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牛津书虫《小公主》第02章:钻石矿

所属教程:书虫1级 小公主

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2018年06月26日

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2  The diamond mines

And so three years went by. Sara's father wrote to her often, and Sara wrote loving little letters back to him. One day a very exciting letter arrived. Everybody in the school talked about it for days.
'My friend,' wrote Mr Crewe, 'has some mines in northern India, and a month ago his workers found diamonds there. There are thousands of diamonds in these mines, but it is expensive work to get them out. My friend needs my help. So, Little Missus' ( this was Mr Crewe's special name for Sara), 'I am putting all my money into my friend's diamond mines, and one day you and I are going to be very rich...'
Sara was not interested in money, but a story about diamond mines in India was exciting. Nearly everybody was very pleased for Sara, but not Lavinia, of course.
'Huh!' she said. 'My mother has a diamond. Lots of people have diamonds. What's so interesting about diamond mines?'
'But there are thousands of diamonds in these mines,' said Ermengarde. 'Perhaps millions of them!'
Lavinia laughed. 'Is Sara going to wear diamonds in her hair at breakfast, then? Or is it "Princess Sara" now?'
Sara's face went red. She looked at Lavinia angrily, but said quietly, 'Some people call me "princess". I know that. But princesses don't get angry or say unkind things, so I'm not going to say anything to you, Lavinia.'
'To me, you are a princess,' Ermengarde said to Sara later. 'And you always look like a princess, in your beautiful dresses.'
*  *  *
Sara was a princess to another girl, too. This was Becky. She was a servant in Miss Minchin's school, and she was only fourteen years old, but she worked all day and sometimes half the night. She carried things upstairs and downstairs, she cleaned the floors, she made the fires, and she was always tired and hungry and dirty. She and Sara had very different lives.
But one day Sara came into her bedroom, and there was Becky, sleeping in a chair.
'Oh, you poor thing!' Sara said.
Then Becky opened her eyes and saw Sara. She got up at once. 'Oh, Miss!' she said. 'I'm very sorry, Miss! I just sat down for a minute and—'
'Don't be afraid,' said Sara. She gave Becky a friendly smile. 'You were tired. That's all.'
'Are you—are you going to tell Miss Minchin?' asked Becky. She began to move to the door.
'Of course not,' said Sara. 'Please don't run away. Sit down again for a minute. You look so tired.'
'Oh, Miss, I can't!' Becky said. 'You're very kind, Miss, but Miss Minchin—'
'Please,' said Sara. She took Becky's hand. 'You're only a little girl, like me. Let's be friends.'
And so Becky sat down again, and soon she and Sara were friends. Nobody knew about this, of course. Rich little girls at Miss Minchin's school did not make friends with servant-girls, and it was a wonderful thing for Becky. Nearly every day she and Sara met in Sara's bedroom, just for five or ten minutes. Becky was always hungry, and Sara often bought nice things for her to eat. They sat and talked, and sometimes Sara told Becky some of her stories. Becky loved that.
'Oh, Miss,' she said. 'You tell them so beautifully! Sometimes I like your stories better than things to eat.'
And after those visits to Sara's room, Becky always felt better—not so tired, and not so hungry.
*  *  *
Some months later Sara had her eleventh birthday. Lessons stopped for the afternoon and there was a big party for all the girls in the school.
'This party is expensive for us,' Miss Minchin said to her sister Amelia. 'But it looks good for the school.'
That afternoon there was a visitor to the school—Miss Minchin's lawyer. He went with Miss Minchin into her office and they closed the door. In the schoolroom next door there was a lot of noise from Sara's party. Everybody in there was very happy.
But in the office Miss Minchin was not happy. She looked at the lawyer angrily. 'What are you saying? Mr Crewe has no money? What about the diamond mines?'
'There are no diamond mines,' said the lawyer. 'Well, there are mines, but there are no diamonds in them.'
'But Mr Crewe's good friend—' began Miss Minchin.
'Mr Crewe's good friend,' said the lawyer, 'ran away with all Mr Crewe's money. Ralph Crewe was ill with a fever, and when he heard about this, he got worse. A week later he was dead.'
'Dead!' cried Miss Minchin. 'But what about his daughter Sara? And this expensive birthday party?'
'Sara Crewe has no money,' said the lawyer. 'Not a penny in the world, Miss Minchin. Not a penny.'
'She must leave my school at once,' Miss Minchin said angrily. 'She must go this afternoon!'
'Where?' said the lawyer. 'Out into the streets? An eleven-year-old girl? That's not going to look very good for your school, Miss Minchin.'
Miss Minchin's face went red.
'You can't put her out in the streets,' said the lawyer. He stood up. 'But perhaps she can work for you.'
The lawyer left, and Miss Minchin called her sister Amelia. 'Bring Sara Crewe here at once,' she said.
Two minutes later Sara, in her beautiful blue party dress, stood in front of Miss Minchin.
'Have you a black dress, Sara?' Miss Minchin said coldly.
'Yes, Miss Minchin,' said Sara. 'But it's very small.'
'Go and put it on at once,' said Miss Minchin. 'Your father is dead. There were no diamond mines, and your father's friend ran away with all his money. You have nothing. Not a penny. But I am going to be very kind to you. You can stay in my house, but now you must be a servant and work for your bread. You can sleep in a servant's room upstairs, next to Becky's room.'

2.钻石矿

很快,三年过去了。其间萨拉的爸爸经常给她写信,萨拉也写些短信给爸爸回过去,表达自己的爱。一天她收到了一封让人非常兴奋的信。有好些日子,学校里的人都在谈论这封信的事情。
“我的一位朋友,”克鲁先生在信中写道,“在印度北部拥有几座矿山,一个月前工人们在那里发现了钻石。矿区里有许多许多钻石,不过开采它们会是一项高投入的工作。我的朋友需要我的帮助,所以小米萨斯”(这是克鲁先生对萨拉特殊的昵称),“我把我所有的钱都投到了我朋友的钻石矿上,有一天我们会变得非常有钱……”
萨拉对钱并不感兴趣,可在印度发现钻石矿的故事却挺让人振奋的。几乎所有的人都为萨拉感到高兴,当然除了拉维尼娅。
“哼!”她开腔了,“我妈妈就有一颗钻石。很多人都有钻石。发现一个钻石矿有什么了不起的?”
“可是那些钻石矿里有成千上万颗钻石,”埃芒加德说道,“说不定有数百万颗呢!”
拉维尼娅笑了:“难道萨拉吃早饭时头上也要戴着钻石吗?或者说现在真要叫她‘萨拉公主’吗?”
萨拉听到后脸红了。她生气地看着拉维尼娅,但仍平静地说:“有人叫我‘公主’,这我知道,不过公主是不会随便生气,也不会说让人不愉快的话的,所以我什么也不想跟你说,拉维尼娅。”
“对我来说你就是一位公主,”后来埃芒加德对萨拉说,“你穿着美丽的衣服,看起来一直就像一位公主。”
*  *  *
在另外一个女孩儿眼里,萨拉也是一个公主。她叫贝基,是明钦小姐学校里的一个仆人,只有14岁,可她整天都在忙着干活,有时还要忙到半夜。她把东西搬上搬下,又拖地板又生火,老是又累又饿,还脏兮兮的。她与萨拉过着完全不同的生活。
可是有一天萨拉回到房间里的时候,贝基正躺在一张椅子上睡觉。
“哦,真可怜啊!”萨拉说道。
贝基睁开眼睛看到了萨拉。她马上站了起来。“哦,小姐!”她说道,“非常抱歉,小姐!我刚刚坐下,还——”
“别害怕,”萨拉说着,冲贝基友好地笑了笑,“你太累了嘛,就是因为这个。”
“你——你是不是要告诉明钦小姐?”贝基边问边开始向门口挪动。
“当然不会,”萨拉说道,“不要跑开,再坐一会儿,你看起来很疲倦。”
“哦,小姐,不行!”贝基说,“你真好,小姐,可是明钦小姐她——”
“别这样,”萨拉说着握住贝基的手,“你还只是个小姑娘呀,跟我一样。让我们做朋友吧。”
于是贝基又坐了下来,两个人很快就成了朋友。当然没有人知道这件事情。在明钦小姐的学校里,有钱人家的女孩子是不会跟女仆交朋友的,所以这对于贝基来说真是一件了不起的事情。几乎每天她都要在萨拉的房间里与萨拉见面,虽然只有5到10分钟的时间。贝基老是感到饥饿,萨拉就经常买些好吃的给她吃。她们坐在那里聊天,有时萨拉给贝基讲些故事。贝基非常喜欢听。
“哦,小姐,”她说道,“这些故事你讲得真好!有时候比起那些吃的来,我更喜欢你讲的故事。”
每次从萨拉屋里出来后,贝基总是会感觉好多了——不再那么累,也不再那么饿了。
*  *  *
几个月后,萨拉要过她11岁的生日了。那天下午学校停了课,给所有的孩子们举办了一个非常盛大的宴会。
“宴会对我们来说挺奢侈的,”明钦小姐跟她姐姐阿米莉亚说道,“不过可以让学校看起来有光彩。”
那天下午学校里来了一位客人——他是明钦小姐的律师。他跟着明钦小姐走进她的办公室,然后关上了房门。隔壁教室里因为有萨拉的生日宴会而传来很大的喧闹声。宴会上的每个人都很高兴。
可办公室里的明钦小姐却高兴不起来。她生气地看着她的律师。“你说什么?克鲁先生没钱了?那钻石矿呢?”
“根本没有什么钻石矿,”律师说,“不错,那里的确有矿藏,可里面根本没有钻石。”
“可克鲁先生的好朋友——”明钦小姐开口了。
“克鲁先生的好朋友,”律师说,“带着克鲁先生所有的钱跑了。拉尔夫·克鲁发烧生了病,当他听到这个消息后病情更加严重,一周后就撒手西去了。”
“死了!”明钦小姐叫了起来,“那他女儿萨拉怎么办?还有这昂贵的生日宴会怎么办?”
“萨拉·克鲁没有钱,”律师说道,“她在这个世界上一分钱都没有,明钦小姐,一分都没有。”
“那她得马上离开我的学校,”明钦小姐生气地说,“她今天下午就得走!”
“去哪儿?”律师问道,“到大街上流浪?你让一个11岁的女孩儿到大街上去流浪?那样看起来对你的学校可不太好,明钦小姐。”
明钦小姐的脸有些发红。
“你不能把她丢到街上不管,”律师说着站起身来,“不过她也许能为你做些活。”
律师走了,明钦小姐把她姐姐阿米莉亚叫了过来。“马上把萨拉·克鲁带来。”她说道。
两分钟后,萨拉穿着漂亮的蓝色礼服来到了明钦小姐面前。
“有黑衣服吗,萨拉?”明钦小姐冷冷地问。
“有呀,明钦老师,”萨拉答道,“可是很小。”
“马上去把它穿上,”明钦小姐说道,“你爸爸死了。根本没有什么钻石矿,你爸爸的朋友带着他所有的钱跑了。你什么也没有了,一分钱都没有了。可我还是不想亏待你。你可以住在我这里,但现在你是一个仆人了,你得干活养活自己。你可以住楼上仆人们的房间,就在贝基房间的隔壁。”
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