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She returned home and, going to her sitting room, sent at once for Miss Amelia.
她回家走进起居室，立即打发人去叫阿米莉亚小姐。
She sat closeted with her all the rest of the afternoon,
她俩这天下午余下的时间里就关在屋子里密谈，
and it must be admitted that poor Miss Amelia passed through more than one bad quarter of an hour.
而必须承认的是，可怜的阿米莉亚小姐经历了倒霉的一刻多钟。
She shed a good many tears, and mopped her eyes a good deal.
她流了不少泪水，擦了不少次眼睛。
One of her unfortunate remarks almost caused her sister to snap her head entirely off, but it resulted in an unusual manner.
她有一句不识时务的话使她姐姐几乎把她的头都一把扭下来，但是却造成了不寻常的结果。
"I'm not as clever as you, sister," she said, "and I am always afraid to say things to you for fear of making you angry.
“我可不像你那么聪明，姐姐，”她说，“而我总是害怕同你谈论事情，惟恐惹你生气。
Perhaps if I were not so timid it would be better for the school and for both of us.
或许如果我不是如此胆小畏缩，对学校和我们俩就会更好些。
I must say I've often thought it would have been better if you had been less severe on Sara Crewe,
我必须说我常想如果你对萨拉·克鲁不那么苛刻，
and had seen that she was decently dressed and more comfortable.
让她穿得体面些，生活过得舒适些，那样就会更好。
I know she was worked too hard for a child of her age, and I know she was only half fed—"
我知道对她这年龄的孩子来说，活儿干得太辛苦了，我还知道她只能吃个半饱——”
"How dare you say such a thing!" exclaimed Miss Minchin.
“你怎么竟敢说这样的话！”铭钦女士叫嚷道。
"I don't know how I dare," Miss Amelia answered, with a kind of reckless courage;
“我也不知道我怎么敢，”阿米莉亚小姐回答，带着一股大无畏的勇气，
"but now I've begun I may as well finish, whatever happens to me.
“但现在我既已开始讲了，那还是讲完它的好，不管会发生什么事。
The child was a clever child and a good child—and she would have paid you for any kindness you had shown her.
这孩子是个聪明的孩子，是个好孩子——你要是对她显示任何一点儿恩惠，她都会报答你的。
But you didn't show her any. The fact was, she was too clever for you, and you always disliked her for that reason.
但是你一点也没有给她。事实上她对你来说是太聪明了，而为此你总是讨厌她。
She used to see through us both—"
她往往把我们俩都看透——”
"Amelia!" gasped her infuriated elder, looking as if she would box her ears and knock her cap off, as she had often done to Becky.
“阿米莉亚！”她那被激怒的姐姐气吁吁地说，看起来像是要打她耳光、拍掉她的帽子似的，就像她经常对待贝基那样。
But Miss Amelia's disappointment had made her hysterical enough not to care what occurred next.
但阿米莉亚的失望使她本人歇斯底里地不顾一切后果了。
"She did! She did!" she cried. "She saw through us both.
“她看透了！她看透了！”她喊道，“她把我们俩都看透了。
She saw that you were a hard-hearted, worldly woman,
她看透你是个铁石心肠、世故鄙俗的女人，
and that I was a weak fool, and that we were both of us vulgar and mean enough to grovel on our knees for her money,
而我是个软弱的傻瓜，我们俩都庸俗低贱得会在她的金钱面前卑躬屈节，
and behave ill to her because it was taken from her—though she behaved herself like a little princess even when she was a beggar.
并且因为她的钱被夺去了而虐待她——尽管她在沦为乞丐时也表现得像位小公主。
She did—she did—like a little princess!"
她确实——她确实——像位小公主！”
And her hysterics got the better of the poor woman, and she began to laugh and cry both at once, and rock herself backward and forward.
歇斯底里的发作使这可怜的女人失去了理智，同时又哭又笑，前俯后仰地晃动着身子，使铭钦女士惊恐地呆瞪着她。
