章节正文
about things. One stormy day last week I gathered them around me
at dinner hour and tried to get them to talk to me just as if I
were one of themselves. I asked them to tell me the things
they most wanted. Some of the answers were commonplace enough
. . . dolls, ponies, and skates. Others were decidedly original.
Hester Boulter wanted `to wear her Sunday dress every day and eat
in the sitting room.' Hannah Bell wanted `to be good without having
to take any trouble about it.' Marjory White, aged ten, wanted to
be a WIDOW. Questioned why, she gravely said that if you weren't
married people called you an old maid, and if you were your husband
bossed you; but if you were a widow there'd be no danger of either.
The most remarkable wish was Sally Bell's. She wanted a 'honeymoon.'
I asked her if she knew what it was and she said she thought it was
an extra nice kind of bicycle because her cousin in Montreal went on
a honeymoon when he was married and he had always had the very latest
in bicycles!
"Another day I asked them all to tell me the naughtiest thing they
had ever done. I couldn't get the older ones to do so, but the
third class answered quite freely. Eliza Bell had `set fire to her
aunt's carded rolls.' Asked if she meant to do it she said, `not
altogether.' She just tried a little end to see how it would burn
and the whole bundle blazed up in a jiffy. Emerson Gillis had
spent ten cents for candy when he should have put it in his
missionary box. Annetta Bell's worst crime was `eating some
blueberries that grew in the graveyard.' Willie White had `slid
down the sheephouse roof a lot of times with his Sunday trousers on.'
`But I was punished for it 'cause I had to wear patched pants
to Sunday School all summer, and when you're punished for a thing
you don't have to repent of it,' declared Willie.
"I wish you could see some of their compositions. . .so much do
I wish it that I'll send you copies of some written recently.
Last week I told the fourth class I wanted them to write me letters
about anything they pleased, adding by way of suggestion that they
might tell me of some place they had visited or some interesting
thing or person they had seen. They were to write the letters on
real note paper, seal them in an envelope, and address them to me,
all without any assistance from other people. Last Friday morning
I found a pile of letters on my desk and that evening I realized
afresh that teaching has its pleasures as well as its pains. Those
compositions would atone for much. Here is Ned Clay's, address,
spelling, and grammar as originally penned.
"`Miss teacher ShiRley
Green gabels.
p.e. Island can
birds
"`Dear teacher I think I will write you a composition about birds.
birds is very useful animals. my cat catches birds. His name is
William but pa calls him tom. he is oll striped and he got one of
his ears froz of last winter. only for that he would be a
good-looking cat. My unkle has adopted a cat. it come to his
house one day and woudent go away and unkle says it has forgot more
than most people ever knowed. he lets it sleep on his rocking
chare and my aunt says he thinks more of it than he does of his
children. that is not right. we ought to be kind to cats and give
them new milk but we ought not be better to them than to our
children. this is oll I can think of so no more at present from
edward blake ClaY.'"
"St. Clair Donnell's is, as usual, short and to the point. St.
Clair never wastes words. I do not think he chose his subject or
added the postscript out of malice aforethought. It is just that
he has not a great deal of tact or imagination.
"`Dear Miss Shirley
You told us to describe something strange we have seen. I will
describe the Avonlea Hall. It has two doors, an inside one and an
outside one. It has six windows and a chimney. It has two ends
and two sides. It is painted blue. That is what makes it strange.
It is built on the lower Carmody road. It is the third most
important building in Avonlea. The others are the church and the
blacksmith shop. They hold debating clubs and lectures in it and
concerts.
Yours truly,
Jacob Donnell.
P.S. The hall is a very bright blue.'"
"Annetta Bell's letter was quite long, which surprised me, for
writing essays is not Annetta's forte, and hers are generally as
brief as st. Clair's. Annetta is a quiet little puss and a model
of good behavior, but there isn't a shadow of orginality in her.
Here is her letter. --
"`Dearest teacher,
I think I will write you a letter to tell you how much I love you.
I love you with my whole heart and soul and mind. . .with all
there is of me to love. . .and I want to serve you for ever.
It would be my highest privilege. That is why I try so hard to be
good in school and learn my lessuns.
"`You are so beautiful, my teacher. Your voice is like music and
your eyes are like pansies when the dew is on them. You are like a
tall stately queen. Your hair is like rippling gold. Anthony Pye
says it is red, but you needn't pay any attention to Anthony.
"`I have only known you for a few months but I cannot realize that
there was ever a time when I did not know you. . .when you had not
come into my life to bless and hallow it. I will always look back
to this year as the most wonderful in my life because it brought
you to me. Besides, it's the year we moved to Avonlea from
Newbridge. My love for you has made my life very rich and it has
kept me from much of harm and evil. I owe this all to you, my
sweetest teacher.
"`I shall never forget how sweet you looked the last time I saw
you in that black dress with flowers in your hair. I shall see you
like that for ever, even when we are both old and gray. You will
always be young and fair to me, dearest teacher. I am thinking of
you all the time. . .in the morning and at the noontide and at the
twilight. I love you when you laugh and when you sigh. . .even
when you look disdainful. I never saw you look cross though
Anthony Pye says you always look so but I don't wonder you look
cross at him for he deserves it. I love you in every dress. . .you
seem more adorable in each new dress than the last.
"`Dearest teacher, good night. The sun has set and the stars are
shining. . .stars that are as bright and beautiful as your eyes.
I kiss your hands and face, my sweet. May God watch over you and
protect you from all harm.
Your afecksionate pupil
Annetta Bell.'"
"This extraordinary letter puzzled me not a little. I knew Annetta
couldn't have composed it any more than she could fly. When I went
to school the next day I took her for a walk down to the brook at
recess and asked her to tell me the truth about the letter.
Annetta cried and 'fessed up freely. She said she had never
written a letter and she didn't know how to, or what to say, but
there was bundle of love letters in her mother's top bureau drawer
which had been written to her by an old `beau.'
"`It wasn't father,' sobbed Annetta, `it was someone who was
studying for a minister, and so he could write lovely letters, but
ma didn't marry him after all. She said she couldn't make out what
he was driving at half the time. But I thought the letters were
sweet and that I'd just copy things out of them here and there to
write you. I put "teacher" where he put "lady" and I put in
something of my own when I could think of it and I changed some words.
I put "dress" in place of "mood." I didn't know just what a "mood"
was but I s'posed it was something to wear. I didn't s'pose you'd
know the difference. I don't see how you found out it wasn't
all mine. You must be awful clever, teacher.'
"I told Annetta it was very wrong to copy another person's letter
and pass it off as her own. But I'm afraid that all Annetta
repented of was being found out.
"`And I do love you, teacher,' she sobbed. `It was all true, even
if the minister wrote it first. I do love you with all my heart.'
"It's very difficult to scold anybody properly under such circumstances.
"Here is Barbara Shaw's letter. I can't reproduce the blots of the original.
"`Dear teacher,
You said we might write about a visit. I never visited but once.
It was at my Aunt Mary's last winter. My Aunt Mary is a very particular
woman and a great housekeeper. The first night I was there we were at tea.
I knocked over a jug and broke it. Aunt Mary said she had had that jug
ever since she was married and nobody had ever broken it before.
When we got up I stepped on her dress and all the gathers tore out
of the skirt. The next morning when I got up I hit the pitcher against
the basin and cracked them both and I upset a cup of tea on the tablecloth
at breakfast. When I was helping Aunt Mary with the dinner dishes I
dropped a china plate and it smashed. That evening I fell downstairs
and sprained my ankle and had to stay in bed for a week. I heard Aunt Mary
tell Uncle Joseph it was a mercy or I'd have broken everything in the house.
When I got better it was time to go home. I don't like visiting very much.
I like going to school better, especially since I came to Avonlea.
Yours respectfully,
Barbara. Shaw.'"
"Willie White's began,
Respected Miss,
I want to tell you about my Very Brave Aunt. She lives in Ontario
and one day she went out to the barn and saw a dog in the yard.
The dog had no business there so she got a stick and whacked
him hard and drove him into the barn and shut him up. Pretty soon
a man came looking for an inaginary lion' (Query; -- Did Willie
mean a menagerie lion?) `that had run away from a circus. And it
turned out that the dog was a lion and my Very Brave Aunt had druv
him into the barn with a stick. It was a wonder she was not et up
but she was very brave. Emerson Gillis says if she thought it was
a dog she wasn't any braver than if it really was a dog. But
Emerson is jealous because he hasn't got a Brave Aunt himself,
nothing but uncles.'"
"I have kept the best for the last. You laugh at me because I
think Paul is a genius but I am sure his letter will convince you
that he is a very uncommon child. Paul lives away down near the
shore with his grandmother and he has no playmates. . .no real
playmates. You remember our School Management professor told us
that we must not have `favorites' among our pupils, but I can't
help loving Paul Irving the best of all mine. I don't think it
does any harm, though, for everybody loves Paul, even Mrs. Lynde,
who says she could never have believed she'd get so fond of a Yankee.
The other boys in school like him too. There is nothing weak or
girlish about him in spite of his dreams and fancies. He is very
manly and can hold his own in all games. He fought St. Clair
Donnell recently because St. Clair said the Union Jack was away
ahead of the Stars and Stripes as a flag. The result was a drawn
battle and a mutualagreement to respect each other's patriotism
henceforth. St. Clair says he can hit the HARDEST but Paul can
hit the OFTENEST.
"Paul's Letter.
My dear teacher,
You told us we might write you about some interesting people we knew.
I think the most interesting people I know are my rock people and I
mean to tell you about them. I have never told anybody about them
except grandma and father but I would like to have you know about
them because you understand things. There are a great many people
who do not understand things so there is no use in telling them.
My rock people live at the shore. I used to visit them almost
every evening before the winter came. Now I can't go till spring,
but they will be there, for people like that never change. . .that
is the splendid thing about them. Nora was the first one of them I
got acquainted with and so I think I love her the best. She lives
in Andrews' Cove and she has black hair and black eyes, and she
knows all about the mermaids and the water kelpies. You ought to
at dinner hour and tried to get them to talk to me just as if I
were one of themselves. I asked them to tell me the things
they most wanted. Some of the answers were commonplace enough
. . . dolls, ponies, and skates. Others were decidedly original.
Hester Boulter wanted `to wear her Sunday dress every day and eat
in the sitting room.' Hannah Bell wanted `to be good without having
to take any trouble about it.' Marjory White, aged ten, wanted to
be a WIDOW. Questioned why, she gravely said that if you weren't
married people called you an old maid, and if you were your husband
bossed you; but if you were a widow there'd be no danger of either.
The most remarkable wish was Sally Bell's. She wanted a 'honeymoon.'
I asked her if she knew what it was and she said she thought it was
an extra nice kind of bicycle because her cousin in Montreal went on
a honeymoon when he was married and he had always had the very latest
in bicycles!
"Another day I asked them all to tell me the naughtiest thing they
had ever done. I couldn't get the older ones to do so, but the
third class answered quite freely. Eliza Bell had `set fire to her
aunt's carded rolls.' Asked if she meant to do it she said, `not
altogether.' She just tried a little end to see how it would burn
and the whole bundle blazed up in a jiffy. Emerson Gillis had
spent ten cents for candy when he should have put it in his
missionary box. Annetta Bell's worst crime was `eating some
blueberries that grew in the graveyard.' Willie White had `slid
down the sheephouse roof a lot of times with his Sunday trousers on.'
`But I was punished for it 'cause I had to wear patched pants
to Sunday School all summer, and when you're punished for a thing
you don't have to repent of it,' declared Willie.
"I wish you could see some of their compositions. . .so much do
I wish it that I'll send you copies of some written recently.
Last week I told the fourth class I wanted them to write me letters
about anything they pleased, adding by way of suggestion that they
might tell me of some place they had visited or some interesting
thing or person they had seen. They were to write the letters on
real note paper, seal them in an envelope, and address them to me,
all without any assistance from other people. Last Friday morning
I found a pile of letters on my desk and that evening I realized
afresh that teaching has its pleasures as well as its pains. Those
compositions would atone for much. Here is Ned Clay's, address,
spelling, and grammar as originally penned.
"`Miss teacher ShiRley
Green gabels.
p.e. Island can
birds
"`Dear teacher I think I will write you a composition about birds.
birds is very useful animals. my cat catches birds. His name is
William but pa calls him tom. he is oll striped and he got one of
his ears froz of last winter. only for that he would be a
good-looking cat. My unkle has adopted a cat. it come to his
house one day and woudent go away and unkle says it has forgot more
than most people ever knowed. he lets it sleep on his rocking
chare and my aunt says he thinks more of it than he does of his
children. that is not right. we ought to be kind to cats and give
them new milk but we ought not be better to them than to our
children. this is oll I can think of so no more at present from
edward blake ClaY.'"
"St. Clair Donnell's is, as usual, short and to the point. St.
Clair never wastes words. I do not think he chose his subject or
added the postscript out of malice aforethought. It is just that
he has not a great deal of tact or imagination.
"`Dear Miss Shirley
You told us to describe something strange we have seen. I will
describe the Avonlea Hall. It has two doors, an inside one and an
outside one. It has six windows and a chimney. It has two ends
and two sides. It is painted blue. That is what makes it strange.
It is built on the lower Carmody road. It is the third most
important building in Avonlea. The others are the church and the
blacksmith shop. They hold debating clubs and lectures in it and
concerts.
Yours truly,
Jacob Donnell.
P.S. The hall is a very bright blue.'"
"Annetta Bell's letter was quite long, which surprised me, for
writing essays is not Annetta's forte, and hers are generally as
brief as st. Clair's. Annetta is a quiet little puss and a model
of good behavior, but there isn't a shadow of orginality in her.
Here is her letter. --
"`Dearest teacher,
I think I will write you a letter to tell you how much I love you.
I love you with my whole heart and soul and mind. . .with all
there is of me to love. . .and I want to serve you for ever.
It would be my highest privilege. That is why I try so hard to be
good in school and learn my lessuns.
"`You are so beautiful, my teacher. Your voice is like music and
your eyes are like pansies when the dew is on them. You are like a
tall stately queen. Your hair is like rippling gold. Anthony Pye
says it is red, but you needn't pay any attention to Anthony.
"`I have only known you for a few months but I cannot realize that
there was ever a time when I did not know you. . .when you had not
come into my life to bless and hallow it. I will always look back
to this year as the most wonderful in my life because it brought
you to me. Besides, it's the year we moved to Avonlea from
Newbridge. My love for you has made my life very rich and it has
kept me from much of harm and evil. I owe this all to you, my
sweetest teacher.
"`I shall never forget how sweet you looked the last time I saw
you in that black dress with flowers in your hair. I shall see you
like that for ever, even when we are both old and gray. You will
always be young and fair to me, dearest teacher. I am thinking of
you all the time. . .in the morning and at the noontide and at the
twilight. I love you when you laugh and when you sigh. . .even
when you look disdainful. I never saw you look cross though
Anthony Pye says you always look so but I don't wonder you look
cross at him for he deserves it. I love you in every dress. . .you
seem more adorable in each new dress than the last.
"`Dearest teacher, good night. The sun has set and the stars are
shining. . .stars that are as bright and beautiful as your eyes.
I kiss your hands and face, my sweet. May God watch over you and
protect you from all harm.
Your afecksionate pupil
Annetta Bell.'"
"This extraordinary letter puzzled me not a little. I knew Annetta
couldn't have composed it any more than she could fly. When I went
to school the next day I took her for a walk down to the brook at
recess and asked her to tell me the truth about the letter.
Annetta cried and 'fessed up freely. She said she had never
written a letter and she didn't know how to, or what to say, but
there was bundle of love letters in her mother's top bureau drawer
which had been written to her by an old `beau.'
"`It wasn't father,' sobbed Annetta, `it was someone who was
studying for a minister, and so he could write lovely letters, but
ma didn't marry him after all. She said she couldn't make out what
he was driving at half the time. But I thought the letters were
sweet and that I'd just copy things out of them here and there to
write you. I put "teacher" where he put "lady" and I put in
something of my own when I could think of it and I changed some words.
I put "dress" in place of "mood." I didn't know just what a "mood"
was but I s'posed it was something to wear. I didn't s'pose you'd
know the difference. I don't see how you found out it wasn't
all mine. You must be awful clever, teacher.'
"I told Annetta it was very wrong to copy another person's letter
and pass it off as her own. But I'm afraid that all Annetta
repented of was being found out.
"`And I do love you, teacher,' she sobbed. `It was all true, even
if the minister wrote it first. I do love you with all my heart.'
"It's very difficult to scold anybody properly under such circumstances.
"Here is Barbara Shaw's letter. I can't reproduce the blots of the original.
"`Dear teacher,
You said we might write about a visit. I never visited but once.
It was at my Aunt Mary's last winter. My Aunt Mary is a very particular
woman and a great housekeeper. The first night I was there we were at tea.
I knocked over a jug and broke it. Aunt Mary said she had had that jug
ever since she was married and nobody had ever broken it before.
When we got up I stepped on her dress and all the gathers tore out
of the skirt. The next morning when I got up I hit the pitcher against
the basin and cracked them both and I upset a cup of tea on the tablecloth
at breakfast. When I was helping Aunt Mary with the dinner dishes I
dropped a china plate and it smashed. That evening I fell downstairs
and sprained my ankle and had to stay in bed for a week. I heard Aunt Mary
tell Uncle Joseph it was a mercy or I'd have broken everything in the house.
When I got better it was time to go home. I don't like visiting very much.
I like going to school better, especially since I came to Avonlea.
Yours respectfully,
Barbara. Shaw.'"
"Willie White's began,
Respected Miss,
I want to tell you about my Very Brave Aunt. She lives in Ontario
and one day she went out to the barn and saw a dog in the yard.
The dog had no business there so she got a stick and whacked
him hard and drove him into the barn and shut him up. Pretty soon
a man came looking for an inaginary lion' (Query; -- Did Willie
mean a menagerie lion?) `that had run away from a circus. And it
turned out that the dog was a lion and my Very Brave Aunt had druv
him into the barn with a stick. It was a wonder she was not et up
but she was very brave. Emerson Gillis says if she thought it was
a dog she wasn't any braver than if it really was a dog. But
Emerson is jealous because he hasn't got a Brave Aunt himself,
nothing but uncles.'"
"I have kept the best for the last. You laugh at me because I
think Paul is a genius but I am sure his letter will convince you
that he is a very uncommon child. Paul lives away down near the
shore with his grandmother and he has no playmates. . .no real
playmates. You remember our School Management professor told us
that we must not have `favorites' among our pupils, but I can't
help loving Paul Irving the best of all mine. I don't think it
does any harm, though, for everybody loves Paul, even Mrs. Lynde,
who says she could never have believed she'd get so fond of a Yankee.
The other boys in school like him too. There is nothing weak or
girlish about him in spite of his dreams and fancies. He is very
manly and can hold his own in all games. He fought St. Clair
Donnell recently because St. Clair said the Union Jack was away
ahead of the Stars and Stripes as a flag. The result was a drawn
battle and a mutualagreement to respect each other's patriotism
henceforth. St. Clair says he can hit the HARDEST but Paul can
hit the OFTENEST.
"Paul's Letter.
My dear teacher,
You told us we might write you about some interesting people we knew.
I think the most interesting people I know are my rock people and I
mean to tell you about them. I have never told anybody about them
except grandma and father but I would like to have you know about
them because you understand things. There are a great many people
who do not understand things so there is no use in telling them.
My rock people live at the shore. I used to visit them almost
every evening before the winter came. Now I can't go till spring,
but they will be there, for people like that never change. . .that
is the splendid thing about them. Nora was the first one of them I
got acquainted with and so I think I love her the best. She lives
in Andrews' Cove and she has black hair and black eyes, and she
knows all about the mermaids and the water kelpies. You ought to
- gravely [´greivli]
ad.庄重地，严肃地 (初中英语单词) - remarkable [ri´mɑ:kəbl] a.值得注意的；显著的 (初中英语单词)
- freely [´fri:li] ad.自由地；慷慨地 (初中英语单词)
- bundle [´bʌndl] n.包，捆；包袱(裹) (初中英语单词)
- trousers [´trauzəz] n.裤子，长裤 (初中英语单词)
- suggestion [sə´dʒestʃən] n.建议，提议；暗示 (初中英语单词)
- envelope [´envələup] n.信封，封皮 (初中英语单词)
- assistance [ə´sistəns] n.协作；援助；帮助 (初中英语单词)
- privilege [´privilidʒ] n.特权 vt.给....特权 (初中英语单词)
- extraordinary [ik´strɔ:dinəri] a.非常的；额外的 (初中英语单词)
- bureau [´bjuərəu] n.局；编辑部；事务所 (初中英语单词)
- minister [´ministə] n.部长；大臣 v.伺候 (初中英语单词)
- properly [´prɔpəli] ad.适当地；严格地 (初中英语单词)
- pitcher [´pitʃə] n.大水罐；投掷者 (初中英语单词)
- jealous [´dʒeləs] a.妒忌的 (初中英语单词)
- genius [´dʒi:niəs] n.天才(人物)；天赋 (初中英语单词)
- convince [kən´vins] vt.使确信；使认识错误 (初中英语单词)
- grandmother [´græn,mʌðə] n.(外)祖母 (初中英语单词)
- management [´mænidʒmənt] n.管理；处理；经营 (初中英语单词)
- agreement [ə´gri:mənt] n.同意；一致；协议 (初中英语单词)
- decidedly [di´saididli] ad.坚决地，果断地 (高中英语单词)
- bicycle [´baisik(ə)l] n.自行车 (高中英语单词)
- repent [ri´pent] v.后悔；悔改；悔悟 (高中英语单词)
- originally [ə´ridʒənəli] ad.本来；独创地 (高中英语单词)
- composition [,kɔmpə´ziʃən] n.写作；作曲；作品 (高中英语单词)
- malice [´mælis] n.恶意；怨恨；预谋 (高中英语单词)
- behavior [bi´heiviə] n.举止，行为 (高中英语单词)
- stately [´steitli] a.庄严的，雄伟的 (高中英语单词)
- reproduce [,ri:prə´dju:s] v.繁殖；复制；翻版 (高中英语单词)
- housekeeper [´haus,ki:pə] n.主妇，女管家 (高中英语单词)
- circus [´sə:kəs] n.马戏(团)；圆形广场 (高中英语单词)
- loving [´lʌviŋ] a.爱的，有爱情的 (高中英语单词)
- mutual [´mju:tʃuəl] a.相互的；共同的 (高中英语单词)
- grandma [´grænmɑ:] n.奶奶；外婆 (高中英语单词)
- commonplace [´kɔmənpleis] a.平凡的；常见的 (英语四级单词)
- honeymoon [´hʌnimu:n] n.蜜月 (英语四级单词)
- striped [´straipt] a.有条纹的 (英语四级单词)
- hallow [´hæləu] vt.使神圣，视为神圣 (英语四级单词)
- composed [kəm´pəuzd] a.镇静自若的 (英语四级单词)
- uncommon [ʌn´kɔmən] a.非常的，非凡的，罕见的 (英语四级单词)
- postscript [´pəust,skript] n.(信末的)附言；附录 (英语六级单词)
- noontide [´nu:ntaid] n.正午 (英语六级单词)
- cracked [krækt] a.有裂缝的；碎的；粗哑 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
章节正文
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