有声书 | 秘密花园 02

英语有声书

走近有声世界
共听英文原著

 

 今日书目 

书名： 

The Secret Garden

《秘密花园》

作者：

 Frances 

Hodgson Burnett

往期回听 | 秘密花园

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今日连载 | The Secret Garden 02

The Secret Garden

Chapter Two: 

Mary Visits the Gardens

The next morning, Mary woke up when a young housemaid① came into her room to light the fire. Her name was Martha, and she talked to Mary while she worked.

Mary didn't understand servants who were friendly. In India she had spoken to servants only to give them orders. She never said 'Please' or 'Thank you'. Once, she had even slapped② her ayah's face when she was angry with her. Somehow, she knew that she must not behave in this way with Martha.

At first Mary did not listen to Martha, but after a while③ she began to like the sound of the friendly Yorkshire voice.

'You should see all my little brothers and sisters in our little cottage on the moor,' Martha said. 'There's twelve of us, and my father only earns sixteen shillings④ a week. It is hard for my mother to feed⑤ them all. The fresh air on the moor makes them strong and healthy. Our Dickon's twelve. He's always out on the moor. He's good with animals. He's tamed a wild pony⑥.

'Go and look at the gardens,' Martha said. 'There's not much growing now, but they're lovely in summer.'

She paused for a moment, and then said quietly, 'One of the gardens is locked up. No one has been in it for ten years.'

'Why?' asked Mary.

'Mr Craven closed it after his wife died. It was her garden. He locked the door, dug a hole and buried the key.'

The enormous grounds of Misselthwaite Manor were divided by high walls into many gardens. In some there were flowers, trees and fountains. Vegetables grew in others. Doors opened from garden into garden. Because it was winter, the trees were bare and no flowers grew. Mary thought that it all looked very empty and ugly.

After a while an old man came through one of the doors. He had a surly⑦ old face and did not seem at all pleased to see Mary.

'Can I go through that door?' Mary asked. 'If you like,' he replied. 'There's nothing to see.'

Mary hoped that she might find the door to the locked garden. She tried many doors, but they all opened easily. Then, she noticed one wall that was covered in ivy⑧, but seemed to have no door in it. She could see tall trees behind the ivy-covered wall. A robin on a high branch started to sing. She stopped to listen, and the little bird with the red breast seemed almost to be calling to her. His cheerful⑨ song brought a small smile to her sad face.

The old man continued digging. He ignored Mary until at last she said, 'There's a garden over there without a door.'

'What garden?' he asked angrily.

'On the other side of the wall,' she answered. 'I saw a robin in the trees over there.'

The old man stopped digging, and to Mary's surprise he smiled.

He looked quite different when he smiled. He whistled⑩ very softly⑪.

Then, a wonderful thing happened. There was a sound of wings, and the robin came down next to the man's foot.

'Here he is,' the old man chuckled⑫. 'He always comes to me when I whistle. Isn't he a nice little bird?'

The robin hopped about, pecking⑬ at the earth. The gardener, Ben Weatherstaff, continued digging. 'He's the only friend I've got,' he said.

'I've never had any friends,' said Mary, sadly. Ben stopped digging and looked at Mary.

'You and I are the same, then,' he said to her. 'We're not good looking and we're as sour as we look.'

It was the first time that Mary had ever thought about her angry face and bad temper. Now that she did, she felt uncomfortable. Just then⑭, the clear sound of the robin's song made her look towards the apple tree where he sat. Ben Weatherstaff laughed.

'What did he do that for?' asked Mary.

'He's decided to be your friend,' replied Ben. 'He's taken a fancy⑮ to you.'

'To me?' said Mary, and she moved softly towards the little tree and looked up.

'Would you make friends with me?' she said gently⑯ to the robin, as if she was speaking to a person.

'Why⑰,' said Ben quietly, 'you said that like a real child instead of a little old woman. You said it almost like Dickson when he talks to his wild things out on the moor.'

The robin flew over the wall.

'There must be a door to that garden,' Mary said firmly⑱.

'There's no door that you can find and in any case, it's none of your business⑲,' Ben said sharply⑳. 'Don't poke㉑ your nose in where it doesn't belong.'

The gardener walked away without saying goodbye.

旺

财

旺

福

Words

① housemaid：女仆。

② slapped：用掌掴。

③ a while：一段时间。

④ shillings：先令。

⑤ feed：提供食物。

⑥ tamed a wild pony：驯服了一匹小马。

⑦ surly：不友善的。

⑧ ivy：常春藤。

⑨ cheerful：愉快的。

⑩ whistled：吹口哨。

⑪ softly：轻声的。

⑫ chuckled：咯咯笑。

⑬ pecking：啄食。

⑭ just then：刚巧在那时。

⑮ fancy：喜爱。

⑯ gently：轻轻地。

⑰ why：(表示惊讶)吆。

⑱ firmly：坚定的。

⑲ it's none of your business：这事与你无关。

⑳ sharply：尖刻地。

(21) poke your nose in：多管闲事。

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编辑 | 孟一凡

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