19.The Practice

The Practice
Matilda found the house empty as usual. Her father was not yet back from work, her mother was
not yet back from bingo and her brother might be anywhere. She went straight into the living-
room and opened the drawer of the sideboard where she knew her father kept a box of cigars. She
took one out and carried it up to her bedroom and shut herself in.
Now for the practice, she told herself. It's going to be tough but I'm determined¹ to do it.
Her plan for helping² Miss Honey was beginning to form beautifully in her mind. She had it now in
almost every detail, but in the end it all depended upon her being able to do one very special thing
with her eye-power. She knew she wouldn't manage it right away, but she felt fairly confident that
with a great deal of practice and effort, she would succeed in the end. The cigar was essential. It
was perhaps a bit thicker than she would have liked, but the weight was about right. It would be
fine for practising with.
There was a small dressing-table in Matilda's bedroom with her hairbrush and comb on it and two
library books. She cleared these things to one side and laid the cigar down in the middle of the
dressing-table. Then she walked away and sat on
the end of her bed. She was now about ten feet from the cigar.
She settled herself and began to concentrate, and very quickly this time she felt the electricity
beginning to flow inside her head, gathering³ itself behind the eyes, and the eyes became hot and
millions of tiny invisible⁴ hands began pushing out like sparks⁵ towards the cigar. "Move!" she
whispered, and to her intense⁶ surprise, almost at once, the cigar with its little red and gold paper
band around its middle rolled away across the top of the dressing-table and fell on to the carpet.
Matilda had enjoyed that. It was lovely doing it. It had felt as though sparks were going round and
round inside her head and flashing out of her eyes. It had given her a sense of power that was
almost ethereal. And how quick it had been this time! How simple!
She crossed the bedroom and picked up the cigar and put it back on the table.
Now for the difficult one, she thought. But if I have the power to push, then surely I also have the
power to lift? It is vital I learn how to lift it. I must learn how to lift it right up into the air and keep
it there. It is not a very heavy thing, a cigar.
She sat on the end of the bed and started again. It was easy now to summon⁷ up the power behind
her eyes. It was like pushing a trigger⁸ in the brain. "Lift!" she whispered. "Lift! Lift!"
At first the cigar started to roll away. But then, with Matilda concentrating fiercely, one end of it
slowly lifted up about an inch off the table-top.
With a colossal⁹ effort, she managed to hold it there for about ten seconds. Then it fell back again.
"Phew!" she gasped¹⁰. "I'm getting it! I'm starting to do it!"
For the next hour, Matilda kept practising, and in the end she had managed, by the sheer¹¹ power of
her eyes, to lift the whole cigar clear off the table
about six inches into the air and hold it there for about a minute. Then suddenly she was so
exhausted¹² she fell back on the bed and went to sleep.
That was how her mother found her later in the evening.
"What's the matter with you?" the mother said, waking her up. "Are you ill?"
"Oh gosh," Matilda said, sitting up and looking around. "No. I'm all right. I was a bit tired, that's
all."
From then on, every day after school, Matilda shut herself in her room and practised with the
cigar. And soon it all began to come together in the most wonderful way. Six days later, by the
following Wednesday evening, she was able not only to lift the cigar up into the air but also to
move it around exactly as she wished. It was beautiful. "I can do it!" she cried. "I can really do it! I
can pick the cigar up just with my eye-power and push it and pull it in the air any way I want!"
All she had to do now was to put her great plan into action.

1 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

4 invisible   

adj.看不见的，无形的

参考例句：

• The air is full of millions of invisible germs.空气中充满了许多看不见的细菌。
• Many stars are invisible without a telescope.许多星辰不用望远镜便看不见。

5 sparks   

电工，无线电通讯员； 火花( spark的名词复数 )； （指品质或感情）一星； 丝毫； 电火花

参考例句：

• The amplifier exploded in a fountain of sparks. 放大器爆炸，喷射出火星。
• A shower of sparks flew up the chimney. 烟囱里飞出无数火星。

6 intense   

adj.认真的，专注的；强烈的；紧张的；热情的

参考例句：

• Susan was an intense young lady.苏珊是一个热情的年轻姑娘。
• The quarrel caused her intense unhappiness.争吵令她极其不快。

7 summon   

vt.召唤，传唤，鼓起，振作，召集，召开

参考例句：

• He could not summon the courage to tell them about it.他鼓不起勇气告诉他们那件事。
• He pedaled off to summon a doctor.他骑脚踏车去叫医生。

8 trigger   

n.触发器，板机，制滑机；v.触发（事件）

参考例句：

• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again.他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。
• He pulled the trigger but the gun didn't go off.他打了一枪，没有发火。

9 colossal   

adj.异常的，庞大的

参考例句：

• There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
• Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。

10 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 sheer   

adj.绝对的，全然的，峻峭的；v.躲开，躲避，使...避开； adv.完全，全然，峻峭

参考例句：

• He achieved his aim by sheer strength of will.他纯粹靠意志力达到了目的。
• I guess It'sheer waste of time arguing about it.看来争论这件事纯粹是浪费时间。

12 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。