THE CLOSING DOOR

 MOTTO FOR THE MOTHER

Keep thou an open door between thy child's life

and thine own.

There was once a little girl (her best and sweetest name was Little Daughter), who had a dear little room, all her own, which was full of treasures, and was as lovely as love could make it.

 

You never could imagine, no matter how you tried, a room more beautiful than hers; for it was white and shining from the snowy floor to the ceiling, which looked as if it might have been made of a fleecy cloud. The curtains at the windows were like the petals¹ of a lily, and the little bed was like swan's down.

 

There were white pansies, too, that bloomed in the windows, and a dove² whose voice was sweet as music; and among her treasures she had a string of pearls⁴ which she was to wear about her neck when the king of the country sent for her, as he had promised to do some day.

 

This string of pearls grew longer and more beautiful as the little girl grew older, for a new pearl³ was given her as soon as she waked up each morning; and every one was a gift from this king, who bade her keep them fair.

 

Her mother helped her to take care of them and of all the other beautiful things in her room. Every morning, after the new pearl was slipped on the string, they would set the room in order; and every evening they would look over the treasures and enjoy them together, while they carefully wiped away any specks⁵ of dust that had gotten in during the day and made the room less lovely.

 

There were several doors and windows, which the little girl could open and shut just as she pleased, in this room; but there was one door which was always open, and that was the one which led into her mother's room.

 

No matter what Little Daughter was doing she was happier if her mother was near; and although she sometimes ran away into her own room and played by herself, she always bounded out at her mother's first call, and sprang into her mother's arms, gladder than ever to be with her because she had been away.

 

Now one day when the little girl was playing alone, she had a visitor who came in without knocking and who seemed, at first, very much out of place in the shining white room, for he was a goblin and as black as a lump of coal. He had not been there more than a very few minutes, however, before nearly everything in the room began to look more like him and less like driven snow: and although the little girl thought that he was very strange and ugly when she first saw him, she soon grew used to him, and found him an entertaining playfellow.

 

She wanted to call her mother to see him; but he said: "Oh! no; we are having such a nice time together, and she's busy, you know." So the little girl did not call; and the mother, who was making a dress of fine lace⁶ for her darling, did not dream that a goblin was in the little white room.

 

The goblin did not make any noise, you know, for he tip-toed all the time, as if he were afraid; and if he heard a sound he would jump. But he was a merry goblin, and he amused the little girl so much that she did not notice the change in her dear room.

 

The curtains grew dingy⁷, the floor dusty, and the ceiling looked as if it might have been made of a rain cloud; but the child played on, and got out all her treasures to show to her visitor.

 

The pansies drooped⁸ and faded, the white dove hid its head beneath its wing and moaned⁹; and the last pearl on the precious string grew dark when the goblin touched it with his smutty fingers.

 

"Oh, dear me," said the little girl when she saw this, "I must call my mother; for these are the pearls that I must wear to the king's court, when he sends for me."

 

"Never mind," said the goblin, "we can wash it, and if it isn't just as white as before, what difference does it make about one pearl?"

 

"But mother says that they all must be as fair as the morning," insisted the little girl, ready to cry. "And what will she say when she sees this one?"

 

"You shut the door, then," said the goblin, pointing to the door that had never been closed, "and I'll wash the pearl." So the little girl ran to close the door, and the goblin began to rub the pearl; but it only seemed to grow darker. Now the door had been open so long that it was hard to move, and it creaked on its hinges¹⁰ as the little girl tried to close it. When the mother heard this she looked up to see what was the matter. She had been thinking about the dress which she was making; but when she saw the closing door, her heart stood still with fear; for she knew that if it once closed tight she might never be able to open it again.

 

She dropped her fine laces¹¹ and ran towards the door, calling, "Little Daughter! Little Daughter! Where are you?" and she reached out her hands to stop the door. But as soon as the little girl heard that loving voice she answered:—

 

"Mother, oh! Mother! I need you so! my pearl is turning black and everything is wrong!" and, flinging¹² the door wide open, she ran into her mother's arms.

 

When the two went together into the little room, the goblin had gone. The pansies now bloomed again, and the white dove cooed in peace; but there was much work for the mother and daughter, and they rubbed and scrubbed¹³ and washed and swept and dusted, till the room was so beautiful that you would not have known that a goblin had been there—except for the one pearl which was a little blue always, even when the king was ready for Little Daughter to come to his court, although that was not until she was a very old woman.

 

As for the door, it was never closed again; for Little Daughter and her mother put two golden hearts against it and nothing in this world could have shut it then.

1 petals   

n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• white petals tinged with blue 略带蓝色的白花瓣
• The petals of many flowers expand in the sunshine. 许多花瓣在阳光下开放。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 dove   

n.鸽，温和派人物，“鸽派”人物

参考例句：

• A dove is often used as a symbol of peace.鸽常作为和平的象征。
• Paul seemed more impressed by the dove.保尔似乎对鸽子更感兴趣。

3 pearl   

n.珍珠，珍珠母

参考例句：

• He bought his girlfriend a pearl necklace.他给他女朋友买了一条珍珠项链。
• The crane and the mother-of-pearl fight to death.鹬蚌相争。

4 pearls   

n.珍珠( pearl的名词复数 )；珍品；人造珍珠；珠状物

参考例句：

• a necklace of rubies intertwined with pearls 缠着珍珠的红宝石项链
• a string of pearls 一挂珍珠

5 specks   

n.眼镜；斑点，微粒，污点( speck的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Minutes later Brown spotted two specks in the ocean. 几分钟后布朗发现海洋中有两个小点。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
• Do you ever seem to see specks in front of your eyes? 你眼睛前面曾似乎看见过小点吗？ 来自辞典例句

6 lace   

n.饰带，花边，缎带；v.结带子，饰以花边

参考例句：

• She let a piece of lace into her dress.她在衣服上镶了一块花边。
• The bride is wearing a wedding dress made of lace.新娘穿一件蕾丝婚纱。

7 dingy   

adj.昏暗的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• It was a street of dingy houses huddled together. 这是一条挤满了破旧房子的街巷。
• The dingy cottage was converted into a neat tasteful residence.那间脏黑的小屋已变成一个整洁雅致的住宅。

8 drooped   

弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。
• The flowers drooped in the heat of the sun. 花儿晒蔫了。

9 moaned   

v.呻吟，悲叹( moan的过去式和过去分词 )；抱怨；发出萧萧声

参考例句：

• Facer moaned out a sound and then closed his eyes. 费塞呻吟了一声，然后就闭上了眼睛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sick child moaned a little, and then fell asleep. 那个生病的孩子呻吟了一会儿就睡着了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 hinges   

n. 铰链, 小五金 名词hinge的复数形式

参考例句：

• The door had been pulled off its hinges. 门从铰链上扯下来了。
• A door hangs by its hinges. 门是用铰链装上的。

11 laces   

蕾丝( lace的名词复数 )； 透孔织品； 鞋带； 系带

参考例句：

• He bent down and undid the laces of his shoes. 他弯腰解开鞋带。
• Wouldn't it be a giggle to tie his shoe-laces together while he isn't looking! 趁他没注意时把他的鞋带拴在一起，岂不有趣！

12 flinging   

（尤指生气地）扔( fling的现在分词 )； 猛动（身体或身体部位）； 粗暴地（向某人）说； 气势汹汹地（对某人）说

参考例句：

• Those boys have been flinging stones at passing cars. 这些男孩子们一直朝过往的汽车扔石头。
• Why are you always flinging up my past mistakes? 你为什么总是提我过去的错误呢？

13 scrubbed   

v.用力擦洗，刷洗( scrub的过去式和过去分词 )；取消（原有安排）；对…不予考虑，取消

参考例句：

• The mother scrubbed the floor and her child did the same. 母亲擦洗地板，孩子也跟着干。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She scrubbed the stain on the floor. 她把地板上的污迹擦掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》