Colin Is Afraid Because it rained all the next week, Mary went to talk to Colin every day instead（代替） of visiting the garden. But she woke early one morning to see the sun shining（ 发光） into her room and she ran out to the secret（秘密的） garden at once. She did not even wait to have her breakfast. It was beautifully（美丽地） sunny and warm and a thousand more shoots（发芽） were pushing（推） their way out of the ground. Colin was already（早已） there, digging（掘） hard with the crow（鸦） and a young fox beside him. "Have you seen the robin（知更鸟）?" he asked Mary.

  The little bird was flying busily backwards（倒） and forwards（促进） as fast as he could carrying pieces of dry（干的） grass. "He's building a nest（巢）," whispered（低声地讲） Mary. They watched the robin for a moment. Then Mary said, "I must tell you something. You probably know about Colin Craven, don't you? Well, I've met him and I'm going to help him to get better." "That's good news."

  There was a big smile（ 微笑） on Dickens' honest（诚实的） face. We all knew he was ill（有病的）. "He's afraid he'll have a crooked（弯曲的） back like his father. I think that's what's making（使） him ill（有病的）." "Perhaps（也许） we can bring him here and let him rest（使休息） under the trees. That'll do him good. That's what we'll do." They had a lot of gardening（园艺） and planning to do and Mary did not have time to visit Colin that day.

  When she came back to the house in the evening, Martha told her that the servants（仆人） had had trouble（问题） with Colin. "He's been very bad-tempered（使回火） all afternoon with all of us because you didn't come, miss." "Well, I was busy. He'll have to learn not to be so selfish（ 自私的）," replied（回答） Mary coldly. She forgot how selfish she had been when she was ill in India（印度）. "I'll go and see him now." When she went into his room, he was lying（躺） in bed, looking tired.

  He did not turn to look at her. "What's the matter（物质） with you?" she asked crossly. "My back（在后） aches（疼痛） and my head hurts（使受伤）. Why didn't you come this afternoon?" "I was working in the garden with Dickon." "I won't let that boy come to the garden if you stay with him instead of talking to me." Mary suddenly（突然地） became very angry. "If you send Dickon away, I'll never come into this room again. You'll have to if I say so.

  I'll make the servants bring you in here." "Oh, will you, Prince（王子）? But no one can make（使） me talk to you. I won't look at you. I'll stare（ 盯着看） at the floor." "You selfish girl!" cried（哭） Colin.

  "You're more selfish than I am. You're the most selfish boy I've ever met." "I'm not as selfish as your fine Dickon. He keeps you playing outside when he knows I'm ill and alone（单独地）." Mary had never been so furious（狂怒的）. "Dickon is nicer than any other boy in the world. He's like an angel（天使）." "An angel? Don't make me laugh. He's just a poor country boy with holes（洞） in his shoes.