The Witching Hour
Sophie couldn’t sleep.
A brilliant moonbeam was slanting¹ through a gap in the curtains. It was shining right on to her
pillow.
The other children in the dormitory had been asleep for hours.
Sophie closed her eyes and lay quite still. She tried very hard to doze² off.
It was no good. The moonbeam was like a silver blade slicing through the room on to her face.
The house was absolutely silent. No voices came up from downstairs. There were no footsteps
on the floor above either.
The window behind the curtain was wide open, but nobody was walking on the pavement
outside. No cars went by on the street. Not the tiniest sound could be heard anywhere. Sophie had
never known such a silence.
Perhaps, she told herself, this was what they called the witching hour.
The witching hour, somebody had once whispered to her, was a special moment in the middle of
the night when every child and every grown-up was in a deep deep sleep, and all the dark things
came out from hiding and had the world to themselves.
The moonbeam was brighter than ever on Sophie’s pillow. She decided³ to get out of bed and
close the gap in the curtains.
You got punished if you were caught out of bed after lights-out. Even if you said you had to go
to the lavatory⁴, that was not accepted as an excuse and they punished you just the same. But there
was no one about now, Sophie was sure of that.
She reached out for her glasses that lay on the chair beside her bed. They had steel rims⁵ and very
thick lenses, and she could hardly see a thing without them. She put them on, then she slipped out of
bed and tiptoed over to the window.
When she reached the curtains, Sophie hesitated. She longed to duck underneath⁶ them and lean
out of the window to see what the world looked like now that the witching hour was at hand.
She listened again. Everywhere it was deathly still.
The longing

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点击收听单词发音  

1 slanting
倾斜的，歪斜的
参考例句：
The rain is driving [slanting] in from the south. 南边潲雨。 The line is slanting to the left. 这根线向左斜了。

2 doze
v.打瞌睡；n.打盹，假寐
参考例句：
He likes to have a doze after lunch.他喜欢午饭后打个盹。 While the adults doze,the young play.大人们在打瞌睡，而孩子们在玩耍。

3 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。

4 lavatory
n.盥洗室，厕所
参考例句：
Is there any lavatory in this building?这座楼里有厕所吗？ The use of the lavatory has been suspended during take-off.在飞机起飞期间，盥洗室暂停使用。

5 rims
n.（圆形物体的）边( rim的名词复数 )；缘；轮辋；轮圈
参考例句：
As she spoke, the rims of her eyes reddened a little. 说时，眼圈微红。 来自汉英文学 - 围城 Her eyes were a little hollow, and reddish about the rims. 她的眼睛微微凹陷，眼眶有些发红。 来自辞典例句

6 underneath
adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面
参考例句：
Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。 She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

7 longing
n.（for）渴望
参考例句：
Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。 His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

8 bent
n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的
参考例句：
He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。 We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

9 crooked
adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的
参考例句：
He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。 You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

10 elastic
n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的
参考例句：
Rubber is an elastic material.橡胶是一种弹性材料。 These regulations are elastic.这些规定是有弹性的。

11 misty
adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的
参考例句：
He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。 The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。