第八章小公主

Day 73

本章讲义

今日单词

开始预习

adult /steal /stream /brush /adopt /lying /ma /despite

在Miss Minchin的学校里，Sara被各种赞美包围着：聪明、懂礼貌、慷慨大方...但Sara并未因此而自满，这份友善和聪慧的性格使她收获了很多小伙伴的喜爱。这天，Sara听到愤怒的Miss Minchin正在大声斥责哭闹的Lottie，她很想要帮助Lottie...

- A Little Princes

A Little Princess-

When Sara entered the room, Lottie was lying upon the floor, screaming and kicking-

Lottie had always found, when in her own nursery at home, that the adults would do anything to make her stop kicking and screaming.

Poor Miss Amelia was trying first one method, and then another.

“Poor darling," she said one moment.

"I know you don't have any mamma,poor—" Then in quite another manner.

she would say“If you don't stop, Lottie, I will shake you. Poor little angel(天使)!”

Sara went to them quietly.

She did not know at all what she was going to do, but she felt that it would be better not to say such different things quite so helplessly(无可奈何地) and excitedly.

“Miss Amelia," she said in a low voice.

“Miss Minchin says I may try to make her stop—may 1?"

Miss Amelia turned and looked at her hopelessly.

"Oh, do you think you can?"she asked.

“I don't know whether I can”, answered Sara, still in her half whisper, "but I will try. If you will steal out of the room, I will stay with her."

Miss Amelia went quietly out of the room, and was very much relieved to find an excuse for doing so.

Sara stood by the crying child for a few moments, and looked down at her without saying anything.

Then she sat down flat on the floor

beside her and waited. Except for

Lottie's angry screams, the room was quite quiet.

This was a new experience for little Miss Legh,who was used to hearing other people try to stop her when she screamed.

To kick and cry, and find the only person near you not seeming to mind,got Lottie's attention.

She opened her tight shut streaming eyes to see who this person was.

It was the little girl who owned Emily and all the nice things.

She had stopped for a few seconds to find this out, so Lottie thought she must begin again.

The quiet of the room and of Sara's interested face, however, made her first cry out rather half-hearted(半心半意的).

“I—don't have—any—ma—ma—ma-a!”

Lottie said.

Sara looked at her with a sort of

understanding in her eyes.

“Neither do I," she said.

This was so unexpected that Lottie

actually dropped her legs, and stared.

A new idea will stop a crying child when nothing else will.

Also it was true that while Lottie

disliked Miss Minchin and Miss Amelia,she rather liked Sara.

After another sad cry, she said, “Where is she?”

“She went to heaven," Sara said.

“But I am sure she comes out sometimes to see me—though I don't see her. So does yours.

Perhaps they can both see us now. Perhaps they are both in this room.”

Lottie sat up quickly, and looked about her.

If her mamma had seen her during the last half hour she might not have thought her the kind of child who ought to be related to an angel.

Sara went on talking.

Perhaps some people might think that

what she said was like a fairy(虚构的)

story, but it was so real that Lottie began

to listen despite her sadness.

“There are ficlds and fields of flowers,"

she said, talking rather as if she were in

a dream.

“And when the soft wind blows over

them, it carries the smell of them into

the aic.

Everybody always breathes it, because

the soft wind is always blowing.

And little children run about in the

fields and pick the flowers, and laugh

and make little wreaths(花冠).

And the streets are shining.

And people are never tired, however far

they walk."

Lottie stopped crying, listening with

interest.

She moved closer to Sara, and drank in

every word until Sara finished.

“I want to go there," Lottie cried again.

"I—don't have any mamma in this

school.”

Sara took hold of Lottie's hand and

pulled her close to her side.

“I will be your mamma," she said.

"We will play that you are my little girl.

And Emily shall be your sister."

“Shall she?" Lottie said.

“Yes,” answered Sara, jumping to her feet.

“Let us go and tell her. And then I will wash your face and brush your hair."

Lottie agreed quite cheerfully.

She did not seem to remember the issue of the last hour.

Actually, it had been caused by the fact that she had refused to be washed and brushed for lunch.

And from that time Sara was an adopted mother(养母).

The greatest power Sara had was her power of telling stories.

She could make everything she talked about seem like a story, whether it was one or not.

Sara not only could tell stories, but she loved telling them.

When she sat or stood in the middle of a circle and began to invent wonderful things, her green eyes grew big and shining, and her cheeks reddened.

She began to act, making her story lovely or alarming by raising or dropping her voice and moving her hands.