初级 远大前程
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中级 我的秘密花园
Chapter Eight: Magic
'Of course you will,' said Dickson.
'Soon, we'll have you working and walking.'
But suddenly, Ben Weatherstaff's angry face looked down at them from the top of the wall.
'What are you doing in there?' he shouted angrily at Mary.
Then he saw Colin, and his mouth opened in astonishment.
'Do you know who I am?' Colin asked.
'Yes, of course I do.' Ben answered.
'You are the poor boy who is always ill.'
Colin sat up angrily.
'There's nothing wrong with me.
I'll show you!' he cried.
He pulled himself up out of hIs chair, and with Dickson's help he stood up straight and tall.
'Look at me,' he shouted at Ben.
'Just look at me.'
'You dear boy,' said Ben, and he cried with happiness.
Colin stayed standing.
Suddenly, he felt all his fears leave him.
'I'm not afraid anymore!' he cried.
'It's the magic of the secret garden.
The magic that made all the plants grow strong has made me grow strong, too.'
That evening when Colin sat with Mary, he was quiet.
'I'm not going to be a poor, sad boy any more.
If I believe that, I will be strong and well, then the magic will make it happen.'
The next day, when the children went into the garden, Colin told Dickson and Mary to watch him.
'I'm going to show you that the magic made me well,' he said.
Carefully, taking a few steps at a time, Colin walked around the garden.
His face glowed with joy.
'Please keep this a secret,' he said.
'When I can walk and run really well, I will walk into my father's study and say, "Here I am, as well and strong as any boy in Yorkshire.'"
It was not easy to keep Colin's secret.
The magic garden made Colin's eyes shine and his pale face become pink.
Each day, Colin and Mary did exercises to make them strong, and soon they were happier and healthier.
Mary looked pretty and Colin didn't look ill any more.
Everyone who knew them wondered about the change.
At the time that the secret garden made its magic for Colin, Mr Craven travelled in distant countries.
For ten years he had tried to run away from his sorrow and nothing could comfort him.
Then, one day while he walked in Austria, he sat down by a stream.
He felt his mind and his body started to relax.
The gentle sound of the running water filled him with peace, and suddenly he was both healthy and happy.
That same night, he dreamt about his wife's garden at Misselthwaite Manor.
The dream made him decide to return home at once.
As soon as he arrived home he went to the garden.
As he walked slowly towards the door of the secret garden, all his sadness came rushing back to him.
He wondered how he could find the key to the garden, and then he heard laughter from the other side of the wall.
Then the door opened and a boy ran out.
He was a tall, handsome boy, and Mr Craven gazed at him without speaking.
Colin stood still and looked at his father in surprise.
Then he said, 'Father, I'm Colin, your son.
You can't believe it, but it's true.'
Colin took his father into the garden and told him how the magic had made the flowers and trees grow, and had made him grow strong and healthy.
Mr Craven thought that it was a wonderful story.
He sat down next to Mary, Dickson and the animals and talked, and laughed for the first time in many years.
He was so proud of his happy, healthy son.
'Now there will be no more secrets,' said Colin.
'I will never need my wheelchair again. I will walk with you, Father.'
They all stood up and walked back to the house.
Mrs Medlock and Martha watched in amazement as Mr Craven walked across the lawn, happier than
they had ever seen him.
Next to him, with his head held up high and his eyes full of laughter, walked Colin, as strongly and steadily as any boy in Yorkshire!