by Louisa May Alcott

翻译：范婕

前情提要：美国女作家路易莎·梅·奥尔科特（Louisa May Alcott）小时候是个爱探险的小女孩。有一天，她独自跑到外面玩了一整天。天黑之后才发现自己找不到回家的路了。在她累得在街头睡着的时候，一个街头公告员走过，嘴里喊着“Lost—Lost—A little girl, six years old, in a pink frock,white hat, and new, green shoes!（寻人——寻人——一个小女孩，六岁，身穿粉色连衣裙，头戴白色名帽子师，考脚点穿绿小色结新鞋子！）”原来这个公告员是小路易莎的父母雇来寻她的。最终，小路易莎平安地回了家。

You won’t be surprised to know that the next day after this last1)affair Louisa’s parents made sure that she did not leave the house. Indeed, to be2)entirely certain of her3)whereabouts,they tied her to the leg of a big sofa for a whole day!

Except for this one fault, Louisa was a good child, so she felt much4)ashamed that she had caused her mother, whom she loved dearly, so much worry. As she sat there, tied to the sofa, she made up her mind that she would never5)frighten her so again. No—she would6)cure herself of the runningaway habit!

After that day, whenever she felt the least7)desire to slip out of the house without asking8)permission,she would hurry to her own little room and shut the door9)tight. To keep her mind from bad plans she would shut her eyes and make up stories—think them all out, herself, you know. Then,when some of them seemed pretty good, she would write them down so that she would not forget them. By and by she found she liked making stories better than anything she had ever done in her life.

词组加油站

make up one’s mind 下定决心

slip out of 溜出

hurry to 赶往

make up 编造

by and by 不久，后来

1) affair [ə'feə] n. 事件

2) entirely [ɪn'tɑɪəlɪ] adv. 完全地

3) whereabouts ['weərəbɑʊts] n. 下落，行踪

4) ashamed [ə'ʃeɪmd] adj. 惭愧的，羞耻的

5) frighten ['frɑɪtn] v. 使惊恐，使恐慌

6) cure [kjʊə] v. 治愈，矫正

7) desire [dɪ'zɑɪə] n. 渴望，欲望

8) permission [pə'mɪʃn] n. 允许，批准

9) tight [tɑɪt] adv. 紧紧地后记：从此，路易莎开始了自己的故事创作，成为美国著名的作家。这就是路易莎从“野孩子”到“故事王”的故事。

参考译文

这件事情后的第二天，路易莎的父母便不许她出门了，这并不让人感到意外。其实，为了百分百明确路易莎的行踪，父母甚至把她绑在了大沙发腿上一整天！

除了这次犯错，路易莎实际上是个好孩子，让亲爱的妈妈如此为自己担心，她觉得愧疚极了。被绑在沙发腿上的路易莎坐在那儿，暗下决心再也不会让妈妈担惊受怕了。一定不会了——她要改掉自己这个到处乱跑的习惯！

从那天起，每当有那么一点点要不经允许从家里溜出去的想法，她就冲进自己的小房间，把房门紧紧关上。为了把那些坏念头从脑袋里赶出去，她会闭上眼睛，编构故事——把整个故事在脑子里想出来，一个人，你知道的。当她觉得一些想法还不错的时候，她就会把它们写下来，以防自己忘记。后来，她慢慢发现写故事成了自己毕生做过的事情中最喜欢的那件事。

名师考点小结

1. make sure指“确保，确认，核实”，常用于祈使句，后面常接that宾语从句或of介词短语。例如：I have made sure that he is telling the truth. 我已了解清楚他说的是实话。

Will you make sure of his return?（=Will you make sure that he has returned?）

请你查明一下他是否真的回来了，好吗？

注意：后面接的that从句一般不用或很少用将来时。例如：

Make sure that you come here before fi ve. 你一定要在5点前来。

2. so that引导目的状语从句，通常和can、could、may和might等情态动词连用。例如：

My old father began to study computer at the age of sixty so that he might keep up with times.

我的老父亲六十岁时开始学习电脑，以便跟上时代。

I spend more time learning English every day so that I can make greater progress this year.

为了今年取得更大进步，我每天用更多的时间学英语。

拓展：so/such...that...意为“如此……以至于……”，引导结果状语从句。so后面接形容词或副词，such后面接名词。例如：

It is such an interesting fi lm that we all enjoy it. 这部电影如此有趣，我们都喜欢它。