Chapter2 Mistress Mary Quite Contrary女王玛丽，十分叛逆-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《秘密花园The Secret Garden》

Chapter II Mistress Mary Quite Contrary Mary had liked to look at her mother from a distance and she had thought her very pretty,but as she knew very little of her she could scarcely have been expected to love her or to miss her very much when she was gone.She did not miss her at all,in fact,and as she was a self-absorbed child she gave her entire thought to herself,as she had always done.If she had been older she would no doubt have been very anxious at being left alone in the world,but she was very young,and as she had always been taken care of,she supposed she always would be.What she thought was that she would like to know if she was going to nice people,who would be polite to her and give herher own way as her Ayah and the other native servants had done. She knew that she was not going to stay at the English clergyman's house where she was taken at first.She did not want to stay.The English clergyman was poor and he had five children nearly all the same age and they wore shabby clothes and were always quarreling and snatching toys from each other.Mary hated their untidy bungalow and was so disagreeable to them that after the first day or two nobody would play with her.By the second day they had given her a nickname which made her furious. It was Basil who thought of it first.Basil was a little boy with impudent blue eyes and a turned-up nose,and Mary hated him.She was playing by herself ·014· ④contrary[kontrari]a.固 执的，执拗的 第二章女王玛丽，十分叛逆 从前，玛丽总喜欢远远地看着自己的母亲，在她眼 中，母亲漂亮极了。但是她却一点都不了解她，更谈不 上爱她。如此一来，人们也不能指望玛丽在母亲去世后 能有多么想念她。事实上，她一点也不想她，也因着她 自私的性格，一如既往，玛丽心心念念想着的只有自己。 若她不是这般年幼，玛丽一定会为自己将独自生活在这 世界上而倍感焦虑，然而她终究还是个小姑娘，一直受 人照顾，也理所当然地认为以后也将如此。此时此刻， 她只是好奇自己会不会被送到一个好人家，那些人会不 会对她好，并像从前家中的奶妈和仆人一样惯着她。 一开始，她被人送到了一位英国牧师的家中，但是 玛丽知道自己不会在那里常住，她也不想待在那里。牧 师很穷，抚养着五个年纪相仿的孩子。那些孩子整日穿 着破破烂烂的衣服，吵吵闹闹，为了争抢玩具而大打出 手。玛丽烦透了那间凌乱的小平房，也常常对着一家人 发脾气，以至于最初的一两日过后，没人愿意再同她一 起玩耍。第二天的时候，他们给玛丽取了一个绰号，玛 丽得知后更是气急败坏。 最先想到这个绰号的人是巴希尔。玛丽一点都不喜 欢那个长着朝天鼻、一双蓝眼睛中满是无礼的小男孩。 2 imprudent [im'pru:dont]a. 鲁莽的 一次，同霍乱爆发的那天一样，玛丽正一个人在树下玩 耍，垒起一个又一个的小土堆，开辟着花园中的小径。 ·015· Chapter II Mistress Mary Quite Contrary under a tree,just as she had been playing the day the cholera broke out.She was making heaps of earth and paths for a garden and Basil came and stood near to watch her.Presently he got rather interested and suddenly made a suggestion. "Why don't you put a heap of stones there and pretend it is a rockery?" he said."There in the middle,"and he leaned over her to point. "Go away!"cried Mary."I don't want boys.Go away!" For a moment Basil looked angry,and then he began to tease.He was always teasing his sisters.He danced round and round her and made faces and sang and laughed. "Mistress Mary,quite contrary, How does your garden grow? With silver bells,and cockle shells, And marigolds③all in a row.” He sang it until the other children heard and laughed,too;and the crosser Mary got,the more they sang"Mistress Mary,quite contrary";and after that as long as she stayed with them they called her"Mistress Mary Quite Contrary" when they spoke of her to each other,and often when they spoke to her. "You are going to be sent home,"Basil said to her,"at the end of the week. And we're glad of it.” 'I am glad of it,too,”answered Mary..“Where is home?” "She doesn't know where home is!"said Basil,with seven-year-old scorn. "It's England,of course.Our grandmama lives there and our sister Mabel was sent to her last year.You are not going to your grandmama.You have none. You are going to your uncle.His name is Mr.Archibald Craven." "I don't know anything about him,"snapped Mary. "I know you don't,"Basil answered."You don't know anything.Girls never do.I heard father and mother talking about him.He lives in a great,big,desolate old house in the country and no one goes near him.He's so cross he won't let them,and they wouldn't come if he would let them.He's a hunchback,and ·016· 第二章女王玛丽，十分叛逆「 而巴希尔就站在一旁，看着她。不一会儿，他便突然兴 致勃勃地提出了一个提议。 “你可以在那儿堆一些石头，就当是一座假山！” 他一边说，一边弯下腰指给她看，“就在那中间。” ①rockery['rokari]n.假山 “走开！”玛丽喊道，“我讨厌男孩子。走开！” 一时间，巴希尔脸上露出了生气的表情，可是很快， 他便开始捉弄她。他总是拿自己的姐妹们导开心。巴希尔 绕着玛丽一圈圈地跳着舞，还朝她做起了鬼脸，边唱边笑： “女王玛丽，十分叛逆， 你的花园长势如何？ 银色铃铛，海扇贝壳， 金盏菊花排列成行。” ②cockle ['kakl]n.【动物】 鸟蛤，蛤 3 marigold ['marigould]n. 他一遍又一遍地唱着，直到其他孩子也听见，并开 【植物】金盏花 始大笑。玛丽越是生气，他们便越是开心地唱着“女王 玛丽，十分叛逆”。自那之后，他们提到她时便称她为 “女王玛丽十分叛逆”，即使当着面也常常这样叫她，直 到她离开那里。 “他们就快把你送回家了，”巴希尔对她说道，“就 是这周末了。我们都很开心。” “我也很开心，”玛丽回嘴，“家在哪里？” “她不知道自己的家在哪里！”巴希尔带着七岁孩 子特有的轻蔑，取笑着玛丽，“当然是在英格兰。我们 的奶奶就住在那儿，妹妹梅贝尔去年就被送到她那里住 了。但是你去的就不是奶奶家。你没有奶奶。你会被送 去和姑父一起住。他的名字叫作阿奇博尔德·柯莱文。” ④snap[snep].怒声说 一股怒气突然涌了上来，玛丽大吼着：“我根本就 不认识他！” ⑤desolate[desaleit]a.荒无 “这我知道，”巴希尔接话，“你什么也不知道，女 人烟的，荒凉的 孩子都这样。我听爸妈说起过他。他住在乡下一座荒凉 6 hunchback ['hAntfbaek]n. 驼子 老旧的大房子里，没人和他相熟。他这个人太粗暴，不 允许任何人靠近，就算他允许，别人也不愿意亲近他。 ·017· Chapter II Mistress Mary Quite Contrary he's horrid.""I don't believe you,"said Mary;and she turned her back and stuck her fingers in her ears,because she would not listen any more. But she thought over it a great deal afterward;and when Mrs.Crawford told her that night that she was going to sail away to England in a few days and go to her uncle,Mr.Archibald Craven,who lived at Misselthwaite Manor,she looked so stony and stubbornly uninterested that they did not know what to think about her.They tried to be kind to her,but she only turned her face away when Mrs. Crawford attempted to kiss her,and held herself stiffly when Mr.Crawford patted her shoulder. "She is such a plain child,"Mrs.Crawford said pityingly,afterward."And her mother was such a pretty creature.She had a very pretty manner,too,and Mary has the most unattractive ways I ever saw in a child.The children call her 'Mistress Mary Quite Contrary,'and though it's naughty of them,one can't help understanding it..” "Perhaps if her mother had carried her pretty face and her pretty manners oftener into the nursery Mary might have learned some pretty ways too.It is very sad,now the poor beautiful thing is gone,to remember that many people never even knew that she had a child at all." "I believe she scarcely ever looked at her,"sighed Mrs.Crawford."When her Ayah was dead there was no one to give a thought to the little thing.Think of the servants running away and leaving her all alone in that deserted bungalow. Colonel McGrew said he nearly jumped out of his skin when he opened the door and found her standing by herself in the middle of the room." Mary made the long voyage to England under the care of an officer's wife, who was taking her children to leave them in a boarding-school.She was very much absorbed in her own little boy and girl,and was rather glad to hand the child over to the woman Mr.Archibald Craven sent to meet her,in London.The woman was his housekeeper at Misselthwaite Manor,and her name was Mrs. Medlock.She was a stout woman,with very red cheeks and sharp black eyes. She wore a very purple dress,a black silk mantle with jet fringe on it and a ·018· 第二章女王玛丽，十分叛逆 @horrid[horid]a.可怕的， 他还是个罗锅儿，吓人极了。” 恐怖的 “我不相信。”玛丽一边否认着，一边转过身，用 手指堵住耳朵，不愿意继续听下去。 但是后来，她满脑子都是这件事。当天晚上，克劳 福德夫人告诉玛丽，几天之后，她就要坐船去英国和住 在米瑟斯韦特庄园的姑父阿奇博尔德·柯莱文生活在一 起了。当时，玛丽面无表情，全身散发着倔强的冷漠之 感，让人丝毫看不出她的心思。一家人试着对她好，然 而，当克劳福德夫人试图亲吻她的时候，她却将脸别过 去，而在克劳福德先生轻拍她的肩膀时，她也把身子绷 得紧紧的。 “这个孩子真是平庸极了。”后来，克劳福德夫人 不无遗憾地感叹着，“她的母亲明明是那样一个美人儿， 一举一动也那么端庄得体，生出来的女儿却是我见过的 最不讨喜的小孩。孩子们都叫她‘女王玛丽十分叛逆’， 虽然听着有点没规矩，却也着实有几分道理。” “我猜，若是她母亲能够带着她那漂亮的脸蛋和端 庄的举止多陪伴玛丽几分，小姑娘也不至于如此了。真 是太令人悲哀了，如今，那个可怜的女人走了，很多人 却甚至都不知道她有孩子。” “她肯定都没怎么看过自己的女儿。”克劳福德夫 人叹息着，“奶妈一死，也就没人想着那个小东西了。 想想看，仆人都跑了，把她一个人留在那个空空荡荡的 房子里。听麦格鲁上校说，当他打开门，看到玛丽一个 人站在屋子中间的时候，吓得心脏都要跳出来了。” 位军官夫人正巧要把自己的孩子送到英格兰的寄 宿学校读书，于是，在她的护送下，玛丽经历漫长的航 行，终于来到了英格兰。一路上，这位夫人都只顾着自 己的一双儿女，一到伦敦，她便高高兴兴地将玛丽托付 给了阿奇博尔德·柯莱文先生派去的女人。那个女人是 ②stout[staut)a.肥胖的 他在米瑟斯韦特庄园的管家，叫麦德洛克夫人。她身材 ③mantle[mantl]m.披风 ④fringe[frind]n.穗，流 壮实，红红的脸颊上一双黑眼晴睛十分锐利。她穿着深紫 苏 色的连衣裙，丝质的黑色披风带着流苏，黑色的帽子上 ·019· Chapter II Mistress Mary Quite Contrary black bonnet with purple velvet flowers which stuck up and trembled when she moved her head.Mary did not like her at all,but as she very seldom liked people there was nothing remarkable in that;besides which it was very evident Mrs.Medlock did not think much of her. "My word!she's a plain little piece of goods!"she said."And we'd heard that her mother was a beauty.She hasn't handed much of it down,has she, ma'am?""Perhaps she will improve as she grows older,"the officer's wife said good-naturedly."If she were not so sallow and had a nicer expression,her features are rather good.Children alter so much." "She'll have to alter a good deal,"answered Mrs.Medlock."And,there's nothing likely to improve children at Misselthwaite-if you ask me!"They thought Mary was not listening because she was standing a little apart from them at the window of the private hotel they had gone to.She was watching the passing buses and cabs and people,but she heard quite well and was made very curious about her uncle and the place he lived in.What sort of a place was it, and what would he be like?What was a hunchback?She had never seen one. Perhaps there were none in India. Since she had been living in other people's houses and had had no Ayah, she had begun to feel lonely and to think queer thoughts which were new to her. She had begun to wonder why she had never seemed to belong to anyone even when her father and mother had been alive.Other children seemed to belong to their fathers and mothers,but she had never seemed to really be anyone's little girl.She had had servants,and food and clothes,but no one had taken any notice of her.She did not know that this was because she was a disagreeable child;but then,of course,she did not know she was disagreeable.She often thought that other people were,but she did not know that she was so herself. She thought Mrs.Medlock the most disagreeable person she had ever seen, with her common,highly colored face and her common fine bonnet.When the next day they set out on their journey to Yorkshire,she walked through the ·020· 第二章女王玛丽，十分叛逆 ①bonnet[boni)n.有带无 顶着紫色的天鹅绒花饰，随着头部的摇晃不断颜动着。 边的女帽 玛丽一点都不喜欢她，但因着她也很少会对别人产生好 ②evident['evidant)a.显而 感，这一点也便不足为奇，更别说麦德洛克夫人也不怎 易见的，明显的 么瞧得上她了。 “哎呀！这个小姑娘真是一点儿都不好看！”她感 叹着，“亏我们还听说她母亲是个大美人儿，看来女儿 并没继承多少那份好基因，你说是吧，夫人？” ③sallow[salou]a.(肤色 “她长大后大概会变得漂亮些吧。”那位军官夫人 等)灰黄色的，土色的 温厚地说道，“如若她的脸色没有这么蜡黄，表情再 愉快一些，小姑娘的五官还是不错的。女大十八变嘛。” “那她需要的可不止‘十八’变了。”麦德洛克夫 人应道，“况且若要我说，米瑟斯韦特庄园也不是什么 能让孩子变好的地方。” 彼时，她们身处一家私人旅店之中，而玛丽正站在 窗前，离俩人尚有一段距离，因此，她们也不觉得她会 听到什么。然而事实上，玛丽是在看着窗外来来往往的 行人和奔驰而过的公交与的士，但她听得清清楚楚，心 中对自己的姑父和他生活的地方充满了好奇。那是个什 么样的地方？姑父又是怎样的人？罗锅儿是什么意思？ 她从来没见过这种人。大概印度没有罗锅儿吧。 这些日子以来，玛丽一直寄宿在别人家中，也没有 奶妈照顾她，于是，她难免会觉得寂寞，脑子里也满是 从前没有过的奇怪想法。她开始暗自琢磨，为何自己从 来都是孤身一人，即使是父母健在的时候也是如此。别 的孩子都有父亲母亲，只有她，似乎从来都不是谁怀中 的小姑娘。她有过仆人，也有吃的穿的，但没人在意过 她。那时候，玛丽并没有意识到，这一切都是因为自己 不讨人喜欢：当然，话又说回来，她压根儿也不知道自 己不讨人喜欢。在她看来，不讨人喜欢的往往是别人， 却不知道自己便是这样的人。 玛丽觉得，麦德洛克夫人是自己见过最讨厌的人， 张粗俗的脸红得夸张，就连头上精致的帽子也是那么 ·021· Chapter II Mistress Mary Quite Contrary station to the railway carriage with her head up and trying to keep as far away from her as she could,because she did not want to seem to belong to her.It would have made her angry to think people imagined she was her little girl. But Mrs.Medlock was not in the least disturbed by her and her thoughts. She was the kind of woman who would"stand no nonsense from young ones." At least,that is what she would have said if she had been asked.She had not wanted to go to London just when her sister Maria's daughter was going to be married,but she had a comfortable,well paid place as housekeeper at Misselthwaite Manor and the only way in which she could keep it was to do at once what Mr.Archibald Craven told her to do.She never dared even to ask a question. "Captain Lennox and his wife died of the cholera,"Mr.Craven had said in his short,cold way."Captain Lennox was my wife's brother and I am their daughter's guardian.The child is to be brought here.You must go to London and bring her yourself." So she packed her small trunk and made the journey. Mary sat in her corner of the railway carriage and looked plain and fretful. She had nothing to read or to look at,and she had folded her thin little black- gloved hands in her lap.Her black dress made her look yellower than ever,and her limp①light hair straggled②from under her black crepe③hat. "A more marred-looking young one I never saw in my life,"Mrs.Medlock thought.(Marred is a Yorkshire word and means spoiled and pettish.)She had never seen a child who sat so still without doing anything;and at last she got tired of watching her and began to talk in a brisk,hard voice. "I suppose I may as well tell you something about where you are going to," she said."Do you know anything about your uncle?" sNo,”said Mary. "Never heard your father and mother talk about him?" ·022· 第二章女王玛丽，十分叛逆 粗俗。第二天，当她们出发前往约克郡的时候，玛丽高 高昂着头，一路穿过车站走进车厢，想方设法离麦德洛 克夫人远远的，因为她不想让人觉得自己是和她一起 的。一想到有人会把自己看作她的女儿，玛丽就觉得无 比生气。 然而，玛丽和她的那些小心思丝毫没有影响到麦德 洛克夫人。她是那种“绝见不得年轻人胡闹”的女人。 至少，如果有人问她，她一定会这么回答。她本来不想 去伦敦的，她妹妹玛利亚的女儿要结婚了，然而，在米 瑟斯韦特庄园做管家的这份工作既轻松，薪水又不错， 若是不想丢了饭碗，她便只能立刻按照柯莱文先生说的 去做，连问题都不敢问一个。 “蓝妮克斯上尉和他的夫人染上霍乱去世了。”柯 莱文先生以他一贯简短而冷漠的方式这样说道，“蓝妮 克斯上尉是我夫人的弟弟，我现在是他女儿的监护人。 那个孩子应该来这里生活，你务必要亲自去伦敦把她接 回来。” 于是，她打点好自己的小箱子，就出发了。 玛丽缩在车厢一个不起眼的角落里，脸上带着几分 焦躁。她没书可读，也没东西可看，只好用戴着黑手套 的小手环住双腿，静静坐在那里。她的脸色被一身黑裙 ①limp [limp]a.软弱的， 无力的 子衬地更加蜡黄，软趴趴的浅色头发也凌乱地从黑帽子 ②straggle『'straegl]v.四散， 中钻出来。 散落 ③crepe [kreip]n,绉绸，绉 “这么使性子的孩子我还真没遇到过。”麦德洛克 纱 夫人想。她从未见过哪个孩子能够一动不动地坐着，什 么都不干。最后，麦德洛克夫人盯得累了，开始同玛丽 搭话，语速很快，又透着刻薄。 “我觉得我还是应该给你讲讲你要去的那个地方是 什么样的，”她说，“你听说过你姑父的事吗？” “没有。”玛丽答道。 “你父母从来没提起过他吗？” ·023·