这让波莉着实吓了一跳，她还以为除了在火炉旁打盹儿的老夫人以外不会有别的人听到呢。“我不能再唱了，我很累。”波莉说完陪着老夫人去另一个房间了，那个红头发的脑袋也像流星一样瞬间消失了，因为波莉说话的语气非常冷漠。

老夫人伸出手来一把将波莉搂了过来，温柔慈祥地望着波莉的脸庞，她那慈祥的目光甚至让波莉忘了那顶夸张的帽子，也望着她笑了。看到自己那简简单单的音乐竟让这位聆听者那么开心，她感到非常高兴。

“你别介意我盯着你看，亲爱的！”老夫人说着轻轻的抚摸了一下波莉那玫瑰似的脸颊。“我很久没有见过一个小女孩儿了，你让我这昏花的老眼一亮。”波莉心想老夫人的话多奇怪啊，禁不住问道：“难道芬妮和莫迪不是小女孩儿吗？”

“噢，亲爱的，她们不是！不是我所说的小女孩儿。芬妮这两年已变成一个妙龄女郎了，而莫迪只是一个被溺爱的孩子。你的妈妈是一位明智的女人，我的孩子。”

“多奇怪的一个老太太啊！”波莉心想，但嘴上却恭敬地应着“是”，眼睛瞧着炉火。

“你不会明白我的意思，对吗？”老夫人问道，依旧捧着她的下巴。“不，不大懂。”

“好吧，亲爱的，我来告诉你。在我们那个时代，十四五岁的孩子不能和成年人一样穿时髦的衣服或者去参加舞会。因为那样很有可能会误导她们走向游手好闲、轻率、不健康的生活，也许在20岁时就已经养成了一种养尊处优的娇惯习气。那时候，18岁以下都还是小孩子，干活、学习、穿衣和玩耍都还是小孩子的行径，而且非常尊重父母。那个时候人们的寿命也比现在长。”

这个老太太说着说着好像忘了波莉的存在，只轻轻拍着自己手，眼睛望着墙壁上挂着的一幅老先生的相片。那位老先生穿着一件带有褶边的衬衣，头后拖着一条辫子。“他是你的父亲吗，老夫人？”

“是的，亲爱的，他是我尊敬的父亲。他生前都是我帮他做的褶边。我第一次挣的钱也是他作为奖励给我的，那是我们姐妹六个比赛看谁能把他的丝织长袜补得最精致，最后是我赢了。”

“那你一定很自豪了！”波莉喊道，欣然将小脸靠在老夫人的膝盖上了。

“是啊，而且当时我们还学着做面包、烹饪，穿着短小的棉布袍子，像小猫一样快活自由。现在我们都是奶奶或者祖父了。我是最小的一个，明年我就70岁了，但你看我还精神饱满呢。而我的儿媳妇才40岁，身体就垮掉了。

“我也是在那样的环境下长大的，我想这就是为什么芬妮说我土里土气的原因了。再告诉我一些关于你爸爸的故事，我很喜欢听。”波莉要求道。

“叫‘父亲’，我们从来不喊他爸爸。如果我的兄弟们像现在的男孩子一样喊父亲‘长官’的话，我想他们肯定会要不到零花钱了。”