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当前位置:首页 -> 11级英语阅读 - > 绿山墙的安妮:CHAPTER VI
绿山墙的安妮:CHAPTER VI
添加时间:2023-12-15 10:19:14 浏览次数: 作者:未知
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  • CHAPTER VI.

    Marilla Makes Up Her Mind

    GET there they did, however, in due season. Mrs. Spencer lived in a big yellow house at White Sands Cove1, and she came to the door with surprise and welcome mingled2 on her benevolent3 face.

    “Dear, dear,” she exclaimed, “you’re the last folks I was looking for today, but I’m real glad to see you. You’ll put your horse in? And how are you, Anne?”

    “I’m as well as can be expected, thank you,” said Anne smilelessly. A blight4 seemed to have descended5 on her.

    “I suppose we’ll stay a little while to rest the mare,” said Marilla, “but I promised Matthew I’d be home early. The fact is, Mrs. Spencer, there’s been a queer mistake somewhere, and I’ve come over to see where it is. We send word, Matthew and I, for you to bring us a boy from the asylum6. We told your brother Robert to tell you we wanted a boy ten or eleven years old.”

    “Marilla Cuthbert, you don’t say so!” said Mrs. Spencer in distress7. “Why, Robert sent word down by his daughter Nancy and she said you wanted a girl—didn’t she Flora8 Jane?” appealing to her daughter who had come out to the steps.

    “She certainly did, Miss Cuthbert,” corroborated9 Flora Jane earnestly.

    “I’m dreadful sorry,” said Mrs. Spencer. “It’s too bad; but it certainly wasn’t my fault, you see, Miss Cuthbert. I did the best I could and I thought I was following your instructions. Nancy is a terrible flighty thing. I’ve often had to scold her well for her heedlessness.”

    “It was our own fault,” said Marilla resignedly. “We should have come to you ourselves and not left an important message to be passed along by word of mouth in that fashion. Anyhow, the mistake has been made and the only thing to do is to set it right. Can we send the child back to the asylum? I suppose they’ll take her back, won’t they?”

    “I suppose so,” said Mrs. Spencer thoughtfully, “but I don’t think it will be necessary to send her back. Mrs. Peter Blewett was up here yesterday, and she was saying to me how much she wished she’d sent by me for a little girl to help her. Mrs. Peter has a large family, you know, and she finds it hard to get help. Anne will be the very girl for you. I call it positively11 providential.”

    Marilla did not look as if she thought Providence12 had much to do with the matter. Here was an unexpectedly good chance to get this unwelcome orphan13 off her hands, and she did not even feel grateful for it.

    She knew Mrs. Peter Blewett only by sight as a small, shrewish-faced woman without an ounce of superfluous14 flesh on her bones. But she had heard of her. “A terrible worker and driver,” Mrs. Peter was said to be; and discharged servant girls told fearsome tales of her temper and stinginess, and her family of pert, quarrelsome children. Marilla felt a qualm of conscience at the thought of handing Anne over to her tender mercies.

    “Well, I’ll go in and we’ll talk the matter over,” she said.

    “And if there isn’t Mrs. Peter coming up the lane this blessed minute!” exclaimed Mrs. Spencer, bustling15 her guests through the hall into the parlor16, where a deadly chill struck on them as if the air had been strained so long through dark green, closely drawn17 blinds that it had lost every particle of warmth it had ever possessed18. “That is real lucky, for we can settle the matter right away. Take the armchair, Miss Cuthbert. Anne, you sit here on the ottoman and don’t wiggle. Let me take your hats. Flora Jane, go out and put the kettle on. Good afternoon, Mrs. Blewett. We were just saying how fortunate it was you happened along. Let me introduce you two ladies. Mrs. Blewett, Miss Cuthbert. Please excuse me for just a moment. I forgot to tell Flora Jane to take the buns out of the oven.”

    Mrs. Spencer whisked away, after pulling up the blinds. Anne sitting mutely on the ottoman, with her hands clasped tightly in her lap, stared at Mrs Blewett as one fascinated. Was she to be given into the keeping of this sharp-faced, sharp-eyed woman? She felt a lump coming up in her throat and her eyes smarted painfully. She was beginning to be afraid she couldn’t keep the tears back when Mrs. Spencer returned, flushed and beaming, quite capable of taking any and every difficulty, physical, mental or spiritual, into consideration and settling it out of hand.

    “It seems there’s been a mistake about this little girl, Mrs. Blewett,” she said. “I was under the impression that Mr. and Miss Cuthbert wanted a little girl to adopt. I was certainly told so. But it seems it was a boy they wanted. So if you’re still of the same mind you were yesterday, I think she’ll be just the thing for you.”

    Mrs. Blewett darted19 her eyes over Anne from head to foot.

    “How old are you and what’s your name?” she demanded.

    “Anne Shirley,” faltered20 the shrinking child, not daring to make any stipulations regarding the spelling thereof, “and I’m eleven years old.”

    “Humph! You don’t look as if there was much to you. But you’re wiry. I don’t know but the wiry ones are the best after all. Well, if I take you you’ll have to be a good girl, you know—good and smart and respectful. I’ll expect you to earn your keep, and no mistake about that. Yes, I suppose I might as well take her off your hands, Miss Cuthbert. The baby’s awful fractious, and I’m clean worn out attending to him. If you like I can take her right home now.”

    Marilla looked at Anne and softened21 at sight of the child’s pale face with its look of mute misery22—the misery of a helpless little creature who finds itself once more caught in the trap from which it had escaped. Marilla felt an uncomfortable conviction that, if she denied the appeal of that look, it would haunt her to her dying day. More-over, she did not fancy Mrs. Blewett. To hand a sensitive, “highstrung” child over to such a woman! No, she could not take the responsibility of doing that!

    “Well, I don’t know,” she said slowly. “I didn’t say that Matthew and I had absolutely decided23 that we wouldn’t keep her. In fact I may say that Matthew is disposed to keep her. I just came over to find out how the mistake had occurred. I think I’d better take her home again and talk it over with Matthew. I feel that I oughtn’t to decide on anything without consulting him. If we make up our mind not to keep her we’ll bring or send her over to you tomorrow night. If we don’t you may know that she is going to stay with us. Will that suit you, Mrs. Blewett?”

    “I suppose it’ll have to,” said Mrs. Blewett ungraciously.

    During Marilla’s speech a sunrise had been dawning on Anne’s face. First the look of despair faded out; then came a faint flush of hope; her eyes grew deep and bright as morning stars. The child was quite transfigured; and, a moment later, when Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Blewett went out in quest of a recipe the latter had come to borrow she sprang up and flew across the room to Marilla.

    “Oh, Miss Cuthbert, did you really say that perhaps you would let me stay at Green Gables?” she said, in a breathless whisper, as if speaking aloud might shatter the glorious possibility. “Did you really say it? Or did I only imagine that you did?”

    “I think you’d better learn to control that imagination of yours, Anne, if you can’t distinguish between what is real and what isn’t,” said Marilla crossly. “Yes, you did hear me say just that and no more. It isn’t decided yet and perhaps we will conclude to let Mrs. Blewett take you after all. She certainly needs you much more than I do.”

    “I’d rather go back to the asylum than go to live with her,” said Anne passionately24. “She looks exactly like a—like a gimlet.”

    Marilla smothered25 a smile under the conviction that Anne must be reproved for such a speech.

    “A little girl like you should be ashamed of talking so about a lady and a stranger,” she said severely26. “Go back and sit down quietly and hold your tongue and behave as a good girl should.”

    “I’ll try to do and be anything you want me, if you’ll only keep me,” said Anne, returning meekly27 to her ottoman.

    When they arrived back at Green Gables that evening Matthew met them in the lane. Marilla from afar had noted28 him prowling along it and guessed his motive29. She was prepared for the relief she read in his face when he saw that she had at least brought back Anne back with her. But she said nothing, to him, relative to the affair, until they were both out in the yard behind the barn milking the cows. Then she briefly30 told him Anne’s history and the result of the interview with Mrs. Spencer.

    “I wouldn’t give a dog I liked to that Blewett woman,” said Matthew with unusual vim31.

    “I don’t fancy her style myself,” admitted Marilla, “but it’s that or keeping her ourselves, Matthew. And since you seem to want her, I suppose I’m willing—or have to be. I’ve been thinking over the idea until I’ve got kind of used to it. It seems a sort of duty. I’ve never brought up a child, especially a girl, and I dare say I’ll make a terrible mess of it. But I’ll do my best. So far as I’m concerned, Matthew, she may stay.”

    Matthew’s shy face was a glow of delight.

    “Well now, I reckoned you’d come to see it in that light, Marilla,” he said. “She’s such an interesting little thing.”

    “It’d be more to the point if you could say she was a useful little thing,” retorted Marilla, “but I’ll make it my business to see she’s trained to be that. And mind, Matthew, you’re not to go interfering32 with my methods. Perhaps an old maid doesn’t know much about bringing up a child, but I guess she knows more than an old bachelor. So you just leave me to manage her. When I fail it’ll be time enough to put your oar33 in.”

    “There, there, Marilla, you can have your own way,” said Matthew reassuringly34. “Only be as good and kind to her as you can without spoiling her. I kind of think she’s one of the sort you can do anything with if you only get her to love you.”

    Marilla sniffed35, to express her contempt for Matthew’s opinions concerning anything feminine, and walked off to the dairy with the pails.

    “I won’t tell her tonight that she can stay,” she reflected, as she strained the milk into the creamers. “She’d be so excited that she wouldn’t sleep a wink36. Marilla Cuthbert, you’re fairly in for it. Did you ever suppose you’d see the day when you’d be adopting an orphan girl? It’s surprising enough; but not so surprising as that Matthew should be at the bottom of it, him that always seemed to have such a mortal dread10 of little girls. Anyhow, we’ve decided on the experiment and goodness only knows what will come of it.”

     11级   


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    1 cove [kəʊv] 9Y8zA   第11级
    n.小海湾,小峡谷
    参考例句:
    • The shore line is wooded, olive-green, a pristine cove. 岸边一带林木蓊郁,嫩绿一片,好一个山外的小海湾。
    • I saw two children were playing in a cove. 我看到两个小孩正在一个小海湾里玩耍。
    2 mingled [ˈmiŋɡld] fdf34efd22095ed7e00f43ccc823abdf   第7级
    混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系]
    参考例句:
    • The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。
    • The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候,这一男一女就开始交往了。
    3 benevolent [bəˈnevələnt] Wtfzx   第9级
    adj.仁慈的,乐善好施的
    参考例句:
    • His benevolent nature prevented him from refusing any beggar who accosted him. 他乐善好施的本性使他不会拒绝走上前向他行乞的任何一个乞丐。
    • He was a benevolent old man and he wouldn't hurt a fly. 他是一个仁慈的老人,连只苍蝇都不愿伤害。
    4 blight [blaɪt] 0REye   第10级
    n.枯萎病;造成破坏的因素;vt.破坏,摧残
    参考例句:
    • The apple crop was wiped out by blight. 枯萎病使苹果全无收成。
    • There is a blight on all his efforts. 他的一切努力都遭到挫折。
    5 descended [di'sendid] guQzoy   第7级
    a.为...后裔的,出身于...的
    参考例句:
    • A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
    • The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。
    6 asylum [əˈsaɪləm] DobyD   第8级
    n.避难所,庇护所,避难
    参考例句:
    • The people ask for political asylum. 人们请求政治避难。
    • Having sought asylum in the West for many years, they were eventually granted it. 他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。
    7 distress [dɪˈstres] 3llzX   第7级
    n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛
    参考例句:
    • Nothing could alleviate his distress. 什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
    • Please don't distress yourself. 请你不要忧愁了。
    8 flora [ˈflɔ:rə] 4j7x1   第9级
    n.(某一地区的)植物群
    参考例句:
    • The subtropical island has a remarkably rich native flora. 这个亚热带岛屿有相当丰富的乡土植物种类。
    • All flora need water and light. 一切草木都需要水和阳光。
    9 corroborated [kəˈrɔbəˌreɪtid] ab27fc1c50e7a59aad0d93cd9f135917   第9级
    v.证实,支持(某种说法、信仰、理论等)( corroborate的过去式 )
    参考例句:
    • The evidence was corroborated by two independent witnesses. 此证据由两名独立证人提供。
    • Experiments have corroborated her predictions. 实验证实了她的预言。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    10 dread [dred] Ekpz8   第7级
    vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧
    参考例句:
    • We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes. 我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
    • Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread. 她极度恐惧的心理消除了。
    11 positively [ˈpɒzətɪvli] vPTxw   第7级
    adv.明确地,断然,坚决地;实在,确实
    参考例句:
    • She was positively glowing with happiness. 她满脸幸福。
    • The weather was positively poisonous. 这天气着实讨厌。
    12 providence [ˈprɒvɪdəns] 8tdyh   第12级
    n.深谋远虑,天道,天意;远见;节约;上帝
    参考例句:
    • It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat. 乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
    • To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence. 照你的所作所为那样去行事,是违背上帝的意志的。
    13 orphan [ˈɔ:fn] QJExg   第7级
    n.孤儿;adj.无父母的
    参考例句:
    • He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine. 他把一个孤儿养大,并且把自己的医术传给了他。
    • The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters. 这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。
    14 superfluous [su:ˈpɜ:fluəs] EU6zf   第7级
    adj.过多的,过剩的,多余的
    参考例句:
    • She fined away superfluous matter in the design. 她删去了这图案中多余的东西。
    • That request seemed superfluous when I wrote it. 我这样写的时候觉得这个请求似乎是多此一举。
    15 bustling ['bʌsliŋ] LxgzEl   第9级
    adj.喧闹的
    参考例句:
    • The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
    • This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。
    16 parlor ['pɑ:lə] v4MzU   第9级
    n.店铺,营业室;会客室,客厅
    参考例句:
    • She was lying on a small settee in the parlor. 她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
    • Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood? 附近有没有比萨店?
    17 drawn [drɔ:n] MuXzIi   第11级
    v.(draw的过去式)拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
    参考例句:
    • All the characters in the story are drawn from life. 故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
    • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside. 她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
    18 possessed [pəˈzest] xuyyQ   第12级
    adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的
    参考例句:
    • He flew out of the room like a man possessed. 他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
    • He behaved like someone possessed. 他行为举止像是魔怔了。
    19 darted [dɑ:tid] d83f9716cd75da6af48046d29f4dd248   第8级
    v.投掷,投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 );向前冲,飞奔
    参考例句:
    • The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了,瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    20 faltered [ˈfɔ:ltəd] d034d50ce5a8004ff403ab402f79ec8d   第8级
    (嗓音)颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 ); 支吾其词; 蹒跚; 摇晃
    参考例句:
    • He faltered out a few words. 他支吾地说出了几句。
    • "Er - but he has such a longhead!" the man faltered. 他不好意思似的嚅嗫着:“这孩子脑袋真长。”
    21 softened ['sɒfənd] 19151c4e3297eb1618bed6a05d92b4fe   第7级
    (使)变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 ); 缓解打击; 缓和; 安慰
    参考例句:
    • His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。
    • The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。
    22 misery [ˈmɪzəri] G10yi   第7级
    n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦
    参考例句:
    • Business depression usually causes misery among the working class. 商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
    • He has rescued me from the mire of misery. 他把我从苦海里救了出来。
    23 decided [dɪˈsaɪdɪd] lvqzZd   第7级
    adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
    参考例句:
    • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents. 这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
    • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting. 英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
    24 passionately ['pæʃənitli] YmDzQ4   第8级
    ad.热烈地,激烈地
    参考例句:
    • She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿,也能爱得一往情深。
    • He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。
    25 smothered [ˈsmʌðəd] b9bebf478c8f7045d977e80734a8ed1d   第9级
    (使)窒息, (使)透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 ); 覆盖; 忍住; 抑制
    参考例句:
    • He smothered the baby with a pillow. 他用枕头把婴儿闷死了。
    • The fire is smothered by ashes. 火被灰闷熄了。
    26 severely [sə'vɪrlɪ] SiCzmk   第7级
    adv.严格地;严厉地;非常恶劣地
    参考例句:
    • He was severely criticized and removed from his post. 他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
    • He is severely put down for his careless work. 他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。
    27 meekly [mi:klɪ] meekly   第9级
    adv.温顺地,逆来顺受地
    参考例句:
    • He stood aside meekly when the new policy was proposed. 当有人提出新政策时,他唯唯诺诺地站 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • He meekly accepted the rebuke. 他顺从地接受了批评。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    28 noted [ˈnəʊtɪd] 5n4zXc   第8级
    adj.著名的,知名的
    参考例句:
    • The local hotel is noted for its good table. 当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
    • Jim is noted for arriving late for work. 吉姆上班迟到出了名。
    29 motive [ˈməʊtɪv] GFzxz   第7级
    n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的
    参考例句:
    • The police could not find a motive for the murder. 警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
    • He had some motive in telling this fable. 他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。
    30 briefly [ˈbri:fli] 9Styo   第8级
    adv.简单地,简短地
    参考例句:
    • I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem. 我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
    • He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group. 他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。
    31 vim [vɪm] ZLIzD   第12级
    n.精力,活力
    参考例句:
    • He set to his task with renewed vim and vigour. 他再度抖擞精神,手完成自己的工作。
    • This young fellow does his work with vim and vigour. 这小伙子干活真冲。
    32 interfering [ˌɪntəˈfɪərɪŋ] interfering   第7级
    adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词
    参考例句:
    • He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事!
    • I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预,让我自己拿主意。
    33 oar [ɔ:(r)] EH0xQ   第7级
    n.桨,橹,划手;vi.划行;vt.划(船)
    参考例句:
    • The sailors oar slowly across the river. 水手们慢慢地划过河去。
    • The blade of the oar was bitten off by a shark. 浆叶被一条鲨鱼咬掉了。
    34 reassuringly [ˌriə'suəriŋli] YTqxW   第7级
    ad.安心,可靠
    参考例句:
    • He patted her knee reassuringly. 他轻拍她的膝盖让她放心。
    • The doctor smiled reassuringly. 医生笑了笑,让人心里很踏实。
    35 sniffed [snift] ccb6bd83c4e9592715e6230a90f76b72   第7级
    v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说
    参考例句:
    • When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣,吸了吸鼻子,擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    36 wink [wɪŋk] 4MGz3   第7级
    n.眨眼,使眼色,瞬间;vi.眨眼,使眼色,闪烁;vt.眨眼
    参考例句:
    • He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price. 他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。
    • The satellite disappeared in a wink. 瞬息之间,那颗卫星就消失了。

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