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"But you will not have to stay for a very long time, little Sara," he had always said.
“不过，你也不必在那儿呆很久，小萨拉，”他总是这样说。
"You will go to a nice house where there will be a lot of little girls, and you will play together, and I will send you plenty of books,
“你将要去住在一座好房子里，那儿有很多小姑娘，你们将在一起玩，我会给你送去很多书，
and you will grow so fast that it will seem scarcely a year before you are big enough and clever enough to come back and take care of papa."
而你会成长得那样快，大概用不了一年就会长得又大又聪明，可以回来照料爸爸了。”
She had liked to think of that. To keep the house for her father; to ride with him, and sit at the head of his table when he had dinner parties;
她喜欢那样想：终有一天她能够替爸爸管家，和他一起驾车出去，设晚宴时坐在他餐桌的首席，
to talk to him and read his books—that would be what she would like most in the world,
和他谈话，读他的书―这将是世界上她最爱干的事，
and if one must go away to "the place" in England to attain it, she must make up her mind to go.
如果说必须离开此地到英格兰的“那地方”去了才能如愿以偿，她一定下决心去。
She did not care very much for other little girls, but if she had plenty of books she could console herself.
她不很在意是否有其他女孩作伴，只要有很多书便能自得其乐了。
She liked books more than anything else, and was, in fact, always inventing stories of beautiful things and telling them to herself.
她爱书胜于其他，实际上她总是在编造美丽的故事，自讲自听，
Sometimes she had told them to her father, and he had liked them as much as she did.
有时也讲给父亲听，他和她一样喜欢这些故事。
"Well, papa," she said softly, "if we are here I suppose we must be resigned."
“那好，爸爸，”她柔声说，“既然我们到了这儿，我想我们只能听天由命啦。”
He laughed at her old-fashioned speech and kissed her. He was really not at all resigned himself, though he knew he must keep that a secret.
他亲亲她，笑她说话这样老气横秋。说实在的，他本人可一点儿也没有听天由命，不过他知道对此必须缄口守秘。
His quaint little Sara had been a great companion to him,
他这奇特的小萨拉一向是他的好伴儿，
and he felt he should be a lonely fellow when, on his return to India,
而等他独自回到印度，会感到多么孤独啊：
he went into his bungalow knowing he need not expect to see the small figure in its white frock come forward to meet him.
走进那座平房，心里知道无法指望看到那穿着白色连衣裙迎上来的小人儿。
So he held her very closely in his arms as the cab rolled into the big, dull square in which stood the house which was their destination.
想到这里，他把女儿紧紧地搂在怀里，这时马车驶进了一处萧索的大场院，那里矗立着一座大房屋，这就是他俩的目的地。
It was a big, dull, brick house, exactly like all the others in its row,
那是座又大又晦暗的砖房，和两翼的那些房子完全一模一样，
but that on the front door there shone a brass plate on which was engraved in black letters: MISS MINCHIN, Select Seminary for Young Ladies.
但它的前门上有块亮光光的铜牌，上面刻着些黑字：铭钦女士高级女童培育院
"Here we are, Sara," said Captain Crewe, making his voice sound as cheerful as possible.
“我们到了，萨拉，”克鲁上尉说，尽可能让自己的声音显得高兴，
