CHAPTER 1
...
Folds of scarlet [1] drapery [2] shut in my view to the right hand; to the left were the clear panes [3] of glass, protecting, but not separating me from the drear November day. At intervals, while turning over the leaves in my book, I studied the aspect of that winter afternoon. Afar, it offered a pale blank of mist and cloud; near, a scene of wet lawn and storm-beat shrub [4] , with ceaseless rain sweeping away wildly before a long and lamentable [5] blast [6] .
…
John Reed was a schoolboy of fourteen years old; four years older than I, for I was but ten; large and
stout
[7]
for his age, with a
dingy
[8]
and unwholesome skin; thick
lineaments
[9]
in a spacious
visage
[10]
, heavy limbs and large extremities. He
gorged
[11]
himself habitually at table, which made him
bilious
[12]
, and gave him a dim and
bleared
[13]
eye with flabby cheeks. He ought now to have been at school; but his mamma had taken him home for a month or two, ‘
on account of
his delicate health'. Mr. Miles, the master, affirmed that he would do very well if he had fewer cakes and sweetmeats sent him from home; but the mother's heart turned from an opinion so harsh, and inclined rather to the more refined idea that John's sallowness was owing to over-application, and, perhaps, to pining after home.
John had not much affection for his mother and sisters, and an antipathy [14] to me. He bullied [15] and punished me; not two or three times in the week, nor once or twice in a day, but continually: every nerve I had feared him, and every morsel [16] of flesh on my bones shrank [17] when he came near. There were moments when I was bewildered [18] by the terror he inspired, because I had no appeal whatever against either his menaces [19] or his inflictions [20] ; the servants did not like to offend their young master by taking my part against him, and Mrs. Reed was blind and deaf on the subject; she never saw him strike or heard him abuse me, though he did both now and then in her very presence; more frequently, however, behind her back.
...
‘You have no business to take our books; you are a dependant, mamma says; you have no money; your father left you none; you ought to beg, and not to live here with gentlemen's children like us, and eat the same meals we do, and wear clothes at our mamma's expense. Now, I'll teach you to rummage [21] my book-shelves: for they are mine; all the house belongs to me, or will do in a few years. Go and stand by the door, out of the way of the mirror and the windows.’
I did so, not at first aware what was his intention; but when I saw him lift and poise [22] the book and stand in act to hurl [23] it, I instinctively started aside with a cry of alarm: not soon enough, however; the volume was flung, it hit me, and I fell, striking my head against the door and cutting it. The cut bled, the p ain was sharp: my terror had passed its climax [24] ; other feelings succeeded.
‘Wicked and cruel boy! 'I said. ‘You are like a murderer—you are like a slave-driver—you are like the Roman emperors! ’
...
He ran headlong at me: I felt him grasp [25] my hair and my shoulder:he had closed with a desperate thing. I really saw in him a tyrant [26] : a murderer. I felt a drop or two of blood from my head trickle [27] down my neck, and was sensible of somewhat pungent [28] suffering [29] : these sensations for the time predominated [30] over fear, and I received him in frantic [31] sort. I don't very well know what I did with my hands, but he called me‘Rat! rat! 'and bellowed out aloud. Aid was near him: Eliza and Georgiana had run for Mrs. Reed, who was gone upstairs; she now came upon the scene, followed by Bessie and her maid Abbot. We were parted: I heard the words—
‘Dear! Dear! What a fury [32] to fly at Master John! ’
…
Then Mrs. Reed subjoined [33] :‘Take her away to the red-room, and lock her in there, 'Four hands were immediately laid upon me, and I was borne upstairs.
[1] scarlet / ˈskɑːlɪt/ a． 深红色的
[2] drapery/ ˈdreɪpərɪ/ n． 帏帐，布料
[3] pane/peɪn/ n． 窗玻璃
[4] shrub/ʃrʌb/ n． 灌木
[5] lamentable/ ˈlæməntəbl/ a. 可悲的，哀伤的
[6] blast/blɑːst/ n． 冲击波
[7] stout/staʊt/ a． 强壮的
[8] dingy/ ˈdɪndʒɪ/ a． 微黑的
[9] lineament/ ˈlɪnɪəmənt/ n. 轮廓
[10] visage / ˈvɪzɪdʒ/ n． 面貌，容貌
[11] gorge/gɔːdʒ/ v． 狼吞虎咽，塞饱
[12] bilious / ˈbɪljəs/ a． 坏脾气的
[13] blear /blɪə/ v． 使……模糊不清
[14] antipathy /æn ˈtɪpəθɪ/ n． 憎恶，反感
[15] bully/ ˈbʊlɪ/ v． 恐吓，欺负
[16] morsel / ˈmɔːsəl/ n． 一口，一片
[17] shrink/ʃrɪŋk/ v． 收缩，退缩
[18] bewilder/bɪ ˈwɪldə/ v. 使……不知所措
[19] menace / ˈmenəs/ n． 威胁，胁迫
[20] infliction /ɪn ˈflɪkʃən/ n. （强加于人身的）痛苦，刑罚
[21] rummage/ ˈrʌmɪdʒ/ v． 搜出，检查
[22] poise/pɔɪz/ v． 使……平衡
[23] hurl/hɜːl/ v． 用力投掷
[24] climax / ˈklaɪmæks/ n． 高潮，极点
[25] grasp/grɑːsp/ v． 抓住
[26] tyrant/ ˈtaɪərənt/ n． 暴君
[27] trickle/ ˈtrɪkl/ v． 滴流，细细地流
[28] pungent/ ˈpʌndʒənt/ a． 苦痛的
[29] suffering / ˈsʌfərɪŋ/ n． 苦楚，受难
[30] predominate/prɪ ˈdɒmɪneɪt/ v． 掌握，控制
[31] frantic / ˈfræntɪk/ a． 疯狂的，狂乱的
[32] fury/ ˈfjʊərɪ/ n． 愤怒，狂暴
[33] subjoin/ ˈsʌb ˈdʒɔɪn/ v． 添，增补
