章节正文
'She didn't say that. And I don't think she does. That wouldn't
be comfortable - would it? I don't think my papa wears his crown
for a night-cap. Does he, nursie?'
'I never asked him. I dare say he does.'
'And she's been there ever since I came here - ever so many years.'
'Anybody could have told you that,' said the nurse, who did not
believe a word Irene was saying.
'Why didn't you tell me, then?'
'There was no necessity. You could make it all up for yourself.'
'You don't believe me, then!' exclaimed the princess, astonished
and angry, as she well might be.
'Did you expect me to believe you, princess?' asked the nurse
coldly. 'I know princesses are in the habit of telling
make-believes, but you are the first I ever heard of who expected
to have them believed,' she added, seeing that the child was
strangely in earnest.
The princess burst into tears.
'Well, I must say,' remarked the nurse, now thoroughly vexed with
her for crying, 'it is not at all becoming in a princess to tell
stories and expect to be believed just because she is a princess.'
'But it's quite true, I tell you.'
'You've dreamt it, then, child.'
'No, I didn't dream it. I went upstairs, and I lost myself, and if
I hadn't found the beautiful lady, I should never have found
myself.'
'Oh, I dare say!'
'Well, you just come up with me, and see if I'm not telling the
truth.'
'Indeed I have other work to do. It's your dinnertime, and I won't
have any more such nonsense.'
The princess wiped her eyes, and her face grew so hot that they
were soon quite dry. She sat down to her dinner, but ate next to
nothing. Not to be believed does not at all agree with princesses:
for a real princess cannot tell a lie. So all the afternoon she
did not speak a word. Only when the nurse spoke to her, she
answered her, for a real princess is never rude - even when she
does well to be offended.
Of course the nurse was not comfortable in her mind - not that she
suspected the least truth in Irene's story, but that she loved her
dearly, and was vexed with herself for having been cross to her.
She thought her crossness was the cause of the princess's
unhappiness, and had no idea that she was really and deeply hurt at
not being believed. But, as it became more and more plain during
the evening in her every motion and look, that, although she tried
to amuse herself with her toys, her heart was too vexed and
troubled to enjoy them, her nurse's discomfort grew and grew. When
bedtime came, she undressed and laid her down, but the child,
instead of holding up her little mouth to be kissed, turned away
from her and lay still. Then nursie's heart gave way altogether,
and she began to cry. At the sound of her first sob the princess
turned again, and held her face to kiss her as usual. But the
nurse had her handkerchief to her eyes, and did not see the
movement.
'Nursie,' said the princess, 'why won't you believe me?'
'Because I can't believe you,' said the nurse, getting angry again.
'Ah! then, you can't help it,' said Irene, 'and I will not be vexed
with you any more. I will give you a kiss and go to sleep.'
'You little angel!' cried the nurse, and caught her out of bed, and
walked about the room with her in her arms, kissing and hugging
her.
'You will let me take you to see my dear old great big grandmother,
won't you?' said the princess, as she laid her down again.
'And you won't say I'm ugly, any more - will you, princess?'
'Nursie, I never said you were ugly. What can you mean?'
'Well, if you didn't say it, you meant it.'
'Indeed, I never did.'
'You said I wasn't so pretty as that -'
'As my beautiful grandmother - yes, I did say that; and I say it
again, for it's quite true.'
'Then I do think you are unkind!' said the nurse, and put her
handkerchief to her eyes again.
'Nursie, dear, everybody can't be as beautiful as every other body,
you know. You are very nice-looking, but if you had been as
beautiful as my grandmother -'
'Bother your grandmother!' said the nurse.
'Nurse, that's very rude. You are not fit to be spoken to till you
can behave better.'
The princess turned away once more, and again the nurse was ashamed
of herself.
'I'm sure I beg your pardon, princess,' she said, though still in
an offended tone. But the princess let the tone pass, and heeded
only the words.
'You won't say it again, I am sure,' she answered, once more
turning towards her nurse. 'I was only going to say that if you
had been twice as nice-looking as you are, some king or other would
have married you, and then what would have become of me?'
'You are an angel!' repeated the nurse, again embracing her.
'Now,' insisted Irene, 'you will come and see my grandmother -
won't you?'
'I will go with you anywhere you like, my cherub,' she answered;
and in two minutes the weary little princess was fast asleep.
CHAPTER 5
The Princess Lets Well Alone
When she woke the next morning, the first thing she heard was the
rain still falling. Indeed, this day was so like the last that it
would have been difficult to tell where was the use of It. The
first thing she thought of, however, was not the rain, but the lady
in the tower; and the first question that occupied her thoughts was
whether she should not ask the nurse to fulfil her promise this
very morning, and go with her to find her grandmother as soon as
she had had her breakfast. But she came to the conclusion that
perhaps the lady would not be pleased if she took anyone to see her
without first asking leave; especially as it was pretty evident,
seeing she lived on pigeons' eggs, and cooked them herself, that
she did not want the household to know she was there. So the
princessresolved to take the first opportunity of running up alone
and asking whether she might bring her nurse. She believed the
fact that she could not otherwiseconvince her she was telling the
truth would have much weight with her grandmother.
The princess and her nurse were the best of friends all
dressing-time, and the princess in consequence ate an enormous
little breakfast.
'I wonder, Lootie' - that was her pet name for her nurse - 'what
pigeons' eggs taste like?' she said, as she was eating her egg -
not quite a common one, for they always picked out the pinky ones
for her.
'We'll get you a pigeon's egg, and you shall judge for yourself,'
said the nurse.
'Oh, no, no!' returned Irene, suddenly reflecting they might
disturb the old lady in getting it, and that even if they did not,
she would have one less in consequence.
'What a strange creature you are,' said the nurse - 'first to want
a thing and then to refuse it!'
But she did not say it crossly, and the princess never minded any
remarks that were not unfriendly.
'Well, you see, Lootie, there are reasons,' she returned, and said
no more, for she did not want to bring up the subject of their
former strife, lest her nurse should offer to go before she had had
her grandmother's permission to bring her. Of course she could
refuse to take her, but then she would believe her less than ever.
Now the nurse, as she said herself afterwards, could not be every
moment in the room; and as never before yesterday had the princess
given her the smallest reason for anxiety, it had not yet come into
her head to watch her more closely. So she soon gave her a chance,
and, the very first that offered, Irene was off and up the stairs
again.
This day's adventure, however, did not turn out like yesterday's,
although it began like it; and indeed to- day is very seldom like
yesterday, if people would note the differences - even when it
rains. The princess ran through passage after passage, and could
not find the stair of the tower. My own suspicion is that she had
not gone up high enough, and was searching on the second instead of
the third floor. When she turned to go back, she failed equally in
her search after the stair. She was lost once more.
Something made it even worse to bear this time, and it was no
wonder that she cried again. Suddenly it occurred to her that it
was after having cried before that she had found her grandmother's
stair. She got up at once, wiped her eyes, and started upon a
fresh quest.
This time, although she did not find what she hoped, she found what
was next best: she did not come on a stair that went up, but she
came upon one that went down. It was evidently not the stair she
had come up, yet it was a good deal better than none; so down she
went, and was singing merrily before she reached the bottom.
There, to her surprise, she found herself in the kitchen. Although
she was not allowed to go there alone, her nurse had often taken
her, and she was a great favourite with the servants. So there was
a general rush at her the moment she appeared, for every one wanted
to have her; and the report of where she was soon reached the
nurse's ears. She came at once to fetch her; but she never
suspected how she had got there, and the princess kept her own
counsel.
Her failure to find the old lady not only disappointed her, but
made her very thoughtful. Sometimes she came almost to the nurse's
opinion that she had dreamed all about her; but that fancy never
lasted very long. She wondered much whether she should ever see
her again, and thought it very sad not to have been able to find
her when she particularly wanted her. She resolved to say nothing
more to her nurse on the subject, seeing it was so little in her
power to prove her words.
CHAPTER 6
The Little Miner
The next day the great cloud still hung over the mountain, and the
rain poured like water from a full sponge. The princess was very
fond of being out of doors, and she nearly cried when she saw that
the weather was no better. But the mist was not of such a dark
dingy grey; there was light in it; and as the hours went on it grew
brighter and brighter, until it was almost too brilliant to look
at; and late in the afternoon the sun broke out so gloriously that
Irene clapped her hands, crying:
'See, see, Lootie! The sun has had his face washed. Look how
bright he is! Do get my hat, and let us go out for a walk. Oh,
dear! oh, dear! how happy I am!'
Lootie was very glad to please the princess. She got her hat and
cloak, and they set out together for a walk up the mountain; for
the road was so hard and steep that the water could not rest upon
it, and it was always dry enough for walking a few minutes after
the rain ceased. The clouds were rolling away in broken pieces,
like great, overwoolly sheep, whose wool the sun had bleached till
it was almost too white for the eyes to bear. Between them the sky
shone with a deeper and purer blue, because of the rain. The trees
on the roadside were hung all over with drops, which sparkled in
the sun like jewels. The only things that were no brighter for the
rain were the brooks that ran down the mountain; they had changed
from the clearness of crystal to a muddy brown; but what they lost
in colour they gained in sound - or at least in noise, for a brook
when it is swollen is not so musical as before. But Irene was in
raptures with the great brown streams tumbling down everywhere; and
Lootie shared in her delight, for she too had been confined to the
house for three days.
At length she observed that the sun was getting low, and said it
be comfortable - would it? I don't think my papa wears his crown
for a night-cap. Does he, nursie?'
'I never asked him. I dare say he does.'
'And she's been there ever since I came here - ever so many years.'
'Anybody could have told you that,' said the nurse, who did not
believe a word Irene was saying.
'Why didn't you tell me, then?'
'There was no necessity. You could make it all up for yourself.'
'You don't believe me, then!' exclaimed the princess, astonished
and angry, as she well might be.
'Did you expect me to believe you, princess?' asked the nurse
coldly. 'I know princesses are in the habit of telling
make-believes, but you are the first I ever heard of who expected
to have them believed,' she added, seeing that the child was
strangely in earnest.
The princess burst into tears.
'Well, I must say,' remarked the nurse, now thoroughly vexed with
her for crying, 'it is not at all becoming in a princess to tell
stories and expect to be believed just because she is a princess.'
'But it's quite true, I tell you.'
'You've dreamt it, then, child.'
'No, I didn't dream it. I went upstairs, and I lost myself, and if
I hadn't found the beautiful lady, I should never have found
myself.'
'Oh, I dare say!'
'Well, you just come up with me, and see if I'm not telling the
truth.'
'Indeed I have other work to do. It's your dinnertime, and I won't
have any more such nonsense.'
The princess wiped her eyes, and her face grew so hot that they
were soon quite dry. She sat down to her dinner, but ate next to
nothing. Not to be believed does not at all agree with princesses:
for a real princess cannot tell a lie. So all the afternoon she
did not speak a word. Only when the nurse spoke to her, she
answered her, for a real princess is never rude - even when she
does well to be offended.
Of course the nurse was not comfortable in her mind - not that she
suspected the least truth in Irene's story, but that she loved her
dearly, and was vexed with herself for having been cross to her.
She thought her crossness was the cause of the princess's
unhappiness, and had no idea that she was really and deeply hurt at
not being believed. But, as it became more and more plain during
the evening in her every motion and look, that, although she tried
to amuse herself with her toys, her heart was too vexed and
troubled to enjoy them, her nurse's discomfort grew and grew. When
bedtime came, she undressed and laid her down, but the child,
instead of holding up her little mouth to be kissed, turned away
from her and lay still. Then nursie's heart gave way altogether,
and she began to cry. At the sound of her first sob the princess
turned again, and held her face to kiss her as usual. But the
nurse had her handkerchief to her eyes, and did not see the
movement.
'Nursie,' said the princess, 'why won't you believe me?'
'Because I can't believe you,' said the nurse, getting angry again.
'Ah! then, you can't help it,' said Irene, 'and I will not be vexed
with you any more. I will give you a kiss and go to sleep.'
'You little angel!' cried the nurse, and caught her out of bed, and
walked about the room with her in her arms, kissing and hugging
her.
'You will let me take you to see my dear old great big grandmother,
won't you?' said the princess, as she laid her down again.
'And you won't say I'm ugly, any more - will you, princess?'
'Nursie, I never said you were ugly. What can you mean?'
'Well, if you didn't say it, you meant it.'
'Indeed, I never did.'
'You said I wasn't so pretty as that -'
'As my beautiful grandmother - yes, I did say that; and I say it
again, for it's quite true.'
'Then I do think you are unkind!' said the nurse, and put her
handkerchief to her eyes again.
'Nursie, dear, everybody can't be as beautiful as every other body,
you know. You are very nice-looking, but if you had been as
beautiful as my grandmother -'
'Bother your grandmother!' said the nurse.
'Nurse, that's very rude. You are not fit to be spoken to till you
can behave better.'
The princess turned away once more, and again the nurse was ashamed
of herself.
'I'm sure I beg your pardon, princess,' she said, though still in
an offended tone. But the princess let the tone pass, and heeded
only the words.
'You won't say it again, I am sure,' she answered, once more
turning towards her nurse. 'I was only going to say that if you
had been twice as nice-looking as you are, some king or other would
have married you, and then what would have become of me?'
'You are an angel!' repeated the nurse, again embracing her.
'Now,' insisted Irene, 'you will come and see my grandmother -
won't you?'
'I will go with you anywhere you like, my cherub,' she answered;
and in two minutes the weary little princess was fast asleep.
CHAPTER 5
The Princess Lets Well Alone
When she woke the next morning, the first thing she heard was the
rain still falling. Indeed, this day was so like the last that it
would have been difficult to tell where was the use of It. The
first thing she thought of, however, was not the rain, but the lady
in the tower; and the first question that occupied her thoughts was
whether she should not ask the nurse to fulfil her promise this
very morning, and go with her to find her grandmother as soon as
she had had her breakfast. But she came to the conclusion that
perhaps the lady would not be pleased if she took anyone to see her
without first asking leave; especially as it was pretty evident,
seeing she lived on pigeons' eggs, and cooked them herself, that
she did not want the household to know she was there. So the
princessresolved to take the first opportunity of running up alone
and asking whether she might bring her nurse. She believed the
fact that she could not otherwiseconvince her she was telling the
truth would have much weight with her grandmother.
The princess and her nurse were the best of friends all
dressing-time, and the princess in consequence ate an enormous
little breakfast.
'I wonder, Lootie' - that was her pet name for her nurse - 'what
pigeons' eggs taste like?' she said, as she was eating her egg -
not quite a common one, for they always picked out the pinky ones
for her.
'We'll get you a pigeon's egg, and you shall judge for yourself,'
said the nurse.
'Oh, no, no!' returned Irene, suddenly reflecting they might
disturb the old lady in getting it, and that even if they did not,
she would have one less in consequence.
'What a strange creature you are,' said the nurse - 'first to want
a thing and then to refuse it!'
But she did not say it crossly, and the princess never minded any
remarks that were not unfriendly.
'Well, you see, Lootie, there are reasons,' she returned, and said
no more, for she did not want to bring up the subject of their
former strife, lest her nurse should offer to go before she had had
her grandmother's permission to bring her. Of course she could
refuse to take her, but then she would believe her less than ever.
Now the nurse, as she said herself afterwards, could not be every
moment in the room; and as never before yesterday had the princess
given her the smallest reason for anxiety, it had not yet come into
her head to watch her more closely. So she soon gave her a chance,
and, the very first that offered, Irene was off and up the stairs
again.
This day's adventure, however, did not turn out like yesterday's,
although it began like it; and indeed to- day is very seldom like
yesterday, if people would note the differences - even when it
rains. The princess ran through passage after passage, and could
not find the stair of the tower. My own suspicion is that she had
not gone up high enough, and was searching on the second instead of
the third floor. When she turned to go back, she failed equally in
her search after the stair. She was lost once more.
Something made it even worse to bear this time, and it was no
wonder that she cried again. Suddenly it occurred to her that it
was after having cried before that she had found her grandmother's
stair. She got up at once, wiped her eyes, and started upon a
fresh quest.
This time, although she did not find what she hoped, she found what
was next best: she did not come on a stair that went up, but she
came upon one that went down. It was evidently not the stair she
had come up, yet it was a good deal better than none; so down she
went, and was singing merrily before she reached the bottom.
There, to her surprise, she found herself in the kitchen. Although
she was not allowed to go there alone, her nurse had often taken
her, and she was a great favourite with the servants. So there was
a general rush at her the moment she appeared, for every one wanted
to have her; and the report of where she was soon reached the
nurse's ears. She came at once to fetch her; but she never
suspected how she had got there, and the princess kept her own
counsel.
Her failure to find the old lady not only disappointed her, but
made her very thoughtful. Sometimes she came almost to the nurse's
opinion that she had dreamed all about her; but that fancy never
lasted very long. She wondered much whether she should ever see
her again, and thought it very sad not to have been able to find
her when she particularly wanted her. She resolved to say nothing
more to her nurse on the subject, seeing it was so little in her
power to prove her words.
CHAPTER 6
The Little Miner
The next day the great cloud still hung over the mountain, and the
rain poured like water from a full sponge. The princess was very
fond of being out of doors, and she nearly cried when she saw that
the weather was no better. But the mist was not of such a dark
dingy grey; there was light in it; and as the hours went on it grew
brighter and brighter, until it was almost too brilliant to look
at; and late in the afternoon the sun broke out so gloriously that
Irene clapped her hands, crying:
'See, see, Lootie! The sun has had his face washed. Look how
bright he is! Do get my hat, and let us go out for a walk. Oh,
dear! oh, dear! how happy I am!'
Lootie was very glad to please the princess. She got her hat and
cloak, and they set out together for a walk up the mountain; for
the road was so hard and steep that the water could not rest upon
it, and it was always dry enough for walking a few minutes after
the rain ceased. The clouds were rolling away in broken pieces,
like great, overwoolly sheep, whose wool the sun had bleached till
it was almost too white for the eyes to bear. Between them the sky
shone with a deeper and purer blue, because of the rain. The trees
on the roadside were hung all over with drops, which sparkled in
the sun like jewels. The only things that were no brighter for the
rain were the brooks that ran down the mountain; they had changed
from the clearness of crystal to a muddy brown; but what they lost
in colour they gained in sound - or at least in noise, for a brook
when it is swollen is not so musical as before. But Irene was in
raptures with the great brown streams tumbling down everywhere; and
Lootie shared in her delight, for she too had been confined to the
house for three days.
At length she observed that the sun was getting low, and said it
- princess [,prin´ses]
n.公主；王妃；亲王夫人 (初中英语单词) - thoroughly [´θʌrəli] ad.完全地，彻底地 (初中英语单词)
- handkerchief [´hæŋkətʃif] n.手帕，手绢 (初中英语单词)
- grandmother [´græn,mʌðə] n.(外)祖母 (初中英语单词)
- spoken [´spəukən] speak的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- behave [bi´heiv] v.举止；表现；举止端正 (初中英语单词)
- pardon [´pɑ:dən] n.&vt.原谅；饶恕；赦免 (初中英语单词)
- anywhere [´eniweə] ad.无论何处；任何地方 (初中英语单词)
- fulfil [ful´fil] vt.履行；完成；执行 (初中英语单词)
- conclusion [kən´klu:ʒən] n.结束；结论；推论 (初中英语单词)
- running [´rʌniŋ] a.奔跑的；流动的 (初中英语单词)
- otherwise [´ʌðəwaiz] ad.另外 conj.否则 (初中英语单词)
- convince [kən´vins] vt.使确信；使认识错误 (初中英语单词)
- consequence [´kɔnsikwəns] n.结果；后果；推断 (初中英语单词)
- permission [pə´miʃən] n.允许；同意；许可 (初中英语单词)
- yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
- anxiety [æŋ´zaiəti] n.挂念；渴望；焦虑的事 (初中英语单词)
- suspicion [sə´spiʃən] n.怀(猜)疑；嫌疑 (初中英语单词)
- equally [´i:kwəli] ad.相等地；平等地 (初中英语单词)
- evidently [´evidəntli] ad.明显地 (初中英语单词)
- failure [´feiljə] n.失败；衰竭；破产 (初中英语单词)
- brilliant [´briliənt] a.灿烂的；杰出的 (初中英语单词)
- crystal [´kristəl] n.水晶 a.水晶的 (初中英语单词)
- musical [´mju:zikəl] a.音乐的；悦耳的 (初中英语单词)
- seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)
- motion [´məuʃən] n.手势 vt.打手势 (高中英语单词)
- repeated [ri´pi:tid] a.反复的；重复的 (高中英语单词)
- strife [straif] n.竞争；吵架；冲突 (高中英语单词)
- merrily [´merili] ad.欢乐地；愉快地 (高中英语单词)
- thoughtful [´θɔ:tfəl] a.深思的；体贴的 (高中英语单词)
- sponge [spʌndʒ] n.海绵(状物) (高中英语单词)
- upstairs [,ʌp´steəz] ad.在楼上 a.楼上的 (英语四级单词)
- resolved [ri´zɔlvd] a.决心的；坚定的 (英语四级单词)
- roadside [´rəudsaid] n.&a.路边(的) (英语四级单词)
- swollen [´swəulən] swell的过去分词 (英语四级单词)
- discomfort [dis´kʌmfət] n.不适；不安；困难 (英语六级单词)
- holding [´həuldiŋ] n.保持，固定，存储 (英语六级单词)
- minded [´maindid] a.有...心的 (英语六级单词)
- gloriously [´glɔ:riəsli] ad.光荣地，辉煌地 (英语六级单词)
- clearness [´kliənis] n.清楚；明白；明确 (英语六级单词)
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