Meeting Dickon Mary spent nearlyadv.差不多 a week working in the secretadj.秘密的 garden. Each day she found new shootsnoun.发芽 coming out of the ground. Soon there would be flowers everywhere, thousands of them. It was an excitingadj.令人兴奋的 game to her. When she was inside those beautiful old walls no one knew where she was. During that week she became moreadv.更 friendlyadj.友好的 with Ben who was often diggingverb.掘 in one of the vegetable gardens. "What are your favorite flowers, Ben?" she asked him one day.
"Roses. I used to work for a young lady who loved roses, you see, and she had a lotnoun.许多 in her garden. That was ten years ago, but she died. Very sad it was." "What happened to the roses?" asked Mary. "They were left there in the garden." "If roseverb.上升 branchesnoun.树枝 look dry and greyadj.灰色的, are they still aliveadj.活着的?" asked Mary. "It was so importantadj.重要的 to know." "In the spring they'll show green shootsnoun.发芽, and then..." "But why are you so interested in roses?" he asked.
Mary's face went red. "I just wanted to pretendverb.假装 I've got a garden. I haven't got anyone to play with." "Well, that's true," said Ben. He seemedverb.似乎 to feel sorry for her. Mary decidedverb.决定 she liked old Ben, although he was sometimesadv.有时 bad-temperedverb.使回火. She skippedverb.跳过 alongadv.向前 and into the woodnoun.木材 at the end of the gardens. Suddenlyadv.突然地 she heard a strangeadj.陌生的 noise, and there in frontnoun.前部 of her was a boy. He was sitting under a tree, playing on a woodenadj.木制的 pipenoun.管子.
He was about twelve, with a healthy red face and brightadj.明亮的 blue eyes. There was a squirrelnoun.松鼠 and a crownoun.鸦 in the tree, and two rabbits sitting on the grass near him. "They're listening to the music!" Thought Mary. "I mustn't frightenverb.使惊恐 them." She stood very still. The boy stopped playing. "That's right," he said. "Animals don't like it if you move suddenlyadv.突然地." "I'm Dickon, and you must be Miss Mary. I've brought you the spadenoun.铲 and the seeds." He spoke in an easy, friendlyadj.友好的 way.
Mary liked him at once. As they were looking at the seed packetsnoun.小包(裹) together, the robinnoun.知更鸟 hoppedverb.单足跳跃〔跳行〕 onto a branchnoun.树枝 near them. Dickon listened carefullyadv.小心地 to the robinnoun.知更鸟's song. "He's saying he's your friend," he told Mary. "Reallyadv.真正地? Oh, I am pleasedadj.开心的 he likes me. Can you understandverb.(understood) 理解 everything that birds say?" "I think I do, and they think I do. I've lived on the moornoun.沼地 with them for so longadv.长期地. Sometimesadv.有时 I think I am a bird or an animal, not a boy at all."
His smile was the widest she had everadv.在任何时候 seen. He explainedverb.解释 how to plant the seeds. Suddenlyadv.突然地, he said, "I can help you plant them." "Where's your garden?" Mary went red, then white. She had never thought of this. What was she going to say? "Could you keep a secretnoun.秘密? It's a great secretnoun.秘密. If anyone discoversverb.发现 it, I'll... I'll die." "I keep secretsnoun.秘密 for all the wildadj.野生的 birds and animals on the moornoun.沼地, so I can keep yours too," he repliedverb.回答.
"I've stolenverb.剽窃 a garden," she said very fast. "Nobody goes into it. Nobody wants it." "I love it, and nobody takes care of it. They're letting it die." And she threw her arms over her face and started crying. "Don't cry," said Dickon gentlyadv.有礼貌地. "Where is it?" "Come with me, and I'll show you," said Miss Mary. They went to the secretadj.秘密的 garden and entered it together. Dickon walked roundadv.在周围, looking at everything. Martha told me about this place, but I never thought I'd see it, he said.
"It's wonderful." "What about the roses?" asked Mary worriedly. "Are they still aliveadj.活着的? What do you think?" "Look at these shootsnoun.发芽 on the branchesnoun.树枝. Mostadj.最多的 of them are aliveadj.活着的 all right." He took out his knife and cut away some of the dead woodnoun.木材 from the rose trees. Mary showed him the work she had done in the garden, and they talked as they cut and clearedverb.清除. "Dickon," said Mary suddenlyadv.突然地, "I like you. I never thought I'd like as many as five people."
"Only five!" Laughed Dickon. "He did look funny when he laughed," thought Mary. "Yes, your mother, Martha, the Robin, Ben, and you." Then she asked him a question in Yorkshire dialectnoun.方言, because that was his language. "Does the like me?" was her question. "Of courseadv.当然. I liked thee wonderful," repliedverb.回答 Dickon, a big smile on his roundadj.圆的 face. Mary had never been so happy. When she went back to the house for her lunch, she told Martha about Dickon's visit.
"I've got news for you, too," said Martha. "Mr Craven's come home and wants to see you." "He's going away again tomorrow for severaladj.几个的 months." "Oh," said Mary, "that was good news. She would have all summer in the secretadj.秘密的 garden before he came back. But she must be careful. He mustn't guess her secretadj.秘密的 now." Just then, Mrs Medlock arrived in her best black dress to take Mary down to Mr Craven's room. Mary's uncle had black hair with some white in it and high, crookedadj.弯曲的 shoulders.
His face was not uglyadj.难看的, but very sad. During their conversationnoun.会话, he watched her in a worriedadj.担心的 way. Perhapsadv.也许 he was thinking of other things at the same time. He looked at the thin child. "Are you welladj.健康的?" he asked. Mary triedverb.尝试 to keep her voice calmnoun.风平浪静, as she repliedverb.回答. "I'm getting stronger and healthier." "What do you want to do in this big, empty house?" "I—I just want to play outside. I enjoy that." "Yes. Martha's mother, Susan Sowerby, spoke to me the other day. She's a sensibleadj.感觉得到的 woman, and she said you needed fresh air.
But where do you play?" "Everywhere. I just skipverb.跳过 and run and look for green shootsnoun.发芽. I don't damageverb.损害 anything." "Don't look so frightenedadj.害怕的. Of courseadv.当然 a child like you couldn't damageverb.损害 anything. Play where you like. Is there anything that you want?" Mary came a step neareradv.近 to him, and her voice shookverb.动摇 a little as she spoke. "Could I—could I have a bitnoun.一点 of garden?" Mr Craven looked very surprisedadj.感到惊讶的. "To plant seeds in. To make them come aliveadj.活着的," Mary went on bravelyadv.勇敢地.
"It was too hot in India, so I was always ill and tired there. But here it's different. I—I love the garden." He passedverb.经过 a hand quickly over his eyes. Then he looked kindlyadv.亲切地 at Mary. "I knew someone once who loved growing things like you. Yes, child, take as much of the garden as you want." He smiledverb.微笑 gentlyadv.有礼貌地 at her. "Now leave me. I'm very tired." Mary ran all the way back to her room. "Martha!" She shoutedverb.呼喊. "Mr Craven's reallyadv.真正地 a nice man, but he looks very unhappyadj.不快乐的. He said I can have my own garden." She was planningverb.计划 to work in the garden with Dickon every day to make it beautiful for the summer.