Chapter8 The Robin Who Showed the Way引路的知更鸟-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《秘密花园The Secret Garden》

Chapter VII The Robin Who Showed the Way She looked at the key quite a long time.She turned it over and over,and thought about it.As I have said before,she was not a child who had been trained to ask permission or consult her elders about things.All she thought about the key was that if it was the key to the closed garden,and she could find out where the door was,she could perhaps open it and see what was inside the walls,and what had happened to the old rose-trees.It was because it had been shut up so long that she wanted to see it.It seemed as if it must be different from other places and that something strange must have happened to it during ten years.Besides that,if she liked it she could go into it every day and shut the door behind her,and she could make up some play of her own and play it quite alone,because nobody would ever know where she was,but would think the door was still locked and the key buried in the earth.The thought of that pleased her very much. Living as it were,all by herself in a house with a hundred mysteriously closed rooms and having nothing whatever to do to amuse herself,had set her inactive brain to working and was actually awakening her imagination.There is no doubt that the fresh,strong,pure air from the moor had a great deal to do with it.Just as it had given her an appetite,and fighting with the wind had stirred her blood,so the same things had stirred her mind.In India she had always been too hot and languid ·114· 第八章 引路的知更鸟 她盯着那把钥匙，翻来覆去地看了很久，脑子也在 不停地转着。正如我之前所说的那样，她并不是一个遇 ①consult[kn'sAt.征求 事习惯征得他人同意，或是询问大人意见的孩子。因而 ……的意见 此时此刻，她满脑子想的都是，倘若这真的是那把通往 上锁花园的钥匙，倘若自己真的能够找到那扇大门，或 许，她就能打开门，看看围墙里面到底有些什么，那些 蔷薇花丛如今又怎么样了。已经太久没有人走进过那座 花园了，也正是因为如此，玛丽才更想看看那里的样子， 就好像那里同其他地方是不同的，而在十年的时间里， 一定发生过什么不寻常的事情。而且，若是她喜欢那座 花园的话，她也可以每天都到那里去，然后关上门，自 己玩自己的，永远不会有人知道她在哪里，他们只会觉 得那扇门依旧是锁着的，钥匙也依旧还藏在土里。这样 的想法令玛丽开心不已。 如今的玛丽独自一人生活在那栋有着一百个神秘房 ②inactive[in'ektiv]a.迟钝 间的大屋子里，整日无所事事，而这样的生活却令她早 的 已迟钝了的大脑再次运转了起来，想象力也变得更加书 富了。旷野上新鲜纯净的大风无疑也有一份功劳，玛丽 的胃口变好了，而与强风抗争的过程也唤醒了她的热 血，活跃了她的思维。在印度的时候天气总是很热，她 也总是没精打采的，做什么事都提不起精神来；然而到 ·115 Chapter VII The Robin Who Showed the Way and weak to care much about anything,but in this place she was beginning to care and to want to do new things.Already she felt less"contrary,"though she did not know why. She put the key in her pocket and walked up and down her walk.No one but herself ever seemed to come there,so she could walk slowly and look at the wall,or,rather,at the ivy growing on it.The ivy was the baffing thing. Howsoever carefully she looked she could see nothing but thickly growing, glossy2,dark green leaves.She was very much disappointed.Something of her contrariness came back to her as she paced the walk and looked over it at the tree-tops inside.It seemed so silly,she said to herself,to be near it and not be able to get in.She took the key in her pocket when she went back to the house, and she made up her mind that she would always carry it with her when she went out,so that if she ever should find the hidden door she would be ready. Mrs.Medlock had allowed Martha to sleep all night at the cottage,but she was back at her work in the morning with cheeks redder than ever and in the best of spirits. "I got up at four o'clock,"she said."Eh!it was pretty on th'moor with th' birds gettin'up an'th'rabbits seamperinabout an'th'sun risin'.I didn't walk all th'way.A man gave me a ride in his cart an'I did enjoy myself." She was full of stories of the delights of her day out.Her mother had been glad to see her and they had got the baking and washing all out of the way.She had even made each of the children a doughcake with a bit of brown sugar in it. "I had'em all pipin'hot when they came in from playin'on th'moor.An' th'cottage all smelt o'nice,clean hot bakin'an'there was a good fire,an'they just shouted for joy.Our Dickon he said our cottage was good enough for a king.” In the evening they had all sat round the fire,and Martha and her mother had sewed patches on torn clothes and mended stockings and Martha had told ·116· 第八章 1路的知更鸟 了这里，她开始对周围的东西产生兴趣，还想要尝试新 鲜的事物。玛丽俨然已经不那样“叛逆”了，尽管就连 她自己也说不出这是为什么。 她把钥匙放进口袋里，在小路上来来回回地兜着圈 子。除了她之外，似乎没人来过这里，这样一来，她便 可以一面慢慢走着，一面打量着那面墙一或者说是打 ①baffling ['baeflin]a.阻碍 的，碍事的 量着上面生长着的常春膝。这片常春藤将墙面严严实实 ②glossy[glosi]a.有光泽 地遮盖了起来，无论玛丽怎么看，都只能看到厚实而滑 的：光亮的，光洁的 亮的深绿色叶片，这令她倍感失望。在她沿着小路走来 走去，张望着墙内的树顶时，那些叛逆因子又仿佛重新 回到了她的体内。她不禁想着：这一切看上去简直太愚 蠢了，那座花园明明近在咫尺，却怎么也进不去。当玛 丽回到房子里的时候，她便把钥匙放进了口袋，并下定 决心以后每次出门都要带着它，那样的话，当她找到那 扇隐藏着的大门时便不会措手不及。 麦德洛克夫人之前已经同意让玛莎在家过夜，但是 第二天早上她回来工作的时候，一张脸红扑扑的，精神 也很足。 “我四点钟就起来嘞。”她说，“哎呀！旷野上简直 ③scamper[skaempo].急 太漂亮了，小鸟起床了，兔子在地上蹦蹦跳跳，太阳也 驰，飞奔；快跑 慢慢升起来了。我不是一路走过来的。有个男人驾着 马车载了我一程，这么跟你说吧，那滋味儿简直享受 极了。” 休息了一天，玛莎有好多开心事要讲。她的母亲见 到她时开心得很，两人把家里烘焙和洗涮的工作做了个 遍。她甚至还为家里的每一个孩子都烤了一个加了红糖 的小蛋糕。 “他们从旷野上玩儿回来的时候，蛋糕都还冒着热 气儿嘞。整个小屋都是烤蛋糕的香味儿，炉子里的火也 烧得旺旺的，孩子们都高兴得叫出声儿了。我们家迪康 ④patch [pat切n.补丁 就说了，这屋子就算是给国王住都绰绰有余。” 到了晚上，一家人围坐在炉火旁，玛莎和她的母亲 为破了的衣服打上补丁，还缝补了破了洞的袜子。玛莎 ·117· Chapter VII The Robin Who Showed the Way them about the little girl who had come from India and who had been waited on all her life by what Martha called"blacks"until she didn't know how to put on her own stockings. “Eh!they did like to hear about you,”said Martha.“They wanted to know all about th'blacks an'about th'ship you came in.I couldn't tell 'em enough." Mary reflected a little. "I'll tell you a great deal more before your next day out,"she said,"so that you will have more to talk about.I dare say they would like to hear about riding on elephants and camels,and about the officers going to hunt tigers." "My word!"cried delighted Martha."It would set 'em clean off their heads.Would tha'really do that,Miss?It would be same as a wild beast show like we heard they had in York once." "India is quite different from Yorkshire,"Mary said slowly,as she thought the matter over."I never thought of that.Did Dickon and your mother like to hear you talk about me?" "Why,our Dickon's eyes nearly started out o'his head,they got that round,"answered Martha."But mother,she was put out about your seemin'to be all by yourself like.She said,'Hasn't Mr.Craven got no governess for her, nor no nurse?'and I said,'No,he hasn't,though Mrs.Medlock says he will when he thinks of it,but she says he mayn't think of it for two or three years."" "I don't want a governess,"said Mary sharply. "But mother says you ought to be learnin'your book by this time an'you ought to have a woman to look after you,an'she says:'Now,Martha,you just think how you'd feel yourself,in a big place like that,wanderin'about all alone, an'no mother.You do your best to cheer her up,'she says,an'I said I would." Mary gave her a long,steady look. “You do cheer me up,”she said.“I like to hear you talk.” Presently Martha went out of the room and came back with something held ·118· 第八章 1路的知更鸟 将那个从印度来的小姑娘当成故事讲给孩子们听。她说 小姑娘自打生下来就一直被自己口中的“黑人”服侍着， 最后就连袜子都不知道怎么穿了。 “哎呀！他们可喜欢听你的故事了，”玛莎说，“他 们想知道那些黑人是什么样儿的，把你带到英国的那艘 大船又是什么样儿的。那些故事，他们听都听不够嘞。” 玛丽默默想了一小会儿。 “在你下次回家之前，我会把更多事情讲给你听 的，”她说，“这样的话，你也有更多故事可讲。我猜， 他们一定会喜欢听骑大象、骑骆驼的故事，还有警官外 ①my word哎呀（表示惊 出猎老虎的故事。” 讶) “我的天哪！”玛莎高兴地叫出了声，“这还不得 把他们乐死。你真的会这么做吗，小姐？我们听说有人 在约克搞过野兽表演，肯定跟那很像！” “印度和约克郡还是挺不一样的，”玛丽在脑海里 想着事情，说话的语速也变慢了，“我从来没想到过这 一点。迪康和你妈妈喜欢听你讲我的故事吗？” ②start[sta:t.鼓出，突出 “当然了！迪康每次听故事的时候，专注得眼珠子 都快瞪出来了嘞。”玛莎回答道，“但是我娘吧，她就觉 着你自己一个人生活有点不合适。她问过我：‘柯莱文 先生都没给她寻一位家庭教师吗？保姆都没有？’我就 跟她说：‘还没呢，不过麦德洛克夫人说他想起来的时 候就会这么做的，但是她也说，他可能两三年都想不起 来这件事儿嘞。’” “我不想要家庭教师。”玛丽顶嘴道。 “但是我娘说了，你这个年纪也该学点东西了，也 该有个女人照顾着你。她是这么说的：‘你看，玛莎， 想一想，要是你自己一个人待在那么一栋大房子里，每 天都独自走来走去，没有妈妈，你会有什么感受。你要 尽力逗她开心。’她是那么说的，我也答应了。” 玛丽就那样淡淡地看着她，看了很久。 “你确实能让我开心，”她说，“我喜欢听你讲话。” 听见这话，玛莎走出了房间，但很快便又回来了， ·119· Chapter VII The Robin Who Showed the Way in her hands under her apron. "What does tha'think,"she said,with a cheerful grin."I've brought thee a present..” "A present!"exclaimed Mistress Mary.How could a cottage full of fourteen hungry people give any one a present! “A man was drivin'across the moor peddlin',”Martha explained.“An' he stopped his cart at our door.He had pots an'pans an'odds an'ends3,but mother had no money to buy anythin'.Just as he was goin'away our 'Lizabeth Ellen called out,'Mother,he's got skippin'-ropes with red an'blue handles.'An' mother she calls out quite sudden,'Here,stop,mister!How much are they?'An' he says'Tuppence',an'mother she began fumblin in her pocket an'she says to me,'Martha,tha's brought me thy wages like a good lass,an'I've got four places to put every penny,but I'm just goin'to take tuppence out of it to buy that child a skippin'-rope,'an'she bought one an'here it is." She brought it out from under her apron and exhibited it quite proudly.It was a strong,slender rope with a striped red and blue handle at each end,but Mary Lennox had never seen a skipping-rope before.She gazed at it with a mystifiedexpression. s“What is it for?”she asked curiously. "For!"cried out Martha."Does tha'mean that they've not got skippin'- ropes in India,for all they've got elephants and tigers and camels!No wonder most of'em's black.This is what it's for;just watch me." And she ran into the middle of the room and,taking a handle in each hand, began to skip,and skip,and skip,while Mary turned in her chair to stare at her, and the queer faces in the old portraits seemed to stare at her,too,and wonder what on earth this common little cottager had the impudence to be doing under their very noses.But Martha did not even see them.The interest and curiosity in Mistress Mary's face delighted her,and she went on skipping and counted as she skipped until she had reached a hundred. "I could skip longer than that,"she said when she stopped."I've skipped as ·120· 第八章1路的知更鸟 ①apron ['eipran]m.围裙 手里还拿着什么东西，藏在围裙之下。 “你猜怎么着，”她脸上带着兴奋的笑容，“我给你 带了礼物嘞。” “礼物！”女王玛丽惊呼出声。那样一个满满当当 养着十四张嘴的小屋，怎么还能给别人准备出礼物呢。 “有个男人驾着马车穿过旷野叫卖，”玛莎解释着， 2 peddle[ped.叫卖，贩 卖 “正好把车停在我家门口儿了。他卖的都是些锅碗瓢盆、 3 odds and ends零碎东西 零零碎碎的东西，但是我娘没钱，啥都买不起。本来吧， 他都要走了，我家莉莎白·艾伦喊了一声儿：‘娘，他 那儿有跳绳，把儿上还是红色和蓝色的。’于是呢，我 娘也突然喊出了声儿：‘哎，停一下，先生！那个怎么 ④fumble[fambl],摸索， 卖？他说‘两便士。’我娘就开始在兜儿里掏来掏去， 搜寻东西 还跟我说：‘玛莎啊，你一直都是个好姑娘，挣来的钱 都给了我，我也一直都是省吃俭用的，但是呢，现在我 要拿出两便士来给那孩子买根跳绳。’然后她就买了， 就是这个。” 她从围裙下面拎出那根跳绳，骄傲地拿到了玛丽的 眼前。那是一根细长而结实的绳子，两头各有一个红蓝 条纹的把儿。然而，玛丽·蓝妮克斯却从来没见过跳绳 5mystified ['mistifaid]a. 是什么样的，于是，她满脸迷惑地打量着那个东西。 惑的 “这是做什么用的？”她好奇地问道。 “做什么用的！”玛莎惊呼了一声。“你的意思难 道是说，印度有那么多稀罕的大象、老虎和骆驼，却连 跳绳都没有吗！难怪他们大半都是黑人。这个是这么用 的，瞧我的。” 她立马跑到屋子中间，两手各握着跳绳的一瑞，开 始跳啊跳啊跳啊的，玛丽则坐在椅子上，转过身打量着 她。墙上古老画像中的那些怪异面庞似乎也在打量玛莎， 想着这个平凡无奇而又粗野无礼的村姑到底是在自己的 眼皮子底下做什么呢。然而，玛莎压根儿就没有看到他 们，女王玛丽脸上的兴致和好奇让她很高兴，她一直跳 着，还边跳边数数，一直数到了一百。 “我还能继续跳呢，”她停了下来，这样说道，“我 ·121· Chapter VIII The Robin Who Showed the Way much as five hundred when I was twelve,but I wasn't as fat then as I am now,an'I was in practice.” Mary got up from her chair beginning to feel excited herself. "It looks nice,"she said."Your mother is a kind woman.Do you think I could ever skip like that?" "You just try it,"urged Martha,handing her the skipping-rope."You can't skip a hundred at first,but if you practice you'll mount up.That's what mother said. She says,'Nothin'will do her more good than skippin'rope.It's th'sensiblest toy a child can have.Let her play out in th'fresh air skippin'an'it'll stretch her legs an'arms an'give her some strength in'em."" It was plain that there was not a great deal of strength in Mistress Mary's arms and legs when she first began to skip.She was not very clever at it,but she liked it so much that she did not want to stop. "Put on tha'things and run an'skip out o'doors,"said Martha."Mother said I must tell you to keep out o'doors as much as you could,even when it rains a bit,so as tha'wrap up warm.” Mary put on her coat and hat and took her skipping-rope over her arm.She opened the door to go out,and then suddenly thought of something and turned back rather slowly. "Martha,"she said,"they were your wages.It was your twopence really. Thank you."She said it stiffly because she was not used to thanking people or noticing that they did things for her."Thank you,"she said,and held out her hand because she did not know what else to do. Martha gave her hand a clumsy little shake,as if she was not accustomed to this sort of thing either.Then she laughed. "Eh!th'art a queer,old-womanish thing,"she said."If tha'd been our'Lizabeth Ellen tha'd have given me a kiss." Mary looked stiffer than ever. "Do you want me to kiss you?" Martha laughed again. ·122· 第八章1路的知更鸟【 十二岁的时候跳过五百多个嘞，但是我那时候还没现在 这么胖，也会经常练习。” 玛丽从椅子上爬了下来，隐隐开始感到一丝兴奋。 “看着挺不错的，”她说，“你母亲是一个善良的女 人。你觉得我也能跳得和你一样好吗？” “你就试试吧。”玛莎一边催促着，一边把跳绳递 给了她，“一开始肯定跳不到一百个，但是你要是坚持 ①mount up增长；上升 练习的话，肯定能越跳越多。我娘就是这么说的。她说： “对她来说，没啥比跳绳儿更好的了。这种玩具最适合 小孩子了。让她在户外的新鲜空气里跳跳绳儿，这能抻 开她的手脚，让她更有力气。’” 很明显，女王玛丽最开始跳绳的时候，手脚并没有 多少力气。她也并不擅长这项运动，但是却十足地投入， 甚至不想停下来。 “把衣服穿上，跑去外面跳吧。”玛莎说，“我娘说 了，我必须得嘱咐你尽可能地去户外待着，就算下着小 雨也是一样，只要你穿得暖暖和和的就没问题。” 玛丽穿上大衣，戴上帽子，把跳绳搭在胳膊上。她 打开门正准备出去，却突然想到了什么，慢慢转过了身。 “玛莎，”她说，“这是拿你的工资买的。这两便士 其实是你的。谢谢你。”玛丽说这话的时候有几分别扭， 因为她并不习惯感谢别人，也通常注意不到他人的付 出。“谢谢。”她边说边伸出了手，因为除此之外，她也 不知道自己还能做些什么。 玛莎笨拙地握了一下她的手，似乎也并不怎么习惯 这样的事情。随后，她笑出了声。 ②clumsy[klAmzi]a.笨拙 梦 “哎呀！你真奇怪，跟个老妇人似的嘞。”她说，“这 要是我家莉莎白·艾伦的话，肯定就过来亲我一下了。” 玛丽看上去更别扭了。 “你希望我亲你一下吗？” 玛莎又笑了。 ·123