雾都孤儿
Chapter One: The Workhouse
A long time ago every town in England had a workhouse. This was a house for very poor people. Oliver Twist was born in a workhouse. His mother was a young woman. She was very ill when she came to the workhouse. A doctor and a woman were with her.
After Oliver Twist was born his mother said, "I want to see my baby and then die."
"You are too young to die," said the woman.
The doctor put the little baby in his mother's arms. She kissed the baby and died.
"She's dead," said the doctor.
"Poor dear! She came here last night. No one knows where she's from,"said the woman.
The old woman began to dress the baby with very old clothes.
Oliver was alone in the world. He was an orphan. No one loved him.
When Oliver was small he lived in an orphanage with other orphans. He and the other children had very little food and very little love. Many of the children died because they were cold or hungry. Oliver survived but he was small and thin. His face was very white.
On his ninth birthday Oliver left the children's home. He was sad to leave his only friends. He went to live in a workhouse. He worked long hours for the workhouse. They gave him only one bowl of porridge three times a day and an onion twice a week. On Sundays he had a small piece of bread.
Oliver and his companions were very hungry and very unhappy.
They never asked for a second bowl of porridge. They were afraid. But after three months they became terribly hungry.
One day Oliver took his empty bowl to the master.
"Please sir," he said, "I want some more porridge."
The master looked at Oliver. He was surprised.
"What?" he said.
"Please sir," he said, "I want some more porridge."
The master hit Oliver with his big spoon. Then he called Mr Bumble. He was an important officer of the town.
"What!" cried Mr Bumble. He took Oliver to the directors of the workhouse and said, "Oliver Twist asked for more porridge!"
"For more porridge!" they cried. They looked at each other.
They were surprised. "He must leave the workhouse!"
Mr Bumble put Oliver in a cold, dark room for one week. Every morning Mr Bumble beat Oliver with a stick in front of his friends. Oliver cried all day and he did not sleep at night.
One day Mr Bumble met his friend Mr Sowerberry. Mr Sowerberry was a tall thin man. He made coffins for dead bodies. Many of the dead bodies came from the workhouse.
Mr Bumble asked, "Do you want a boy to work in your shop? You will pay nothing and we will give you five pounds !"
Mr Sowerberry thought a moment and said, "Yes, I want the boy and the five pounds."
Mr Bumble was happy. In the evening he took Oliver to Mr Sowerberry's shop. Oliver looked at Mr Bumble and started crying, "I want to be a good boy. I am a very little boy, sir. And it is so ... lonely. So very lonely!"
Oliver's thin face was covered with tears.
简爱
Part Three: Thornfield Hall
I stayed at the school until I was eighteen, and for the last two years I was a teacher. I then decided that I wanted to see more of the world, and so I advertised in a newspaper for a job.
In my advertisement, I said that I was a young teacher who wanted to work as a governess to a family. I waited a long time for an answer. Then, at last, I received a letter from a lady, Mrs Fairfax, who lived at a place called Thornfield Hall. She wanted a governess for a little girl. I packed all my things into a small bag, and set out to start a new life.
I was very excited when I first saw the house in which I was going to work.
It was very large, but it seemed very quiet.
Mrs Fairfax was waiting for me at the door. She was an old lady with a kind face.
'I am pleased to see you, Miss Eyre,' said Mrs Fairfax. 'You must be tired after such a long journey. Sit down and rest. You will meet Adele later.'
'Is Adele my student?' I asked.
'Yes, she is nine years old. She is a little French girl, and Mr Rochester wants you to teach her English.'
'Who is Mr Rochester?' I asked.
'Mr Rochester owns Thornfield,' she replied. 'I only work here. I am the housekeeper .'
'Where is Mr Rochester now?' I asked.
'He is away,' she said. 'He does not come very often to Thornfield. I never know when he will return.'
Next day I met Adele. She was a very pretty little girl, and at first I talked to her in French. I began to teach her English, and I was glad that she enjoyed her lessons. I liked Adele and I liked Mrs Fairfax, too. I was happy at Thornfield, although it was very quiet. Sometimes I was a little bored, but everyone was very kind to me.
One afternoon I walked to the village to post a letter for Mrs Fairfax. It was winter, and the weather was very cold. There was ice on the road. As I walked back to Thornfield Hall, I heard the sound of a horse on the road behind me. I stood aside to let the horse go past. The rider did not see me.
He was a stranger with dark hair. Suddenly the horse slipped and fell down on the ice. The man was lying in the road. As I ran forward to help, he struggled to get up. 'Are you hurt, sir?' I asked.
For a moment, the stranger was not able to answer me.
Then he looked at me in surprise.
'Can I do anything to help?' I asked again.
'You can stand on one side while I catch my horse,' he replied.
But the horse managed to get up by itself, and I realized that it was the stranger himself who was hurt. He tried to stand up, but his injured leg was hurting too much. I helped him to get back onto his horse, and he rode away without thanking me.
'Who is he?' I asked myself. 'He is not very handsome and not at all polite,
but he looks interesting. I would like to know him.'
When I arrived back at, everyone was very excited and busy. I asked Mrs Fairfax what was happening. 'Mr Rochester has returned,' she said. 'But he may go away again soon. He wants to see you and Adele, Miss Eyre. Go and put on your best dress. He will see you after dinner.'
After dinner, I took Adele to see Mr Rochester in his room. When I entered the room, I stopped in surprise and stared at the man who was sitting in the chair. It was the man who had fallen from his horse. The interesting stranger was Mr Rochester!
Mr Rochester decided to stay at for a while. He was busy all day, but sometimes he talked to me in the evening. He did not smile or laugh very often, but he was an interesting man, and I was happy when I was with him.
I liked my life at Thornfield Hall.
One night long after I had gone to bed, I woke up suddenly. It was very early in the morning. I thought that I heard something unusual. Everything was silent, but I listened very carefully, and I heard the sound again.
Someone was moving about outside my room.
'Is anyone there?' I called. There was no answer. I felt worried and very frightened. But the house was silent again, and after a while, I tried to go back to sleep. But then I heard a laugh. It was a terrible, cruel, sound, which made me quite cold with fear.
There was a sound of footsteps walking away, and going up the steps to the attic. I could not sleep after that. I put on my clothes and went to find Mrs Fairfax. I heard nothing now, but suddenly I realized that I could smell smoke. It was coming from Mr Rochester's bedroom. I ran into the room and saw that his bed was on fire. I tried to wake him, but he did not move. I looked around the room, looking for something to put out the fire. I saw a large jug of water on a small table. I picked it up and threw the water onto the burning bed. Then, Mr Rochester woke up.
'What's happening?' he cried. 'Is that you, Jane? What is wrong?'
'You must get up, Mr Rochester,' I said. 'Your bed was on fire, but I have put it out now.'
He got out of bed quickly. The water was everywhere and there was still smoke from the fire.
'Jane, you have saved my life,' he said. 'What made you wake up? How did you know about the fire?'
I told him about the noise I had heard outside my room, and the strange laugh.
Mr Rochester looked upset and angry. 'I must go upstairs to the attic,' he told me. 'Stay here and wait for me. Do not leave the room. Don't tell anyone what has happened.'
I waited in the room for a long time. At last, Mr Rochester came back. 'Go back to bed now, Jane,' he said. 'Everything is all right. You are quite safe.'
Next day, I asked Mrs Fairfax, 'Who lives in the attic?'
'A woman called Grace Poole,' she answered. 'She is one of the servants.
She's a little strange.'
I remembered Grace Poole. She was a large, silent woman who did not speak to the other servants in the house. Perhaps it was Grace Poole who wandered around the house at night, and laughed outside my door?
In the evening, when Adele had finished her lessons, I went to talk to Mrs Fairfax.
'Mr Rochester left the house early today,' she told me. 'He says that he is going to stay with friends. He didn't say when he will come back.'
The house was very quiet while he was away. Mr Rochester stayed with his friends for a few weeks, and I continued to teach Adele her lessons. I did not hear the strange laugh again.
When I returned from a walk one day, I found that Mrs Fairfax and the servants were very excited. Mrs Fairfax showed me a letter which she had received from Mr Rochester. 'He is coming back tomorrow,'
She said. 'He is bringing some of his friends with him. We are going to be very busy with so many visitors in the house. Miss Blanche Ingram is coming, too. She is very beautiful and very rich.'
Mr Rochester and his friends arrived the next day. Mrs Fairfax was right when she said that Miss Ingram was beautiful. But she was proud too, and didn't seem to notice me.
I was too poor and unimportant. But she was very interested in Mr Rochester. They talked a lot together, and often went horse-riding.
'I think that Mr Rochester might marry Miss Ingram,' I said to Mrs Fairfax.