有声双语经典秘密花园/(美国)弗朗西丝.霍奇森.伯内特

第1章 一个人都不剩 玛丽·伦诺克斯小脸瘦削、身材单薄。黄色的头发耷拉着、黯淡无光。她肤色蜡黄，还总是哭丧着脸。 她出生在印度，还是婴儿时总是哭闹不止、又瘦又丑。她漂亮的母亲看了她一眼后说，必须让她在自己的视线之外。从此，玛丽便由一个仆人照看，她母亲很少再看她一眼。 九年来，玛丽的生活一成不变。一天早晨，天气热得吓人，她醒来后觉得十分烦躁。她坐起来大声唤她的保姆，却发现站在床边的是一个陌生的仆从。 “你为什么在这里？”她问道，“把我奶妈叫来。” 那陌生人显得十分害怕，结结巴巴地说：“对不起，小姐。您的奶妈不能到这儿来了。” 陌生女人伺候玛丽穿衣服，玛丽发出刺耳的尖叫，对她又打又踢。那人赶快离开了房间。 玛丽在屋里乱发了一通脾气。但没有一个仆从告诉她关于奶妈的任何事情。他们一看到她就匆忙逃开了。 *后，玛丽游荡到花园，在游廊附近独自玩耍起来。玛丽假装在建造一座花坛。她从高大的木槿树上摘下花朵，把红色的花插入一个个土堆里。 玛丽听到母亲和一个年轻俊朗的军官来到游廊上。他们低声交谈着。玛丽瞪大眼睛看母亲，因为她很少能见到她。母亲身材高挑，穿着漂亮的衣服，似乎总是面带微笑。 现在她的大眼睛里充满了恐惧。“有那么严重吗？”她问道，“噢，真的吗？” “糟透了，”年轻人回答说，玛丽听到他的声音在颤抖，“你两个星期以前就应该到山上去的。” 玛丽的母亲绞着双手。“我留下来是为了参加那场愚蠢的宴会！”她哭诉，“我真是一个蠢货！” 玛丽还在对母亲所言感到困惑时，哭嚎声从仆人区传来。玛丽的母亲抓住军官的手臂。玛丽站起来，浑身发抖，因为哭嚎声越来越响亮了。 “那是什么声音？”她母亲哭喊道。 “准是有人死了，”年轻军官说，“你没有告诉我这里暴发了疾病！” “我不知道。”伦诺克斯太太倒抽了一口气。她转身跑进屋里，年轻军官紧随其后。 后来有人给玛丽解释说，一种可怕的疾病正在夺走人们的生命。她的奶妈就是家中**个死去的人，但整座房子里不断有哭声响起。 在混乱和疾病中，玛丽藏在她的儿童房里。她很快就被完全忘记了。没有人来找她，也没有人给她带来食物或消息。 有一次，她溜进餐厅，发现桌子上摆着一些食物，但那里没有人。她吃了一些水果和饼干，走回自己的房间，打算睡几个小时，直到有人再次想起她。 当她醒来时，屋子里一片寂静。没有人大声哭叫。没有人匆匆走过她的门前。她想，也许每个人都康复了。也许有人会记得她，给她带来食物和冷饮。但是没有人来。 不一会儿，玛丽听到了沙沙声。她低下头，看到一条无害的小蛇爬过地板上的垫子。 “多么奇怪和安静啊。”她对蛇说。她注视着它从门缝溜出去。突然，玛丽听到了脚步声。门外响起低沉的声音，她蹑手蹑脚地靠近门边探听。 “多么荒凉，”一个人说，“那么漂亮的女人。我听说她有个孩子，尽管没人见过。” 玛丽瞪着门，这时门开了。那军官看到她，吃了一惊，往后跳去。“我的天哪，一个孩子！在这样的地方！” 玛丽对那军官皱起眉头，说：“我是玛丽·伦诺克斯。大家都生病的时候我睡着了。为什么没有人来找我？” “这是那个没人见过的孩子，”另一名军官说话了，人们聚过来围在门口，“实际上她被遗忘了。” “可怜的孩子，”一个慈眉善目的男人说，“没有人能来，因为一个人都不剩了。” 于是，玛丽知道她的父亲和母亲都死了。所有活着的仆人都逃走了，只剩她独自一人留在世上。 CHAPTER 1 There Is No One Left Mary Lennox had a little thin face and a little thin body. Her yellow hair hung limp and dull. Her skin was faintly yellow and she wore a tight, sour expression at all times. She was born in India, squalling, thin and ugly. Her pretty mother took one look at her and said that she must be kept out of sight. Mary was handed over to a servant, and her mother rarely looked upon her again. For nine years, Mary’s life rarely changed. Then one frightfully hot morning, she awoke feeling very cross. She sat up to snap at her nursemaid, only to see a strange servant standing beside her bed. “Why are you there?” she demanded. “Send my Ayah to me now!” The stranger looked frightened and stammered, “I’m sorry, Missie Sahib. Your Ayah cannot come.” Mary shrieked, slapped, and kicked as the strange woman tried to help her dress. The stranger left the room as quickly as she could. Mary stormed around the house. None of the servants would tell her anything about her Ayah. They merely hurried away when they spotted her. Finally, Mary wandered out into the garden and began to play by herself near the veranda. Mary pretended she was making a flower bed. She picked blossoms from the tall hibiscus hedge and stuck the red flowers into little heaps of dirt. Mary heard her mother come out on the veranda with a fair young officer. The two spoke together in low voices. Mary stared at her mother, since she got so few glimpses of her. She was a tall, slim, pretty person who wore such lovely clothes and seemed always to be laughing or smiling. Now her eyes were large and scared. “Is it so very bad?” she asked. “Oh, is it?” “Awfully,” the young man said and Mary heard his voice tremble. “You ought to have gone to the hills two weeks ago.” Mary’s mother wrung her hands. “I only stayed to go to a silly dinner party!” she cried. “What a fool I was!” While Mary puzzled over what her mother meant, wailing rang out from the servants’ quarters. Mary’s mother clutched the young officer’s arm. Mary stood up, shivering as the wailing grew wilder and wilder. “What is it?” her mother cried. “Someone has died,” the young officer said. “You didn’t say the sickness had broken out here!” “I didn’t know,” Mrs. Lennox gasped. She turned and ran into the house with the young officer at her heels. Eventually someone explained to Mary that a terrible sickness was killing people. Ayah was the first of the household to die, but the wailing sounded throughout the house over and over. In the confusion and the sickness, Mary hid herself in her nursery. She was soon completely forgotten. No one came to her or brought her food or news. Once she crept out into the dining room and found the table set with food but no one there. She ate some fruit and biscuits and wandered back to her room to sleep away the hours until someone would remember her again. When she awakened, the house was silent. No one wailed. No one rushed past her door. Maybe everyone has gotten well, she thought. Maybe someone would remember her and bring her food and a cool drink. But no one came.