Little Miss Mary Nobody seemed似乎 to care关心 about Mary. She was born承担 in India, where her father was a British official官员. He was busy with his work, and her mother, who was very beautiful, spent all her time going to parties. So an Indian woman, Kamala, was paid to take care of the little girl. Mary was not a pretty child. She had a thin, angry face, and thin yellow hair. She was always giving orders to Kamala, who had to obey顺从.
Mary never thought of other people, but only of herself. In fact事实, she was a very selfish自私的, disagreeable, bad-tempered使回火 little girl. One very hot morning, when she was about nine years old, she woke醒来 up and saw that instead代替 of Kamala, there was a different Indian servant仆人 by her bed. "What are you doing here?" she asked crossly. "Go away, and send Kamala to me at once." The woman looked afraid. "I'm sorry, Miss Mary. She, she, she can't come."
Something strange陌生的 was happening that day. Some of the house servants仆人 were missing未击中, and everybody looked frightened害怕的, but nobody told Mary anything, and Kamala still did not come. So at last, Mary went out into the garden and played by herself under a tree. She pretended假装 she was making her own flower garden and picked large red flowers to push into the ground. All the time, she was saying crossly to herself, "I hate恨 Kamala! I'll hit打 her when she comes back!"
Just then, she saw her mother coming into the garden with a young Englishman. They did not notice注意 the child, who listened to their conversation会话. "It's very bad, is it?" her mother asked the young man in a worried担心的 voice. "Very bad," he answered seriously严重地. "People are dying like flies. It's dangerous危险的 to stay in this town. You should go to the hills, where there's no disease病." "Ah, I know," she cried. "We must leave soon." Suddenly突然地, they heard loud响亮的 cries coming from the servants仆人' rooms at the side of the house.
"What's happened?" cried Mary's mother wildly疯狂地. "I think one of your servants仆人 has just died. You didn't tell me the disease病 is here in your house." "I didn't know!" She screamed尖叫. "Quick快的, come with me!" And together, they ran into the house. Now Mary understood(understood) 理解 what was wrong. The terrible可怕的 disease病 had already killed杀死 many people in the town, and in all the houses, people were dying. In Mary's house, it was Kamala who had just died. Later that day, three more servants仆人 died there.
All through the night and the next day, people ran in and out of the house, shouting呼喊 and crying. Nobody thought of Mary. She hid in her bedroom, frightened使惊恐 by the strange陌生的 and terrible可怕的 sounds that she heard around her. Sometimes有时 she cried and sometimes有时 she slept. When she woke醒来 the next day, the house was silent沉默的. "Perhaps也许 the disease病 has gone," she thought, "and everybody is well again. I wonder想知道 who will take care of me instead代替 of Kamala.
Why doesn't someone bring me some food?" "It's strange陌生的 the house is so quiet." "But just then, she heard men's voices in the hall." "How sad," said one, "that beautiful woman." "There was a child, too, wasn't there?" said the other, although none of us ever在任何时候 saw her. Mary was standing in the middle of her room when they opened the door a few minutes later. The two men jumped back in surprise. "My name is Mary Lennox," she said crossly.
"I was asleep when everyone was ill, and now I'm hungry." "It's the child, the one nobody ever在任何时候 saw," said the older man to the other. "They've all forgotten her." "Why was I forgotten?" asked Mary angrily愤怒地. "Why has nobody come to take care of me?" The younger man looked at her very sadly. "Poor child," he said. "You see, there's nobody left alive活着的 in the house, so nobody can come." In this strange陌生的 and sudden突然的 way, Mary learnt that both her mother and her father had died.
The few servants仆人 who had not died had run away in the night. No one had remembered little Miss Mary. She was all alone单独的. Because she had never known her parents well, she did not miss未击中 them at all. She only thought of herself, as she had always done. "Where will I live?" she wondered想知道. "I hope希望 I'll stay with people who let me do what I want." At first she was taken to an English family who had known her parents.
She hated给……戴上帽子 their untidy不整洁的 house and noisy嘈杂的 children and preferred playing by herself in the garden. One day she was playing her favourite game, pretending假装 to make a garden, when one of the children, Basil, offered提供 to help. "Go away!" Cried Mary. "I don't want your help帮手!" For a moment, Basil looked angry, and then he began to laugh. He danced round在周围 and round在周围 Mary and sang a funny little song about Miss Mary and her stupid愚蠢的 flowers. This made Mary very cross穿过 indeed真正地.
No one had ever在任何时候 laughed at her so unkindly. "You're going home soon," said Basil. "And we're all very pleased开心的 you're leaving." "I'm pleased开心的 too," replied回答 Mary. "But where's home?" "You're stupid愚蠢的, if you don't know that," laughed Basil. "England, of course. You're going to live with your uncle, Mr Archibald Craven." "I've never heard of him," said Mary coldly. "But I know about him because I heard father and mother talking," said Basil. "He lives in a big, lonely孤独的 old house and has no friends because he's so bad-tempered使回火. He's got a crooked弯曲的 back and he's horrid."
"I don't believe相信 you," cried Mary. But the next day, Basil's parents explained解释 that she was going to live with her uncle in Yorkshire in the north of England. Mary looked bored无聊的 and cross穿过 and said nothing. After the long sea journey旅行, she was met in London by Mr Craven's housekeeper女管家, Mrs Medlock. Together, they traveled north在北方 by train. Mrs Medlock was a large woman with a very red face and bright明亮的 black eyes. Mary did not like her, but that was not surprising令人惊讶的 because she did not usually通常地 like people.
Mrs Medlock did not like Mary either. "What a disagreeable child!" Thought思考 the housekeeper女管家. "But perhaps也许 I should talk to her." "I can tell you a bit一点 about your uncle, if you like," she said aloud出声地. "He lives in a big old house a long way from anywhere在什么地方. There are nearly差不多 a hundred rooms, but most最多的 of them are shut and locked锁上. There's a big park round圆 the house and all kinds of gardens." "Well, what do you think of that?" "Nothing," replied回答 Mary.
"It doesn't matter有关系 to me." Mrs Medlock laughed. "You're a hard little girl." "Well, if you don't care关心, Mr Craven doesn't either. He never spends time on anyone. He's got a crooked弯曲的 back, you see, and although he's always been rich富有的, he was never really真正地 happy until he married娶." "Married已婚的?" repeated Mary in surprise. "Yes?" "He married娶 a sweet, pretty girl and he loved her deeply深刻地." "So when she died?" "Oh, did she die?" asked Mary, interested. "Yes, she did."
"And now he doesn't care关心 about anybody. If he's at home, he stays in his room and sees nobody. He won't want to see you, so you must stay out of his way and do what you're told." Mary stared以星状物装饰 out of the train window at the gray sky and the rain. She was not looking forward to life at her uncle's house. The train journey旅行 lasted(使)持续 all day and it was dark when they arrived at the station. Then there was a long drive驱动器 to get to the house.
It was a cold, windy有风的 night and it was raining heavily重重地. After a while, Mary began to hear a strange陌生的, wild野生的 noise. She looked out of the window but could see nothing except the darkness黑暗. "What's that noise?" she asked, Mrs. Medlock. "It's not the sea, is it?" "No, that's the mua. It's the sound the wind makes blowing across the mua." "What is a mua?" "It's just miles英里 and miles英里 of wild野生的 land陆地 with no trees or houses. Your uncle's house is right on the edge边缘 of the mua."
Mary listened to the strange陌生的, frightening令人惊恐的 sound. "I don't like it," she thought. "I don't like it." She looked more更 disagreeable than ever在任何时候.