Finding Joy in a Secret Garden

Finding the Secret Garden When Mary wokeverb.醒来 up two days later, the wind and rain had all disappearedverb.不见 and the sky was a beautiful blue. "Spring will be here soon," said Martha happilyadv.快乐地. "You'll love the moornoun.沼地 then when it's full of flowers and birds." "Could I get to the moornoun.沼地?" asked Mary. "You've never done much walking, have you? I don't think you could walk the five milesnoun.英里 to our cottagenoun.村舍." "But I'd like to meet your family," Mary said.

Martha looked at the little girl for a moment. She remembered how disagreeable Mary had been when she first arrived. But now Mary looked interested and friendlyadj.友好的. "I'll ask Mother," said Martha. "She can always think of a good plan. She's sensibleadj.感觉得到的 and hard-working and kind." "I know you like her." "I like Dickon although I've never seen him." "I wonderverb.想知道 what Dickon will think of you?" "He won't like me," said Mary. "No one does." "But do you like yourself?" "That's what Mother would ask."

"No, not reallyadv.真正地. I've never thought of that." "Well, I must go now. It's me day offadv.(离)开, so I'm going home to help Mother with the houseworknoun.家务劳动. Good-bye, Miss. See you tomorrow." Mary felt lonelieradj.孤独的 than everadv.在任何时候 when Martha had gone, so she went outside. The sunshine made the gardens look different, and the changenoun.改变 in the weather had evenadv.甚至 made Ben Weatherstaff easier to talk to. "Can you smellverb.闻出 spring in the air?" he asked her. "Things are growing deepadv.深深地 down in the ground. Soon you'll see little green shootsnoun.发芽 coming up.

Young plants they are. You watch them." "I will," repliedverb.回答 Mary. "Oh, there's the robinnoun.知更鸟." The little bird hoppedverb.单足跳跃〔跳行〕 on to Ben Spade. "Are things growing in the garden where he lives?" "What garden?" said Ben in his bad-temperedverb.使回火 voice. "You know, the secretadj.秘密的 garden. Are the flowers dead there?" She reallyadv.真正地 wanted to know the answer. "Ask the robinnoun.知更鸟," said Ben Crossley. "He's the onlyadj.唯一的 one who's been in there for the last ten years." Ten years was a long time, Mary thought.

She had been bornverb.承担 ten years ago. She walked away, thinking. She had begun to like the gardens, and the robinnoun.知更鸟, and Martha, and Dickon, and their mother. Before she came to Yorkshire, she had not liked anybody. She was walking beside the long wall of the secretadj.秘密的 garden, when a mostadv.最 wonderful thing happened. She suddenlyadv.突然地 realisedverb.了解 the robinnoun.知更鸟 was followingverb.跟随 her. She felt very pleasedadj.开心的 and excitedadj.兴奋的 by this, and cried out, "You like me, don't you? And I like you too!"

As he hoppedverb.单足跳跃〔跳行〕 along beside her, she hoppedverb.单足跳跃〔跳行〕 and sang too, to show him that she was his friend. Just then, he stopped at a place where a dog had dugverb.掘 a hole in the ground. As Mary looked at the hole, she noticedverb.注意 something almostadv.几乎 buriedverb.埋葬 there. She put her hand in and pulled it out. It was an old key. "Perhapsadv.也许 it's been buriedverb.埋葬 for ten years," she whisperedverb.低声地讲 to herself. "Perhapsadv.也许 it's the key to the secretadj.秘密的 garden!"

She looked at it for a long time. How lovely it would be to find the garden and see what had happened to it in the last ten years! She could play in it all by herself, and nobody would know she was there. She put the key safelyadv.安全地 in her pocket. The next morning, Martha was back at Missal Thwaite Manor, and told Mary all about her day with her family. "I reallyadv.真正地 enjoyed myself. A helpmother with the wholeadj.完整的 week's washingnoun.洗涤 and bakingverb.烤.

And I told the children about you. They wanted to know about your servantsnoun.仆人, the ship that brought you to England, and everything. I can tell you some more for next time," offeredverb.提供 Mary. "They'd like to hear about ridingverb.使摆脱 on elephants and camelsnoun.骆驼, wouldn't they? Oh, that would be kind of you, Miss. And, Luke, mother has sent you a present." "A present?" repeated Mary. How could a family of fourteen hungry people give anyone a present? Mother bought it from a man who came to the door to sell things.

She told me, "Martha, you brought me your pay like a good girl, and we need it all, but I'm going to buy something for that lonelyadj.孤独的 child at the manor." And she bought one, and here it is. It was a skippingverb.跳过 ropenoun.绳. Mary staredverb.以星状物装饰 at it. "What is it?" she asked. "Don't they have skippingverb.跳过 ropesnoun.绳 in India?" "Well, this is how you use it. Just watch me." Martha took the ropenoun.绳 and ran into the middle of the room.

She counted up to a hundred as she skippedverb.跳过. "That looks lovely," said Mary. "Your mother is very kindadj.善良的. Do you think I could everadv.在任何时候 skipverb.跳过 like that?" "Just tryverb.尝试," said Martha. "Mother says it'll make you strong and healthy. Skip outside in the fresh air." Mary put her coat on and took the skippingverb.跳过 ropenoun.绳. As she was opening the door, she thought of something and turned roundadv.在周围. "Martha, it was your money, reallyadv.真正地. Thank you." She never thanked people usuallyadv.通常地, and she did not know how to do it, so she heldverb.拿住 out her hand because she knew that adultsnoun.成年人 did that.

Martha shookverb.动摇 her hand and laughed. "You're a strangeadj.陌生的 child," she said, "like an old woman. Now run away and play." The skippingverb.跳过 ropenoun.绳 was wonderful. Mary counted and skippedverb.跳过, skippedverb.跳过 and counted until her face was hot and red. She was having more fun than she had everadv.在任何时候 had before. She skippedverb.跳过 through the gardens until she found Ben Weatherstaff, who was diggingverb.掘 and talking to his Robin. She wanted them both to see her skipnoun.跳跃. "Well," said Ben, "you're looking fine and healthy today. Go on skippingverb.跳过.

It's good for you." Mary skippedverb.跳过 all the way to the secretadj.秘密的 garden wall. And there was the Robin. He had followedverb.跟随 her. Mary was very pleasedadj.开心的. "You showed me where the key was yesterday," she laughed. "I've got it in my pocket. So you ought to show me the door today." The Robin hoppedverb.单足跳跃〔跳行〕 onto an old climbing plant on the wall and sang his mostadv.最 beautiful song. Suddenlyadv.突然地 the wind made the plant movenoun.动 and Mary saw something under the dark green leaves.

The thick, heavy plant was coveringverb.盖 a door. Mary's heart was beatingverb.(beat) 打败 fast and her hands were shakingverb.动摇 as she pushed the leaves away and found the keyhole. She took the key out of her pocket and it fittedverb.适合 the hole. Using both hands she managedverb.管理 to unlockverb.开启 the door. Then she turned roundadv.在周围 to see if anyone was watching. But there was no one. So she pushed the door which opened slowlyadv.缓慢地 for the first time in ten years.

She walked quickly in and shut the door behind her. At last she was inside the secretadj.秘密的 garden. It was the loveliest, mostadv.最 excitingadj.令人兴奋的 place she had everadv.在任何时候 seen. There were old rose trees everywhere and the walls were coveredverb.盖 with climbingverb.攀登 roses. She looked carefullyadv.小心地 at the greyadj.灰色的 branchesnoun.树枝. Were the roses still aliveadj.活着的? Ben would know. She hopedverb.单足跳跃〔跳行〕 they weren't all dead but she was inside the wonderful garden in a world of her own. It seemedverb.似乎 very strangeadj.陌生的 and silentadj.沉默的 but she did not feel lonelyadj.孤独的 at all.

Then she noticedverb.注意 some small green shootsnoun.发芽 coming up through the grass. So something was growing in the garden after all. When she found a lotnoun.许多 more shootsnoun.发芽 in different places she decidedverb.决定 they needed more air and light. So she began to pull out the thick grass around them. She worked away clearingverb.清除 the ground for two or three hours and had to take her coat off because she got so hot. The robinnoun.知更鸟 hoppedverb.单足跳跃〔跳行〕 around, pleasedadj.开心的 to see someone gardeningverb.栽培花木.

She almostadv.几乎 forgot about lunch and when she arrived back in her room she was very hungry and ate twiceadv.两次 as much as usualadj.通常的. "Martha," she said as she was eating, "I've been thinking. This is a big, lonelyadj.孤独的 house and there isn't much for me to do. Do you think if I buy a little spadenoun.铲 I can make my own garden?" "That's just what Mother said," repliedverb.回答 Martha. "You'd enjoy diggingverb.掘 and watching plants growing. Dickon can get you a spadenoun.铲 and some seeds to plant, if you like."

"Oh, thank you, Martha. I've got some money that Mrs. Medlock gave me. Will you write and ask Dickon to buy them for me?" "Ah, well, and he'll bring them to you himself." "Oh, then I'll see him!" Mary looked very excitedadj.兴奋的. Then she remembered something. "I heard that cry in the house again, Martha. It wasn't the wind this time. I've heard it three times now. Who is it?" Martha looked uncomfortableadj.不舒服的. "You mustn't go wanderingverb.漫游 around the house, you know. Mr. Craven wouldn't like it.