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秘密花园 The Secret Garden作者:弗朗西丝·霍奇森·伯内特 (Frances Hodgson Burnett ) [美国]
庄园的主人克莱文先生在爱妻过世之后,变得阴郁古怪、消沉遁世,掩埋了花园的钥匙,十年不曾允许任何人出人花园,想借此阻断对亡妻的思念。他每次见到长着和妈妈一样漂亮面容的儿子柯林,都会引起更大的悲伤,于是他选择逃避,终年在外漂泊。霍乱中父母双亡的玛丽一夜之间变成孤儿,被从印度送往英国约克郡克莱文姑父的庄园生活,她从小性情乖戾,这个陌生的环境更使她倍感孤独落寞,她讨厌所有的人,当然也不知道自己被人不喜欢。她在知更鸟的指引下找到了尘封已久的秘密花园的钥匙。秘密花园里一片萧瑟。
微信搜索点学英语,使用微信小程序,阅读功能更强大!第一章: 一个人也没剩下
When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manorto live with her uncle everybody said she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen.
玛丽·伦诺克斯被送到米瑟斯韦特庄园她舅舅那里,每个人都说没见过这么别扭的小孩。
It was true, too. She had a little thin face and a little thin body, thin light hair and a sour expression. Her hair was yellow, and her face was yellow because she had been born in India and had always been ill in one way or another.
确实是这样。她的脸蛋瘦削,身材单薄,头发细薄,一脸不高兴。她的头发是黄色的,脸色也是黄的,因为她在印度出生,不是生这病就是得那病。
Her father had held a position under the English Government and had always been busy and ill himself, and her mother had been a great beauty who cared only to go to parties and amuse herself with gay people.
她父亲在英国 *** 有个职务,他自己也总是生病。她母亲是个大美人,只关心宴会,想着和社交人物一起寻欢作乐。
She had not wanted a little girl at all, and when Mary was born she handed her over to the care of an Ayah, who was made to understand that if she wished to please the Mem Sahib, she must keep the child out of sight as much as possible.
本来她根本不想要这个小女孩儿,玛丽出生的时候,她把玛丽交给印度奶妈,奶妈知道,如果想让女主人高兴的话,肯定是把孩子带得越远越好。
So when she was a sickly, fretful, ugly little baby she was kept out of the way, and when she became a sickly, fretful, toddling thing she was kept out of the way also.
当她是个多病、烦躁、难看的婴儿,她被带到不妨碍大人的地方;当她长成一个多病、烦躁、蹒跚学步的小东西,她仍然被带到不妨碍大人的地方。
She never remembered seeing familiarly anything but the dark faces of her Ayah and the other native servants, and as they always obeyed her and gave her her own way in everything, because the Mem Sahib would be angry if she was disturbed by her crying, by the time she was six years old she was as tyrannical and selfish a little pig as ever lived.
她从不记得见过任何熟悉的东西,除了印度奶妈和其他印度仆人的黑脸,他们总是服从她,让她随心所欲,因为女主人被她的哭声打扰的话会发怒。到她六岁的时候,她是世界上最自私、最专横的小猪崽。
The young English governess who came to teach her to read and write disliked her so much that she gave up her place in three months, and when other governesses came to try to fill it they always went away in a shorter time than the first one.
一个年轻的英国家庭教师来教她读书写字,非常讨厌她,三个月就辞职不干了。别的家庭教师来应聘,呆的时间比第一个更短。
So if Mary had not chosen to really want to know how to read books she would never have learned her letters at all.
如果不是玛丽自己很想读书的话,她恐怕根本一个字母都不认识。
One frightfully hot morning, when she was about nine years old, she awakened feeling very cross, and she became crosser still when she saw that the servant who stood by her bedside was not her Ayah.
这天早晨,天热得恐怖,她差不多九岁,她醒来觉得心里很不顺气。她看到站在床边的仆人不是她的奶妈,就更不顺气了。
"Why did you come?" she said to the strange woman." I will not let you stay. Send my Ayah to me."
“你来干什么?”她对陌生女人说,“我不会让你留在这儿。把我奶妈叫来。”
The woman looked frightened, but she only stammered that the Ayah could not come and when Mary threw herself into a passion and beat and kicked her, she looked only more frightened and repeated that it was not possible for the Ayah to come to Missie Sahib.
女人看着很害怕,但是她只是结结巴巴地说,奶妈不能来。玛丽怒火中烧,对她又打又踢,她看着更害怕了,反复说奶妈确实不能到小姐这里来。
There was something mysterious in the air that morning. Nothing was done in its regular order and several of the native servants seemed missing, while those whom Mary saw slunk or hurried about with ashy and scared faces. But no one would tell her anything and her Ayah did not come. She was actually left alone as the morning went on, and at last she wandered out into the garden and began to play by herself under a tree near the veranda. She pretended that she was making a flower-bed, and she stuckbig scarlet hibiscus blossoms into little heaps of earth, all the time growing more and more angry and muttering to herself the things she would say and the names she would call Saidie when she returned.
那天早晨的气氛有些神秘。没有一件事是按常规办的,几个土著仆人不见了,玛丽见到的仆人们都面如死灰,不是开溜,就是四处乱窜。可是没有人告诉她任何事情,她的奶妈没有来。那天早晨,慢慢只剩她自己了,最后她漫步来到花园里,在游廊旁边的一棵树下自己和自己玩。她假装在造花坛,把一朵朵深红的木槿花 *** 一个个小土堆里,心里越来越生气,自言自语嘟哝着奶妈回来时要骂她的话。
"Pig! Pig! Daughter of Pigs!" she said, because to calla native a pig is the worst insult of all.
“猪!猪!猪养的!”她说,因为叫印度土著猪是最具侮辱性的。
She was grinding her teeth and saying this over and over again when she heard her mother come out on the veranda with some one. She was with a fair young man and they stood talking together in low strange voices. Mary knew the fair young man who looked like a boy. She had heard that he was a very young officer who had just come from England. The child stared at him, but she stared most at her mother. She always did this when she had a chance to see her, because the Mem Sahib Mary used to call her that oftener than anything else was such a tall, slim, pretty personand wore such lovely clothes. Her hair was like curly silk and she had a delicate little nose which seemed to be disdaining things, and she had large laughing eyes. All her clothes were thin and floating, and Mary said they were "full of lace." They looked fuller of lace than everthis morning, but her eyes were not laughing at all. They were large and scared and lifted imploringly to the fair boy officers face.
她正咬牙切齿地反复骂着,听到她妈妈和人一起来到游廊上。她和一个漂亮小伙子一起,他们站在一起低声谈话,声音奇怪。玛丽认识这个年轻人,他长得像个小男孩。她听说过他是个年轻军官,刚刚从英国来。小女孩瞪着他看,不过更瞪着她母亲看。一有机会见到她母亲,她就这样,因为女主人——玛丽对她最常用的称呼——是如此高挑、苗条,穿着如此美丽的衣服。她的头发如同卷曲的丝缎,小巧玲珑的鼻子好像对任何东西都瞧不起,她的大眼睛像在笑。她所有的衣服都轻薄飘逸,玛丽说它们“满是花边”。这天早晨,它们的花边好像比任何时候都更满。大大的花边害怕得张开,高耸到年轻军官的脸上,哀求着。
"Is it so very bad? Oh, is it?" Mary heard her say.
“这么糟糕吗?噢,真的吗?”玛丽听见她说。
"Awfully," the young man answered in a trembling voice."Awfully, Mrs. Lennox. You ought to have gone to the hills two weeks ago."
“坏透了,”年轻人声音颤抖地回答,“坏透了,伦诺克斯太太。你两个星期之前就该到山上去。”
The Mem Sahib wrung her hands.
女主人双手紧紧绞在一起。
"Oh, I know I ought!" she cried. "I only stayed to goto that silly dinner party. What a fool I was!"
“哦,我知道我应该!”她喊着,“我是为了那个傻头傻脑的宴会。我真是个傻瓜!”
At that very moment such a loud sound of wailing broke out from the servants quarters that she clutched the young mans arm, and Mary stood shivering from head to foot. The wailing grew wilder and wilder. "What is it? What is it?" Mrs. Lennox gasped.
就在那时,响亮的嚎哭声从仆人宿舍破空而来,她一把抓住年轻人的手臂,玛丽站起来,从头抖到脚。嚎哭声越来越疯野。“那是什么声音?那是什么?”伦诺克斯太太上气不接下气。
"Some one has died," answered the boy officer. "You did not say it had broken out among your servants."
“有人死了,”年轻军官回答,“你没有告诉我在仆人那里也爆发了。”
"I did not know!" the Mem Sahib cried. "Come with me! Come with me!" and she turned and ran into the house.
“我不知道!”女主人哭喊着,“跟我来!跟我来!”她转身跑进房子里。
After that, appalling things happened, and the mysteriousness of the morning was explained to Mary.
然后,让人毛骨悚然的事情来了,玛丽明白了这个早晨里一切神秘的东西。
The cholera had broken out in its most fatal form and people were dying like flies. The Ayah had been taken ill in the night, and it was because she had just died that the servants had wailed in the huts. Before the next day three other servants were dead and others had run away in terror. There was panic on every side, and dying people in all the bungalows.
一种最致命的霍乱爆发,人像蚊蝇一样纷纷死去。奶妈夜里发病,刚才棚屋里的嚎哭就是因为她死了。一天之内,另外三个仆人丧了命,其他的人都惊恐地逃走了。到处都是恐惧,小平房里到处都是死人。
During the confusion and bewilderment of the second day Mary hid herself in the nursery and was forgotten by everyone. Nobody thought of her, nobody wanted her, and strange things happened of which she knew nothing. Mary alternately cried and slept through the hours. She only knew that people were ill and that she heard mysterious and tightening sounds. Once she crept into the dining-room and found it empty, though a partly finished meal was on the table and chairs and plates looked as if they had been hastily pushed back when the diners rose suddenly for some reason. The child ate some fruit and biscuits, and being thirsty she drank a glass of wine which stood nearly filled. It was sweet, and she did not know how strong it was. Very soon it made her intensely drowsy, and she went back to her nursery and shut herself in again, frightened by cries she heard in the huts and by the hurrying sound of feet. The wine made her so sleepy that she could scarcely keep her eyes open and she lay down on her bed and knew nothing more for a long time.
在一片混乱和狼藉之中,第二天玛丽藏到她的幼儿室里,被所有人遗忘。没有人想起她,没有人想要她,奇怪的事情发生着,而她一无所知。那段时间,玛丽时哭时睡。她知道大家在生病,她听见神秘的、急迫的声音。她爬进饭厅,发现空无一人,尽管桌子上的饭只吃了一半,仿佛吃饭的人因为什么原因突然站起来,椅子、盘子被慌张地推开。小家伙吃了点儿水果和饼干,她觉得渴,喝了一杯酒,那杯酒几乎是满的,而且是甜的,她不知道那酒有多烈,很快她就觉得非常困,她回到幼儿室,把自己又关起来,棚屋里的喊叫、匆忙的脚步声,让她害怕。酒让她太困了,她几乎睁不开眼睛,她躺到床上,一会儿就什么也不知道了。
Many things happened during the hours in which she slept so heavily, but she was not disturbed by the wails and the sound of things being carried in and out of the bungalow.
她沉睡的时候,发生了很多事,但是小平房里东西抬出抬进的各种声响不再打扰她了。
When she awakened she lay and stared at the wall. The house was perfectly still. She had never known it to be so silent before. She heard neither voicesnor footsteps, and wondered if everybody had got well of the cholera and all the trouble was over. She wondered also who would take care of her now her Ayah was dead. There would be a new Ayah, and perhaps she would know some new stories. Mary had been rather tired of the old ones. She did not cry because her nurse had died. She was not an affectionate child and had never cared much for any one. The noise and hurrying about and wailing over the cholera had frightened her, and she had been angry because no one seemed to remember that she was alive. Everyone was too panic-stricken to think of a little girl no one was fond of. When people had the cholera it seemed that they remembered nothing but themselves. But if everyone had got well again, surely some one would remember and come to look for her.
她醒来以后,躺在床上盯着墙看。房子里一片寂静。她从没听到这座房子这么安静。她听不到说话声,也听不到脚步声,她猜想着大家是不是都从霍乱里恢复过来了,所有的麻烦都结束了。她也猜想着,她的奶妈死了,现在谁会来照顾她呢?会来一个新奶妈,也许能讲新故事。那些旧故事玛丽已经非常厌倦了。她不是个有人情味的小孩,也从来没关心过谁。霍乱带来的各种嘈杂、忙乱和嚎哭把她吓坏了,她非常生气,因为看来没有任何人记起来她还活着。恐慌击垮了每一个人,没有人有工夫去想起一个“万人嫌”。霍乱来的时候,人们似乎什么都记不起,除了他们自己。不过,如果大家都好起来了,肯定会有人记起,然后来找她。
But no one came, and as she lay waiting the house seemed to grow more and more silent. She heard something rustling on the matting and when she looked down she saw a little snake gliding along and watching her with eyes like jewels. She was not frightened, because he was a harmless little thing who would not hurt her and he seemed in a hurry to get out of the room. He slipped under the door as she watched him.
但是没有人来,她躺着等待,房子好像变得越来越安静。她听到地毯上窸窸窣窣地响,她低头看到一条小蛇爬过,看着她,眼睛如同宝石。她不觉得害怕,因为它是个与人无害的小东西,正急于离开这个房间。她看着它溜过门缝。
"How queer and quiet it is," she said. "It sounds as if there were no one in the bungalow but me and the snake."
“这里多么奇怪,多么安静啊,”她说,“听上去好像这房子里只有我和那条蛇。”
Almost the next minute she heard footsteps in the compound, and then on the veranda. They were mens footsteps, and the men entered the bungalow and talked in low voices. No one went to meet or speak to them and they seemed to open doors and look into rooms. "What desolation!"she heard one voice say. "That pretty, pretty woman! I suppose the child, too. I heard there was a child, though no one ever saw her."
差不多一分钟之内,她就听见院子里响起脚步声,然后到了游廊上。是男人们的脚步声,他们进了房子,低声说话。没有人去接待他们,跟他们讲话,他们好像打开门,朝一个个房间里看。“一片废墟!”她听见一个声音说。“那么一个美人啊!我猜那个孩子也……我听说有个孩子,不过从来没人见过她。”
Mary was standing in the middle of the nursery when they opened the door a few minutes later. She looked an ugly, cross little thing and was frowning because she was beginning to be hungry and feel disgracefully neglected. The first man who came in was a large officer she had once seen talking to her father. He looked tired and troubled, but when he saw her he was so startled that he almost jumped back.
几分钟之后,他们打开门的时候,玛丽站在幼儿室的正中间。她看上去是个难看、不顺心的小东西,皱着眉头,因为她开始感到饿了,觉得被可耻地忽视了。第一个进来的男人是个高级军官,她有一次看到过他和她父亲谈话。他看上去疲惫不安,可是当他看到她的时候,他吃惊得几乎往后跳。
"Barney!" he cried out. "There is a child here! A child alone! In a place like this! Mercy on us, who is she!"
“巴尼!”他惊叫起来,“这儿有个小孩儿!就小孩自己!在这么个地方!老天见怜,她是谁?”
"I am Mary Lennox," the little girl said, drawing herself up stiffly. She thought the man was very rude to call her fathers bungalow "A place like this!" "I fell asleep when everyone had the cholera and I have only just wakened up. Why does nobody come?"
“我是玛丽·伦诺克斯,”小女孩说,硬邦邦地想站直。她觉得这个男人很粗鲁,把她父亲的房子说成“这么个地方!”“大家染上霍乱的时候,我睡着了,刚刚才醒过来。怎么没有人来啊?”
"It is the child no one ever saw!" exclaimed the man, turning to his companions. "She has actually been forgotten!"
“这是那个谁都没见过的孩子!”男人惊呼起来,转向他的伙伴。“她竟然被忘记了!”
"Why was I forgotten?" Mary said, stamping her foot."Why does nobody come?"
“为什么我被忘记了?”玛丽跺着脚问,“为什么没有人来?”
The young man whose name was Barney looked at her very sadly. Mary even thought she saw him wink his eyes as if to wink tears away.
那个叫巴尼的年轻人悲伤地看着她。玛丽甚至觉得她看到他眨眼精,想把眼泪眨掉。
"Poor little kid!" he said. "There is nobody left to come."
“可怜的孩子!”他说,“没有人剩下,没有人能来。”
It was in that strange and sudden way that Mary found out that she had neither father nor mother left; that they had died and been carried away in the night, and that the few native servants who had not died also had left the house as quickly as they could get out of it, none of them even remembering that there was a Missie Sahib. That was why the place was so quiet. It was true that there was no one in the bungalow but herself and the little rustling snake.
就这么莫名其妙,突如其来,玛丽得知她没有父亲,也没有母亲了;他们已经在夜里死去,被抬走了,那几个没有死的印度仆人已经尽快逃离了这座房子,没有人想起还有个玛丽小姐。所以房子里这么安静。真的,这座大房子里,只有她和那条窸窸窣窣的小蛇。