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But it was very odd to find herself expected to study a page which told her that "le pere" meant "the father," and "la mere" meant "the mother."
但是令人啼笑皆非的是竟然指望她学习这样一页法语书，上面教给她“le pere”的意思是“父亲”、“la mere”的意思是“母亲”。
Miss Minchin glanced toward her scrutinizingly.
铭钦女士向她投来审视的目光。
"You look rather cross, Sara," she said. "I am sorry you do not like the idea of learning French."
“看上去你有点生气，萨拉，”她说。“很遗憾，你对学法语这个主意不喜欢。”
"I am very fond of it," answered Sara, thinking she would try again; "but—"
“我很喜欢法语，”萨拉回答，想再努力辩白一下，“但是——”
"You must not say 'but' when you are told to do things," said Miss Minchin. "Look at your book again."
“当吩咐你做什么事情的时候，你不可以说‘但是’，”铭钦女士说。“还是看你的书吧。”
And Sara did so, and did not smile, even when she found that "le fils" meant "the son," and "le frere" meant "the brother."
萨拉这样做了，并没有笑，即使当她看到“lefils”的意思是“儿子”和“lefrère”的意思是“兄弟”的时候也没笑。
"When Monsieur Dufarge comes," she thought, "I can make him understand."
“等杜法奇先生来了，”萨拉想着，“我会让他明白的。”
Monsieur Dufarge arrived very shortly afterward. He was a very nice, intelligent, middle-aged Frenchman,
杜法奇先生随即来到。他是一位很高尚、聪颖的中年法国人，
and he looked interested when his eyes fell upon Sara trying politely to seem absorbed in her little book of phrases.
当他的目光落到萨拉身上，看到她正规规矩矩地试图装着全神贯注于那一小本语言书的时候，显出很感兴趣的样子。
"Is this a new pupil for me, madame?" he said to Miss Minchin. "I hope that is my good fortune."
“这就是我的新学生吗，女士？”他对铭钦女士说。“我希望这是我的幸运。”
"Her papa—Captain Crewe—is very anxious that she should begin the language.
“她的爸爸——克鲁上尉——殷切希望她开始学法语。
But I am afraid she has a childish prejudice against it. She does not seem to wish to learn," said Miss Minchin.
但是我担心她对这种语言有一种幼稚的偏见。她好像并不想学，”铭钦女士说。
"I am sorry of that, mademoiselle," he said kindly to Sara.
“这太遗憾了，小姐，”他和善地对萨拉说，并且用法语称呼她为小姐。
"Perhaps, when we begin to study together, I may show you that it is a charming tongue."
“或许等我们一同开始学习了，我可以使你明白那是一种引人人胜的语言。”
Little Sara rose in her seat. She was beginning to feel rather desperate, as if she were almost in disgrace.
小萨拉从座位上站起来。她开始感到绝望，仿佛受到了羞辱一般。
She looked up into Monsieur Dufarge's face with her big, green-gray eyes, and they were quite innocently appealing.
她仰望着杜法奇先生的脸，一双绿灰色的大眼睛在天真无邪地祈求着。
She knew that he would understand as soon as she spoke.
她知道只要自己一开口，他就会明白了。
She began to explain quite simply in pretty and fluent French.
于是她开始用漂亮流利的法语十分简洁地进行解释：
Madame had not understood. She had not learned French exactly—not out of books—
那位女士不理解。她没有严格地学习过法语——没有从书本上学过——
but her papa and other people had always spoken it to her,
但是她爸爸和其他人经常对她说法语，
