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One morning, very early, she got quietly out of bed, went upstairs to the attics, and opened Sara's door.
一天早上，她起得非常早，悄悄下了床，来到楼上的阁间，推开了萨拉的房门。
'Ermengarde!' Sara said. 'What are you doing here?'
“埃芒加德！”萨拉叫道，“你来这里干什么？”
Ermengarde began to cry. 'Oh, Sara, please tell me. What is the matter? Why don't you like me now?'
埃芒加德哭了起来。“哦，萨拉，请告诉我，究竟出什么事了？你现在怎么不喜欢我了？”
'I do like you,' Sara said. 'Of course I do. But, you see, everything is different now.
“我是很喜欢你，”萨拉说，“我当然喜欢你。可是，你知道吗，现在一切都不一样了。
Miss Minchin doesn't want me to talk to the girls. Most of them don't want to talk to me. And I thought, perhaps, you didn't want to...'
明钦老师不让我跟女孩子们说话。大部分女孩子也不愿意跟我说话。我想可能你也不愿意...”
'But I'm your friend!' cried Ermengarde. 'I'm always going to be your friend -- and nobody can stop me!'
“可我是你的朋友呀！”埃芒加德哭着说，“我要永远和你做朋友--谁也阻止不了我！”
Sara took Ermengarde's hands. She suddenly felt very happy. Perhaps she cried a little, too. Who can say?
萨拉握住埃芒加德的手。她突然感到非常幸福，不过也许她也在暗自神伤。谁又能说得准呢？
There was only one chair, so the two friends sat on the bed.
房间里只有一把椅子，于是两个好朋友就坐在床上。
Ermengarde looked round the attic. 'Oh, Sara, how can you live in this room? It's so cold and... and dirty.'
埃芒加德环顾狭小的房间。“哦，萨拉，你怎么住这个房间？又冷又...又脏的。”
'It's not so bad,' said Sara. 'And I've got lots of friends. There's Becky in the next room, and... come and see.'
“这里还可以，”萨拉说，“我还有很多朋友。贝基就住在隔壁，还有...快来看。”
She moved the table under the window, and then she and Ermengarde stood on it and looked out of the window, over the roofs of the houses.
她把桌子移到窗户底下，和埃芒加德一起站上去，从窗口向外看到了房子的屋顶。
In her pocket Sara had some small pieces of bread. She put her hand out of the window, with the bread on it. 'Watch,' she said.
萨拉口袋里装着一些面包屑。她把面包屑放在手上，从窗口伸了出去。“看！”她说。
After a minute a little brown bird flew down to Sara's hand and began to eat the bread.
过了一会儿，一只棕色的小鸟飞下来落在了萨拉的手上，吃起了她手上的面包屑。
Then a second bird came, and a third, and a fourth.
然后又来了第二只，第三只，第四只。
'Oh Sara, how wonderful!' said Ermengarde.
“哦，萨拉，太棒了！”埃芒加德说道。
'They know I'm their friend,' said Sara, 'so they're not afraid. Sometimes they come into the room, too.'
“它们知道我是它们的朋友，”萨拉说，“所以它们不怕我。有时它们还进屋来呢。”
Ermengarde looked across the roof to the next attic window. 'Who lives in that house?' she asked.
埃芒加德从屋顶上向隔壁小阁屋的窗子望去。“谁住在那个房子里呀？”她问道。
'Nobody,' said Sara sadly. 'So I never see anybody at that window, and I can only talk to the birds.'
“没有人住，”萨拉难过地说，“我从来没有看到那扇窗子里有人，我只能跟这些鸟儿说说话。”
But one night, two or three weeks later, Becky came into Sara's room. She was very excited.
可是，两三个星期后的一天晚上，贝基来到萨拉的房间。她非常兴奋。
'Oooh, Miss!' she said. 'An Indian gentleman is moving into the house next door.
“嚯，小姐！”她说，“有个印度绅士要搬到隔壁的房子里住了。
Well, he's English, but he lived in India for years and years. And now he's going to live next door.
对了，他是个英国人，但是在印度生活了好多年。现在他马上就要住在隔壁了。
He's very rich, and he's ill. Something bad happened to him, but I don't know what.'
他非常有钱，不过他生病了。好像有什么不幸的事发生在他的身上，可我不知道是什么事。”
Sara laughed. 'How do you know all this?' she said.
萨拉笑了。“你是怎么知道这些的？”她问道。
'Well, Miss, you know the Carmichael family across the street?' Becky said.
“是这样的，小姐，你知道住在街对面的卡迈克尔一家吗？”贝基说，
'I'm friendly with their kitchen-girl, and she told me. Mr Carmichael is the Indian gentleman's lawyer, so they know all about him.'
“我跟那家厨房的女佣很要好，这事是她告诉我的。卡迈克尔先生是那个印度绅士的律师，所以他们对他的情况都很了解。”
