Marilla came
briskly forward as Matthew opened the door. But when her eyes fell of the odd
little figure in the stiff, ugly dress, with the long braids of red hair and
the eager, luminous eyes, she stopped short in amazement.
"Matthew
Cuthbert, who's that?" she ejaculated. "Where is the boy?"
"There
wasn't any boy," said Matthew miserably. "There was only HER."
He nodded at the
child, remembering that he had never even asked her name.
"No boy!
But there MUST have been a boy," insisted Marilla. "We sent word to
Mrs. Spencer to bring a boy."
"Well, she
didn't. She brought HER. I asked the station-master. And I had to bring her
home. She couldn't be left there, no matter where the mistake had come
in."
"Well, this
is a pretty piece of business!" ejaculated Marilla.
During this
dialogue the child had remained silent, her eyes moving from one to the other,
all the animation fading out of her face. Suddenly she seemed to grasp the full
meaning of what had been said. Dropping her precious carpet-bag she sprang
forward a step and clasped her hands.
"You don't
want me!" she cried. "You don't want me because I'm not a boy! I
might have expected it. Nobody ever did want me. I might have known it was all
too beautiful to last. I might have known nobody really did want me. Oh, what
shall I do? I'm going to burst into tears!"
Burst into tears
she did. Sitting down on a chair by the table, throwing her arms out upon it,
and burying her face in them, she proceeded to cry stormily. Marilla and
Matthew looked at each other disapprovingly across the stove. Neither of them
knew what to say or do. Finally Marilla stepped lamely into the breach…
Marilla went slowly down to the kitchen and
proceeded to wash the supper dishes. Matthew was smoking—a sure sign of
perturbation of mind. He seldom smoked, for Marilla set her face against it as
a filthy habit; but at certain times and seasons he felt driven to it and them
Marilla understood the practice, realizing that a mere man must have some vent
for his emotions.
"Well, this
is a pretty kettle of fish," she said wrathfully. "This is what comes
of sending word instead of going ourselves. Richard Spencer's folks have
twisted that message somehow. One of us will have to drive over and see Mrs.
Spencer tomorrow, that's certain. This girl will have to be sent back to the
asylum."
Anne and Matthew, Sullivan Entertainment |
"Yes, I
suppose so," said Matthew reluctantly.
"You
SUPPOSE so! Don't you know it?"
"Well now,
she's a real nice little thing, Marilla. It's kind of a pity to send her back
when she's so set on staying here."
"Matthew
Cuthbert, you don't mean to say you think we ought to keep her!"
Marilla's
astonishment could not have been greater if Matthew had expressed a
predilection for standing on his head.
"Well, now,
no, I suppose not—not exactly," stammered Matthew, uncomfortably driven
into a corner for his precise meaning. "I suppose—we could hardly be
expected to keep her."
"I should
say not. What good would she be to us?"
"We might
be some good to her," said Matthew suddenly and unexpectedly.
"Matthew
Cuthbert, I believe that child has bewitched you! I can see as plain as plain
that you want to keep her."
"Well now,
she's a real interesting little thing," persisted Matthew. "You
should have heard her talk coming from the station."
"Oh, she
can talk fast enough. I saw that at once. It's nothing in her favour, either. I
don't like children who have so much to say. I don't want an orphan girl and if
I did she isn't the style I'd pick out. There's something I don't understand
about her. No, she's got to be sent straight-way back to where she came
from."
"I could
hire a French boy to help me," said Matthew, "and she'd be company
for you."
"I'm not
suffering for company," said Marilla shortly. "And I'm not going to
keep her."
"Well now,
it's just as you say, of course, Marilla," said Matthew rising and putting
his pipe away. "I'm going to bed."
To bed went
Matthew. And to bed, when she had put her dishes away, went Marilla,
disapproving most resolutely. And up-stairs, in the east gable, a lonely,
heart-hungry, friendless child cried herself to sleep. (inglés más fácil)
La
autora
Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874 –1942), fue una autora
canadiense conocida por la serie de novelas que comenzaron con Anne of Green
Gables publicada en 1908. Esta novela fue un éxito inmediato. El personaje
principal, Anne, una muchacha huérfana, hizo famosa a la autora y fue seguida
por todo el mundo. La primera novela fue continuada por una serie de secuelas
con Anne como la protagonista.
El
próximo post
Fuentes
The
Project Gutenberg, Anne of Green Gables http://www.gutenberg.org/files/45/45-h/45-h.htmKarbyn. Anne of Green Gables Study Guide. Chapter 2. Flowers, Trees & Other Plants (fotos de flores y plantas en Anne of Green Gables) http://www.squidoo.com/anne-plants-chapter-2
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