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1、【英文读物】Tiger Lily and Other StoriesTIGER-LILY. The shrill treble of a girls voice, raised to its highest pitch in anger and remonstrance, broke in upon the scholarly meditations of the teacher of the Ridgemont grammar school. He raised his head from his book to listen. It came again, mingled with boy
2、ish cries and jeers, and the sound of blows and scuffling. The teacher, a small, fagged-looking man of middle age, rose hastily, and went out of the school-house. Both grammar and high school had just been dismissed, and the bare-trodden play-ground was filled with the departing scholars. In the cen
3、tre of the ground a group of boys had collected, and from this group the discordant sounds still proceeded. What is the meaning of this disturbance? the master asked, coming near. At the sound of his voice the group fell apart, disclosing, as a central point, the figure of a girl of thirteen or four
4、teen years. She was thin and straight, and her face, now ablaze with anger and excitement, was a singular one, full of contradic4tions, yet not inharmonious as a whole. It was fair, but not as blondes are fair, and its creamy surface was flecked upon the cheeks with dark, velvety freckles. Her featu
5、res were symmetrical, yet a trifle heavy, particularly the lips, and certain dusky tints were noticeable about the large gray eyes and delicate temples, as well as a peculiar crisp ripple in the mass of vivid red hair which fell from under her torn straw hat. Clinging to her scant skirts was a small
6、 hunch-backed boy, crying dismally, and making the most of his tears by rubbing them into his sickly face with a pair of grimy fists. The teacher looked about him with disapproval in his glance. The group contained, no doubt, its fair proportion of future legislators and presidents, but the raw mate
7、rial was neither encouraging nor pleasant to look upon. The culprits returned his wavering gaze, some looking a little conscience-smitten, others boldly impertinent, others still (and those the worst in the lot) with a charming air of innocence and candor. What is it? the master repeated. What is th
8、e matter? They were plaguing Bobby, here, the girl broke in, breathlessly,taking his marbles away, and making him crythe mean, cruel things! Hush! said the teacher, with a feeble gesture of authority. Is that so, boys? 5 The boys grinned at each other furtively, but made no answer. Boys, he remarked
9、, solemnly, IIm ashamed of you! The delinquents not appearing crushed by this announcement, he turned again to the girl. Girls should not quarrel and fight, my dear. It isnt proper, you know. A mocking smile sprang to the girls lips, and a sharp glance shot from under her black, up-curling lashes, b
10、ut she did not speak. Shes allers a-fightin, ventured one of the urchins, emboldened by the teachers reproof; at which the girl turned upon him so fiercely that he shrank hastily out of sight behind his nearest companion. You are not one of my scholars? the master asked, keeping his mild eyes upon t
11、he scornful face and defiant little figure. No! the girl answered. I go to the high school! You are small to be in the high school, he said, smiling upon her kindly. It dont go by sizes! said the child promptly. No; certainly not, certainly not, said the teacher, a little staggered. What is your nam
12、e, child? Lilly, sir; Lilly OConnell, she answered, indifferently. 6 Lilly! the teacher repeated abstractedly, looking into the dusky face, with its flashing eyes and fallen ruddy tresses,Lilly! It ought to have been Tiger-Lily! said a pert voice. It would suit her, Im sure, more ways than one! and
13、the speaker, a pretty, handsomely-dressed blonde girl of about her own age, laughed, and looked about for appreciation of her cleverness. So it would! cried a boyish voice. Her red hair, and freckles, and temper! Tiger-Lily! Thats a good one! A shout of laughter, and loud cries of Tiger-Lily! immedi
14、ately arose, mingled with another epithet more galling still, in the midst of which the masters deprecating words were utterly lost. A dark red surged into the girls face. She turned one eloquent look of wrath upon her tormentors, another, intensified, upon the pretty child who had spoken, and walke
15、d away from the place, leading the cripple by the hand. Oh, come now, Flossie, said a handsome boy, who stood near the blonde girl, I wouldnt tease her. She cant help it, you know. Pity she couldnt know who is taking up for her! she retorted, tossing the yellow braid which hung below her waist, and
16、sauntering away homeward. Oh, pshaw! the boy said, coloring to the7 roots of his hair; thats the way with you girls. You know what I mean. She cant help it that her mother was aa mulatto, or something, and her hair red. Its mean to tease her. She can help quarrelling and fighting with the boys, thou
17、gh, said Miss Flossie, looking unutterable scorn. She wouldnt do it, I guess, if theyd let her alone, the young fellow answered, stoutly. Its enough to make anybody feel savage to be badgered, and called names, and laughed at all the time. It makes me mad to see it. Besides, it isnt always for herse
18、lf she quarrels. Its often enough for some little fellow like Bobby, that the big fellows are abusing. She is good-hearted, anyhow. They had reached by this time the gate opening upon the lawn which surrounded the residence of Flossies mother, the widow Fairfield. It was a small, but ornate dwelling
19、, expressive, at every point, of gentility and modern improvements. The lawn itself was well kept, and adorned with flower-beds and a tiny fountain. Mrs. Fairfield, a youthful matron in rich mourning of the second stage, sat in a wicker chair upon the veranda reading, and fanning herself with an air
20、 of elegant leisure. Miss Flossie paused. She did not want to quarrel with her boyish admirer, and, with the true in8stinct of coquetry, instantly appeared to have forgotten her previous irritation. Wont you come in, Roger? she said, sweetly. Our strawberries are ripe. The boy smiled at the tempting
21、 suggestion, but shook his head. Cant, he answered, briefly. Ive got a lot of Latin to do. Good-by. He nodded pleasantly and went his way. It lay through the village and along the fields and gardens beyond. Just as he came in sight of his home,a square, elm-shaded mansion of red brick, standing on a
22、 gentle rise a little farther on,he paused at a place where a shallow brook came creeping through the lush grass of the meadow which bounded his fathers possessions. He listened a moment to its low gurgling, so suggestive of wood rambles and speckled trout, then tossed his strap of books into the me
23、adow, leaped after it, and followed the brooks course for a little distance, stooping and peering with his keen brown eyes into each dusky pool. All at once, as he looked and listened, another sound than the brooks plashing came to his ears, and he started up and turned his head. A stump fence, blac
24、k and bristling, divided the meadow from the adjoining field, its uncouth projections draped in tender, clinging vines, and he stepped9 softly toward it and looked across. It was a rocky field, where a thin crop of grass was trying to hold its own against a vast growth of weeds, and was getting the
25、worst of it,a barren, shiftless field, fitly matching the big shiftless barn and small shiftless house to which it appertained. Lying prone among the daisies was Lilly OConnell, her face buried in her apron, the red rippling mane falling about her, her slender form shaking with deep and unrestrained
26、 sobs. Roger looked on a moment and then leaped the fence. The girl rose instantly to a sitting position, and glared defiance at him from a pair of tear-stained eyes. What are you crying about? he asked, with awkward kindness. Her face softened, and a fresh sob shook her. Oh, come! said Roger; dont
27、mind what a lot of sneaks say. The girl looked up quickly into the honest dark eyes. It was Florence Fairfield that said it, she returned, speaking very rapidly. Roger gave an uneasy laugh. Oh! you mean that about the Tiger-Lily? Yes, she answered, and its true. Its true as can be. See! And for the
28、first time the boy noticed that her gingham apron was filled with the fiery blossoms of the tiger-lily. 10 See! she said again, with an unchildish laugh, holding the flowers against her face. Roger was not an imaginative boy, but he could not help feeling the subtle likeness between the fervid bloss
29、oms, strange, tropical outgrowth of arid New England soil, and this passionate child of mingled races, with her ruddy hair, and glowing eyes and lips. For a moment he did not know what to say, but at last, in his simple, boyish way he said: Well, what of it? I think theyre splendid. The girl looked
30、up incredulously. I wouldnt mind thethe hair! he stammered. Ive got a cousin up to Boston, and shes a great bellea beauty, you know. All the artists are crazy to paint her picture, and her hair is just the color of yours. Lilly laid the flowers down. Her eyes fell. You dont understand, she said, slo
31、wly. Other girls have red hair. It isnt that. Rogers eyes faltered in their reassuring gaze. II wouldnt mindthe other thing, either, if I were you, he stammered. You dont know what youd do if you were me! the girl cried, passionately. You dont know what youd do if you were hated, and despised, and l
32、aughed at, every day of your life! And how would you like the feeling that it could never be any different, no matter where you went,11 or how hard you tried to be good, or how much you learned? Never, never any different! Ah, it makes me hate myself, and everybody! I could tear them to pieces, like
33、 this, and this! She had risen, and was tearing the scarlet petals of the lilies into pieces, her teeth set, her eyes flashing. Look at them! she cried wildly. How like me they are, all red blood like yours, except those few black drops which never can be washed out! Never! Never! And again the chil
34、d threw herself upon the ground, face downward, and broke into wild, convulsive sobbing. Young Roger was in an agony of pity. He found his position as consoler a trying one. An older person might well have quailed before this outburst of unchild-like passion. He knew that what she said was trueterri
35、bly, bitterly true, and this kept him dumb. He only stood and looked down upon the quivering little figure in embarrassed silence. Suddenly the girl raised her head, with a flash of her eyes. What does God mean, she cried, fiercely, by making such a difference in people? Rogers face became graver st
36、ill. I cant tell you that, Lilly, he answered, soberly. Youll have to ask the minister. But12 Ive often thought of it myself. I suppose there is a reason, if we only knew. I guess all we can do is to begin where God has put us, and do what we can. Lilly slowly gathered her disordered hair into one h
37、and and pushed it behind her shoulders, her tear-stained eyes fixed sadly on the boys troubled face. The tea-bell, sounding from the distance, brought a welcome interruption, and Roger turned to go. He looked back when half across the meadow, and saw the little figure standing in relief upon a rocky
38、 hillock, the sun kindling her red locks into gold. A few years previously, OConnell had made his appearance in Ridgemont with wife and child, and had procured a lease of the run-down farm and buildings which had been their home ever since. It was understood that they had come from one of the Middle
39、 States, but beyond this nothing of their history was known. The wife, a beautiful quadroon, sank beneath the severity of the climate, and lived but a short time. After her death, OConnell, always a surly, hot-headed fellow, grew surlier still, and fell into evil ways. The child, with a curious sort
40、 of dignity and independence, took upon her small shoulders the burden her mother had laid aside, and carried on the forlorn household in her own way, without assistance or interference. 13 That she was not like other children, that she was set apart from them by some strange circumstance, she had e
41、arly learned to feel. In time she began to comprehend in what the difference lay, and the knowledge roused within her a burning sense of wrong, a fierce spirit of resistance. With the creamy skin, the full, soft features, the mellow voice, and impassioned nature of her quadroon mother, Lilly had inh
42、erited the fiery Celtic hair, gray-green eyes, and quick intelligence of her father. She contrived to go to school, where her cleverness placed her ahead of other girls of her age, but did not raise her above the unreasoning aversion of her school-mates; and the consciousness of this rankled in the
43、childs soul, giving to her face a pathetic, hunted look, and to her tongue a sharpness which few cared to encounter. Those who knew her besther teachers, and a few who would not let their inborn and unconquerable prejudice of race stand in the way of their judgmentknew that, with all her faults of t
44、emper, the girl was brave, and truthful, and warm-hearted. They pitied the child, born under a shadow which could never be lifted, and gave her freely the kind words for which her heart secretly longed. There was little else they could do, for every attempt at other kindness was repelled with a prou
45、d indifference which forbade further overtures. So14 she had gone her way, walking in the shadow which darkened and deepened as she grew older, until at last she stood upon the threshold of womanhood. It was at this period of her life that the incidents we have related occurred. Small as they were,
46、they proved a crisis in the girls life. Too much a child to be capable of forming a definite resolve, or rather, perhaps, of putting it into form and deliberately setting about its fulfilment, still the sensitive nature had received an impression, which became a most puissant influence in shaping he
47、r life. A change came over her, so great as to have escaped no interested eyes; but interested eyes were few. Her teachers, more than any others, marked the change. There was more care of her person and dress, and the raillery of her school-mates was met by an indifference which, however hard its as
48、sumption may have been, at once disarmed and puzzled them. Now and then, the low and unprovoked taunts of her boyish tormentors roused her to an outburst of the old spirit, but for the most part they were met only with a flash of the steel-gray eyes, and a curl of the full red lips. One Sunday, too, to the amazement of pupils and the embarra