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CHAPTER I How It Began to Open
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 Rose kneeled on the long window-seat and peered through the glass, occasionally rubbing away the mist that gathered so that she might the better watch the wild game the snow was playing. It was falling so thickly that the row of alfalfa haystacks resembled dim giants, advancing on the house stealthily but surely; the horse barn loomed1 darkly behind them and seemed enormous—a grim castle, or a dungeon3. And how the snowflakes whirled and danced, never touching4 the ground, yet somehow turning it whiter and whiter. The prairie vanished in the whiteness, and even at a little distance the sky was all mixed up with it.
 
Every now and then Rose could hear a long, wild shriek6 that swept around the house and died away slowly. It was the wind, of course, but it certainly sounded like a cry for help, and Rose wondered if, after all, it might not be a princess in distress7. One couldn’t be quite sure, and Marmie 16had said that very morning that it was always the most unexpected thing that happened.
 
“And a snow-storm,” thought Rose, “isn’t so unexpected as a princess.”
 
She turned her head and looked into the big pleasant room. The fireplace had a fine blaze in it, and lying on the Navajo blanket that covered the floor right before it, busily reading, was Rose’s younger sister, Ruth.
 
“Oh, Ruth, stop reading and come and look out. It’s getting blizzarder every minute.”
 
Ruth grunted8, turned a page, and remarked:
 
“Wait just a bit, till I finish this chapter.”
 
Rose looked out once more, just in time to see a man ride round the corner of the barn and disappear into the flying snow.
 
“There goes Jim to round up the cows,” she exclaimed. “I guess the other boys have gone too. Probably we are going to have a sockdolager of a storm.”
 
“Marmie said you mustn’t say sockdolager,” chided Ruth, abandoning her book and joining Rose at the window. “Oh, I wish we could go riding too. But I guess we won’t any more now, till spring. Don’t you hate to think of winter coming, Rose? We can’t go out at all most of the time, or just round the inclosure, and that’s no fun, and we sha’n’t have anything to do, and we sha’n’t see a living soul for months. That’s what Marmie said. I wish we had some other little girls to play with. Books are nice, but they aren’t 17alive and real—O-o-o see how hard it’s snowing now! I can’t see the barn any more.”
 
The two little girls leaned close together, looking out at the storm that grew more furious as the moments passed. It shook the house, it blotted9 out the landscape, it even hid the haystack giants. It made them feel very small and lonely and far from everybody. The nearest ranch10 was five miles away. That didn’t seem much in summer, but now—why, no one would care to ride there now, and as for the two themselves, they knew they would not get far from home for months to come.
 
Presently it began to grow dark, and the sisters returned to the fire, curling up close together on the long seat with its thick cushions that stood in front of the hearth11.
 
Rose was a good deal taller than her sister, though they were only a year apart. Her hair was thick and hung in two long red braids, a real golden red, and her eyes were golden too, with brown shadows. There were freckles12 on her nose, which turned up just a little. Rose was forever imagining and pretending, and wondering whether she might not be lucky enough to stumble on a fairy or a gnome13, or find a charm or a wishing cup; and Ruth would listen to the wonderings, and follow her sister about, hoping that Rose really might have an adventure, and that she would be in it too.
 
Ruth was a slender, vivid, dark little thing, with hair that tumbled round her head in curls, and big, black eyes that opened wide when she sat listening to Rose’s make-believes. She liked to read better than anything, and even when they went off on long rides she would tuck in a book somewhere, and find a chance to read it while they stopped for a rest or to water the ponies14 or to chat with the Dillinghams, on the next ranch.
 
“Think of all the little girls there are in the world, hundreds and hundreds and millions, and we don’t know any of them,” continued Rose, lugubriously15. “Wouldn’t it be grand if we had a magic carpet, and could sit on it and wish we were anywhere and be there in the shake of a cat’s hind2 leg.”
 
“What’s that?” asked Ruth.
 
“Oh, nothing. It’s just what Jim says when he means a little bit of a time.”
 
“Where would we go, Rose?”
 
“Perhaps to a big school, where lots and lots of girls were playing together. Or to a fairy island, where all the nicest boys and girls in the world lived, and went on picnics and had parties. Or maybe we’d go to a nice big house where there were two other girls as old as we are, and they were wishing, like us, that they had some little friends to play with—that would be nicest of all, I think.”
 
Ruth sighed deliciously, picturing the joy of it.
 
“I don’t suppose you can possibly find such a carpet,” she murmured.
 
“N-no—I suppose they are all in Persia or Arabia. Or perhaps they are all worn out by this time.”
 
The fire shot up a great plume16 of sparks as one of the logs fell apart, and then died down. The room was dark, for the storm had brought night on earlier than it should have come.
 
“Well,” said a small, clear voice right beside the girls, “I don’t know anything about wishing carpets; but I can’t see why you don’t go through the Magic Gate. If you go through that, you reach places quite as interesting as those you are talking about—and as for children! Why, it leads to thousands and thousands of them.”
 
Rose was too surprised to breathe, and Ruth’s eyes opened and opened.
 
“What’s the matter? Don’t you know a fairy when you see one?” went on the clear voice.
 
The girls looked all around.
 
“But—but we don’t see anything,” stammered17 Rose.
 
“What do you look like?” queried18 Ruth.
 
“Can’t see me? How extremely provoking. I’m sitting right here on the arm of the settee, and I look just like a fairy—what would you have me look like?” The voice sounded the least bit impatient.
 
Rose, who was nearest to it, started back a trifle. She wasn’t exactly frightened,—but it was a little—well, startling—to hear a fairy and then not be able to see it! Rose had never expected that sort of adventure.
 
20“I—I can hear you,” she said, politely. “Perhaps if you got right in front of the fire we could see you.”
 
“The fire won’t help. Why, I have a shine of my own. Come now, look hard.”
 
Both girls looked hard at the sound of the voice. But they couldn’t see it a whit5 better than they could see the bang of a door or the creak of a board. They felt very sorry and embarrassed, for they could tell the fairy was trying her hardest to be seen.
 
“It’s too bad,” said Rose, at last. And Ruth echoed her sadly. “To think that there is really a fairy here with us, and we can’t see you!”
 
“It’s ridiculous,” remarked the voice, “but I suppose it can’t be helped. You’ll have to get along without seeing me, that’s all. Anyhow, you seem to be able to hear me, and that’s something. And there’s no knowing; you might be disappointed if you did see me, and that would hardly be pleasant.”
 
“Indeed we shouldn’t!” exclaimed both girls at once. “No one was ever disappointed in a fairy.”
 
“Tut-tut,” said the voice, and then gave a little laugh, so sweet and mellow19 that it made Rose and Ruth laugh too. “But come, how about that Magic Gate?”
 
“Where is it?” asked Ruth, who liked to get straight to essentials.
 
“You can find it easily enough with me,” returned the fairy. “It’s near enough—and it’s far enough. Would you really like to go through it?”
 
“Can we get back again? We couldn’t leave the ranch for too long,” answered Rose. “Marmie might miss us, and every evening we play games with Dad.”
 
“Oh, yes, you can get back. In fact, you can’t stay inside the Magic Gates beyond a certain length of time. There are rules that have to be kept, you see.”
 
“Oh, Ruth, I’d like to go, wouldn’t you?” breathed Rose, excitedly.
 
“Yes,” replied Ruth, clutching her sister’s arm. “But where does it go, Fairy?”
 
“It will lead you to other little girls—little girls who only live inside the Magic Gates and can’t be reached any other way. All sorts of little girls, in all sorts of places and all sorts of times.”
 
“Will they like us to come?”
 
Again the fairy laughed her silver laugh, that sounded like drops of rain falling on the roof of an enchanted20 palace.
 
“They’ll be delighted, my dears. For they really don’t begin to live until some one finds the way to them through the gates. They are all remarkable21 little girls, too, in their different ways, and I know you’ll enjoy playing with them. So suppose we start. Since you can’t see me, each of you must take hold of one of my hands. Do you want to choose where to go first, or shall I choose for you?”
 
“You choose,” said the two girls, stretching out their hands. They could hear the fire snapping as they did so, and the wind in the chimney seemed to be calling to them. And they felt a slim, strong little hand clasp theirs, and the clear voice said:
 
“We might just as well begin in the Golden Age. Have you heard of Sappho, the Greek girl who wrote wonderful poems after she grew up? She was a very sweet and merry child, and I know you’ll enjoy playing with her. So shut your eyes, shut your eyes, shut ... your ... eyes....”
 
The fairy’s voice trailed away into silence as Rose and Ruth obeyed her. The two girls had a queer sensation, as though everything they knew was flying past them ... a sort of whirr ... then a kind of tiny shock, as if they had suddenly stopped falling, and then....

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 loomed 9423e616fe6b658c9a341ebc71833279     
v.隐约出现,阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 );隐约出现,阴森地逼近
参考例句:
  • A dark shape loomed up ahead of us. 一个黑糊糊的影子隐隐出现在我们的前面。
  • The prospect of war loomed large in everyone's mind. 战事将起的庞大阴影占据每个人的心。 来自《简明英汉词典》
2 hind Cyoya     
adj.后面的,后部的
参考例句:
  • The animal is able to stand up on its hind limbs.这种动物能够用后肢站立。
  • Don't hind her in her studies.不要在学业上扯她后腿。
3 dungeon MZyz6     
n.地牢,土牢
参考例句:
  • They were driven into a dark dungeon.他们被人驱赶进入一个黑暗的地牢。
  • He was just set free from a dungeon a few days ago.几天前,他刚从土牢里被放出来。
4 touching sg6zQ9     
adj.动人的,使人感伤的
参考例句:
  • It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
  • His letter was touching.他的信很感人。
5 whit TgXwI     
n.一点,丝毫
参考例句:
  • There's not a whit of truth in the statement.这声明里没有丝毫的真实性。
  • He did not seem a whit concerned.他看来毫不在乎。
6 shriek fEgya     
v./n.尖叫,叫喊
参考例句:
  • Suddenly he began to shriek loudly.突然他开始大声尖叫起来。
  • People sometimes shriek because of terror,anger,or pain.人们有时会因为恐惧,气愤或疼痛而尖叫。
7 distress 3llzX     
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛
参考例句:
  • Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
  • Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。
8 grunted f18a3a8ced1d857427f2252db2abbeaf     
(猪等)作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 ); (指人)发出类似的哼声; 咕哝着说
参考例句:
  • She just grunted, not deigning to look up from the page. 她只咕哝了一声,继续看书,不屑抬起头来看一眼。
  • She grunted some incomprehensible reply. 她咕噜着回答了些令人费解的话。
9 blotted 06046c4f802cf2d785ce6e085eb5f0d7     
涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 ); (用吸墨纸)吸干
参考例句:
  • She blotted water off the table with a towel. 她用毛巾擦干桌上的水。
  • The blizzard blotted out the sky and the land. 暴风雪铺天盖地而来。
10 ranch dAUzk     
n.大牧场,大农场
参考例句:
  • He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
  • The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。
11 hearth n5by9     
n.壁炉炉床,壁炉地面
参考例句:
  • She came and sat in a chair before the hearth.她走过来,在炉子前面的椅子上坐下。
  • She comes to the hearth,and switches on the electric light there.她走到壁炉那里,打开电灯。
12 freckles MsNzcN     
n.雀斑,斑点( freckle的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • She had a wonderful clear skin with an attractive sprinkling of freckles. 她光滑的皮肤上有几处可爱的小雀斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • When she lies in the sun, her face gets covered in freckles. 她躺在阳光下时,脸上布满了斑点。 来自《简明英汉词典》
13 gnome gnome     
n.土地神;侏儒,地精
参考例句:
  • The Swedes do not have Santa Claus.What they have is Christmas Gnome.瑞典人的圣诞节里没有圣诞老人,但他们却有一个圣诞守护神。
  • Susan bought a garden gnome to decorate her garden.苏珊买了一个土地神像来装饰她的花园。
14 ponies 47346fc7580de7596d7df8d115a3545d     
矮种马,小型马( pony的名词复数 ); £25 25 英镑
参考例句:
  • They drove the ponies into a corral. 他们把矮种马赶进了畜栏。
  • She has a mania for ponies. 她特别喜欢小马。
15 lugubriously 117fb830ab48560ef86b5dbc3e2a7b1e     
参考例句:
  • His mirth hoarse and ghastly, like a raven's and the sick wolf joined him, howling lugubriously. 他的笑声粗厉可怕,跟乌鸦的怪叫一样,而那条病狼也随着他,一阵阵地惨嗥。 来自互联网
16 plume H2SzM     
n.羽毛;v.整理羽毛,骚首弄姿,用羽毛装饰
参考例句:
  • Her hat was adorned with a plume.她帽子上饰着羽毛。
  • He does not plume himself on these achievements.他并不因这些成就而自夸。
17 stammered 76088bc9384c91d5745fd550a9d81721     
v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠,结结巴巴地说,“你是什么意思?” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
18 queried 5c2c5662d89da782d75e74125d6f6932     
v.质疑,对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 );询问
参考例句:
  • She queried what he said. 她对他说的话表示怀疑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • \"What does he have to do?\" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事?”琴向觉民问道,她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
19 mellow F2iyP     
adj.柔和的;熟透的;v.变柔和;(使)成熟
参考例句:
  • These apples are mellow at this time of year.每年这时节,苹果就熟透了。
  • The colours become mellow as the sun went down.当太阳落山时,色彩变得柔和了。
20 enchanted enchanted     
adj. 被施魔法的,陶醉的,入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her. 她非常喜欢你送给她的花。
  • He was enchanted by the idea. 他为这个主意而欣喜若狂。
21 remarkable 8Vbx6     
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的
参考例句:
  • She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
  • These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。


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