第六章 走廊內(nèi)的哭泣

徐奚瀟

瑪麗循著走廊盡頭的哭泣聲找到了她的表親科林。首次見面，科林會(huì)給瑪麗留下怎樣的印象？克雷文叔叔為何不在科林身邊照顧他？走廊深處的房間里會(huì)有怎樣的秘密？瑪麗和科林還會(huì)再次見面嗎？

1. glimmer /ɡlm（r）/ n. 閃爍的微光

2. hunchback /hntbk/ n. 駝背的人

3. crossly /krsl/ adv. 憤怒地

4. growl /ɡral/ v. 低吼

5. monsoon /mnsun/ n. （南亞地區(qū)的）雨季

The rain began again that night. It beat against the window， waking Mary up. She listened as the wind howled round the house and down her chimney. She tried but could not get back to sleep. “Stupid wind！” she thought.

Then she heard another noise. It sounded just like a person lost in the wild and wandering on and on crying. She sat up. She listened for a few minutes and each minute she became more and more sure. It was someone crying！ She tiptoed out of bed and opened her door. The crying was coming from the other side of the house： from the part she wasn't allowed to explore. Taking her candle， she made her way along the corridor， her heart beating so loud that she fancied she could hear it. The faroff faint crying went on and led her and soon Mary came to a door where a glimmer of light spilled into the corridor. She swallowed hard and stepped into a huge room. There was a fire glowing， throwing shadows onto large， handsome furniture， and in a four poster bed a boy about her own age was crying his heart out.

The boy had huge， dark eyes that seemed too big for his thin， pale face. When he saw the light from Mary's candle his eyes widened even further， but the crying stopped.

“Wh... who are you？” the boy asked， his voice trembling. “Are you a ghost？”

“No， no， I'm Mary Lennox. I live here. Who are you？”

“I'm Colin.”

“Colin？”

“Colin Craven. My father is master of this house.”

“Oh！” Mary gasped. “I didn't know Mr Craven had a son！”

“Well， he does， not that he cares，” Colin sniffed.

“That makes us cousins！” Mary said and told him who she was. “Didn't anyone tell you about me？”

“No. They probably daren't.”

“Why？” Mary asked.

“I don't like new people. I don't like being looked at.”

“Why not？”

Colin wiped the tears from his eyes. “Because I shall have a hunchback like my father any day now. If I live long enough to get a hunchback， that is.”

“Why won't you live long enough？”

Colin stared at Mary crossly. “Because I am so weak and ill. Isn't it obvious？”

“It's not obvious to me. You just look thin and pale. A bit like I did when I came from India. What does your father do to help？”

“My father？ My father hates me！” Colin growled. “He hates me because when I was born my mother died. The only time he comes in this room is when he thinks I am asleep！”

“How...how old are you？” Mary asked.

“Ten.”

“The same as me，” Mary replied.

The same length of time the secret garden has been locked up， she thought. Mary remembered Martha telling her about the broken swing. Poor Mrs Craven. Dying without ever seeing her baby！

“Tell me about India，” Colin said， breaking into Mary's thoughts.

So Mary told him about India. About the heat and the monsoons and the elephants and tigers and rajahs. Colin listened until he began to fall asleep. Mary felt tired too. “I am going back to my room now，” she said softly.

“You must come again，” he told her， his voice far away. “Come again soon.”

Activity A Reading for comprehension

Ⅰ. Understanding the main idea

Write a summary of Chapter Six with about 50 words. Remember to leave out unnecessary details.

Ⅱ. Understanding the characters

Please fill in the blanks according to the text. （some basic information about Colin and others' attitudes towards him）

Ⅲ. Understanding the details

1. Why could Colin inspire so much of hardhearted Mary's kindness？

2. Why did Uncle Craven dislike Colin and avoid seeing him except when he believes he's asleep？

Activity B Reading for writing

Ⅰ. Useful expressions for creating a novel

Ⅱ. Extension task

If you are an expert on preschool education and you're supposed to comment on the case of Colin Craven and Archibald Craven. Would you approve of the way Archibald treats little Colin， and would you act otherwise if you were him？ Please give a minitalk about this fatherandson issue.