CHAPTER X.A LITTLE LIGHT.

 Stineli grew more and more thin and quiet from day to day. The little ones called out complainingly, "Stineli never tells us stories now, and never laughs any more." Her mother said to her father, "Do you notice how changed she is?" And her father replied, "It is because she grows so fast. She must get a little goat's milk early in the mornings."

 

After this had gone on for three weeks or so, Stineli's grandmother called the girl into her bedroom one evening, and said, "My dear Stineli, I can very well understand that you cannot forget your friend Rico, but you must try to remember that it is God's will that he should be taken away; and that, as it is so, it is also the best thing for Rico, as we must try to think."

 

At these words Stineli began to weep as her grandmother had never seen her do before; and she sobbed¹ and sobbed, saying, "The good God did not do it: I did it, grandmother; and therefore I feel as if I should die of anxiety. It was I who proposed² to Rico to go to find the lake, and now he has fallen into a ravine, and is dead; it has hurt him dreadfully, and it is all my fault." Then the poor child cried and sobbed pitifully. It seemed to the grandmother as if a heavy weight were lifted from her heart as she heard these words of Stineli's. She had given up Rico as lost; and had in secret believed that the child had fled from the unkind³ treatment he had received at home, and was lying somewhere in the water, or was lost in the woods. Now a new hope arose in her heart.

 

She succeeded in quieting Stineli enough to persuade her to relate the whole story about the lake, of which the grandmother was in total ignorance⁴: how Rico had always been talking about this lake, and how he had longed to go to find it, and how, at last, Stineli had suggested the way for him to do so. It really seemed most likely that Rico had started to find the lake, but her father's mention of the ravines had destroyed all hope in Stineli.

 

The good old woman took her granddaughter by the hand, and drew her towards her, saying, "Now, Stineli, I have something to explain to you. Do you remember what the old song says,—the one we sang with Rico on the last evening we were together?—

 

"'All that He does or orders is

Sure to be finished right.'"

 

Now you see, that although the good God did not exactly do this thing,—as if He had let Rico die in his bed, for instance,—yet the thing is in His hand all the same, although you have it turned aside, perhaps, a little; for certainly the good God is stronger than this little Stineli. And, now that you have made this sad mistake, it will be a lesson to you for all the rest of your life, no matter how it may turn out in the end, that children should not run away into the unknown world, nor undertake things about which they are utterly⁵ ignorant⁶; and that without saying a word to their parents or to their grandmothers, who love them so well. But now the kind God has allowed it to happen, and we may certainly hope that it will all be finished right.

 

"Now ponder⁷ this well, my Stineli, and never forget what you have thus learned⁸ by experience; and now—for I see how heavily it weighs down your heart—it will be well for you to go to pray to the good God, that He will allow this mistake of yours and Rico to turn out all right. And then you can be happy again, Stineli, and I shall be so, too; for I believe firmly that Rico is living, and that the good God has not forsaken⁹ him."

 

And Stineli became after this like her former happy self; and, although she missed Rico constantly, still she no longer felt worried, nor did she reproach¹⁰ herself, but looked continually¹¹ down the road to Maloja, expecting to see him.

1 sobbed   

哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说

参考例句：

• She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
• She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。

2 proposed   

被提议的

参考例句：

• There is widespread discontent among the staff at the proposed changes to pay and conditions. 员工对改变工资和工作环境的建议普遍不满。
• an outcry over the proposed change 对拟议的改革所发出的强烈抗议

3 unkind   

adj.不仁慈的，不和善的

参考例句：

• He was never unkind to her.他从未亏待过她。
• Unkindness often reacts on the unkind person.恶人有恶报。

4 ignorance   

n.无知，愚昧，不了解，（of，about）不知道

参考例句：

• The relation of disease to poverty and ignorance is easy to see.疾病与贫穷、无知之间的关系是显而易见的。
• Maybe it is all due to my own ignorance.也许是我少见多怪。

5 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

6 ignorant   

adj.无知的，没有学问的，愚昧的，不知道的

参考例句：

• They are unbelievably ignorant.他们无知到令人难以置信的地步。
• He's not stupid,merely ignorant.他并不愚蠢，只是无知。

7 ponder   

vt.考虑；vi.沉思

参考例句：

• You should pause and ponder now.你现在应该停下来仔细考虑一下。
• He sits to ponder his misfortune there.他坐在那里沉思着他的不幸。

8 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

9 Forsaken   

adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词

参考例句：

• He was forsaken by his friends. 他被朋友们背弃了。
• He has forsaken his wife and children. 他遗弃了他的妻子和孩子。

10 reproach   

n.责备，耻辱；v.责备，申斥

参考例句：

• She got a sharp reproach from her boss.她受到了上司的严厉训斥。
• His conduct has been beyond reproach.他的行为无可指责。

11 continually   

adv.不间断地，不停地；多次重复地

参考例句：

• The other kids continually taunted him about his size.其他孩子不断地耻笑他的个头儿。
• The US is continually building up its armed forces.美军正持续加强它的三军。