Advice to Little Girls

Good little girls ought not to make mouths at their teachers for every trifling offense. This retaliation should only be resorted to under peculiarly aggravated circumstances.

乖巧的小女孩不应该因为老师的一点小过错就对她做鬼脸。这种报复行为只应该在特别过分的情况下才使用。

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 swap with her unless your conscience would justify you in it, and you know you are able to do it.

如果你只有一个填着锯末的破布娃娃，而你那位更幸运的小伙伴却有一个昂贵的瓷娃娃，你仍然应该表现出友善的样子去对待她。你也不应该试图强行跟她交换，除非你自己的良心能过得去，而且你确信自己能做得到。

You ought never to take your little brother's “chewing-gum” away from him by main force; it is better to rope him in with the promise of the first two dollars and a half you find floating down the river on a grindstone. In the artless simplicity natural to this time of life, he will regard it as a perfectly fair transaction. In all ages of the world this eminently plausible fiction has lured the obtuse infant to financial ruin and disaster.

你绝不应该用蛮力从弟弟手里抢走他的“口香糖”；更好的办法是许诺给他你在磨石上顺着河水漂来的头两块半美元，把他哄住。凭着这个年纪特有的天真单纯，他会把这当成一笔完全公平的交易。古往今来，这个显然十分可信的谎言一直诱惑着懵懂的孩子走向财务上的毁灭与灾难。

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

如果什么时候你觉得有必要管教一下你的弟弟，不要用泥巴来管教他——无论如何都不要朝他扔泥巴，因为那会弄脏他的衣服。最好稍微用热水烫他一下，这样才能得到理想的效果。这样你能立刻让他专心听你要教导的道理，同时那热水还能顺带把他身上的污垢冲掉一些，说不定连皮肤上的斑点也能去掉几处。

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 bids you, and then afterward act quietly in the matter according to the dictates of your best judgment.

如果你母亲让你做一件事，回嘴说你不做是不对的。更好、更得体的做法是先表示你会照她说的去做，然后事后再悄悄地按照你自己最好的判断行事。

You should ever bear in mind that it is to your kind parents that you are indebted for your food, and for the privilege of staying home from school when you let on that you are sick. Therefore you ought to respect their little prejudices, and humor their little whims, and put up with their little foibles until they get to crowding you too much.

你要永远记住，正是你那慈爱的父母，才让你有饭吃，也才让你在假装生病时可以享有不去上学的特权。因此，你应该尊重他们那些小小的成见，迁就他们那些小小的怪癖，容忍他们那些小小的毛病，直到他们管得太过分为止。

Good little girls always show marked deference for the aged. You ought never to “sass” old people unless they “sass” you first.

乖巧的小女孩总是对长者表现出明显的敬意。除非老人先对你无礼，否则你绝不应该对他们“顶嘴”。