The nice thing about Matilda was that if you had met her casually1 and talked to her you would
have thought she was a perfectly2 normal five-and-a-half-year-old child. She displayed almost no
outward signs of her brilliance3 and she never showed off. "This is a very sensible and quiet little
girl," you would have said to yourself. And unless for some reason you had started a discussion
with her about literature or mathematics, you would never have known the extent of her brain-
power.
It was therefore easy for Matilda to make friends with other children. All those in her class liked
her. They knew of course that she was "clever" because they had heard her being questioned by
Miss Honey on the first day of term. And they knew also that she was allowed to sit quietly with a
book during lessons and not pay attention to the teacher. But children of their age do not search
deeply for reasons. They are far too wrapped up in their own small struggles to worry overmuch
about what others are doing and why.
Among Matilda's new-found friends was the girl called Lavender. Right from the first day of term
the two of them started wandering round together during the morning-break and in the lunch-hour.
Lavender was exceptionally small for her age, a skinny little nymph with deep-brown eyes and
with dark hair that was cut in a fringe across her forehead. Matilda liked her because she was
gutsy and adventurous4. She liked Matilda for exactly the same reasons.
Before the first week of term was up, awesome5 tales about the Headmistress, Miss Trunchbull,
began to filter through to the newcomers. Matilda and Lavender, standing6 in a corner of the
playground during morning-break on the third day, were approached by a rugged7 ten-year-old
with a boil on her nose, called Hortensia. "New scum, I suppose," Hortensia said to them, looking
down from her great height. She was eating from an extra large bag of potato crisps and digging
the stuff out in handfuls. "Welcome to borstal," she added, spraying bits of crisp out of her mouth
like snow-flakes.
The two tiny ones, confronted by this giant, kept a watchful8 silence.
"Have you met the Trunchbull yet?" Hortensia asked.
"We've seen her at prayers," Lavender said, "but we haven't met her."
"You've got a treat coming to you," Hortensia said. "She hates very small children. She therefore
loathes9 the bottom class and everyone in it. She thinks five-year-olds are grubs that haven't yet
hatched out." In went another fistful of crisps and when she spoke10 again, out sprayed the crumbs11.
"If you survive your first year you may just manage to live through the rest of your time here. But
many
don't survive. They get carried out on stretchers screaming. I've seen it often." Hortensia paused to
observe the effect these remarks were having on the two titchy ones. Not very much. They seemed
pretty cool. So the large one decided12 to regale13 them with further information.
"I suppose you know the Trunchbull has a lockup cupboard in her private quarters called The
Chokey? Have you heard about The Chokey?"
Matilda and Lavender shook their heads and continued to gaze up at the giant. Being very small,
they were inclined to mistrust any creature that was larger than they were, especially senior girls.
"The Chokey", Hortensia went on, "is a very tall but very narrow cupboard. The floor is only ten
inches square so you can't sit down or squat14 in it. You have to stand. And three of the walls are
made of cement with bits of broken glass sticking out all over, so you can't lean against them. You
have to stand more or less at attention all the time when you get locked up in there. It's terrible."
"Can't you lean against the door?" Matilda asked.
"Don't be daft," Hortensia said. "The door's got thousands of sharp spikey nails sticking out of it.
They've been hammered through from the outside, probably by the Trunchbull herself."
"Have you ever been in there?" Lavender asked.
"My first term I was in there six times," Hortensia said. "Twice for a whole day and the other
times for two hours each. But two hours is quite bad enough. It's pitch dark and you have to stand
up dead straight and if you wobble at all you get spiked15 either by the glass on the walls or the nails
on the door.
"Why were you put in?" Matilda asked. "What had you done?"
"The first time", Hortensia said, "I poured half a tin of Golden Syrup16 on to the seat of the chair the
Trunchbull was going to sit on at prayers. It was wonderful. When she lowered herself into the
chair, there was a loud squelching17 noise similar to that made by a hippopotamus19 when lowering its
foot into the mud on the banks of the Limpopo River. But you're too small and stupid to have read
the Just So Stories, aren't you?"
"I've read them," Matilda said.
"You're a liar," Hortensia said amiably20. "You can't even read yet. But no matter. So when the
Trunchbull sat down on the Golden Syrup, the squelch18 was beautiful. And when she jumped up
again, the chair sort of stuck to the seat of those awful green breeches she wears and came up with
her for a few seconds until the thick syrup slowly came unstuck. Then she clasped her hands to the
seat of her breeches and both hands got covered in the muck. You should have heard her bellow21."
"But how did she know it was you?" Lavender asked.
"A little squirt called Ollie Bogwhistle sneaked22 on me," Hortensia said. "I knocked his front teeth
out."
"And the Trunchbull put you in The Chokey for a whole day?" Matilda asked, gulping23.
"All day long," Hortensia said. "I was off my rocker when she let me out. I was babbling24 like an
idiot."
"What were the other things you did to get put in The Chokey?" Lavender asked.
"Oh I can't remember them all now," Hortensia said. She spoke with the air of an old warrior25 who
has been in so many battles that bravery has become commonplace. "It's all so long ago," she
added, stuffing more crisps into her mouth. "Ah yes, I can remember one. Here's what happened. I
chose a time when I knew the Trunchbull was out of the way teaching the sixth-formers, and I put
up my hand and asked to go to the bogs26. But instead of going there, I sneaked into the
Trunchbull's
room. And after a speedy search I found the drawer where she kept all her gym knickers.''
"Go on," Matilda said, spellbound. "What happened next?"
"I had sent away by post, you see, for this very powerful itching-powder," Hortensia said. "It cost
50p a packet and was called The Skin-Scorcher. The label said it was made from the powdered
teeth of deadly snakes, and it was guaranteed to raise welts the size of walnuts27 on your skin. So I
sprinkled this stuff inside every pair of knickers in the drawer and then folded them all up again
carefully." Hortensia paused to cram28 more crisps into her mouth.
"Did it work?" Lavender asked.
"Well," Hortensia said, "a few days later, during prayers, the Trunchbull suddenly started
scratching herself like mad down below. A-ha, I said to myself. Here we go. She's changed for
gym already. It was pretty wonderful to be sitting there watching it all and knowing that I was the
only person in the whole school who realised exactly what was going on inside the Trunchbull's
pants. And I felt safe, too. I knew I couldn't be caught. Then the scratching got worse. She couldn't
stop. She must have thought she had a wasp's nest down there. And then, right in the middle of the
Lord's Prayer, she leapt up and grabbed her bottom and rushed out of the room."
Both Matilda and Lavender were enthralled29. It was quite clear to them that they were at this
moment standing in the presence of a master. Here was somebody who had brought the art of
skulduggery to the highest point of perfection, somebody, moreover, who was willing to risk life
and limb in pursuit of her calling. They gazed in wonder at this goddess, and suddenly even the
boil on her nose was no longer a blemish30 but a badge of courage.
"But how did she catch you that time?" Lavender asked, breathless with wonder.
"She didn't," Hortensia said. "But I got a day in The Chokey just the same."
"Why?" they both asked.
"The Trunchbull", Hortensia said, "has a nasty habit of guessing. When she doesn't know who the
culprit is, she makes a guess at it, and the trouble is she's often right. I was the prime suspect this
time because of the Golden Syrup job, and although I knew she didn't have any proof, nothing I
said made any difference. I kept shouting, 'How could I have done it, Miss Trunchbull? I didn't
even know you kept any spare knickers at school! I don't even know what itching-powder is! I've
never heard of it!' But the lying didn't help me in spite of the great performance I put on. The
Trunchbull simply grabbed me by one ear and rushed me to The Chokey at the double and threw
me inside and locked the door. That was my second all-day stretch. It was absolute torture. I was
spiked and cut all over when I came out."
"It's like a war," Matilda said, overawed.
"You're darn right it's like a war," Hortensia cried. "And the casualties are terrific. We are the
crusaders, the gallant31 army fighting for our lives with hardly any weapons at all and the
Trunchbull is the Prince of Darkness, the Foul32 Serpent, the Fiery33 Dragon with all the weapons at
her command. It's a tough life. We all try to support each other."
"You can rely on us," Lavender said, making her height of three feet two inches stretch as tall as
possible.
"No, I can't," Hortensia said. "You're only shrimps34. But you never know. We may find a use for
you one day in some undercover job."
"Tell us just a little bit more about what she does," Matilda said. "Please do."
"I mustn't frighten you before you've been here a week," Hortensia said.
"You won't," Lavender said. "We may be small but we're quite tough."
"Listen to this then," Hortensia said. "Only yesterday the Trunchbull caught a boy called Julius
Rottwinkle eating Liquorice Allsorts during the scripture35 lesson and she simply picked him up by
one arm and flung him clear out of the open classroom window. Our classroom is one floor up and
we saw Julius Rottwinkle go sailing out over the garden like a Frisbee36 and landing with a thump37 in
the middle of the lettuces38. Then the Trunchbull turned to us and said, "From now on, anybody
caught eating in class goes straight out the window."
"Did this Julius Rottwinkle break any bones?" Lavender asked.
"Only a few," Hortensia said. "You've got to remember that the Trunchbull once threw the
hammer for Britain in the Olympics so she's very proud of her right arm."
"What's throwing the hammer?" Lavender asked.
"The hammer", Hortensia said, "is actually a ruddy great cannon-ball on the end of a long bit of
wire, and the thrower whisks it round and round his or her head faster and faster and then lets it
go. You have to be terrifically strong. The Trunchbull will throw anything around just to keep her
arm in, especially children."
"Good heavens," Lavender said.
"I once heard her say", Hortensia went on, "that a large boy is about the same weight as an
Olympic
hammer and therefore he's very useful for practising with."
At that point something strange happened. The playground, which up to then had been filled with
shrieks39 and the shouting of children at play, all at once became silent as the grave. "Watch out,"
Hortensia whispered. Matilda and Lavender glanced round and saw the gigantic figure of Miss
Trunchbull advancing through the crowd of boys and girls with menacing strides. The children
drew back hastily to let her through and her progress across the asphalt was like that of Moses
going through the Red Sea when the waters parted. A formidable figure she was too, in her belted
smock and green breeches. Below the knees her calf40 muscles stood out like grapefruits inside her
stockings. "Amanda Thripp!" she was shouting. "You, Amanda Thripp, come here!"
"Hold your hats," Hortensia whispered.
"What's going to happen?" Lavender whispered back.
"That idiot Amanda", Hortensia said, "has let her long hair grow even longer during the hols and
her mother has plaited it into pigtails. Silly thing to do."
"Why silly?" Matilda asked.
"If there's one thing the Trunchbull can't stand it's pigtails," Hortensia said.
Matilda and Lavender saw the giant in green breeches advancing upon a girl of about ten who had
a pair of plaited golden pigtails hanging over her shoulders. Each pigtail had a blue satin bow at
the end of it and it all looked very pretty. The girl wearing the pigtails, Amanda Thripp, stood
quite still, watching the advancing giant, and the expression on her face was one that you might
find on the face of a person who is trapped in a small field with an enraged41 bull which is charging
flat-out towards her. The girl was glued to the spot, terror-struck, pop-eyed, quivering, knowing
for certain that the Day of Judgment42 had come for her at last.
Miss Trunchbull had now reached the victim and stood towering over her. "I want those filthy43
pigtails off before you come back to school tomorrow!" she barked. "Chop 'em off and throw 'em
in the dustbin, you understand?"
Amanda, paralysed with fright, managed to stutter, "My m-m-mummy likes them. She p-p-plaits
them for me every morning."
"Your mummy's a twit!" the Trunchbull bellowed44. She pointed45 a finger the size of a salami at the
child's head and shouted, "You look like a rat with a tail coming out of its head!"
"My m-m-mummy thinks I look lovely, Miss T-T-Trunchbull," Amanda stuttered, shaking like a
blancmange.
"I don't give a tinker's toot what your mummy thinks!" the Trunchbull yelled, and with that she
lunged forward and grabbed hold of Amanda's pigtails in her right fist and lifted the girl clear off
the ground. Then she started swinging her round and round her head, faster and faster and Amanda
was screaming blue murder and the Trunchbull was yelling, "I'll give you pigtails, you little rat!"
"Shades of the Olympics," Hortensia murmured. "She's getting up speed now just like she does
with the hammer. Ten to one she's going to throw her."
And now the Trunchbull was leaning back against the weight of the whirling girl and pivoting46
expertly on her toes, spinning round and round, and soon Amanda Thripp was travelling so fast
she became a blur47, and suddenly, with a mighty48 grunt49, the Trunchbull let go of the pigtails and
Amanda went sailing like a rocket right over the wire fence of the playground and high up into the
sky.
"Well thrown, sir!" someone shouted from across the playground,and Matilda, who was
mesmerised by the whole crazy affair, saw Amanda Thripp descending50 in a long graceful51 parabola
on to the playing-field beyond. She landed on the grass and bounced three times and finally came
to rest. Then, amazingly, she sat up. She looked a trifle dazed and who could blame her, but after a
minute or so she was on her feet again and tottering52 back towards the playground.
The Trunchbull stood in the playground dusting off her hands. "Not bad," she said, "considering
I'm not in strict training. Not bad at all." Then she strode away.
"She's mad," Hortensia said.
"But don't the parents complain?" Matilda asked.
"Would yours?" Hortensia asked. "I know mine wouldn't. She treats the mothers and fathers just
the same as the children and they're all scared to death of her. I'll be seeing you some time, you
two." And with that she sauntered away.
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收听单词发音
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1
casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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2
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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3
brilliance
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| n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智 | |
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4
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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5
awesome
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| adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的 | |
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6
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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7
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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8
watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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9
loathes
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| v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的第三人称单数 )；极不喜欢 | |
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10
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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11
crumbs
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| int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式 | |
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12
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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13
regale
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| v.取悦，款待 | |
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14
squat
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| v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的 | |
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15
spiked
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| adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的 | |
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16
syrup
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| n.糖浆，糖水 | |
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17
squelching
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| v.发吧唧声，发扑哧声( squelch的现在分词 )；制止；压制；遏制 | |
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18
squelch
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| v.压制，镇压；发吧唧声 | |
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19
hippopotamus
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| n.河马 | |
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20
amiably
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| adv.和蔼可亲地，亲切地 | |
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21
bellow
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| v.吼叫，怒吼；大声发出，大声喝道 | |
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22
sneaked
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| v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状 | |
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23
gulping
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的现在分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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24
babbling
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| n.胡说，婴儿发出的咿哑声adj.胡说的v.喋喋不休( babble的现在分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密 | |
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25
warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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26
bogs
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| n.沼泽，泥塘( bog的名词复数 )；厕所v.（使）陷入泥沼， （使）陷入困境( bog的第三人称单数 )；妨碍，阻碍 | |
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27
walnuts
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| 胡桃（树）( walnut的名词复数 )； 胡桃木 | |
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28
cram
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| v.填塞，塞满，临时抱佛脚，为考试而学习 | |
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29
enthralled
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| 迷住，吸引住( enthrall的过去式和过去分词 )； 使感到非常愉快 | |
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30
blemish
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| v.损害；玷污；瑕疵，缺点 | |
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31
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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32
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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33
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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34
shrimps
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| n.虾，小虾( shrimp的名词复数 )；矮小的人 | |
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35
scripture
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| n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段 | |
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36
frisbee
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| n.飞盘(塑料玩具) | |
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37
thump
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| v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声 | |
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38
lettuces
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| n.莴苣，生菜（ lettuce的名词复数 ）；生菜叶 | |
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39
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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40
calf
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| n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮 | |
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41
enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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42
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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43
filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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44
bellowed
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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46
pivoting
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| n.绕轴旋转，绕公共法线旋转v.（似）在枢轴上转动( pivot的现在分词 )；把…放在枢轴上；以…为核心，围绕（主旨）展开 | |
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47
blur
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| n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚 | |
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48
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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49
grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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50
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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51
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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52
tottering
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| adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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