有声名著之简爱Jene Eyer Chapter20

　　CHAPTER¹ TWENTY Getting to Know the Rivers Family
I stayed one month at Moor² House. In that time, I came to love the little house, and the wild, beautiful fields around it, just like Diana and Mary did. We read books together and talked about them. Diana began to teach me the German language, and I helped Mary with her drawing³. We were very much alike⁴, so we spent the days and nights very happily together.
But St. John hardly ever spent time with us. He was usually visiting poor and sick people in a little village called Morton, near to our house. Even if the rain fell and the wind blew, he always went there. I did not think St. John was a happy person. Often, I would see him staring⁵ out the window with a sad look on his face.
I knew that Diana and Mary were planning to leave Moor House soon, to work as governesses. St. John and Hannah the old lady would go back to church man’s house in Morton. I knew my time at Moor House was almost over. I asked St. John if he had found any work for me.
“yes,” he said, “but it is a job with little money, so you may not want it. I would like to open a girls’ school in the town of Morton. I have a building for the school, and there is a small house for the teacher to live in. a lady named Miss Oliver has kindly⁶ paid for the house’s furniture. Will you come to Morton, and teach at the school? You would pay no money to live in the house. But you would receive thirty pounds a year, and no more.
I thought for a moment. This work was not as good as working for an important family, but at least I would be independent⁷. “Thank you, Mr. Rivers, I would be happy to teach in you school,” I said.
“But you do understand?” St. John asked, a little worried. “It will only be a village school. The girls in your school will be poor and uneducated. You’ll be teaching⁸ reading⁹, writing, counting, and sewing¹⁰.”
“I understand, and I’ll be happy to do it,” I answered.
He smiled. He seemed very pleased with me.
“And I’ll open the school tomorrow, if you like,” I added¹¹.
“Very good,” he said. “But I don’t think you’ll stay at the Morton school for very long.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked. “I am happy to stay here, although I think you are not.”
He looked surprised. “You’re right. I’d like to leave here. But how did you know that about me? No, I think you won’t like living in Morton, because you need people around you.” He said no more.
When it was time for everyone to leave Moor House Diana and Mary were sad.
“You see, Jane,” Diana told me, “St. John will leave England soon, to travel in other countries and teach people about God¹². Mary and I won’t wee him for many years--- maybe we’ll never see him again! He’s a very determined¹³ and brave person. I know he’s doing God’s work, but it will break my heart to see him go!” and she began to cry.
Mary said sadly¹⁴, “We have lost our father. Now we’ll lose our brother too!”
Just then St. John came into the room with a letter. “Our uncle John is dead,” he said. Diana and Mary did not look sad. St. John gave them the letter to read, but then they all looked at each other.
“Well,” said Diana, “I suppose we don’t really need any more money, anyway.”
“Yes,” said St. John, “but if we had that money, how different our lives would be!” he left the room.
After a few moments Diana looked at me. “Jane, you are probably surprised that we are not sad because Uncle John has died. He was our mother’s brother. Years ago, he and my father quarreled¹⁵ with each other. My father lost all his money, but my uncle became very rich. Uncle john did not marry and had no children. He had no other family except for us and one other person, who we do not know. My father always hoped that Uncle John would help us when he died, by giving us his money. But it seems that this other person has gotten everything. Of course we didn’t really expect anything. Uncle John disliked my father, so he probably did not want to help us. But Mary and I would have been able to help so many poor people around the world!” she said nothing else and soon left the room.
The next day, the Rivers family returned to their work. And I moved to the school in Morton.

1 chapter   

n.章，篇，重要章节

参考例句：

• I will skip the next chapter.我将略过下一章。
• Go and open a wonderful new chapter.去开启美好的新篇章。

2 moor   

n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊

参考例句：

• I decided to moor near some tourist boats.我决定在一些观光船附近停泊。
• There were hundreds of the old huts on the moor.沼地上有成百上千的古老的石屋。

3 drawing   

n.图画，制图，素描术

参考例句：

• Drawing is my favorite lesson.画图画是我最喜欢的课程。
• The children learn singing,dancing,drawing,and the like in the kindergarten.孩子们在幼儿园里学习唱歌、跳舞、画图画等。

4 alike   

adj.同样的，相像的；adv.一样地；同程度地　

参考例句：

• The twins are so alike that I can't tell which is which.这对双胞胎一模一样，我分辨不出谁是谁。
• All stories seemed dreadfully alike,no matter who told them.看来，不管谁讲，故事都是千篇一律的。

5 staring   

adj.目不转睛的；凝视的；显眼的；（毛发）竖立的v.凝视，瞪视( stare的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She lay on her back staring up at the ceiling. 她仰卧着凝视天花板。
• She was staring into space, her mouth slack. 她双唇微张，失神地望着前方。

6 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

7 independent   

adj.独立自主的；不须依赖的，不受约束的

参考例句：

• He is very far from being independent.他现在还远不能自立。
• We must fight for independent and free.我们必须为独立和自由而奋斗。

8 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

9 reading   

n.阅读，知识，读物，表演，对法律条文的解释；adj.阅读的

参考例句：

• Children learn reading and writing at school.孩子们在学校学习阅读和写作。
• He finds pleasure in reading.他从阅读中得到乐趣。

10 sewing   

n.缝纫；缝纫机；针线活；缝纫物v.缝制

参考例句：

• a pile of sewing 一堆针线活儿
• They reinforced a coat by sewing pieces of leather on the elbows. 他们在外衣肘上缝皮革使衣服更耐穿。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 added   

adj.更多的，附加的，额外的

参考例句：

• They have added a new scene at the beginning.在开头他们又增加了一场戏。
• The pop music added to our enjoyment of the film.片中的流行音乐使我们对这部电影更加喜爱。

12 god   

n.上帝，神；被极度崇拜的人或物

参考例句：

• God knows how the cat got up on the roof.只有天知道那只猫是怎样爬上房顶的。
• God wills that man should be happy.上帝愿人类幸福。

13 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

14 sadly   

adv.悲痛地，悲惨地，悲伤地

参考例句：

• She looked at him sadly.她难过地看着他。
• Sadly the good times aren't returning any time soon.遗憾的是，好时光不会很快就回来。

15 quarreled   

vi.争辩，争吵（quarrel的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The two girls quarreled, but they soon made it up. 这两个女孩子吵了一架，但很快就和好了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These men have quarreled over the price of a load of hay. 这帮人为了一车干草的价钱争吵不休。 来自《简明英汉词典》