我的秘密花园

Chapter One: A Spoiled Little Girl

 Mary Lennox was spoiled, rude and had a bad temper . Because she was often ill she was thin, with a sad face. She complained a lot. No one liked her at all.

This was not really Mary's fault. She lived in India with her mother and father, but she did not see her parents very often. Mary's father was busy with his work and her mother was a very beautiful woman who loved parties and was not interested in her small daughter. She left Mary in the care of an Indian nanny , called an ayah. Her ayah let Mary do what she wanted because she didn't want Mary to cry and irritate her mother. Mary soon became a spoiled and unpleasant young girl.

When Mary was nine years old she woke up one hot morning and felt that there was something wrong. She heard strange cries and shouts and the sound of feet outside her door, but no one came to see her. She went back to sleep.

Later, when Mary woke up, the house was silent.

She heard nothing. Mary was angry because no one came to bring her food or to dress her. Suddenly her door opened and two Englishmen entered.

Mary looked at them angrily.

'Why has everyone forgotten me?' she asked. 'Where is my ayah? Why does no one come?'

'Poor little kid ,' said one of the men. 'There is nobody here.'

That is how Mary discovered that her mother and father were dead and that the servants were dead too, because of a terrible disease . That was why the house was so silent. Mary Lennox was completely alone.

There was no one in India to look after Mary, so she went to England to live with her uncle, Mr Craven, who lived in a big house in Yorkshire, called Misselthwaite Manor.

Mrs Medlock, her uncle's housekeeper , met Mary in London. Mary disliked Mrs Medlock immediately. But this was nothing new, because Mary disliked everyone.

Mrs Medlock did not like Mary. She thought that the little girl was bad-

tempered, rude and plain— and she was right.

During the long train journey to Yorkshire, Mrs Medlock told Mary about the house where she was going to live. It seemed very large and gloomy ,and it was near the edge of a moor .

'There's nothing for you to do there, and your uncle is not interested in you,' said Mrs Medlock. 'He's got a crooked back. He was a Sour ⑦

young man until he married.'

Mary listened more carefully now. She did not know that her uncle was married.

'His wife was very pretty, and he loved her very much. When she died he became even stranger,' Mrs Medlock said.

'Oh, did she die?' asked Mary.

'Yes, and now he likes nobody. He's away most of the time, so you must look after yourself.'

It was dark and raining when they got out of the train. They travelled to the house by horse and carriage , but Mary could see nothing outside because of the rain and the darkness of the night.

'What is a moor?' Mary asked.

'It's miles and miles of land,' replied Mrs Med Jock. 'Very little grows on it,and nothing lives on it except: ponies and sheep.'

The carriage stopped at last in a courtyard. A butler opened a heavy wooden door.

'Take her to her room,' he said to Mrs Medlock. 'The Master doesn't want to see her. He's going to London tomorrow.'

Mrs Medlock took Mary upstairs, along many corridors to a room with a fire burning in it and food on the table.

'Well, here you are,' said Mrs Medlock. 'This is where you'll live. This room and the next is where you must stay. You can't go into the other parts of the house. Don't forget that.'

Mary Lennox felt terribly alone.

小气财神

Chapter One: Scrooge Marley was dead.

That was certain because there were people at his funeral. Scrooge was there too. He and Marley were business partners , and he was Marley's only friend. But Scrooge looked very happy at the funeral because on that day he made some money. Scrooge was a clever businessman.

Yes, old Marley was certainly dead. But years later his name was still there above the office door. Scrooge and Marley. That was the company's name. Sometimes people called Scrooge 'Scrooge' and sometimes 'Marley'.

He always answered. It was all the same to him.

Oh, but he was a mean man , Scrooge! He never spent any money and he never gave any away. He was an old miser . And he was a cold and solitary man. The cold was inside him. You could see it in his red eyes and on his blue nose and thin, white lips. You could hear it in his hard voice, and it made his office cold, especially at Christmas. Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, 'My dear Scrooge, how are you? When will you come and see me?' Children never spoke to him, and even dogs ran away from him.

But Scrooge didn't care. He liked it. That was what he wanted.

One Christmas Eve Scrooge was sitting in his office. It was only three o'clock in the afternoon but it was already dark. The weather was very cold and there was a lot of fog. It came into the office through the windows and doors. Bob Cratchit, Scrooge's clerk , was copying letters in a dark little room, and the old man watched him carefully. Bob had a very very small fire in his room. It was even smaller than Scrooge's, and he tried to warm his hands at the candle but he couldn't do it.

'A merry Christmas, uncle!' said a happy voice. And Scrooge's nephew Fred came in.

'Bah!' answered Scrooge. 'Humbug!', His nephew looked warm. His face was red and his eyes were bright.

'Christmas a humbug, uncle?' he cried, surprised. 'You don't mean that, I'm sure.'

'Yes, I do " said Scrooge. 'Merry Christmas! Why are you merry?

You're a poor man, aren't you!"

'Well, why are you so unhappy? You're rich.'

'Bah! Humbug!'

'Don't be angry, uncle,' said Fred.

'Why not? There are too many fools in this world. You say "Merry Christmas" when you're a year older and poorer. That's stupid! '

'Uncle — please!'

'Nephew! You have your own Christmas and I'll have mine. Leave me alone.'

'But you don't celebrate Christmas, uncle.'

'Because I never make any money at Christmas. I don't like it. Leave me alone.'

'But Christmas is a good time,' said the nephew. 'It's the only time in the year when people open their hearts and help each other. They become kind and generous. I like Christmas and I say God bless it!'

The clerk in his little room clapped his hands happily and said, 'Yes, that's right!'

'Another word from you and you'll lose your job,' Scrooge said to him.

'Don't be angry, uncle. Come and eat with us tomorrow,' said his nephew.

'No! Go away! I'm busy.'

'But why won't you come?'

'Why did you get married?' Scrooge asked.

'Because I fell in love.'

'Because you fell in love! Bah! That's more stupid than a merry Christmas.

Good afternoon.'

'But why don't you ever come to see me ,uncle?"

'Good afternoon,' said Scrooge.

'Can't we be friends?'

'Good afternoon,' said Scrooge.

'Well, I'm very sorry about this, but I wish you a merry Christmas with all my heart, uncle.'

'Good afternoon,' said Scrooge.

'And a happy new Year!'

'Good afternoon!' said Scrooge.

So his nephew went to the door and opened it. But before he left, he said 'Merry Christmas!' to the clerk, who answered with a warm 'Happy Christmas!'

'Are you stupid too?' Scrooge said.

At that moment two fat gentlemen came in.

'Excuse me, is this Scrooge and Marley's?' said one of them.

'May I ask if you are Mr Scrooge or Mr Marley?'

'Mr Marley is dead. He died on Christmas Eve seven years ago.'

'At this festive time of the year, Mr Scrooge,' said the man, taking a pen6 / 38

from his pocket, 'we ask people to give some money to help the poor. There are thousands of people with nothing to eat at Christmas.'

'Aren't there any prisons?' asked Scrooge.

'Yes, lots of them.'

'And what about the workhouses ? Aren't there still lots of them?'

'Unfortunately, yes.'

'Good. I'm happy to hear it.'

'We don't think the people in the workhouses or prisons are happy about it.

They don't have much to eat or drink, and they're always cold. How much can you give us, sir?'

'Nothing!' Scrooge replied. 'Leave me alone. I don't celebrate Christmas and I don't give money to lazy people. I help to pay for the workhouses and prisons. That's enough.'

'But many people can't go there and they'll die in this cold weather.'

'Well, there are too many people in the world already, so that's a good thing. Good afternoon, gentlemen!'

So the two men went out and Scrooge continued his work. It became colder and foggier and darker. When a boy came to sing a Christmas carol outside Scrooge's door, he stood up and shouted angrily, 'Go away!'

The boy was frightened and ran away very quickly.

Finally, it was time to close the office and go home. Scrooge stopped his work and put down his pen. The clerk put on his hat to go.

'You want all day tomorrow, do you?' said Scrooge.

'If it's all right, sir — yes.'

'It's not all right,' Scrooge answered. 'I must pay you for a day's holiday.'

'It's only once a year, sir.'

'Bah! Every December 25th you get money for nothing! Well, arrive here extra early on the 26th — do you hear me.

'Yes, sir,' said the clerk.

And when he left the office, he ran and danced all the way home because it was Christmas Eve.8 / 38

Chapter Two: Marley's Ghost Scrooge walked home to the rooms where he lived. Years ago his partner Marley lived there. They were very old and dark and silent. The knocker on the door was large but it was like hundreds of other door knockers.

Scrooge never looked at it. And he wasn't thinking about Marley when he put his key in the door. So how did he see Marley's face in the knocker? Yes,

Marley's face! There was a strange light around it. It looked at Scrooge with its glasses up in its hair, like Marley when he was alive. The hair was moving slowly, the eyes were wide open, and the face was very white.

Scrooge looked at it for a moment, and then it was a knocker again. He was surprised, but he went in and lit his candle . Then he looked at the knocker again.

'Pooh, pooh!' he said, and closed the door.

The sound echoed around the house, but Scrooge wasn't frightened of echoes and he went slowly up the dark stairs. He liked darkness; it was cheap. He looked around his room: nobody under the table, nobody under the sofa, nobody under the bed, nobody in the cupboards. He locked the door and put on his dressing-gown, slippers and nightcap. Then he sat in front of an old fireplace with a very small fire in it. For a moment he thought he saw Marley's face in the fire.

'Humbug!' he said.

Then he looked at the old bell above him on the wall. He was very surprised when this bell began to move. At first it moved slowly and quietly, but soon it made a very loud sound and all the bells in the house began to ring too. Suddenly they stopped. Scrooge heard a strange noise far away in the house — a noise of metal, like chains . It was coming up the stairs. Something was coming towards his door.

'It's humbug!' he said. 'I don't believe it.'

But the thing came into the room and stopped in front of him. He couldn't believe his eyes! The same face: Marley's face! Scrooge recognised his dead partner's clothes and boots, and he saw a long chain round his transparent body. The chain had heavy cash-boxes, keys, locks, and account books on it.

Marley was looking at him with cold, dead eyes. There was a handkerchief round his head and chin .

'Well?' Scrooge said. 'What do you want with me?'

'Much!' It was certainly Marley's voice.

'Who are you?'

'Ask me who I was?'

'Who were you then?'

'In life I was your partner, Jacob Marley.'

'Sit down — if you can.'

The Ghost sat in a chair on the other side of the fireplace.

'You don't believe in me, do you?' it said.

'No, I don't.'

'Why not?'

'Because perhaps I ate a piece of meat or cheese and my stomach didn't digest it, so you are only the consequence of a bad stomach.'

Scrooge said this because he didn't want to show his terror. But the Ghost's cold eyes frightened him very much.

'If I eat this candle,' Scrooge continued, 'I'll see hundreds of ghosts like you, but they'll only be in my head.'

Then the Spirit gave a terrible cry , and it shook its chain with a tremendous noise. Scrooge trembled. And then he fell out of his chair with horror when the Ghost took off the handkerchief and its chin dropped on its chest .

'Help!' he cried with his hands on his face. 'Oh, why are you here, terrible Spirit?'

'Do you believe in me or not?'

'Yes, I do — I must!' Scrooge replied. 'But why do you come to me?'

'If a man's spirit stays away from other people while he is alive, it must walk through the world after he is dead, but it cannot share ⑦

the happiness of living people.' And again the Ghost shook its chain with a sad cry.

'Why are you wearing that chain?' Scrooge asked, trembling.

'Because I made it when I was alive. I stayed away from other people. I

didn't try to help them. I never loved anybody; I loved only money. So I

made this chain for myself and now I must wear it. I lived like you, Scrooge!

Seven years ago your chain was long and heavy. Now it is very long and very heavy!'

Again Scrooge trembled in terror. 'Tell me more, old Jacob Marley. Help me!'

'I cannot help you, Ebenezer Scrooge,' answered the Ghost. 'I cannot rest, I

cannot stay here. When I was alive, my spirit never walked out of our office.

It was locked in there while I made all my money. So now I must travel and never stop.'

'Have you travelled all this time — for seven years?'

'Yes. No rest. No peace. Always travelling.'

'Do you travel fast?'

'Very fast. Like the wind.'

'Well, in seven years you have been to a lot of places then.'

'Oh, but I am a prisoner!' cried the phantom , and it shook the chain again,

a terrible sound in the silence of the night. 'I was also a prisoner in my life because I didn't try to help others.'

'But you were a good man of business, Jacob.' Scrooge was thinking of himself too.

'Business! What was my business? My business was people, my business was charity , my business was love, my business was goodness! But I didn't do anything good. I lived with my eyes closed. I didn't see the poor and hungry people in the streets. But now I must go. Listen!'

'I'm listening, Jacob,' Scrooge said.

'I am here tonight to tell you something. There is still hope for you,

Ebenezer. You still have a chance.'

'You were always a good friend, Jacob. Thank you.'

'You will see three Ghosts.'

Scrooge looked frightened. 'Are they the hope and the chance you spoke about, Jacob?'

'Yes.'

'Well— I don't want to see them...'

'You must! If you don't want to be like me, you must! The first Spirit will come at one o'clock tomorrow morning.'

'Can't they all come at one o'clock and finish it quickly, Jacob?'

'The second will come on the next night at the same time. The third will come on the night after that when the church bell strikes twelve midnight.

You will not see me again. Remember my words!'

Then the Ghost put the handkerchief round its head and began to walk towards the window. It asked Scrooge to follow. But when the window opened, Scrooge stopped. He was very frightened because he could hear a great noise of crying outside. The air was full of ghosts. They were moving quickly here and there, and they all wore chains like Marley's Ghost. Their cries were very sad. There was one old ghost with a big metal box of money on a chain. It was unhappy because it couldn't help a poor woman and her baby out in the cold, foggy night without a home.

Marley's Ghost went out into the night. In a moment it was with the other ghosts, and all of them disappeared . Scrooge closed the window and went to the door. It was locked. Did Marley's Ghost really come through a locked door?

'Bah!' he said. And he began to say 'Humbug!' but stopped. He didn't want to say it now.

It was late and he was tired. So he went to bed and fell asleep immediately.