8 IN THE ATTIC在阁楼里-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《小公主A Little Princess》

C IN THE ATTIC THE first night she spent in her attic was a thing Sara never forgot. During its passing^{①}, she lived through a wild^{②}, unchild-like woe③ of which she never spoke to any one about her. There was no one who would have understood. It was, indeed④, well for her that as she lay awake in the darkness her mind was forcibly distracted, now and then^{}, by the strangeness of her surroundings. It was, perhaps, well for her that she was reminded by her small body of material things. If this had not been so, the anguish{} of her young mind might have been too great for a child to bear. But, really, while the night was passing she scarcely knew that she had a body at all or remembered any other thing than one. "My papa is dead!" she kept whispering to herself. "My papa is dead!" It was not until long afterward that she realized that her bed had been so hard that she turned over and over in it to find a place to rest, that the darkness seemed more intense than any she had ever known, and that the wind howled over the roof among the chimneys^{} like something which wailed aloud. Then there was something worse. This was certain ·164 在阁楼里 ① pass /pa:s/v. 经过 在阁楼里度过的第一夜是萨拉永远不会忘记 ② wild /waild/a 强烈的 ③woe /wau/n. 悲,悲痛 的。随着黑夜的流逝,她尝受到了一种强烈的。 孩子体会不到的哀痛,对此她从没有向别人说 ④ indeed /in'di:d/ ad. 的确: 过,也没有人会理解。她睡不着在黑暗中躺着的 实在 forcibly /foisabalr/ ad. 强 时候,多亏了周围奇怪的环境常常迫使她分心。 行地 distract /dis'traekt/ v. 分散 也许幸亏是她小小的身驱使她想起了一些实质性 (注意力等) 的东西。如果不是这样,她那幼小心灵上的痛苦 7 now and then 不时地 ⑧ anguish /aengwif/ n. (极 可能太大,不是一个孩子所能忍受的。可是说真 度)痛苦,苦校 的,当夜晚消逝时,她几乎不知道自已还有个身 躯,或者记得除一件事情外的任何事情 “我的爸爸死啦!”她不断嘀嘀自语着说 “我的爸爸死啦!” 过了好久,她才意识到她的床是那么硬,使 得她在床上辗转反侧寻找一块休息的地方,使黑 夜似乎比她以前经历过的更黑暗,风在屋顶上烟 肉之间吼叫,就像什么东西在大声恸哭。还有比 ②chimney /t fimni/ n. 烟皮 这更坏的。这就是墙壁内和踢脚板后面的混战。 择爬和吱吱的叫声。她知道这意味着什么,因为 ·165. A Cittfe Princess scufflings and scratchings and squeakings^{} in the walls and behind the skirting boards{②. She knew what they meant, because Becky had described them. They meant rats and mice who were either fighting with each other or playing together. Once or twice she even heard sharp-toed feet scurrying across the floor, and she remembered in those after days, when she recalled{③} things, that when first she heard them she startled up in bed and sat trembling, and when she lay down again covered her head with the bedclothes The change in her life did not come about gradually④, but was made all at once. "She must begin as she is to go on,"Miss Minchin said to Miss Amelia."She must be taught at once what she is to expect." Mariette had left the house the next morning. The glimpse Sara caught of her sitting-room, as she passed its open door, showed her that everything had been changed. Her ornaments and luxuries had been removed, and a bed had been placed in a corner to transform it into a new pupil's bedroom. When she went down to breakfast she saw that her seat at Miss Minchin's side was occupied by Lavinia, and Miss Minchin spoke to her coldly. "You will begin your new duties, Sara," she said, "by taking your seat with the younger children at a smaller table. You must keep them quiet, and see that they behave well and do not waste their food. You ought to have been down earlier. Lottie has already upset^{}her tea." That was the beginning, and from day to day the duties given to her were added to. She taught the younger children French and heard their other lessons, and these were the least of her labors^{. It was found that she could be made use of in numberless directions. She could be sent or errands at any time and in all weathers. She could be told to do things .166. 小公主 ① squeak /skwitk/v. 发出短 贝基曾经形容过。这是大大小小的耗子,它们要 而尖的声音 ② skirting board 踢脚板 么是在打架,要么是在一起游戏。有一两次她甚 至听到有尖锐脚趾的脚匆匆跑过地板的声音,她 在以后的日子里回忆往事时,记得她第一次听到 这种声音时吓得突然从床上坐起,坐着发抖,她 再次躺下时,便用被子捂着头。 ③recall/ri'ko:l/v 回想:使 想起 她生活中的转变不是逐渐发生,而是一下子 都变了。 “因为她要生活下去,所以她必须立刻开始 ④ gradully /qraedjual/ ad 干活,”明钦小姐对阿米莉亚小姐说。“要立即 渐渐地,逐渐地 all at once-下子 让她知道,以后要她做些什么。” 玛丽埃特第二天上午离开了学校。萨拉经过 她从前的起居室敞开着的房门时,朝里面看了一 眼,室内的一切都变了。她的各种装饰品和奢侈 品都已搬走,在一个屋角里摆了一张床,这间房 ornament /o:nomont/ n. 美 成了一个新生的卧室。 丽的物品或装饰物 她下楼吃早饭时,发现自已在明钦小姐旁边 的座位已被拉维尼占据,明钦小姐冷冰冰地对 她开了腔。 “你要开始干你的新工作,萨拉,”她说, “你在小饭桌旁跟那些年纪较小的孩子们一起坐 你一定要她们保持安静,要她们规矩点,不要浪 费粮食。你应该早些下楼。洛蒂把那杯茶打翻 了。” upset /Ap'set/v. 打帮 这是开始,随后交给她的任务天天增加。她 教年纪较小的孩子们法语,听她们背别的课文 这些只是她最小部分的劳动。人们发现可以在无 ③labor /leibo/n. 劳动 数方面使用她;可以在任何时间,任何天气打发 她办事。可以吟咐她做别人不干的事情。厨娘和 女仆们学着明钦小姐的口气,颇为开心地把过去 ·167· A Cittfe Princess other people neglected①}. The cook and the housemaids took their tone from Miss Minchin, and rather enjoyed ordering about the "young one" who had been made so much fuss over for so long. They were not servants of the best class, and had neither good manners nor good tempers, and it was frequently convenient②} to have at hand③} someone on whom blame could be laid. During the first month or two, Sara thought that her willingness{④ to do things as well as she could, and her silence under reproof, might soften those who drove her so hard. In her proud little heart she wanted them to see that she was trying to earn her living and not accepting charity. But the time came when she saw that no one was softened at all: and the more willing she was to do as she was told, the more domineering and exacting careless* housemaids became, and the more ready a scolding cook was to blame her. If she had been older, Miss Minchin would have given her the bigger girls to teach and saved money by dismissing an instructress; but while she remained and looked like a child, she could be made more useful as a sort of little superior errand girl and maid of all work. An ordinary errand boy would not have been so clever and reliable. Sara could be trusted with difficult commissions^{} and complicated{} messages. She could even go and pay bills, and she combined^{}with this the ability to dust^{} a room well and to set things in order. Her own lessons became things of the past. She was taught nothing and only after long and busy days spent in running here and there at everybody's orders was she grudgingly{ allowed to go into the deserted school-room, with a pile of old books, and study alone at night "If I do not remind myself of the things I have learned, perhaps I may forget them," she said to herself. "I am almost a scullery-maid, and ·168· 小公主 ①neglect /ni'alekt/ v. 忽视 那么长时间里一直过分吹捧的“年轻人”差来差 忽略 去。她们并不是上等仆人,既没礼貌,脾气也 坏,经常需要近旁有什么人可以责怪。 头一两个月,萨拉认为自已愿意尽可能干好 活,受到责备也默不作声,可能会使尽力支使她 ② convenient /kan'vi:niant a.方便的 的人变得温和些。在她那幼小而骄傲的心灵中 ③ at hand近旁的 ④willingness /wilinnis n 她希望她们知道,她是在设法自食其力,而不是 乐意,心甘情愿,愿意 接受施舍。然而她终于明白了,根本没有人变得 reproof /ri'pru:f/ n. 斥责. 谴责 温和;她越是愿意按照吟咐干活,那些漫不经心 的女仆越是盛气凌人,越是苛刻,好骂街的厨娘 越是动辄训斥她。 她要是年纪大一些,明钦小姐本会让她教年 纪较大的女孩,解骋一位女教师以此节省开支; careless /keolis/a. 不负责 的,不关心的 不过她看起来仍然像个小孩,让她当个上等的使 女和干各种活的女仆会更有用。一个普通的使童 不会那么伶俐可靠。人们可以信任地把困难的任 务和复杂的口信托付给萨拉。她甚至可以去付帐 她还有能力把房间打扫干净并把东西收拾整齐。 她自已的功课已成为过去的事。没有人教她 什么,只是在漫长而繁忙的白天按照别人吟咐匹 处奔波之后,才勉强允许她在晚上带着一擦旧书 commission /ka'mifan/ n 委任,委托 走进空无一人的教室自学。 ③ complicated “要是我不复习学过的东西,也许我会把它们 /komplikeitid/ a. 复杂的 combine /kom'bain/ v. 使 全忘了,”她对自已说。“我现在几乎就是帮厨女 联合(结合) 拥,如果我是个一无所知的女拥,那我就跟可怜 dust /dAst/v. 拂去灰尘 grudgingly /grAd3inli/ ad 的贝基一样。我不知道我会不会完全忘记和开始 勉强地 不发h这个音注,也不记得享利八世有6个妻子。” [注] 伦敦方言不发h音,如hat [het]读作'at [at],此处是萨拉担 心自己由于社会地位变了,语言也变得粗俗起来。 ·169· A Cittfe Princess if I am a scullery-maid who knows nothing, I shall be like poor Becky. I wonder if I could quite forget and begin to drop my h's and not remember that Henry the Eighth had six wives." One of the most curious^{①} things in her new existence was her changed position among the pupils. Instead of being a sort of small royal② personage③ among them, she no longer seemed to be one of their number at all. She was kept so constantly at work that she scarcely ever had an opportunity of speaking to any of them, and she could not avoid seeing that Miss Minchin preferred that she should live a life apart from that of the occupants{} of the school-room. "I will not have her forming intimacies} and talking to the other children," that lady said. "Girls like a grievance, and if she begins to tell romantic stories about herself, she will become an ill-used heroine, and parents will be given a wrong impression. It is better that she should live a separate life-one suited to her circumstances^{}. I am giving her a home, and that is more than she has any right to expect from me." Sara did not expect much, and was far too proud to try to continue to be intimate with girls who evidently felt rather awkward and uncertain about her. The fact was that Miss Minchin's pupils were a set of dull, matter-of-fact young people. They were accustomed to being rich and comfortable, and as Sara's frocks grew shorter and shabbier and queerer- looking, and it became an established{} fact that she wore shoes with holes in them and was sent out to buy groceries^{} and carry them through the streets in a basket on her arm when the cook wanted them in a hurry, they felt rather as if, when they spoke to her, they were addressing{ an under servant. "To think that she was the girl with the diamond-mines," Lavinia commented. "She does look an object^{}. And she's queerer than ever. I never liked her much, but I can't bear that way she has now of looking .170· 小公主 在她的新生活中最奇怪的事情之一,就是她 在学生中的地位也发生了变化。她在她们当中已 不是有几分像王室子弟的那种人了,她似乎根本 ① curious /kjuarias/ a. 奇特 不再是其中一分子了。人们一直不停地让她干 的,不寻常的 活,她几乎没有机会跟其中任何人说话,她也不 ②roval/roial/a. 王室的 ③ personage /po:sonidy/ n.人 可能不知道,明钦小姐宁愿让她过那种远离开教 物 室的占有者的生活。 ④ occuppant /'5kiu:pant/ n (土地、房屋、地位等的)占 “我不许她和别的孩子形成亲密关系,和她 有人 们讲话,”这位女士说。“姑娘们爱听牢骚话。 要是她开始虚构一些有关自己的故事,她将变成 intimacy /intimasi/ n. 亲 密,亲近 一个受虐待的女主角,会给家长们留下坏的印 象。她最好是单独生活--过和她的境况相适应 的生活。我给了她一个家,这已经超过了她有权 suited /sju:tid/ a. 适合 指望从我这里得到的一切。” 的,匹配的 萨拉并没有更多的期望,她的自尊心太强 circumstance /sa:komstans/n. 境况,境 她不想继续跟那些姑娘保持亲密关系,她们显然 遇 觉得有点尴尬,也觉得她难以捉摸。事实是明钦 小姐的学生都是一班迟钝而实际的孩子。她们习 惯于富裕和舒适,随着萨拉的衣服越来越短,越 来越破,样子越来越怪,这就成了一种既定事实, 那就是她穿着有洞的鞋子,在厨娘有急用时,被 派出去购买杂物,再跨着篮子穿过街道拿回来。 ③ established /is'taeblift/ a 确定的,既定的 因此她们对她讲话时,总觉得像是在和下等仆人 grocery /grausari/ n. 食品; 讲话似的。 杂货 o address /a'dres/ v 说.说话 “想想看,她曾经是拥有钻石矿的姑娘,”拉 维尼哑说。“她现在看上去可真不像样。她比以 前更古怪了。我从来就没喜欢过她,但是我受不 object /obdsikt/ n. // 了她现在那种不说话看着人的样子,就像她要猜 (可笑或可怜的)人 想出她们是什么人似的。” “我是那样,”萨拉听到这话以后,立刻回答 .171· A Cittfe Princess at people without speaking-just as if she was finding them out." "I am,"said Sara, promptly①, when she heard of this “That's what I look at some people for. I like to know about them. I think them over afterward." The truth was that she had saved herself annoyance several times by keeping her eye on② Lavinia, who was quite ready to make mischief③. and would have been rather pleased to have made it for the ex-show④ pupil. Sara never made any mischief herself, or interfered{} with any one. She worked like a drudge; she tramped* through the wet streets, carrying parcels^{} and baskets: she labored with the childish inattention^{⑧} of the little ones' French lessons; as she became shabbier and more forlorn-looking, she was told that she had better take her meals down- stairs; she was treated as if she was nobody's concern, and her heart grew proud and sore, but she never told any one what she felt. “Soldiers don't complain," she would say between her small, shut teeth. "I am not going to do it; I will pretend this is part of a war." But there were hours when her child heart might almost have broken with loneliness but for three people. The first, it must be owned, was Becky-just Becky. Throughout all that first night spent in the garret, she had felt a vague comfort in knowing that on the other side of the wall in which the rats scuffled and squeaked there was another young human creature. And during the nights that followed the sense of comfort grew. They had little chance to speak to each other during the day. Each had her own tasks to perform, and any attempt at conversation would have been regarded as a tendency to loiter^{ and lose time. "Don't mind me, miss," Becky whispered during the first morning, “if I don't say nothin' polite. Some un'd be down on us if I did. I means .172· 小公主 说。 “这就是我为什么要看一些人。我希望了解 ① promptly /promptli/ ad 她们。以后再把她们好好想一遍。” 迅速地,敏捷地 实际上她有几次由干密切注视着拉维尼哑而 使自已免受打揽,因为拉维尼随时准备捣鬼。 ② keep one's eye on 密切注 而捉弄这个以前装点门面的学生会使她感到高兴 视 萨拉自已从不捣鬼,也不干涉别人。她像苦 ③mischief /mist fif/ n. 恶作 剧,捣蛋 工那样干活;她拿着包裹和篮子走过湿漉漉的街 ④ex-show以前装点门面的 道:她费力地给那些稚气而漫不经心的小孩子上 interfere /inta'fia/ v. 干 法语课;由于她的衣服更加破旧,样子也更加凄 涉,干预 tramp /traemp/ v. 用沉重 惨,于是她被告知,最好在楼下吃饭;她被当作 的脚步走 parcel/pa:sl/ n.包襄,小 无人关心的对象来对待,她的内心越来越自尊也 包 越来越痛苦,可她从不把自已的想法告诉别人。 ⑧ inattention /ina'tenfon/ n 不注意:粗心,疏忽 “军人不会诉苦,”她会从细小而咬紧的牙缝 间说出这句话。“我不打算这样做;我要假设这 是战争的一部分。” 然而有些时候,要不是有三个人的话,她幼 小的心很可能由于孤独而破碎。 第一个人应该是贝基--只能是贝基。在阁 楼上度过第一夜时,她曾模糊地感到安慰,知道 耗子在里面混战并吱吱叫着的墙壁那边,住着另 外一个小家伙。在随后几夜里,安慰感不断增 强。白天她们彼此几乎没有机会谈话。各人有各 人的事要干,试着想谈话的话都会被认为是企图 游手好闲和浪费时间。 “请别在意,小姐,”第一天早晨贝基轻声说 “要是我没有说什么客气话。如果我说了,有人该 训我们了。我的意思是指请'、'谢谢你'和 loiter /loito/v. 游手好闭 “对不起'这些话,而且我不想花时间去说这些。” 不过在天亮以前,她总是溜进萨拉的阁楼 ·173·