1.The Reader of Books

The Reader of Books
It's a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Even when their own child is the most disgusting
little blister¹ you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful.
Some parents go further. They become so blinded by adoration² they manage to convince
themselves their child has qualities of genius.
Well, there is nothing very wrong with all this. It's the way of the world. It is only when the
parents begin telling us about the brilliance³ of their own revolting offspring, that we start shouting,
"Bring us a basin! We're going to be sick!"

School teachers suffer a good deal from having to listen to this sort of twaddle from proud parents,
but they usually get their own back when the time comes to write the end-of-term reports. If I were
a teacher I would cook up some real scorchers for the children of doting⁴ parents. "Your son
Maximilian", I would write, "is a total wash-out. I hope you have a family business you can push
him into when he leaves school because he sure as heck won't get a job anywhere else." Or if I
were feeling lyrical that day, I might write, "It is a curious truth that grasshoppers⁵ have their
hearing-organs in the sides of the abdomen⁶. Your daughter Vanessa, judging by what she's learnt
this term, has no hearing-organs at all."

I might even delve⁷ deeper into natural history and say, "The periodical cicada spends six years as a
grub underground, and no more than six days as a free creature of sunlight and air. Your son
Wilfred has spent six years as a grub in this school and we are still waiting for him to emerge from
the chrysalis." A particularly poisonous little girl might sting me into saying, "Fiona has the same
glacial beauty as an iceberg⁸, but unlike the iceberg she has absolutely nothing below the surface."
I
think I might enjoy writing end-of-term reports for the stinkers in my class. But enough of that.
We have to get on.
Occasionally one comes across parents who take the opposite line, who show no interest at all in
their children, and these of course are far worse than the doting ones. Mr and Mrs Wormwood
were two such parents. They had a son called Michael and a daughter called Matilda, and the
parents looked upon Matilda in particular as nothing more than a scab. A scab
is something you have to put up with until the time comes when you can pick it off and flick⁹ it
away. Mr and Mrs Wormwood looked forward enormously to the time when they could pick their
little daughter off and flick her away, preferably into the next county or even further than that.
It is bad enough when parents treat ordinary children as though they were scabs and bunions, but
it becomes somehow a lot worse when the child in question is extraordinary,
and by that I mean sensitive and brilliant. Matilda was both of these things, but above all she was
brilliant. Her mind was so nimble and she was so quick to learn that her ability should have been
obvious even to the most half-witted of parents. But Mr and Mrs Wormwood were both so
gormless and so wrapped up in their own silly little lives that they failed to notice anything
unusual about their daughter. To tell the truth, I doubt they would have noticed had she crawled
into the house with a broken leg.
Matilda's brother Michael was a perfectly¹⁰ normal boy, but the sister, as I said, was something to
make your eyes pop. By the age of one and a half her speech was perfect and she knew as many
words as most grown-ups. The parents, instead of applauding her, called her a noisy chatterbox
and told her sharply that small girls should be seen and not heard.
By the time she was three, Matilda had taught herself to read by studying newspapers and
magazines that lay around the house. At the age of four, she could read fast and well and she
naturally began hankering after books. The only book in the whole of this enlightened household
was something called Easy Cooking belonging to her mother, and when she had read this from
cover to cover and had learnt all the recipes by heart, she decided¹¹ she wanted something more
interesting.
"Daddy," she said, "do you think you could buy me a book?"
"A book?" he said. "What d'you want a flaming book for?"
"To read, Daddy."
"What's wrong with the telly, for heaven's sake? We've got a lovely telly with a twelve-inch screen
and now you come asking for a book! You're getting spoiled, my girl!"
Nearly every weekday afternoon Matilda was left alone in the house. Her brother (five years older
than her) went to school. Her father went to work and her mother went out playing bingo in a town
eight miles away. Mrs Wormwood was hooked on bingo and played it five afternoons a week. On
the afternoon of the day when her father had refused to buy her a book, Matilda set out all by
herself to walk to the public library in the village. When she arrived, she introduced herself to the
librarian, Mrs Phelps. She asked if she might sit awhile and read a book. Mrs Phelps, slightly
taken aback at the arrival of such a tiny girl unacccompanied by a parent, nevertheless told her she
was very welcome.
"Where are the children's books please?" Matilda asked.
"They're over there on those lower shelves," Mrs Phelps told her. "Would you like me to help you
find a nice one with lots of pictures in it?"
"No, thank you," Matilda said. "I'm sure I can manage."
From then on, every afternoon, as soon as her mother had left for bingo, Matilda would toddle¹²
down to the library. The walk took only ten minutes and this allowed her two glorious hours
sitting quietly by herself in a cosy¹³ corner devouring¹⁴ one book after another. When she had read
every single children's book in the place, she started wandering round in search of something else.
Mrs Phelps, who had been watching her with fascination¹⁵ for the past few weeks, now got up from
her desk and went over to her. "Can I help you, Matilda?" she asked.
"I'm wondering what to read next," Matilda said. "I've finished all the children's books."
"You mean you've looked at the pictures?"
"Yes, but I've read the books as well."
Mrs Phelps looked down at Matilda from her great height and Matilda looked right back up at her.
"I thought some were very poor," Matilda said, "but others were lovely. I liked The Secret Garden
best of all. It was full of mystery. The mystery of
the room behind the closed door and the mystery of the garden behind the big wall."
Mrs Phelps was stunned¹⁶. ''Exactly how old are you, Matilda?" she asked.
"Four years and three months," Matilda said.
Mrs Phelps was more stunned than ever, but she had the sense not to show it. "What sort of a book
would you like to read next?" she asked.
Matilda said, "I would like a really good one that grown-ups read. A famous one. I don't know any
names."
Mrs Phelps looked along the shelves, taking her time. She didn't quite know what to bring out.
How, she asked herself, does one choose a famous grown-up book for a four-year-old girl? Her
first thought was to pick a young teenager's romance of the kind that is written for fifteen-year-old
schoolgirls, but for some reason she found herself instinctively¹⁷ walking past that particular shelf.
"Try this," she said at last. "It's very famous and very good. If it's too long for you, just let me
know and I'll find something shorter and a bit easier."
"Great Expectations," Matilda read, "by Charles Dickens. I'd love to try it."
I must be mad, Mrs Phelps told herself, but to Matilda she said, "Of course you may try it."
Over the next few afternoons Mrs Phelps could hardly take her eyes from the small girl sitting for
hour after hour in the big armchair at the far end of the room with the book on her lap. It was
necessary to rest it on the lap because it was too heavy for her to hold up, which meant she had to
sit leaning forward in order to read. And a strange sight it was, this tiny dark-haired person sitting
there with her feet nowhere near touching¹⁸ the floor, totally absorbed in the wonderful adventures
of Pip and old Miss Havisham and her cobwebbed house and by the spell of magic that Dickens
the great story-teller had woven with his words. The only movement from the reader was the
lifting of the hand every now and then to turn over a page, and Mrs Phelps always felt sad when
the time came for her to cross the floor and say ; "It's ten to five, Matilda."
During the first week of Matilda's visits Mrs Phelps had said to her, "Does your mother walk you
down here every day and then take you home?"
"My mother goes to Aylesbury every afternoon to play bingo," Matilda had said. "She doesn't
know I come here."
"But that's surely not right," Mrs Phelps said. "I think you'd better ask her."
"I'd rather not," Matilda said. "She doesn't encourage reading books. Nor does my father."
"But what do they expect you to do every afternoon in an empty house?"
"Just mooch around and watch the telly."
"I see."
"She doesn't really care what I do," Matilda said a little sadly.
Mrs Phelps was concerned about the child's safety on the walk through the fairly busy village
High Street and the crossing of the road, but she decided not to interfere¹⁹.
Within a week, Matilda had finished Great Expectations which in that edition contained four
hundred and eleven pages. "I loved it," she said to Mrs Phelps. "Has Mr Dickens written any
others?"
"A great number," said the astounded²⁰ Mrs Phelps. "Shall I choose you another?"
Over the next six months, under Mrs Phelps's
watchful²¹ and compassionate²² eye, Matilda read the following books:
Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy²³
Gone to Earth by Mary Webb
Kim by Rudyard Kipling
The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
The Grapes of Wrath²⁴ by John Steinbeck
The Good Companions by J. B. Priestley
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
Animal Farm by George Orwell
It was a formidable list and by now Mrs Phelps was filled with wonder and excitement, but it was
probably a good thing that she did not allow herself to be completely carried away by it all.
Almost anyone else witnessing the achievements of this small child would have been tempted²⁵ to
make a great fuss and shout the news all over the village and beyond, but not so Mrs Phelps. She
was someone who minded her own business and had long since discovered it was seldom worth
while to interfere with other people's children.
"Mr Hemingway says a lot of things I don't understand," Matilda said to her. "Especially about
men and women. But I loved it all the same. The way he tells it I feel I am right there on the spot
watching it all happen."
''A fine writer will always make you feel that," Mrs Phelps said. "And don't worry about the bits
you can't understand. Sit back and allow the words to wash around you, like music."
"I will, I will."
"Did you know", Mrs Phelps said, "that public libraries like this allow you to borrow books and
take them home?"
"I didn't know that," Matilda said. "Could I do it?"
"Of course," Mrs Phelps said. "When you have chosen the book you want, bring it to me so I can
make a note of it and it's yours for two weeks. You can take more than one if you wish."
From then on, Matilda would visit the library only once a week in order to take out new books and
return the old ones. Her own small bedroom now became her reading-room and there she would
sit and read most afternoons, often with a mug of hot chocolate beside her. She was not quite tall
enough to reach things around the kitchen, but she kept a small box in the outhouse which she
brought in and stood on in order to get whatever she wanted. Mostly it was hot chocolate she
made, warming the milk in a saucepan on the stove before mixing it. Occasionally she made
Bovril or Ovaltine. It was pleasant to take a hot drink up to her room and have it beside her as she
sat in her silent room reading in the empty house in the afternoons. The books transported her into
new worlds and introduced her to amazing people who lived exciting lives. She went on olden-day
sailing ships with Joseph Conrad. She went to Africa with Ernest Hemingway and to India with
Rudyard Kipling. She travelled all over the world while sitting in her little room in an English
village.

1 blister   

n.水疱；(油漆等的)气泡；v.(使)起泡

参考例句：

• I got a huge blister on my foot and I couldn't run any farther.我脚上长了一个大水泡，没办法继续跑。
• I have a blister on my heel because my shoe is too tight.鞋子太紧了，我脚后跟起了个泡。

2 adoration   

n.爱慕，崇拜

参考例句：

• He gazed at her with pure adoration.他一往情深地注视着她。
• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。

3 brilliance   

n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智

参考例句：

• I was totally amazed by the brilliance of her paintings.她的绘画才能令我惊歎不已。
• The gorgeous costume added to the brilliance of the dance.华丽的服装使舞蹈更加光彩夺目。

4 doting   

adj.溺爱的，宠爱的

参考例句：

• His doting parents bought him his first racing bike at 13.宠爱他的父母在他13岁时就给他买了第一辆竞速自行车。
• The doting husband catered to his wife's every wish.这位宠爱妻子的丈夫总是高度满足太太的各项要求。

5 grasshoppers   

n.蚱蜢( grasshopper的名词复数 )；蝗虫；蚂蚱；（孩子）矮小的

参考例句：

• Grasshoppers die in fall. 蚱蜢在秋天死去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are usually a lot of grasshoppers in the rice fields. 稻田里通常有许多蚱蜢。 来自辞典例句

6 abdomen   

n.腹，下腹(胸部到腿部的部分)

参考例句：

• How to know to there is ascarid inside abdomen?怎样知道肚子里面有蛔虫？
• He was anxious about an off-and-on pain the abdomen.他因时隐时现的腹痛而焦虑。

7 delve   

v.深入探究，钻研

参考例句：

• We should not delve too deeply into this painful matter.我们不应该过分深究这件痛苦的事。
• We need to delve more deeply into these questions.这些是我们想进一步了解的。

8 iceberg   

n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人

参考例句：

• The ship hit an iceberg and went under.船撞上一座冰山而沉没了。
• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。

9 flick   

n.快速的轻打，轻打声，弹开；v.轻弹，轻轻拂去，忽然摇动

参考例句：

• He gave a flick of the whip.他轻抽一下鞭子。
• By a flick of his whip,he drove the fly from the horse's head.他用鞭子轻抽了一下，将马头上的苍蝇驱走。

10 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 toddle   

v.（如小孩）蹒跚学步

参考例句：

• The baby has just learned to toddle.小孩子刚会走道儿。
• We watched the little boy toddle up purposefully to the refrigerator.我们看著那小男孩特意晃到冰箱前。

13 cosy   

adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的

参考例句：

• We spent a cosy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。
• It was so warm and cosy in bed that Simon didn't want to get out.床上温暖而又舒适，西蒙简直不想下床了。

14 devouring   

吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光

参考例句：

• The hungry boy was devouring his dinner. 那饥饿的孩子狼吞虎咽地吃饭。
• He is devouring novel after novel. 他一味贪看小说。

15 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

16 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

17 instinctively   

adv.本能地

参考例句：

• As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 touching   

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。

19 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

20 astounded   

v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶

参考例句：

• His arrogance astounded her. 他的傲慢使她震惊。
• How can you say that? I'm absolutely astounded. 你怎么能说出那种话？我感到大为震惊。

21 watchful   

adj.注意的，警惕的

参考例句：

• The children played under the watchful eye of their father.孩子们在父亲的小心照看下玩耍。
• It is important that health organizations remain watchful.卫生组织保持警惕是极为重要的。

22 compassionate   

adj.有同情心的，表示同情的

参考例句：

• She is a compassionate person.她是一个有同情心的人。
• The compassionate judge gave the young offender a light sentence.慈悲的法官从轻判处了那个年轻罪犯。

23 hardy   

adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的

参考例句：

• The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
• He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。

24 wrath   

n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒

参考例句：

• His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
• The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。

25 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。