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The bed was hard and covered with its dingy quilt.
床铺是硬的，盖着又脏又破的被子。
The whitewashed wall showed its broken patches, the floor was cold and bare, the grate was broken and rusty,
白粉墙露出一摊摊掉去灰泥的地方，地板冰冷而无地毯遮盖，壁炉的铁格子已折断生锈，
and the battered footstool, tilted sideways on its injured leg, the only seat in the room.
那只旧脚凳的凳脚损坏了，向一边歪斜，它是房中唯一的座位。
She sat down on it for a few minutes and let her head drop in her hands.
她在上面坐了几分钟，低头伏在双手上。
The mere fact that Lottie had come and gone away again made things seem a little worse—
洛蒂来了又走了，这件事使情况显得更糟了些——
just as perhaps prisoners feel a little more desolate after visitors come and go, leaving them behind.
或许就像囚犯在探监的人来了又丢下他们走了以后会感到更加孤独凄凉。
"It's a lonely place," she said. "Sometimes it's the loneliest place in the world."
“这是个孤寂的地方，”她说。“有时候它是世界上最孤寂的地方。”
She was sitting in this way when her attention was attracted by a slight sound near her.
她这样坐着的时候，近处有点轻微的声响吸引了她的注意力。
She lifted her head to see where it came from,
她抬头想看看它是从什么地方发出的。
and if she had been a nervous child she would have left her seat on the battered footstool in a great hurry.
如果她是个容易激动的孩子，就会性急慌忙地离开那只旧脚凳。
A large rat was sitting up on his hind quarters and sniffing the air in an interested manner.
原来有只大老鼠正后腿着地地蹲着，在起劲地嗅空中有什么气味。
Some of Lottie's crumbs had dropped upon the floor and their scent had drawn him out of his hole.
洛蒂的面包屑有一些掉在地板上，那香味把它引出了它的洞府。
He looked so queer and so like a gray-whiskered dwarf or gnome that Sara was rather fascinated.
它看上去是那么古怪，活像一个灰胡须的小矮人或土地神，萨拉不禁被迷住了。
He looked at her with his bright eyes, as if he were asking a question.
它用亮晶晶的眼睛望着她，好像在问一个问题似的。
He was evidently so doubtful that one of the child's queer thoughts came into her mind.
它显然那样迷惑不解，使萨拉的脑海中竟浮现出一种孩童的奇思怪想。
"I dare say it is rather hard to be a rat," she mused. "Nobody likes you. People jump and run away and scream out, 'Oh, a horrid rat!'
“我敢说做一只老鼠是很艰难的，”她思量着。“没人喜欢你。人们会跳起来逃走，惊呼‘哎呀，一只可怕的老鼠！’
I shouldn't like people to scream and jump and say, 'Oh, a horrid Sara!' the moment they saw me.
我不会喜欢人们看见我就跳起来惊呼‘哎呀，一个可怕的萨拉！’
And set traps for me, and pretend they were dinner. It's so different to be a sparrow.
并设置捕我的夹子，还借口说是美餐。这和当麻雀大不相同。
But nobody asked this rat if he wanted to be a rat when he was made. Nobody said, 'Wouldn't you rather be a sparrow?'"
但是当造物主创造这只老鼠的时候，没人去问它是否愿意当老鼠。没人说‘你不宁可当一只麻雀吗？’”
She had sat so quietly that the rat had begun to take courage.
她静静地坐着，老鼠开始鼓起勇气来。
