Chapter9 The Strangest House Any One Ever Lived in世界上最古怪的房子-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《秘密花园The Secret Garden》

Chapter IX The Strangest House Any One Ever Lived in It was the sweetest,most mysterious-looking place any one could imagine.The high walls which shut it in were covered with the leafless stems of climbing roses which were so thick that they were matted together.Mary Lennox knew they were roses because she had seen a great many roses in India.All the ground was covered with grass of a wintry brown and out of it grew clumps of bushes which were surely rosebushes if they were alive.There were numbers of standard roses which had so spread their branches that they were like little trees.There were other trees in the garden,and one of the things which made the place look strangest and loveliest was that climbing roses had run all over them and swung down long tendrils which made light swaying curtains,and here and there they had caught at each other or at a far-reaching branch and had crept from one tree to another and made lovely bridges of themselves.There were neither leaves nor roses on them now and Mary did not know whether they were dead or alive,but their thin gray or brown branches and sprays looked like a sort of hazy mantle spreading over everything,walls,and trees,and even brown grass,where they had fallen from their fastenings and run along the ground.It was this hazy tangle from tree to tree which made it all look so mysterious.Mary had thought it must be different from other gardens which had not been left all by themselves so long;and indeed it was ·130· 第九章 世界上最古怪的房子 这里是任何人想象所及最惬意，也最神秘的地方。 花园四周的墙壁上布满了没有叶片的野蔷薇花茎，厚厚 一层交织在一起。玛丽·蓝妮克斯之所以知道这些是蔷 薇，是因为她在印度没少见过这类植物。目之所及，地 ①mat[mel.纠结，缠结 面上全部覆盖着荒凉的深棕色草叶，其间却又生长着一 片一片的树丛一若它们此时还活着的话，人们定能看 出这便是蔷薇花丛。附近还生长着不少独千蔷薇，它们 的枝叶向外扩散，就像小树一般。园子里还有许多树木， ②standard['staendad]a.【植 物】茎干挺直的 而这个地方最令人感到惊叹，也是最迷人的地方便在于 此：那些野蔷薇攀附在树木各处，垂荡下长长的藤蔓， 如同轻飘飘的珠帘一般：它们偶尔还会相互交错，或是 隔着远远的枝干爬向另一棵树上，搭起美丽的桥梁。如 ③tendril ['tendril]n.【植物 今，枝干上既没有叶片，也没有鲜花，玛丽也不知道它 学】卷须 们究竟是否还活着：然而，它们纤弱的灰色或棕色枝茎 看上去就像一层朦胧的披风，将一切覆盖其中，墙壁、 树木、甚至是棕黄的草叶，如同散开了结扣，延伸至大 ④hazy[heizi]a.朦胧的， 地四方。正是树与树之间这般朦胧的纠缠为这里的一切 模糊的 染上了神秘的色彩。在玛丽看来，这座长久以来为人们 所遗忘的花园与其他园子是那样的不同：事实上，这里 6 tangle['tangl]m.缠结， 纠缠 ·131· Chapter IX The Strangest House Any One Ever Lived in different from any other place she had ever seen in her life. “How still it is!”she whispered.“How still!" Then she waited a moment and listened at the stillness.The robin,who had flown to his treetop,was still as all the rest.He did not even flutter his wings; he sat without stirring,and looked at Mary. "No wonder it is still,"she whispered again."I am the first person who has spoken in here for ten years." She moved away from the door,stepping as softly as if she were afraid of awakening some one.She was glad that there was grass under her feet and that her steps made no sounds.She walked under one of the fairy-like gray arches between the trees and looked up at the sprays and tendrils which formed them."I wonder if they are all quite dead,"she said."Is it all a quite dead garden?I wish it wasn't." If she had been Ben Weatherstaff she could have told whether the wood was alive by looking at it,but she could only see that there were only gray or brown sprays and branches and none showed any signs of even a tiny leaf-bud anywhere. But she was inside the wonderful garden and she could come through the door under the ivy any time and she felt as if she had found a world all her own. The sun was shining inside the four walls and the high arch of blue sky over this particular piece of Misselthwaite seemed even more brilliant and soft than it was over the moor.The robin flew down from his tree-top and hopped about or flew after her from one bush to another.He chirped a good deal and had a very busy air2,as if he were showing her things.Everything was strange and silent and she seemed to be hundreds of miles away from any one,but somehow she did not feel lonely at all.All that troubled her was her wish that she knew whether all the roses were dead,or if perhaps some of them had lived and might ·132· 第九章世界上最古怪的房子 与她之前曾去过的所有地方都不相同。 “这里真安静啊！”她喃喃道，“真安静啊！” 之后，她停顿了一小会儿，侧耳聆听这份寂静。那 只飞到树梢的知更鸟也同周围的一切一样安静。它甚至 都没有扇动自己的翅膀，它停在那儿，一动不动，看着 玛丽。 “难怪这里这么安静，”她又一次喃喃自语道，“十 年以来，我是第一个站在这里开口说话的人。” 她从门边走开，尽量将脚步放轻，仿佛害怕惊扰了 谁。她庆幸自己的脚下还有草叶，这样一来，自己便不 会发出脚步声。当她自树与树之间童话一般的灰色拱桥 下经过的时候，玛丽抬起头，望向了那些架起小桥的 藤蔓。 “它们是不是真的已经死了呢，”她自言自语道。“这 座花园里的一切都死了吗？真希望不是这样的。” 假若她是本·韦泽斯塔夫的话，那么只要看看这些 植物，便能知道它们究竞是否还活着了：但是，她却只 ①leaf-bud叶芽 能看到灰色与棕色的藤蔓和枝干，上面甚至找不到一丝 抽出的叶芽。 然而，她确确实实已经踏入了这座奇妙的花园，日 后也可以随时穿过那道掩藏于常春藤之下的大门。此时 此刻，玛丽仿佛找到了一个只属于自己的世界 日光投射在这四面围墙之中，而米瑟斯韦特庄园这 隅之上高远的蓝天都仿佛要比旷野上的蓝天来得更加 晴朗，更加温柔。知更鸟从树顶上飞了下来，或在地面 上跳来跳去，或是扇动着翅膀从一片树丛中飞到另一片 ②air[ea]n.神态，姿态 上，在玛丽周围跟前跟后，还不停地啾啾叫着，一副十 足忙碌的样子，仿佛有什么东西想要展示给她。周遭的 一切都是那样的奇异而平和，似乎这世上的所有人都与 其相隔千里，然而奇怪的是，玛丽却丝毫不觉得寂寞。 她满心想的只是自己的那些愿望：她想知道这些蔷薇究 竟是否真的都己经死了，又或者有几株还活着，等到天 气暖和一些的时候，便会抽出新芽和花苞。她不希望这 ·133· Chapter IX The Strangest House Any One Ever Lived in put out leaves and buds as the weather got warmer.She did not want it to be a quite dead garden.If it were a quite alive garden,how wonderful it would be, and what thousands of roses would grow on every side! Her skipping-rope had hung over her arm when she came in and after she had walked about for a while she thought she would skip round the whole garden,stopping when she wanted to look at things.There seemed to have been grass paths here and there,and in one or two corners there were alcoves of evergreen with stone seats or tall moss-covered flower urnsin them. As she came near the second of these alcoves she stopped skipping.There had once been a flowerbed in it,and she thought she saw something sticking out of the black earth-some sharp little pale green points.She remembered what Ben Weatherstaff had said and she knelt down to look at them. "Yes,they are tiny growing things and they might be crocuses or snowdrops or daffodils,"she whispered. She bent very close to them and sniffed the fresh scent of the damp earth. She liked it very much. "Perhaps there are some other ones coming up in other places,"she said."I will go all over the garden and look." She did not skip,but walked.She went slowly and kept her eyes on the ground.She looked in the old border beds and among the grass,and after she had gone round,trying to miss nothing,she had found ever so many more sharp, pale green points,and she had become quite excited again. "It isn't a quite dead garden,"she cried out softly to herself."Even if the roses are dead,there are other things alive." She did not know anything about gardening,but the grass seemed so thick in some of the places where the green points were pushing their way through that she thought they did not seem to have room enough to grow.She searched about until she found a rather sharp piece of wood and knelt down and dug and weeded out the weeds and grass until she made nice little clear places around them. ·134· 第九章世界上最古怪的房子 座花园是一片死寂的。假若这里能够变得生机勃勃，那 该有多好，到时候，四周千万朵蔷薇绽放的景象又该有 多么灿烂！ 玛丽刚刚进来的时候是将跳绳挂在手臂上的，而当 她走了一段路之后，便决定要绕着整座花园跳一跳，想 要看看什么东西的时候便停一停。园子里似乎曾有几条 草地小径，而在一两个角落里还有爬满了常春藤的凉 D alcove[elkouv]n.(花 园)凉亭，（园中）小 亭，里面摆着石凳或是覆盖着苔藓的高脚花瓶。 亭 当她走近第二座凉亭的时候，她便停止了跳绳。可 2um[onn.(有座脚与 耳柄的)瓶 以看出，这里曾经有一座花坛，玛丽觉得自己仿佛看到 什么东西自黑色的土壤中钻了出来一那是一些尖利的 淡绿色小尖尖。她想起本·韦泽斯塔夫说过的话，于是 便蹲下身子仔细观察了起来。 “是呢，这些小小的东西确实正在生长，有可能是 番红花，或者是雪花莲或水仙花。”她小声嘀咕着。 她将身子俯得低低的，凑过去闻着那湿润泥土的清 新气息。她十分喜欢这股味道。 “或许别的地方还能看到其他正在发芽的植物，” 她说，“我要逛遍整座花园去找找看。” 她不再跳绳了，转而开始步行。玛丽走得很慢， 直将目光投在地上。她在花坛中寻找着，也没有放过那 一片片的草地，而当她走了一圈，认认真真地看过所有 地方后，也确实发现了许许多多淡绿色的小尖尖，于是 便重又兴奋了起来。 “这座花园也并不是那么了无生机，”她自言自语 地惊叹着，嗓音里透着轻柔，“就算是那些蔷薇花已经 死了，也还有别的东西活着。” 她对园艺一窍不通，但是一些地方的草叶实在是太 过厚密，那些绿色的小尖尖挣扎着自土里冒出来，让她 觉得它们似乎没有足够的生长空间。于是，她四处寻找， 最终找到了一块相对锋利的木片，然后便蹲下身子，一 weed out连根翻出或除 点一点地挖着土，努力除去多余的杂草，直到清理出一 去（杂草等） 片片的小空间。 ·135· Chapter IX The Strangest House Any One Ever Lived in "Now they look as if they could breathe,"she said,after she had finished with the first ones."I am going to do ever so many more.I'll do all I can see.If I haven't time today I can come tomorrow." She went from place to place,and dug and weeded,and enjoyed herself so immensely that she was led on from bed to bed and into the grass under the trees.The exercise made her so warm that she first threw her coat off,and then her hat,and without knowing it she was smiling down on to the grass and the pale green points all the time. The robin was tremendously busy.He was very much pleased to see gardening begun on his own estate2.He had often wondered at Ben Weatherstaff.Where gardening is done all sorts of delightful things to eat are turned up with the soil.Now here was this new kind of creature who was not half Ben's size and yet had had the sense to come into his garden and begin at once. Mistress Mary worked in her garden until it was time to go to her midday dinner.In fact,she was rather late in remembering,and when she put on her coat and hat,and picked up her skipping-rope,she could not believe that she had been working two or three hours.She had been actually happy all the time; and dozens and dozens of the tiny,pale green points were to be seen in cleared places,looking twice as cheerful as they had looked before when the grass and weeds had been smothering them. "I shall come back this afternoon,"she said,looking all round at her new kingdom,and speaking to the trees and the rose-bushes as if they heard her. Then she ran lightly across the grass,pushed open the slow old door and slipped through it under the ivy.She had such red cheeks and such bright eyes and ate such a dinner that Martha was delighted. "Two pieces o'meat an'two helps o'rice puddin'!"she said."Eh!mother will be pleased when I tell her what th'skippin'-rope's done for thee." In the course of her digging with her pointed stick Mistress Mary had ·136· 第九章世界上最古怪的房子【 “现在，它们终于能够喘一口气了，”当她将第一 块土地修整完毕后，玛丽这样说道，“我还有好多地方 要清理呢。只要我看见的都要清理。就算是今天没有时 间，我还可以明天过来。” 她走遍一块又一块地方，一片一片地将杂草除掉。 玛丽无比享受这个过程，不由自主地清理了一个又一个 的花坛，最终走到了树下的草丛中。这样的运动令她整 个人都暖洋洋的，她也第一次脱下了大衣，又摘掉了帽 子，还不知不觉地对着地面上的草叶和浅绿色的尖尖露 tremendously [tri'mendasli] 出了微笑。 ad.极大地 2estate[i'steit)n.私有土地 那只知更鸟更是忙碌得很。看到玛丽在自己地盘上 辛勤劳作令它十分满意。它以往常常因着本·韦泽斯塔 夫而感到惊讶，因为当他劳作的时候，各种各样的好吃 的便会自土里冒出来。而如今，眼前这个个头还不足本 半大小的“新物种”居然知道要到它的园子里来干活 儿，还立马就开工了。 女王玛丽在花园里一直干到了午餐时间。事实上， 在她想起来午餐这回事的时候，已经有些迟了；而当她 穿上外套，戴上帽子，拎起跳绳准备回去的时候，她甚 至不敢相信自己已经劳作了两三个钟头。那期间，她始 终都是兴致勃勃的，而在她清理过的地方，许许多多浅 ③smother「smwd],使室 绿色的小尖尖纷纷冒出了头，它们看上去也比闷在杂草 息，令…透不过气 之下的时候更为生机勃勃。 “今天下午我还要回到这里来。”她一面环视着自 己的新王国，一面如是说道，仿佛那些大树与蔷薇花丛 正在听她讲话一般。 接着，她便轻快地穿过草地，推开那扇迟缓而老 旧的大门，从常春藤下钻了出去。她的脸颊那样红润， 双眸那样明亮，就连午餐都吃了不少，这令玛莎分外 欣慰。 ④course[kos.经过：过 程 “两片肉，还有两份大米布丁。”她赞叹道，“哎呀！ 我一定要把跳绳的作用告诉我娘，她得多开心呐。” 女王玛丽在用尖头棍子挖土的时候，挖出了一种长 ·137· Chapter IX The Strangest House Any One Ever Lived in found herself digging up a sort of white root rather like an onion.She had put it back in its place and patted the earth carefully down on it and just now she wondered if Martha could tell her what it was. "Martha,"she said,"what are those white roots that look like onions?" "They're bulbs,"answered Martha."Lots o'spring flowers grow from'em. Th'very little ones are snowdrops an'crocuses an'th'big ones are nareissuses an'jonquils and daffydowndillys.Th'biggest of all is lilies an'purple flags. Eh!they are nice.Dickon's got a whole lot of'em planted in our bit o'garden." "Does Dickon know all about them?"asked Mary,a new idea taking possession of her. "Our Dickon can make a flower grow out of a brick walk.Mother says he just whispers things out o'th'ground." "Do bulbs live a long time?Would they live years and years if no one helped them?"inquired Mary anxiously. "They're things as helps themselves,"said Martha."That's why poor folk can afford to have 'em.If you don't trouble'em,most of'em'll work away underground for a lifetime an'spread out an'have little 'uns.There's a place in th'park woods here where there's snowdrops by thousands.They're the prettiest sight in Yorkshire when th'spring comes.No one knows when they was first planted." "I wish the spring was here now,"said Mary."I want to see all the things that grow in England.” She had finished her dinner and gone to her favorite seat on the hearth-rug. I wish一I wish I had a little spade,”she said.“Whatever does tha'want a spade for?"asked Martha,laughing."Art tha'goin'to take to diggin'?I must tell mother that,too." Mary looked at the fire and pondered a little.She must be careful if she meant to keep her secret kingdom.She wasn't doing any harm,but if Mr. ·138· 第九章世界上最古怪的房子 得颇像洋葱的白色根茎。当时，她将那东西放回了原本 的地方，还小心地将土覆了上去：而到了眼下，她突然 好奇了起来，不知道玛莎是否能够告诉她那究竞是什么 东西。 ①bulb[bAbn.【植物学】 “玛莎，”她开口了，“那些长得和洋葱差不多的白 (洋葱、百合等的)球茎， 色根茎是什么啊？” 鳞茎 “那是球茎，”玛莎答道，“好多开在春天的花儿都 ②narcissus[na:'sis3s]n.【植 物】水仙 是从那东西里长出来的。那些个头儿小一点的是雪花莲 ③jonquil[d3 ogkwil训n.【植 和番红花，大点儿的就是水仙和长寿花了。个头儿最大 物】长寿花 的是百合和紫鸢尾。哎呀！它们可漂亮嘞。迪康就在我 们家的小园子里种了一大堆。” “迪康是不是特别了解这些花？”玛丽问，她的脑 子里冒出了一个全新的念头。 “我家迪康都能让砖道上开出花儿嘞。我娘说了， 他只要轻轻说句话，东西就能打地里长出来。” “球茎能活很久吗？要是没人打理的话，它们会不 会一年又一年地一直活下去呢？”玛丽焦急地问道。 “它们都是能自己打理自己的东西，”玛莎回答，“所 以穷人家才养得起那玩意儿。要是你不惊扰了它们的话， 大多数球茎都能在地底下一直一直生长下去，还能开枝 散叶地长出小球茎嘞。这边儿树林里就有个地方长着成 百上千的雪花莲。春天的时候，那儿就是全约克郡最好 看的一景。没人晓得那些花儿是什么时候种在那里的。” “我真希望现在就是春天，”玛丽说，“我想亲眼看 看英格兰土地里长出来的所有东西。” 彼时，玛丽已经吃完了午餐，正坐在壁炉前地毯上 她最喜欢的那个位置。 “我希望…我希望我能有一把小铁锹。”她又说。 “你要铁锹做啥用？”玛莎大笑着问道，“难不成 ④ponder[pnd句默想 你要开始挖土嘞？我一定要把这件事儿也告诉我娘。” 深思：考虑 玛丽看着壁炉里的火焰，沉思了一小会儿。假若她 想保住自己的秘密王国，就一定要处处小心着些。尽管 她并没有干出什么坏事，但是，要是柯莱文先生发现了 ·139·