牛津書(shū)蟲(chóng)系列 秘密花園 4 Meeting Dickon

4 Meeting Dickon

4 見(jiàn)到狄肯

Mary spent nearly a week working in the secret garden. Each day she found new shoots coming out of the ground.Soon，there would be flowers everywhere—thousands of them.It was an exciting game to her.When she was inside those beautiful old walls，no one knew where she was.

瑪麗花了將近一個(gè)星期的時(shí)間在秘密花園里干活兒。每天，她都看到新的嫩芽從土里冒出來(lái)，很快，到處都將開(kāi)滿成千上萬(wàn)的花朵。對(duì)她來(lái)說(shuō)，這是一個(gè)讓她興奮不已的游戲。她一走進(jìn)那道美麗的舊圍墻，就沒(méi)人知道她去了哪兒。

During that week she became more friendly with Ben，who was often digging in one of the vegetable gardens.

那個(gè)星期她開(kāi)始對(duì)經(jīng)常不停地在那塊菜地里挖土的本更加友好了。

‘What are your favourite flowers，Ben?’she asked him one day.

一天，她問(wèn)他，“本，你最喜歡什么花?”

‘Roses.I used to work for a young lady who loved roses，you see，and she had a lot in her garden.That was ten years ago. But she died.Very sad，it was.’

“玫瑰。我曾經(jīng)給一位喜愛(ài)玫瑰的女士干活兒，她的花園里有好多玫瑰，那都是10年前的事了?？墒撬懒?，很慘，是不是?”

‘What happened to the roses?’asked Mary.

“那些玫瑰怎么樣了?”瑪麗問(wèn)。

‘They were left there，in the garden.’

“它們就留在花園里了。”

‘If rose branches look dry and grey，are they still alive?’ asked Mary.It was so important to know!

“要是玫瑰的枝子看上去又干又暗，它們還活著嗎?”瑪麗問(wèn)道。弄懂這個(gè)簡(jiǎn)直是太重要了!

‘In the spring they'll show green shoots，and then—But why are you so interested in roses?’he asked.

“到了春天它們就會(huì)長(zhǎng)出綠色的嫩芽，然后——你怎么會(huì)對(duì)玫瑰有興趣呢?”他問(wèn)。

Mary's face went red.‘I just…wanted to pretend I've got a garden.I haven't got anyone to play with.’

瑪麗的臉紅了。“我只是——設(shè)想自己有個(gè)花園，沒(méi)人跟我一起玩兒。”

‘Well，that's true，’said Ben.He seemed to feel sorry for her.Mary decided she liked old Ben，although he was sometimes badtempered.

“嗯，那倒是真的，”本說(shuō)。他似乎是在為她感到難過(guò)?，旣愔雷约合矚g本，盡管他有時(shí)脾氣不大好。

She skipped along and into the wood at the end of the gardens.Suddenly she heard a strange noise，and there in front of her was a boy.He was sitting under a tree，playing on a wooden pipe.He was about twelve，with a healthy red face and bright blue eyes.There was a squirrel and a crow in the tree， and two rabbits sitting on the grass near him.

她蹦跳著來(lái)到花園盡頭的樹(shù)叢中，突然，她聽(tīng)到一個(gè)陌生的聲音，有個(gè)男孩出現(xiàn)在她的面前。他正坐在一棵樹(shù)下，吹著一根木管。他大約十二歲，臉色健康、紅潤(rùn)，有一雙明亮的藍(lán)眼睛。樹(shù)上有一只松鼠，還有只烏鴉，他身邊的草地上還有兩只小兔子。

‘They're listening to the music!’thought Mary.‘I mustn't frighten them!’She stood very still.

瑪麗想，“它們都在聽(tīng)音樂(lè)，我可別嚇著它們!”她靜靜地站著。

The boy stopped playing.‘That's right，’he said.‘Animals don't like it if you move suddenly.I'm Dickon and you must be Miss Mary.I've brought you the spade and the seeds.’

男孩停下來(lái)，說(shuō)，“這就對(duì)了，動(dòng)物們不喜歡你唐突的動(dòng)作。我是狄肯，你肯定就是瑪麗小姐了。我給你帶鏟子和花籽來(lái)了。”

He spoke in an easy，friendly way.Mary liked him at once. As they were looking at the seed packets together，the robin hopped on to a branch near them.Dickon listened carefully to the robin's song.

他說(shuō)話的樣子輕松友善，瑪麗一下子就喜歡上他了。他們一起看裝著花籽的小包時(shí)，知更鳥(niǎo)在旁邊的樹(shù)枝上蹦著，狄肯仔細(xì)聽(tīng)著知更鳥(niǎo)的歌聲。

‘He's saying he's your friend，he told Mary.

他告訴瑪麗說(shuō)，“它說(shuō)它是你的朋友。”

‘Really?Oh，I am pleased he likes me.Can you understand everything that birds say?’

“真的嗎?哦，它喜歡我，我真太高興了。你能聽(tīng)懂鳥(niǎo)說(shuō)的每一句話嗎?”

‘I think I do，and they think I do.I've lived on the moor with them for so long.Sometimes I think I am a bird or an animal，not a boy at all!’His smile was the widest she had ever seen.

“我覺(jué)得是，它們也這么想。我跟它們一起在荒原上住了這么久，有時(shí)候我覺(jué)得自己就是一只鳥(niǎo)或是一只動(dòng)物，根本就不是個(gè)孩子!”瑪麗從來(lái)沒(méi)有見(jiàn)過(guò)像他這樣開(kāi)心的笑容。

He explained how to plant the seeds.Suddenly he said，‘I can help you plant them!Where's your garden?’

他講解著該怎么種那些花籽，他說(shuō)，“我可以幫你種!你的花園在哪兒?”

Mary went red，then white.She had never thougt of this. What was she going to say?

瑪麗臉紅了，然后又變得蒼白。她從沒(méi)想到這一點(diǎn)，她該怎么說(shuō)呢?

‘Could you keep a secret?It's a great secret.If anyone discovers it，I'll…I'll die!’

“你能保守秘密嗎?這可是個(gè)大秘密。要是有人知道了，我就……我就得死!”

‘I keep secrets for all the wild birds and animals on the moor.So I can keep yours too，’he replied.

狄肯回答，“我在荒原上為所有的鳥(niǎo)和獸保密，所以我也能為你保密。”

‘I've stolen 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.

“我偷了一個(gè)花園，”她說(shuō)得很快。“誰(shuí)都沒(méi)進(jìn)去過(guò)，誰(shuí)也不想進(jìn)去。我喜歡它，可是沒(méi)人照理它，他們就由著它死掉!”她的手蒙著臉，哭了起來(lái)。

‘Don't cry，’said Dickon gently.‘Where is it?’

狄肯輕輕地說(shuō)，“別哭了，它在哪兒呢?”

‘Come with me and I'll show you，’said Miss Mary.

“你跟我來(lái)，我讓你看看它。”瑪麗說(shuō)。

They went to the secret garden and entered it together. Dickon walked round，looking at everything.

他們來(lái)到秘密花園，一起走了進(jìn)去。狄肯四處走著，每樣?xùn)|西都看看。

‘Martha told me about this place，but I never thought I'd see it，’he said.‘It's wonderful!’

“瑪莎跟我說(shuō)過(guò)這個(gè)地方，可我從沒(méi)想到能見(jiàn)到它，”他說(shuō)，“它可太棒了!”

‘What about the roses?’asked Mary worriedly.‘Are they still alive?What do you think?’

“那些玫瑰怎么樣?”瑪麗掛念地問(wèn)道。“它們還活著嗎?你覺(jué)得呢?”

‘Look at these shoots on the branches.Most of them are alive all right.’He took out his knife and cut away some of the dead wood from the rose trees.Mary showed him the work she had done in the garden，and they talked as they cut and cleared.

“看看枝子上的那些嫩芽，大部分已經(jīng)活了。”他掏出小刀割去一些已經(jīng)枯死的枝條?，旣惤o他看了自己在花園里干的活兒。他們一邊修剪枝條，清理殘葉，一邊說(shuō)著話。

‘Dickon，’said Mary suddenly，‘I like you.I never thought I'd like as many as five people!’

“狄肯，”瑪麗說(shuō)道，“我喜歡你。我從沒(méi)想到能喜歡5個(gè)人!”

‘Only five!’laughed Dickon.

“才5個(gè)人!”狄肯笑了。

He did look funny when he laughed，thought Mary.

他笑的樣子很滑稽，瑪麗心里想。

‘Yes，your mother，Martha，the robin，Ben，and you.’Then she asked him a question in Yorkshire dialect，because that was his language.

“是的，你媽媽、瑪莎、知更鳥(niǎo)，本和你。”然后她用約克郡的方言問(wèn)了一個(gè)問(wèn)題，因?yàn)樗椭v這種話。

‘Does tha’like me?’was her question.

她的問(wèn)題是.“你喜歡我嗎?”

‘Of course!I likes thee wonderful!’replied Dickon，a big smile on his round face.Mary had never been so happy.

“當(dāng)然!我很喜歡你!”狄肯回答，圓圓的臉上露出燦爛的笑容?，旣悘膩?lái)沒(méi)有這么開(kāi)心過(guò)。

When she went back to the house for her lunch，she told Martha about Dickon's visit.

回去吃午飯時(shí)，她告訴瑪莎狄肯來(lái)過(guò)了。

‘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 several months.’

“我也有事要告訴你，”瑪莎說(shuō)。“克萊文先生回來(lái)了，而且要見(jiàn)你!他明天又要走了，要走幾個(gè)月呢。”

‘Oh!’said Mary.That was good news.She would have all summer in the secret garden before he came back.But she must be careful.He mustn't guess her secret now.

“哦!”瑪麗說(shuō)。那可是好消息。在他回來(lái)之前，她可以整個(gè)夏天都呆在秘密花園里。不過(guò)她一定要小心，可不能讓他這會(huì)兒就猜出她的秘密。

Just then Mrs Medlock arrived，in her best black dress，to take Mary down to Mr Craven's room.

這時(shí)，梅洛太太進(jìn)來(lái)了。她穿上了她最好的黑色長(zhǎng)裙，帶瑪麗下樓到克萊文先生的房間。

Mary's uncle had black hair with some white in it，and high， crooked shoulders.His face was not ugly，but very sad.During their conversation he watched her in a worried way.Perhaps he was thinking of other things at the same time.

瑪麗的舅舅黑發(fā)中夾著銀絲，高高的個(gè)子，背有些駝。他長(zhǎng)得并不丑，但臉色陰沉。談話中他神色憂郁的看著她，也許他同時(shí)在想著什么別的事情。

He looked at the thin child.‘Are you well?’he asked.Mary tried to keep her voice calm as she replied，

他看著這個(gè)瘦弱的孩子，問(wèn)道，“你好嗎?”瑪麗在回答時(shí)盡量使自己的聲音保持平靜。

‘I'm getting stronger and healthier.’

“我越來(lái)越結(jié)實(shí)、健康了。”

‘What do you want to do，in this big empty house?’

“在這樣一座空蕩蕩的大房子里，你想做些什么呢?”

‘I…I just want to play outside—I enjoy that.’

“我……我只是在外面玩——我喜歡那樣。”

‘Yes，Martha's mother，Susan Sowerby，spoke to me the other day.She's a sensible woman—and she said you needed fresh air.But where do you play?’

“是啊，瑪莎的母親，蘇珊·索爾比那天也這么說(shuō)。她是個(gè)聰明人——她說(shuō)你需要新鮮空氣?？赡愣荚谀膬和婺?”

‘Everywhere!I just skip and runand look for green shoots.I don't damage anything!’

“哪兒都玩!我跳跳繩，跑來(lái)跑去——找那些綠色的嫩芽。我什么也沒(méi)弄壞!”

‘Don't look so frightened!Of course a child like you couldn't damage anything.Play where you like.Is there anything that you want?’

“別這么害怕!像你這樣的孩子當(dāng)然什么也弄不壞。喜歡哪兒就在哪兒玩兒吧。你想要什么東西嗎?”

Mary came a step nearer to him，and her voice shook a little as she spoke.‘Could Icould I have a bit of garden?’

瑪麗往他身邊走了一步，說(shuō)話時(shí)聲音有點(diǎn)發(fā)抖，“我能——我能有一小塊花園嗎?”

Mr Craven looked very surprised.

克萊文先生顯得有些不解。

‘To plant seeds in…to make them come alive!’Mary went on bravely.‘It was too hot in India，so I was always ill and tired there.But here it's different.I…I love the garden!’

“用來(lái)播種子，讓它們長(zhǎng)起來(lái)!”瑪麗壯著膽子接著說(shuō)道，“在印度天氣太熱了，所以我老是生病，老是覺(jué)得累?？蛇@兒就不一樣。我……我喜歡花園!”

He passed a hand quickly over his eyes.Then he looked kindly at Mary.‘I knew someone once who loved growing things，like you.Yes，child，take as much of the garden as you want.’He smiled gently at her.‘Now leave me.I'm very tired.’

克萊文先生很快地用一只手擋在眼睛前面，然后他和藹地看著瑪麗，“我曾經(jīng)認(rèn)識(shí)一個(gè)人，也喜歡種東西，像你一樣。好吧，孩子，花園你想要多大都成。”他和善地對(duì)她笑著。“現(xiàn)在你可以走了，我很累了。”

Mary ran all the way back to her room.

瑪麗一路小跑回到了自己的房間。

‘Martha!’she shouted.‘Mr Graven's really a nice man，but he looks very unhappy.He said I can have my own garden!’

“瑪莎!”她喊道，“克萊文先生真是個(gè)好人，可他看不上去很不開(kāi)心。他說(shuō)我能有自己的花園!”

She was planning to work in the garden with Dickon every day，to make it beautiful for the summer.

她打算每天與狄肯一起在花園里干活兒，讓花園在夏天漂亮起來(lái)。