弗高森大厦215号
9月24日
亲爱的送孤儿来大学的好心董事：
我终于到了！昨天搭了4个钟头的火车，那真的很有趣，不是吗？我以前从没搭过火车。
大学真大，是个容易把人搞糊涂的地方——我只要一离开房间就会迷路。等我觉得不那么混乱时，我会再写一封信给您，到时我会跟您谈谈我的功课。现在是星期六晚上，而星期一早上才开课。不过我还是想先写封信让我们彼此认识一下。
写信给陌生人是件挺奇怪的事。写信对我来说本来就够奇怪的——我这辈子到现在就写过3封信，所以如果写得不是很标准，请您就睁只眼闭只眼吧。
昨天早上出发前，李皮太太跟我严肃地谈了一会儿。她要我今后都要谨言慎行，尤其对有恩于我的好心先生更要注意自己的言行。我一定要“非常的尊敬”。
不过对一个叫约翰·史密斯的人，怎么尊敬得起来？您为什么不挑个有点儿个性的名字呢？我仿佛在写信给亲爱的拴马柱或衣服架一样。
这个夏天我想了很多关于您的事。这么多年来终于有人对我感兴趣，这让我觉得好像有了家一样，感觉有了归属，这是种很舒服的感觉。不论如何，我必须承认，当我想到您的时候，我的想象力起不了什么作用，我只知道3件事情：
1.您长得很高。
2.您很有钱。
3.您讨厌女孩子。
我想我可以称您为“亲爱的恨女人的先生”，不过这太侮辱我自己了。或许我可以称您为“亲爱的有钱人”，不过这样又太侮辱您了，好像您唯一值得提的就是钱。此外，“富有”是一种很肤浅的特质。您也许不会一辈子都有钱，有很多聪明人也都在华尔街惨遭滑铁卢。不过您这辈子应该都会长得一样高吧！所以我决定称您为“亲爱的长腿叔叔”，希望您别介意。这只是个私底下的昵称，我们不跟李皮太太说的。
再过两分钟，10点的钟声就要响了。我们的一天被钟声分成好几段。我们吃饭、睡觉跟上课都照着钟声来。这让我精力十足，随时都像匹野马。
来啰！熄灯了。晚安。
您看我多守规矩——全亏约翰·格利尔之家的训练。
最尊敬您的，
乔若莎·亚伯特
致长腿叔叔——史密斯
215 FERGUSSEN HALL
24 th September
Dear Kind-Trustee-Who-Sends-
Orphans-to-College,
Here I am!I travelled yesterday for four hours in a train. It's a funny sensation, isn't it?I never rode in one before.
College is the biggest, most bewildering place-I get lost whenever I leave my room. I will write you a description later when I'm feeling less muddled;also I will tell you about my lessons.Classes don't begin until Monday morning, and this is Saturday night.But I wanted to write a letter first just to get acquainted.
It seems queer to be writing letters to somebody you don't know. It seems queer for me to be writing letters at all-I've never written more than three or four in my life, so please overlook it if these are not a model kind.
Before leaving yesterday morning, Mrs. Lippett and I had a very serious talk.She told me how to behave all the rest of my life, and especially how to behave towards the kind gentleman who is doing so much for me.I must take care to be Very Respectful.
But how can one be very respectful to a person who wishes to be called John Smith?Why couldn't you have picked out a name with a little personality?I might as well write letters to Dear Hitching-Post or Dear Clothes-Prop.
I have been thinking about you a great deal this summer;having somebody take an interest in me after all these years makes me feel as though I had found a sort of family. It seems as though I belonged to somebody now, and it's a very comfortable sensation.I must say, however, that when I think about you, my imagination has very little to work upon.There are just three things that I know:
I. You are tall.
II. You are rich.
III. You hate girls.
I suppose I might call you Dear Mr. Girl-Hater.Only that's rather insulting to me.Or Dear Mr.Rich-Man, but that's insulting to you, as though money were the only important thing about you.Besides, being rich is such a very external quality.Maybe you won't stay rich all your life;lots of very clever men get smashed up in Wall Street.But at least you will stay tall all your life!So I've decided to call you Dear Daddy-Long-Legs.I hope you won't mind.It's just a private pet name we won't tell Mrs.Lippett.
The ten o'clock bell is going to ring in two minutes. Our day is divided into sections by bells.We eat and sleep and study by bells.It's very enlivening;I feel like a fire horse all of the time.
There it goes!Lights out. Good night.
Observe with what precision I obey rules-due to my training in the John Grier Home.
Yours most respectfully,
Jerusha Abbott
To Mr. Daddy-Long-Legs Smith