Colin Is Afraid Because it rained all the next week, Mary went to talk to Colin every day insteadadv.代替 of visiting the garden. But she wokeverb.醒来 early one morning to see the sun shiningverb.爬 into her room and she ran out to the secretadj.秘密的 garden at once. She did not evenadv.甚至 wait to have her breakfast. It was beautifullyadv.美丽地 sunny and warm and a thousand more shootsnoun.发芽 were pushing their way out of the ground. Colin was already there, diggingverb.掘 hard with the crownoun.鸦 and a young foxnoun.狐狸 beside him.
"Have you seen the robinnoun.知更鸟?" he asked Mary. The little bird was flying busily backwardsadv.倒 and forwards as fast as he could carrying pieces of dry grass. "He's building a nestnoun.巢," whisperedverb.低声地讲 Mary. They watched the robinnoun.知更鸟 for a moment. Then Mary said, "I must tell you something. You probablyadv.或许 know about Colin Craven, don't you? Welladj.健康的, I've met him and I'm going to help him to get betteradj.健康的." "That's good news." There was a big smile on Dickens' honestadj.诚实的 face.
We all knew he was ill. "He's afraid he'll have a crookedadj.弯曲的 back like his father. I think that's what's making him ill." "Perhapsadv.也许 we can bring him here and let him restverb.使休息 under the trees. That'll do him good. That's what we'll do." They had a lotnoun.许多 of gardeningnoun.园艺 and planningnoun. 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 servantsnoun.仆人 had had troublenoun.问题 with Colin.
"He's been very bad-temperedverb.使回火 all afternoon with all of us because you didn't come, missverb.未击中." "Well, I was busy. He'll have to learn not to be so selfishadj.自私的," repliedverb.回答 Mary coldly. She forgot how selfishadj.自私的 she had been when she was ill in India. "I'll go and see him now." When she went into his room, he was lyingverb.躺 in bed, looking tired. He did not turn to look at her. "What's the matternoun.物质 with you?" she asked crossly. "My back achesnoun.疼痛 and my head hurts. 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 insteadadv.代替 of talking to me." Mary suddenlyadv.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 servantsnoun.仆人 bring you in here." "Oh, will you, Prince? But no one can make me talk to you. I won't look at you. I'll stareverb.盯着看 at the floor." "You selfishadj.自私的 girl!" Cried Colin. "You're moreadv.更 selfishadj.自私的 than I am. You're the mostadv.最 selfishadj.自私的 boy I've everadv.在任何时候 met."
"I'm not as selfishadj.自私的 as your fine Dickon. He keeps you playing outside when he knows I'm ill and aloneadj.单独的." Mary had never been so furiousadj.狂怒的. "Dickon is nicer than any other boy in the world. He's like an angelnoun.天使." "An angelnoun.天使? Don't make me laugh. He's just a poor country boy with holes in his shoes. He's a thousand times betteradj.健康的 than you are." Colin had never arguedverb.争论 with anyone like himself in his life, and in factnoun.事实 it was good for him.
But now he was beginning to feel sorry for himself. "I'm always ill," he said, and started to cry. "I'm sure my back is a bitnoun.一点 crookedadj.弯曲的 and I'm going to die." "No, you're not!" Said Mary crossly. Colin opened his eyes very wideadv.广泛地. Nobody had said that to him before. He was angry, but a bitnoun.一点 pleasedadj.开心的 at the same time. "What do you mean? You know I'm going to die. Everybody says I'm going to die." "I don't believeverb.相信 it," said Mary in her mostadv.最 disagreeable voice.
"You just say that to make people feel sorry for you. You're too horrid to die." Colin forgot about his painfuladj.使痛的 back and sat up in bed. "Get out of the room at once!" He shoutedverb.呼喊 and threw a book at her. "I'm going!" Mary shoutedverb.呼喊 in replynoun.回答. "And I won't come back!" The door bangedverb.重击 shut behind her. When she reachedverb.抵达 her own room, she had decidedverb.决定 never to tell him her great secretnoun.秘密. "He can stay in his room and die if he wants," she thought.
But soon she began to remember how ill he had been and how frightenedverb.使惊恐 he was, frightenedverb.使惊恐 that one day his back would become as crookedadj.弯曲的 as his father's. "Perhapsadv.也许 I'll go back and see him tomorrow." That night she was wokenverb.醒来 by the mostadv.最 terribleadj.可怕的 screamsverb.尖叫 that she had everadv.在任何时候 heard. Servantsnoun.仆人 were opening and shutting doors and running about. "It's Colin," thought Mary. "He'll go on screamingverb.尖叫 until he makes himself reallyadv.真正地 ill. How selfishadj.自私的 he is! Somebody should stop him!"
Just then, Martha ran into the room. "We don't know what to do!" She cried. "He likes you, Miss! Come and see if you can make him calmeradj.静的, please!" "Well, I'm very crossadj.交叉的 with him," said Mary, and jumped out of bed. "I'm going to stop him." "That's right," said Martha. "He needs someone like you to argueverb.争论 with. It'll give him something new to think about." Mary ran into Colin's room right up to his bed. "Stop screamingverb.尖叫!" She shoutedverb.呼喊 furiously.
"Stop at once! I hateverb.恨 you! Everybody hatesverb.给……戴上帽子 you! You'll die if you go on screamingverb.尖叫 like this and I hopeverb.希望 you will!" The screamsnoun.尖叫 stopped immediatelyadv.立即. This was the first time that anyone had spoken so angrilyadv.愤怒地 to Colin, and he was shockedverb.使休克. But he went on crying quietlyadv.安静地 to himself. "My back's becoming crookedverb.使弯曲! I don't feel it! I know I'm going to die!" Large tearsnoun.眼泪 ran down his face. "Don't be stupidadj.愚蠢的!" Cried Mary. "There's nothing the matternoun.物质 with your horrid back!"
"Martha, come here and help me look at his back!" Martha and Mrs. Medlock were standing at the door, staringverb.以星状物装饰 at Mary, their mouths halfadv.一半地 open. They both looked very frightenedadj.害怕的. Martha came forward to help, and Miss Mary looked carefullyadv.小心地 at Colin's thin white back, up and down. Her face was seriousadj.认真严肃的 and angry at the same time. The room was very quiet. "There's nothing wrong with your back!" She said at last. "Nothing at all! It's as straight as mine!"
Only Colin knew how importantadj.重要的 those crossly-spoken, childishadj.孩子的 words were. All his life he had been afraid to ask about his back, and his terribleadj.可怕的 fearnoun.害怕 had made him ill. Now an angry little girl told him his back was straight, and he believedverb.相信 her. He was no longeradv.长期地 afraid. They were both calmeradj.静的 now. He gave Mary his hand. "I think I'm almostadv.几乎 sure I will live, if we can go out in the garden together sometimesadv.有时. I'm very tired now.
Will you stay with me until I go to sleep?" The servantsnoun.仆人 went out very quietlyadv.安静地. "I'll tell you all about the secretadj.秘密的 garden," whisperedverb.低声地讲 Mary. "I think it's full of roses and beautiful flowers. Birds like making their nestsnoun.巢 there, because it's so quiet and safeadj.安全的. And perhapsadv.也许 our robin—noun.知更鸟" But Colin was already asleep. The next day, Mary met Dickon as usualadj.通常的 in the secretadj.秘密的 garden and told him about Colin. Mary loved Dickon's Yorkshire dialectnoun.方言 and was tryingverb.尝试 to learn it herself.
She spoke a little now. "We mustn't get poor Colin out here in sunshine, and we mustn't loseverb.失去 no time about it!" Dickon laughed. "Well done! I didn't know you could speak Yorkshire!" "You're right. We must bring Colin to the garden as soon as we can." So that afternoon, she went to see Colin. "I'm sorry I said I'd send Dickon away," he said. "I hatedverb.给……戴上帽子 you when you said he was like an angelnoun.天使." "Well, he's a funny kind of angelnoun.天使, but he understandsverb.(understood) 理解 wildadj.野生的 animals better than anyone!"
Suddenlyadv.突然地, Mary knew that this was the right moment to tell him. She caught holdnoun.把握 of his hands. "Colin, this is importantadj.重要的. Can you keep a secretnoun.秘密?" "Yes! Yes!" He whisperedverb.低声地讲 excitedly. "What is it?" "We found the door into the secretadj.秘密的 garden." "Oh, Mary! Will I live longadv.长期地 enoughadv.足够地 to see it?" "Of courseadv.当然 you will! Don't be stupidadj.愚蠢的!" Said Mary Crossley. But it was a very naturaladj.自然界的 thing to say, and they both laughed. Colin told Mrs. Medlock and the doctor that he wanted to go out in his wheelchairnoun.轮椅.
At first, the doctor was worriedverb.担忧 the boy would get too tired. But when he heard that Dickon would push the wheelchairnoun.轮椅, he agreed. "Dickon's a sensibleadj.感觉得到的 boy," he told Colin, "but don't forget." "I've told you. I want to forget that I'm ill," said Colin, in his Prince's voice. "Don't you understandverb.(understood) 理解? It's because my cousin makes me forget that I feel betteradj.健康的 when I'm With her.