1、弗朗西丝霍奇森伯内特生于1849年，卒于1924年。从16岁起她大部分时间住在美国，但经常回英格兰。她是一位终身作家，写了很多书，秘密花园是她的代表作。1 Little Miss MaryNobody seemed to care about MaryShe was born in India，where her father was a British officialHe was busy with his work，and her mother，who was very beautiful， spent all her time going to partiesSo an Indian
2、woman，Kamala，was paid to take care of the little girlMary was not a pretty childShe had a thin angry face and thin yellow hair She was always giving orders to Kamala，who had to obey Mary never thought of other people， but only of herselfIn fact，she was a very selfish，disagreeable，bad-tempered little
3、 girlOne very hot morning，when she was about nine years old， she woke up and saw that instead of Kamala there was a different Indian servant by her bedWhat are you doing here？she asked crosslyGo away！ And send Kamala to me at once！The woman looked afraidIm sorry，Miss Mary，she sheshe cant come！Someth
4、ing strange was happening that daySome of the house servants were missing and everybody looked frightened But nobody told Mary anything，and Kamala still did not comeSo at last Mary went out into the garden，and played by herself under a treeShe pretended she was making her own flower garden，and picke
5、d large red flowers to push into the groundAll the time she was saying crossly to herself，I hate Kamala！Ill hit her when she comes back！Just then she saw her mother coming into the garden，with a young EnglishmanThey did not notice the child，who listened to their conversationIts very bad，is it？her mo
6、ther asked the young man in a worried voiceVery bad，he answered seriouslyPeople are dying like fliesIts dangerous to stay in this townYou should go to the hills，where theres no diseaseOh，I know！she criedWe must leave soon！Suddenly they heard loud cries coming from the servantsrooms，at the side of th
7、e houseWhats happened？cried Marys mother wildlyI think one of your servants has just diedYou didnt tell me the disease is here，in your house！I didnt know！she screamedQuick，come with me！And together they ran into the houseNow Mary understood what was wrongThe terrible disease had already killed many
8、people in the town，and in all the houses people were dyingIn Marys house it was Kamala who had just diedLater that day three more servants died thereAll through the night and the next day people ran in and out of the house，shouting and cryingNobody thought of Mary She hid in her bedroom，frightened b
9、y the strange and terrible sounds that she heard around herSometimes she cried and sometimes she sleptWhen she woke the next day，the house was silentPerhaps the disease has gone，she thought，and everybody is well againI wonder who will take care of me instead of Kamala？Why doesnt someone bring me som
10、e food？Its strange the house is so quietBut just then she heard mens voices in the hallHow sad！ said oneThat beautiful woman！There was a child too，wasnt there？said the otherAlthough none of us ever saw herMary was standing in the middle of her room when they opened the door a few minutes laterThe tw
11、o men jumped back in surpriseMy name is Mary Lennox，she said crosslyI was asleep when everyone was ill，and now Im hungrys the child，the one nobody ever saw！said the older man to the otherTheyve all forgotten her！Why was I forgotten？asked Mary angrilyWhy has nobody come to take care of me？The younger
12、 man looked at her very sadlyPoor child！ he saidYou see，theres nobody left alive in the houseSo nobody can comeIn this strange and sudden way Mary learnt that both her mother and her father had diedThe few servants who had not died had run away in the nightNo one had remembered little Miss MaryShe w
13、as all aloneBecause she had never known her parents well，she did not miss them at allShe only thought of herself，as she had always doneWhere will I live？she wonderedI hope Ill stay with people wholl let me do what I wantAt first she was taken to an English family who had known her parentsShe hated t
14、heir untidy house and noisy children， and preferred playing by herself in the gardenOne day she was playing her favourite game，pretending to make a garden， when one of the children，Basil，offered to helpGo away！cried MaryI dont want your help！For a moment Basil looked angry，and then he began to laugh
15、 He danced round and round Mary，and sang a funny little song about Miss Mary and her stupid flowersThis made Mary very cross indeedNo one had ever laughed at her so unkindlyYoure going home soon，said BasilAnd were all very pleased youre leaving！Im pleased too，replied MaryBut wheres home？re stupid if
16、 you dont know that！laughed Basil England，of course！Youre going to live with your uncle，Mr Archibald Gravenve never heard of him，said Mary coldlyBut I know about him because I heard Father and Mother talking，said BasilHe lives in a big lonely old house，and has no friends，because hes so badtemperedHe
17、s got a crooked back，and hes horrid！I dont believe you！cried MaryBut the next day Basils parents explained that she was going to live with her uncle in Yorkshire，in the north of EnglandMary looked bored and cross and said nothingAfter the long sea journey，she was met in London by Mr Cravens housekee
18、per，Mrs MedlockTogether they travelled north by trainMrs Medlock was a large woman，with a very red face and bright black eyesMary did not like her，but that was not surprising，because she did not usually like peopleMrs Medlock did not like Mary eitherWhat a disagreeable child！thought the housekeeperB
19、ut perhaps I should talk to herI can tell you a bit about your uncle if you like，she said aloudHe lives in a big old house，a long way from anywhere There are nearly a hundred rooms，but most of them are shut and lockedTheres a big park round the house，and all kinds of gardensWell，what do you think of
20、 that？Nothing，replied MaryIt doesnt matter to meMrs Medlock laughedYoure a hard little girl！Well，if you dont care，Mr Craven doesnt eitherHe never spends time on anyoneHes got a crooked back，you see，and although hes always been rich，he was never really happy until he marriedMarried？repeated Mary in s
21、urpriseYes，he married a sweet，pretty girl，and he loved her deeplySo when she diedOh！Did she die？asked Mary，interestedYes，she didAnd now he doesnt care about anybodyIf hes at home，he stays in his room and sees nobodyHe wont want to see you，so you must stay out of his way and do what youre toldMary st
22、ared out of the train window at the grey sky and the rainShe was not looking forward to life at her uncles houseThe train journey lasted all day，and it was dark when they arrived at the stationThen there was a long drive to get to the houseIt was a cold，windy night，and it was raining heavily After a
23、 while Mary began to hear a strange，wild noiseShe looked out of the window，but could see nothing except the darknesss that noise？she asked Mrs MedlockItsIts not the sea，is it？No，thats the moorIts the sound the wind makes，blowing across the moorWhat is a moor？s just miles and miles of wild land，with
24、no trees or housesYour uncles house is right on the edge of the moorMary listened to the strange，frightening soundI dont like it，she thoughtI dont like itShe looked more disagreeable than ever2 Mary in YorkshireThey arrived at a very large old houseIt looked dark and unfriendly from the outsideInsid
25、e，Mary looked around the big shadowy hall，and felt very small and lostThey went straight upstairsMary was shown to a room where there was a warm fire and food on the tableThis is your room，said Mrs MedlockGo to bed when youve had some supperAnd remember，you must stay in your room！Mr Craven doesnt wa
26、nt you to wander all over the house！When Mary woke up the next morning，she saw a young servant girl cleaning the fireplaceThe room seemed dark and rather strange，with pictures of dogs and horses and ladies on the wallsIt was not a childs room at allFrom the window she could not see any trees or hous
27、es，only wild land，which looked like a kind of purple seaWho are you？she asked the servant coldlyMartha，miss，answered the girl with a smileAnd whats that outside？Mary continuedThats the moor，smiled MarthaDo you like it？No，replied Mary immediatelyI hate its because you dont know itYou will like itI lo
28、ve itIts lovely in spring and summer when there are flowersIt always smells so sweetThe airs so fresh，and the birds sing so beautifullyI never want to leave the moorMary was feeling very badtemperedYoure a strange servant，she saidIn India we dont have conversations with servantsWe give orders，and th
29、ey obey，and thats thatMartha did not seem to mind Marys crossnessI know I talk too much！she laughedAre you going to be my servant？asked MaryWell，not reallyI work for Mrs MedlockIm going to clean your room and bring you your food，but you wont need a servant except for those thingsBut whos going to dr
30、ess me？Martha stopped cleaning，and stared at MaryThacannadress thysen？she asked，shockedWhat do you mean？ I dont understand your language！Oh，I forgotWe all speak the Yorkshire dialect here，but of course you dont understand thatI meant to say，cant you put on your own clothes？Of course not！My servant always used to dress meWell！I think you should learn to dress yourselfMy
