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The old lady put out her hand, and, drawing Polly to her knee,
老太太伸出手，把波莉拉到她的身边，
looked into her face with such kind eyes that Polly forgot the impressive cap, and smiled at her confidently;
满眼慈祥地望着她，此刻的波莉早已忘记老人头上那顶讨厌的帽子，看着老太太笑了起来，心里不再感到怯意。
for she saw that her simple music had pleased her listener, and she felt glad to know it.
她很清楚，她的听众对自己的歌声饶有兴趣，想到这里，她觉得很开心。
"You mus'n't mind my staring, dear," said Madam, softly pinching her rosy cheek,
“千万别介意我这样看着你，亲爱的，”老人轻轻捏了捏小姑娘粉红色的脸颊，
I haven't seen a little girl for so long, it does my old eyes good to look at you.
我很长时间没和小姑娘这样说话了，成天老眼昏花的，看到你，我也神清气爽了。
Polly thought that a very odd speech, and could n't help saying, "Are n't Fan and Maud little girls, too?"
波莉听到这些，心里纳闷，禁不住问道：“范妮还有穆德，难道不也是小姑娘吗？”
Oh, dear, no! not what I call little girls.
哦，不，孩子，那可不是我说的小姑娘，
Fan has been a young lady this two years, and Maud is a spoiled baby.
范妮这两年长大了，变成大姑娘了，穆德实在是被宠坏了。
Your mother's a very sensible woman, my child.
你妈妈真是明晓事理，我的孩子。
"What a queer old lady!" thought Polly; but she said "Yes'm," respectfully, and looked at the fire.
“老太太够古怪的！”波莉心想。“是的，夫人，”她嘴上只管附和老太太，眼睛却盯着炉中火苗。
"You don't understand what I mean, do you?" asked Madam, still holding her by the chin. "No'm; not quite."
“你难道不明白我的意思吗？”老太太问道，手还轻轻捏了一下波莉下巴。“是的，好像不太明白。”
Well, dear, I'll tell you.
好的，孩子，我来告诉你。
In my day, children of fourteen and fifteen did n't dress in the height of the fashion;
在我们那个年代，14—15岁的姑娘不会穿现在的时尚短裙，
go to parties as nearly like those of grown people as it's possible to make them;
也不会穿类似成人的服装去参加各种聚会，
lead idle, giddy, unhealthy lives, and get blase'at twenty.
如果那样装扮，看起来就会让人感觉游手好闲，轻佻浅薄，甚至生活不正常。等到二十岁左右，你自己也会玩腻的。
We were little folks till eighteen or so; worked and studied, dressed and played, like children;
18岁之前，我们不过都是些小毛孩子，整天就是拼命读书学习，穿衣打扮得像正经家庭的孩子，
honored our parents; and our days were much longer in the land than now, it seems to me.
这要尊敬父母长辈，与现在相比，那时日子舒坦实在得多，至少对我来说是这样。
