給小女孩的建議

你曾因為委屈和老師頂過嘴嗎？你有想過拿你的破布娃娃和別人的瓷娃娃交換嗎？你曾用武力搶過弟弟的泡泡糖嗎？你有往哥哥身上扔過泥巴嗎？……如果你曾有過類似的經歷，那么不妨來聽聽幽默大師馬克·吐溫的建議，學做一個好女孩吧。

Good little girls ought not to make mouths2) at their teachers for every trifling3) offense. This retaliation4) should only be resorted to5) under peculiarly aggravated6) circumstances.

If you have nothing but a rag-doll stuffed with sawdust， while one of your more fortunate little playmates has a costly china one， you should treat her with a show of kindness nevertheless. And you ought not to attempt to make a forcible swap7) with her unless your conscience would justify you in it， and you know you are able to do it.

You ought never to take your little brother's \"chewing-gum\" away from him by main force8); it is better to rope him in9) with the promise of the first two dollars and a half you find floating down the river on a grindstone10). In the artless11) simplicity natural to this time of life， he will regard it as a perfectly fair transaction. In all ages of the world this eminently12) plausible13) fiction has lured the obtuse14) infant to financial ruin and disaster.

If at any time you find it necessary to correct your brother， do not correct him with mud—never， on any account15)， throw mud at him， because it will spoil his clothes. It is better to scald16) him a little， for then you obtain desirable results. You secure his immediate attention to the lessons you are inculcating17)， and at the same time your hot water will have a tendency to remove impurities18) from his person， and possibly the skin， in spots.

If your mother tells you to do a thing， it is wrong to reply that you won't. It is better and more becoming to intimate that you will do as she bids19) you， and then afterward act quietly in the matter according to the dictates20) of your best judgment.

You should ever bear in mind that it is to your kind parents that you are indebted21) for your food， and for the privilege of staying home from school when you let on22) that you are sick. Therefore you ought to respect their little prejudices， and humor23) their little whims24)， and put up with their little foibles25) until they get to crowding26) you too much.

Good little girls always show marked deference27) for the aged. You ought never to \"sass28)\" old people unless they \"sass\" you first.

乖巧的小女孩可不能每次受到小小的批評就跟老師頂嘴。這種反擊只應在特別惡劣的情況下才可付諸行動。

當你的某位小伙伴有幸得到了一個昂貴的瓷娃娃，而你卻只有那個塞滿鋸屑的破布娃娃時，你還是要非常友好地待她哦。除非你良心上過得去，而且有把握一定能得到，否則可千萬別想著強迫她和你交換。

想要你弟弟的“泡泡糖”？別再強取豪奪啦，試試給他下個套兒吧。就答應他說你以后再在河里磨石上撿到漂來的錢，最先撿到的2.5美元一定給他。像他這么點大的小毛孩，正是天真無邪的時候，定會以為這是筆相當公平的交易。古往今來，這種花言巧語的騙局誘使多少無知孩童丟了東西破了財呀！

不論何時你覺得有必要懲罰一下哥哥，也千萬不要用泥巴——任何情況下都絕不要往他身上扔泥巴，那樣會把他的衣服弄臟嘛。最好呢就是稍微燙他一燙，這樣你的目的也就達到了。你不僅可以使他的注意力立刻轉移到你的“諄諄教導”上，而且熱水搞不好還能清除他身上的污垢，甚至還可能讓他某些部位脫層皮呢。

要是你媽媽讓你做件事，不要總是說我不干，這樣說是不對的。聰明的話，你要在她面前表現得言聽計從，至于私底下做的時候嘛，你想怎么做就怎么做。

你要時刻謹記，正是因為你那慈愛的父母，你才能食有所依，才能在你聲稱自己生病時享有賴在家里不去上學的特權。所以，你要學會尊重他們小小的偏見，遷就他們小小的奇想，忍受他們小小的毛病，只要他們沒有把你逼得忍無可忍！

乖巧的小女孩對長輩總是畢恭畢敬。永遠不要“頂撞”長輩，除非他們先“頂撞”你！

1.Mark Twain: 馬克·吐溫(原名Samuel Langhorne Clemens，1835~1910)，美國著名的幽默大師、小說家、演說家及作家，19世紀后期美國現實主義文學的杰出代表。《給小女孩的建議》(Advice to Little Girls)這篇小文寫于1865年，最終被收錄在《三萬元遺產及其他故事》(The 30000 Dollar Bequest and Other Stories)中出版。

2.make mouths: 頂嘴

3.trifling [#712;tra#618;fl#618;#331;] adj. 無足輕重的；微不足道的

4.retaliation [r#618;#716;taelig;li#712;e#618;#643;n] n. 報復；以牙還牙

5.resort to: 求助于；采用

6.aggravated [#712;aelig;ɡr#601;ve#618;t#618;d] adj. (罪行、懲罰等)加重的

7.swap [sw#594;p] n. 交換

8.by main force: 用全身氣力；以全力

9.rope in: <美> 使入圈套

10.grindstone [#712;ɡra#618;ndst#601;#650;n] n. 磨石

11.artless [#712;ɑ#720;tl#601;s] adj. 單純的，天真的

12.eminently [#712;em#618;n#601;ntli] adv. 明顯地

13.plausible [#712;pl#596;#720;z#601;bl] adj. 花言巧語的

14.obtuse [#601;b#712;tju#720;s] adj. (智力)遲鈍的，愚鈍的

15.on any account: [一般用于否定句]無論如何，不管怎么說

16.scald [sk#596;#720;ld] vt. (用沸水等)燙傷

17.inculcate [#712;#618;nk#652;lke#618;t] vt. 反復灌輸；諄諄教誨

18.impurity [#618;m#712;pj#650;#601;r#601;ti] n. 雜質；不純之物

19.bid [b#618;d] vt. 命令；吩咐

20.dictate [#712;d#618;kte#618;t] n. [~s]命令；要求

21.indebted [#618;n#712;det#618;d] adj. 感激的；受惠的

22.let on: <口> 泄露(秘密)

23.humor [#712;hju#720;m#601;(r)] vt. 遷就，迎合；縱容

24.whim [w#618;m] n. 異想天開的念頭，怪念頭

25.foible [#712;f#596;#618;bl] n. (性格上的)小缺點

26.crowd [kra#650;d] vt. <口> 催促；催逼

27.deference [#712;def#601;r#601;ns] n. 遵從；敬重

28.sass [saelig;s] vt. 跟……頂嘴；對……出言無禮