Text A Miss Brill（第1页）

TextAMissBrill

KatherineMansfield

[1]AlthoughitwassobrilliaheblueskypoldasoflightlikewhitewiheJardinsPubliques—MissBrillwasgladthatshehaddeherfur。Theairwasmotiowhenyouopenedyourmouththerewasjustafaintchill，likeaaglassoficedwaterbeforeyousip，andnowandagainaleafcamedrifting—fromhesky。MissBrillputupherhandandtouchedherfur。Dearlittlething!Itwasagaiakenitoutofitsboxthatafternoohemivenitagoodbrush，ahelifebalittleeyes。“Whathasbeeome?”saidthesadlittleeyes。Oh，hoastoseethemsnapatheragainfromtheredeiderdown!。。。Butthenose，whieblaposition，wasn’tatallfirm。Itmusthavehadaknoind—alittledabofblag-waxwheimecame—whenitwasabsolutelynecessary。。。Littlerogue!Yes，shereallyfeltlikethataboutit。Littleroguebitingitstailjustbyherleftear。Shecouldhavetakenitoffandlaiditonherlapa。Shefeltatinglinginherhandsandarms，butthatwalking，shesupposed。Andwhehed，somethinglightandsad—no，ly—somethiomoveinherbosom。

[2]Therewereanumberofpeopleoutthisafternoon，farmorethanlastSunday。Andthebandsoundedlayer。ThatwasbecausetheSeasonhadbegun。FhthebaheyearroundonSundays，outofseasonitwaswaslikesomeoneplayingwithoolisten;itdidplayedifthereweren’tanystra。Wasaoo?Shewassureitwasneedwithhisfootandflappedhisarmslikearoosterabouttodthebaingiuheirdglaredatthemusiowtherecamealittle“flutey”bit—verypretty!—alittlehtdrops。Shewassureitwouldberepeated。Itwas;sheliftedherheadandsmiled。

[3]Onlytwopeoplesharedher“special”seat:afineoldma，hishandsclaspedecarvedwalking-stidabigoldwoman，sittingupright，witharollofknittingonherembroideredaprospeak。Thisointing，forMissBrillalwayslookedforwardtotheversation。Shehadbeereallyquiteexpert，shethought，atlisteningasthoughshedidtinginotherpeople’slivesjustforamialkedroundher。

[4]Sheglatheoldcouple。Perhapstheywouldgosoon。LastSunday，too，haderestingasusual。AnEnglishmanandhiswife，hewearingadreadfulPanamahataonboots。Andshe’dgoimeabouthowsheoughttoectacles;shekhem;butthatitwasingany;they’dbesuretobreakandthey’dneverkeepon。Aient。He’dsuggestedeverything—goldrims，thekindthatcurvedroulepadsihebridge。No，nothingwouldpleaseher。“They’llalwaysbeslidingdownmynose!”MissBrillhadwaoshakeher。

[5]Theoldpeoplesatoillasstatues。herewasalwaysthecrowdtowatdfro，infrontoftheflowerbedsaunda，thedgroupsparaded，stoppedtotalk，togreet，tobuyahandfulofflowersfromtheoldbeggarwhohadhistrayfixedts。Littleranamongthem，swoopingandlaughihbigwhitesilkbowsuheirs，littlegirls，littleFrenchdolls，dressedupiandlaesatinystaggerercamesuddenlyrototheopenfromurees，stopped，stared，assuddenlysatdown“flop”，untilitssmallhigh-steppingmother，likeayounghen，rushedsgtoitsrescue。Otherpeoplesatonthebendgreenchairs，buttheywerenearlyalwaysthesame，SundayafterSunday，and—MissBrillhadofteherewassomethingfunnyaboutnearlyallofthem。Theywereodd，silent，nearlyallold，andfromthewaytheystaredtheylookedasthoughthey’djustdarklittleroomsoreven—evencupboards!

[6]Behiundatheslehyellowleavesd，andthroughthemjustalineofsea，aheblueskywithgold-veinedclouds。

[7]Tum-tum-tumtiddle-um!tiddle-um!tumtiddley-umtumta!Ble>

[8]Twoyounggirlsiwoyoungsoldiersihem，andtheylaughedandpairedaoffarm-in-arm。Twopeasahfunnystraassed，gravely，leadiifulsmoke-coloureddonkeys。Acold，palenunhurriedby。Abeautifulwomanganddroppedherbunchofviolets，andalittleboyraohaoher，ahemahemawayasifthey’dbeenpoisoned。Dearme!MissBrilldidn’tkoadmirethatornot!Andoquealemajustinfrontofher。Hewastall，stiff，dignified，andshewaswearioqueshe’dboughtwhenherhaireverything，herhair，herfahereyes，wasthesamecolourastheshabbyermine，andherhand，initsedglove，liftedtodabherlips，wasatinyyellowishpaw。Oh，sheleasedtoseehim—delighted!Sheratherthoughttheyweregoiafternoon。Shedescribedwhereshe’dbeen—everywhere，here，there，alohedaywass—didn’theagree?Andwouldn’the，perhaps?。。。Butheshookhishead，lightedacigarette，slowlybreathedagreatdeeppuffintoherfadevenwhileshewasstilltalkingandlaughidwalkedooquewasalone;shesmiledmhtlythaeventhebaoknoasfeelingandplayedmoresoftly，playedtenderly，andthedrumbeat，“TheBrute!TheBrute!”overawouldshedo?Whatwasgoingtohappennow?ButasMissBrillwoheermiurned，raisedherhandasthoughshe’dseensomeoneelse，muicer，justoverthere，andpatteredaway。Andthebandgedagainandplayedmorequickly，maylythaheoldissBrill’sseatgotupandmarchedaway，andsuyoldmanwithlongwhiskershobbledalohemusidwasnearlyknockedoverbyfirlswalki。

[9]Oh，howfasgitwas!Howshee!Howshelovedsittigitall!Itlay。Itwasexactlylikeaplay。Whocouldbelievetheskyattheba’tpaiwasn’ttillalittlebrowndogtrottedonsolemnlyandthenslowlytrottedoff，likealittle“theatredog”，alittledogthathadbeeMissBrilldiscoveredwhatitwasthatmadeitsoexg。Theywerealloheyweren’tonlytheaudieonlylookingoing。EvenshehadapartandcameeverySunday。Nodoubtsomebodywouldhavenoticedifshehadhere;sheartoftheperformaerall。Heshe’dofitlikethatbefore!Aexplainedwhyshemadesutfromhomeatjustthesametimeeachweek—soasefortheperformaalsoexplainedwhyshehadquiteaqueer，shyfeelingattellingherEnglishpupilshowshespentherSundayafternoons。Nowonder!MissBrillnearlylaughedoutloud。Shewasoage。Shethoughtoftheoldiowhomshereadtheneerfourafternoonsaweekwhilehesleptinthegardequiteusedtothefrailheadoonpillow，thehollowedeyes，theopenmouthandthehighpinose。Ifhe’dbeehavenoticedforweeks;shewouldn’thavemisuddenlyheknewhewashavingthepaperreadtohimbyanactress!“Aheoldheadlifted;twopointsoflightquiveredintheoldeyes。“Anactress—areye?”AndMissBrillsmoothedthehoughitwerethemanuscriptofherpartaly;“Yes，Ihavebeenanactressftime。”

[10]Thebandhadbeenhaviheystartedagain。Andlayedwaswarm，suherewasjustafaintchill—asomething，whatwasit?—notsadness—no，notsadness—asomethingthatmadeyouwanttosiued，thelightshoseemedtoMissBrillthatiallofthem，allthewholepany，wouldbeginsinging。Theyouhelaughingoneswhtogether，theywouldbegin，andthemen’svoices，veryresoluteandbrave，wouldjoiheoo，shetoo，ahersoheywouldeinwithakindofaehinglow，thatscarcelyroseorfell，somethiiful—moving。。。AndMissBrill’seyesfilledwithtearsandshelookedsmilingatalltheothermembersofthepaaa—thoughwhattheyuoodshedidn’tknow。

[11]Justatthatmomentaboyandgirldsatdowheoldcouplehadbeeifullydressed;theywereiheheroandheroine，ofcourse，justarrivedfromhisfather’syadstillsoundlesslysinging，stillwiththattremblingsmile，MissBrillpreparedtolisten。

[12]“No，notnow”，saidthegirl。“。”

[13]“Butwhy?Becauseofthatstupidoldthihere?”askedtheboy。“Whydoessheehereatall—whowantsher?Whydoesn’tshekeephersillyoldmugathome?”

[14]“It’sherfu-urwhichissofunny”，giggledthegirl。“It’sexactlylikeafriedwhiting。”

[15]“Ah，beoffwithyou!”saidtheboyinanangrywhisper。Then:“Tellme，mapetitechere—”

[16]“No，hegirl。“。”

[17]。。。Onherwayhomesheusuallyboughtasliey-cakeatthebaker’s。ItwasherSuimestherewasanalmondinhersliesnot。Itmadeagreatdiffereherewasanalmonditwaslikeghomeati—asurprise—somethingthatmightverywellhere。ShehurriedonthealmondSundaysandstruckthematchforthekettleinquiteadashing>

[18]Buttodayshepassedthebaker’sby，climbedthestairs，wentiledarkroom—herroomlikeacupboard—andsatdownontheredeiderdowhereftime。Theboxthatthefurcameoutofwasonthebed。Sheuhequickly;quickly，withoutlooking，laiditiwhehelidosheheardsomethingg。

Notes

1。KatherineMansfieldBeauchampMurry（1888-1923）:SheromiwriterofshortfiwhowasbhtupinewZealandahepeherineMansfield。Sheiswidelysideredoshortstorywritersofherperiod。Anumberofherworks，ingMissBrill，Prelude，TheGardenParty，TheDoll’sHouseandTheFly，arefrequeedinshortstoryanthologies。MansfieldalsoprovedaheadofhertimeiionofRussianplaywrightandshortstorywriterAntonChekhov，andineofhisthemesandteiquesiing。

2。TheJardinsPubliques:法语，“公共花园”之意。

3。theSeason:指文娱、社交、商业等的活跃季节。

4。mapetitechere:法语，“我的小心肝”之意。

AfterYouRead

KnowledgeFocus

1。Discussthefollowiionswithyourpartner。

1）WhoisMissBrill?Howoldisshe?Doesshehaveafamily?Doesshehavefriends?

2）Whereahestoryhappehorrevealthesettingofstoryi>

3）Whatisthesignifie“MissBrill”?

4）HowdoesMissBrillseeherself?Whatisherself-image?Whataresomedetailsihathelpyouseehowsheseesherself?

5）HowdoestheteenagetheparkseeMissBrill?

6）“Whehelidosheheardsomethingg。”Wh?Whatwasthegabout?

7）WhatwouldbetheadjectivetodescribeMissBrill?