# ■ 4 More trouble for Anne

I think I'll ask the new vicar, Mr Allan, and his wife to tea on Wednesday. 'said Marilla one day.

Oh yes, please do! 'cried Anne excitedly. 'Mrs Allan is young and beautiful, and has a very sweet smile! Can I make a cake for tea? Say yes, Marilla! '

Marilla agreed, and for the next few days Anne planned what she would put in her cake.

I do hope it's going to be a good one, 'she told Diana. 'Sometimes I forget to put in the right things. '

You made a very good one last week, 'said her friend. 'I'm sure it'll be all right. '

On Wednesday the tea party started very well.

These are very good cakes, Miss Cuthbert, 'Mrs Allan said to Marilla. 'You have been busy. '

Anne made this one, specially for you, Mrs Allan, 'replied Marilla.

Oh well, I must try some, 'laughed the vicar's wife. But after the first mouthful there was a very strange look on her face.

Is anything wrong? 'asked Marilla. She ate a piece of Anne's cake herself. 'Oh! Anne! What have you put in this cake? 'she cried.

Isn't it…isn't it all right? 'asked Anne, her face red.

All right? It's horrible! Don't try to eat any more, Mrs Allan. Anne, you've put my medicine in this cake! '

Oh! I didn't know! It was white, and in a bottle! I thought it was milk! 'sobbed Anne. She ran upstairs and fell on her bed, crying loudly.

But later that evening, when Mrand Mrs Allan went home, Marilla came to talk to her.

Oh Marilla! 'cried Anne. 'Everybody in Avonlea will laugh at me for putting medicine in a cake! '

Marilla smiled and touched Anne's hot face. 'No, they won't, Anne. Mrs Allan wasn't angry, you know. She said it was very kind of you to make her a cake, and she's asked you to tea at her house! '

Oh, so she's forgiven me! She is nice, isn't she? 'said Anne thankfully. 'Why do I get into trouble like this? Perhaps I won't make any mistakes tomorrow. '

Marilla shook her head, still smiling. 'You'll think of some-thing, Anne. You're very good at making mistakes! '

***

Spring came, with its bright green leaves and early flowers. One April evening Marilla came home late after visiting friends. She found the kitchen empty, and no supper on the table.

Where's Anne? 'she thought crossly. 'I told her to get the supper ready. 'She hurried upstairs to Anne's room, and found the girl sobbing on her bed.

Don't look at me, Marilla! 'Anne cried. 'I know I'm bad, I know I am! '

What is the matter? 'asked Marilla. 'Are you ill? '

Oh Marilla, I just want to die! Look at my hair! '

And Marilla saw that Anne's long thick red hair was now a horrible dark green.

Oh Anne! 'she said, 'What have you done now? '

I…I bought a bottle of something special from a man who came to the door. He said it would change my hair from red to black! Oh, I know it was stupid of me! But what shall I do? '

They washed Anne's hair again and again, but it was still green. Anne stayed at home for a week, saw nobody, and washed her hair every day. But at the end of the week, Maril-la said, 'I'm sorry, Anne, we'll have to cut it all off. You can't go to school with green hair. '

Anne had to agree. 'Perhaps this will teach me not to think about being beautiful, 'she said sadly.

Everybody was surprised to see Anne with very short hair, but no one learned the secret. And some weeks later, there were some new, darker red curls, which pleased Anne very much.

* * *

That summer Anne and her friends often played in an old boat on the river.

Today, let's imagine that I'm a prisoner and I'm escaping from prison by boat, 'said Anne. 'I'll hide in the boat and the river will carry it down to the bridge. You're my family, and you must meet me at the bridge. '

The other girls agreed, so Anne got into the boat and hid under some coats. Her friends pushed the boat off down the river and ran across the fields to get round to the bridge. For a few minutes the prisoner enjoyed the game, but then she sud- denly felt wet and sat up. Water was coming in very fast through a hole in the bottom of the boat! Luckily, there were some trees by the river and Anne saw a low branch over the water. She jumped up and caught the branch. The boat went on without her and a few seconds later went down under the water.

Her friends on the bridge saw the boat, but they did not see Anne under the tree. 'Oh! Oh! Anne's dead! The boat's gone down and she's in the river! 'they screamed, and ran back to the village for help.

Poor Anne could not move. She held on and held on, but her arms were getting tired and she knew that she would fall in a minute. Suddenly, there was Gilbert Bly the in his boat!

Anne Shirley! 'he cried. 'What are you doing there? 'He did not wait for an answer, but quickly helped Anne into his boat. She didn't say a word. When they arrived at the bridge, she got out and turned away.

Thank you for helping me, 'she said coldly.

But Gilbert jumped out, and put a hand on her arm.

Anne, 'he said quickly, 'I'm sorry I called you "carrots. "It was a long time ago. I think your hair is really nice now. Can we forget it, and be friends? '

For a second Anne wanted to say yes. But then she remembered standing alone in front of the school children all after-noon, because of Gilbert. She would never forgive him for that! 'No, 'she replied coldly, 'I shall never be your friend, Gilbert Bly the! '

All right! 'Gilbert jumped angrily back into his boat. 'I'll never ask you again, Anne Shirley! '

Anne walked home with her head held high, but she felt strangely sad, and wanted to cry.

Why are you always in trouble, Anne? 'asked Marilla, when she heard about Anne's adventure.

Well, I think I'm learning, Marilla, 'answered Anne. 'I learn from my mistakes, and after today, I won't use my imagination so much. I don't think Avonlea is the right place for imagination. '

No, it isn't, 'agreed Marilla a little crossly.

When she went out, Matthew, who was sitting quietly in his corner, whispered to Anne, 'Keep a little imagination, Anne, not too much, of course, just a little. '

■ 4 安妮還有更多的麻煩

一天，瑪麗拉說：“星期三，我打算請新的牧師阿倫先生和他的太太來喝茶。”

“那太好了，請他們來吧！”安妮興奮地叫道。“阿倫太太年輕漂亮，笑起來可甜了！我能為他們做塊茶點蛋糕嗎？答應吧，瑪麗拉！”

瑪麗拉同意了。在以後的幾天裡，安妮盤算著在蛋糕裡放些什麼。

“我真希望蛋糕會好吃，”她對戴安娜說。“但有時我會忘了應該放些什麼。”

“上星期你做的蛋糕很不錯，”戴安娜回答道。“我想這次也不會有問題的。”

星期三到了，下午茶聚會開始得很順利。

“蛋糕看上去很不錯，卡斯伯特小姐，”阿倫太太對瑪麗拉說。“把您忙壞了吧。”

“這蛋糕是安妮特意為您做的，阿倫太太。”瑪麗拉回答道。

“噢，是嗎？我一定要嚐嚐。”牧師太太笑道。但當她嚐了一口之後，臉上出現了一種奇怪的表情。

“有什麼不妥嗎？”瑪麗拉問。她自己也吃了一塊安妮做的蛋糕。“噢！安妮！你在這蛋糕裡放了些什麼？”她叫道。

“難道……難道不好吃嗎？”安妮紅著臉問。

“好吃？簡直是難以下嚥！阿倫太太，別再吃了。安妮，你把我的藥放進蛋糕裡了。”

“噢！我不知道！它是白色的，放在一個瓶子裡！我以為是牛奶！”安妮邊哭邊說。她跑上樓，趴在床上大聲哭了起來。

那天晚上，阿倫先生和太太回家以後，瑪麗拉來勸安妮。

“唉，瑪麗拉！”安妮抽泣著說。“埃文利村的每一個人都會嘲笑我把藥放在蛋糕裡！”

瑪麗拉微笑著摸了摸安妮滾燙的小臉。“不，他們不會的，安妮。你知道嗎，阿倫太太沒有生氣。她說很感激你為她做了一個蛋糕，她還邀請你去她家喝茶呢！”

“真的嗎？那麼說她原諒我了！她真好，不是嗎？”安妮充滿感激地說。“我怎麼會遇到這樣的麻煩？也許我明天不會再犯錯誤了。”

瑪麗拉面帶微笑，搖了搖頭。“你還會想出其他點子的，安妮。你是個闖禍專家！”

* * *

春天來了，嫩綠的樹葉和早開的花兒掛上了枝頭。四月的一個黃昏，瑪麗拉探望朋友很晚才回家。她發現廚房裡一個人也沒有，餐桌上也沒有晚餐。

“安妮去哪兒了？”她想，心裡感到很不高興。“我讓她準備晚餐呢。”她很快趕到樓上安妮的房間，發現小姑娘正在床上哭泣。

“別看我，瑪麗拉！”安妮叫道。“我知道我不好，我知道我不好！”

“發生什麼事了？”瑪麗拉問道。“你是不是病了？”

“噢，瑪麗拉，我真想去死！看看我的頭髮！”

瑪麗拉發現安妮紅色的長髮辮已經變成難看的深綠色。

“唉，安妮！”瑪麗拉說，“這次你又幹了些什麼？”

“我……我從門外的一個男人那裡買了一瓶特製的東西。他說那東西可以把我的紅頭髮變成黑色！我知道自己真是太傻了！但我現在究竟該怎麼辦？”

她們把安妮的頭髮洗了一遍又一遍，但它還是綠色的。安妮在家裡呆了一個星期，什麼人也不見，每天洗頭。但等到了週末，瑪麗拉說：“我很抱歉，安妮，我們必須把你的頭髮都剪掉。你不能留著綠色的頭髮上學校去。”

安妮只得同意了。“也許這能使我明白別總想變漂亮，”她難過地說。

每個人見到留著短髮的安妮都很驚訝，但誰也不知道這其中的祕密。幾周後，安妮的頭上長出了新的、顏色更深的紅色鬈髮，這使安妮感到非常高興。

* * *

那年夏天，安妮和她的朋友們經常在河上一條破舊的船上玩。

“今天，我假裝是一個囚犯，剛剛用船從監獄裡逃出來，”安妮說。“我藏在船裡，河水會把船推到下游的小橋那裡去。你們是我的親人，你們必須在橋那裡接我。”

其他的女孩都表示贊同，安妮上了小船，藏在幾件衣服下面。她的小夥伴們把船推入水中，然後穿過田野向小橋跑去。剛開始的幾分鐘，“囚犯”還玩得很開心，可隨後她就覺得身上很溼，就坐了起來。河水從船底的一個洞中飛快地湧了進來！幸運的是，岸邊有一些樹木。安妮看到河上低垂著一條樹枝。她跳起來抓住了樹枝。空船順流而下，幾秒鐘後沉入了水中。

在橋上，安妮的小夥伴們看到了船，但她們沒有看到緊緊抓住樹枝的安妮。“哎呀！哎呀！安妮死了！船沉了，她掉進河裡了！”孩子們尖叫著跑回村裡求救。

可憐的安妮只能一動不動。她努力堅持著抓牢樹枝，但她的胳膊感到越來越累，安妮知道很快她就會掉進河裡。就在這時，吉爾伯特·布萊思和他的船出現了。

“安妮·雪利！”他呼喊著。“你在那兒幹什麼？”他沒等安妮回答，迅速地幫助安妮進到他的船裡。安妮什麼也沒有說。當他們到達橋邊的時候，她下了船，轉過身去。

“謝謝你幫助我，”她冷冷地說。

吉爾伯特跳下船，將手放在安妮的肩膀上。

“安妮，”他說，“我很後悔叫你‘胡蘿蔔’。那是很久以前的事了。我認為你的頭髮現在真的很漂亮。我們能不能忘掉以前的事，成為好朋友？”

安妮本想馬上說可以。但是她想起就是因為吉爾伯特，她被罰整個下午獨自站在學校的孩子們面前。她不能原諒他！“不，”她冷冷地回答，“我永遠也不會做你的朋友，吉爾伯特·布萊思！”

“好吧！”吉爾伯特憤怒地跳回到他的船裡。“我再也不會請求你了，安妮·雪利！”

安妮昂著頭走回了家，但奇怪的是她感覺很難過，甚至想哭。

“為什麼你總是有麻煩，安妮？”聽完安妮歷險的經歷，瑪麗拉問道。

“我想我正在學習，瑪麗拉，”安妮回答。“我從我犯的錯誤中學習。從今以後，我不會總是幻想了。我覺得埃文利村不是個進行幻想的好地方。”

“對，這兒不是，”瑪麗拉有些不快地贊同道。

馬修一直靜靜地坐在角落裡，等瑪麗拉出去以後，他輕聲對安妮說：“保留一點幻想，安妮，當然，別太多，保留一點。”