小妇人 01

1 Four sisters

'Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents, 'said Jo crossly.

'It's so awful to be poor! 'agreed Meg, looking at her old dress.

'It's not right for some girls to have pretty things, and others to have nothing at all, 'said little Amy.

'We've got Father and Mother, 'and each other, 'said Beth gently.

The four young faces round the fire cheered up as they thought of this, but then Jo said sadly, 'We haven't got Father, and we won't have him for a long time. '

She didn't say 'perhaps never, 'but each silently thought it, remembering that he was away at the war in the South.

Then Meg said, 'Mother says we shouldn't spend money on presents when our men are fighting a war. '

'We can't expect anything from Mother or each other, 'said Jo, ' but we only have a dollar each, and that won't help the army much.

Let's each buy ourselves what we want, and have a little fun. We work hard to earn it. '