雾都孤儿

Chapter Seven: A New Home

The next morning it was raining. Olive woke up. His left arm was covered with blood. He got up slowly and tried to wake. He saw the country house and thought, "Perhaps the people in that house can help me." He knocked at the door and fell to the ground.

Mr Giles and Mr Brittles opened the door. "A boy!" said Mr Giles.

Then he saw the blood on Oliver's clothes. "Look! It's one of the thieves!"

He told the ladies, "Here he is" I shot him, madam. Do you want to see him?"

"Oh, not now," said Rose Maylie. She was a beautiful girl of seventeen.

She had blue eyes and a kind smile. She lived with her aunt, Mrs Maylie.

"Take him upstairs to Mr Giles' room. Mr Brittles, please go to town and ask Doctor Losberne to come immediately."

When Dr Losberne arrived he said, "What a terrible thing, thieves in the night! Are you ladies well?"

"Yes, thank you. But please look at the boy upstairs. He's hurt."

"Of course," Doctor Losberne said. He stayed upstairs a long time. Finally he came down and said, "Ladies, please come upstairs with me."

Rose and Mrs Maylie followed the doctor. They had a big surprise. They did not see a bad criminal in bed. They saw a little boy sleeping. They looked at him in silence. Rose sat down near the bed. Oliver smiled in his sleep.

"This poor boy cannot be a thief," said Mrs Maylie.

"He's so young!" said Rose with tears in her eyes.

In the evening Oliver woke up after a long sleep. He told them the story of his sad life. He also told them about kind Mr Brownlow. He spoke slowly and softly because he was very weak.

He had a high temperature. He was ill for a very long time. Rose and Mrs Maylie took care of him. They were gentle and kind. Oliver slowly got better.

He went for walks with Rose and Mrs Maylie. He listened to Rose playing the piano and singing. He listened to her reading aloud .

Oliver helped in the garden. After some time a kind old man gave him lessons every day. Three months passed and Oliver was very happy. He loved Rose and Mrs Maylie with all his heart.

"What can I do for you?" Oliver asked Rose and Mrs Maylie.

"You were so kind to me when I was ill."

Rose smiled and said, "We are very happy you are here with us." Mrs Maylie and Rose took Oliver to their country cottage. It was a lovely place.

There were trees and flowers everywhere. Oliver became strong and healthy.

"The country is very different from the noisy city. I love the country."Oliver said.

After three months they returned home. One afternoon Oliver sat at his desk near the window. He studied his lessons.

Suddenly, he saw two men at the window. "Oh, no! It's Fagin and another man!" Oliver thought. Fagin was with a strange man called Monks. Monks was tall and had an angry face. He wore a black coat.

Fagin said to Monks, "That's the boy." "Yes, it's Oliver!" said Monks.

Oliver jumped up. The two men ran away. "Fagin! Fagin!" cried Oliver.

Two servants came into the room and said, "What's happening here?"

"I just saw Fagin and another terrible man," Oliver said. His face was white. The servants ran out into the garden. They looked for the two men but did not find them.

Chapter Eight: Nancy's Secret Mr Bumble was now the master of the workhouse where Oliver was born.

One evening Monks went to talk to him.

"Are you Mr Bumble?" asked Monks.

"Yes, I am the master of the workhouse," said Mr Bumble with an important voice.

"My name is Monks. Listen to me. You must tell me something."

He put two gold coins on the table. Mr Bumble put them quickly in his pocket.

"Twelve years ago a boy was born in your workhouse. His mother died after he was born," Monks said.

"Yes, I remember. That boy is Oliver Twist," said Mr Bumble.

"Your wife was with Oliver"s mother when she died. Your wife took something from her. I want to talk to her. Meet me at the old house near the river tomorrow night."

The next night Mr and Mrs Bumble went to the house near the river.

"Sit down," Monks said. "Now tell me about Oliver Twist's mother."

"I want twenty-five pounds in gold," said Mrs Bumble. Monks gave her the money.

Mrs Bumble gave him a gold wedding ring. Cut in the ring was a name:Agnes.

Monks looked at the gold ring. Then he threw it into the river. "No one can find it there!" he said with an angry voice.

Bill Sikes was ill for several weeks and Nancy took care of him.

She loved Bill Sikes. One day he said to Nancy, "Go to Fagin and ask him for some money."

When Nancy arrived at Fagin's house he said, "So, Sikes wants some money. Wait here."

At that moment Monks came to see Fagin. Monks looked at Nancy.

Fagin said, "It's all right, Monks. Nancy is one of my young people."

"Let's go to the other room. I must talk to you about something important,"said Monks.

Fagin and Monks went to the other room and shut the door.

Nancy listened quietly at the door. She heard terrible things. She was very unhappy. She decided to go to the hotel near Hyde Park to talk to Rose Maylie. Monks left and Fagin gave Nancy some money.

The next day Nancy went to buy food and drink for Sikes. He drank a lot and fell asleep."

"Sikes is sleeping. I must go now!" thought Nancy.

She shut the door silently. She ran across London to a quiet hotel near Hyde Park. Rose, Mrs Maylie, Dr Losberne and Oliver were there.

At 10 o'clock she entered the hotel. "My name is Nancy. I want to see Miss Rose Maylie, please," she said. "It's very important."

A servant looked at her old clothes. Then he went upstairs. When he returned he said, "Please follow me."

The servant took Nancy to Rose's room. "I am Rose Maylie. You wanted to see me?"

Rose's sweet voice and gentle manner surprised Nancy. She started crying.

"Oh, dear lady!" Nancy said. "I must tell you a terrible secret." "Please sit down, Miss," said Rose.

"I want to save Oliver," Nancy said to Rose. "Oliver!" exclaimed Rose.

Nancy told Rose about Monks and Fagin.

"Monks is a bad man. He knows you are here with Oliver. Oliver is in big danger. Fagin and Monks want to kidnap Oliver. Fagin teaches boys to steal. Monks wants Fagin to make Oliver a thief. Then the police can catch him and put him in prison or kill him! Monks wants his brother to die!"

"His brother!" exclaimed Rose.

"Yes, Oliver is Monks' half-brother. I heard Monks say, "Nobody knows the name of Oliver's mother. I threw her ring into the river." I don't know all of Monks' plan."

"This is terrible! What can I do to help Oliver?" asked Rose.

"You must tell this secret to a good man. We must save Oliver."

"When can we meet again?" asked Rose.

"Meet me on London Bridge on Sunday night, between eleven and midnight. I must go now."

"Oh, no!" said Rose. "Don't return to those thieves. I can help you. Take some money and go far away. You can start a new life."

"I don't want money," said Nancy. "No one can help me. It is too late. I have no future. Thank you for your kindness, sweet lady. Remember,

Sunday night on London Bridge!"

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Part Six: The Wedding

The wedding day was a month later. I was busy and happy as I got ready for the marriage. Two nights before the wedding, I was asleep in my room.

My wedding dress was in the room with me. The night was windy, and the wind made a strange noise. Suddenly, I woke up. There was a light in my room. I thought at first that it was morning, but when I looked at the window I saw that it was still dark outside.

Someone was in my room. Was it Mrs Fairfax or Grace Poole? It was a woman, but a woman I had never seen before. She was big, tall and strong.

Her black hair was long and thick. She was dressed in a long, white garment. I could not see her face.

She held my wedding dress and veil up in front of her. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and it was then that I saw her face! It was the most terrible face. She had large, red eyes and her skin was purple. She looked angry and dangerous. I felt great fear.

Then she took my veil, and tore it to pieces. She threw the pieces down on the floor and went over to look out of the window. Then she turned and started to come towards my bed. I was so frightened that I was unable to move. I couldn't even scream for help. 'She is going to kill me,' I thought.

But then the light disappeared, and the room was dark once more.

I woke up in the morning. The sun was shining in through the window,

and at once I remembered the strange woman. I thought at first that I had had a bad dream. Then I saw my ruined veil, lying on the floor, torn to pieces. It was true! The strange woman was real!

Mr Rochester looked very worried and was silent for a long time when I told him about the woman, but he just said, 'You had a bad dream, Jane. It was probably Grace Poole who tore your veil, but you dreamt that it was a stranger.'

I could not believe that the strange woman had been just a dream, but I said nothing. That night, the night before the wedding, I slept in Adele's room.

The next day, we went to the church for the wedding. In the church, while the clergyman was speaking, someone threw open the church door and said,'Stop the wedding! It cannot go on. Mr Rochester already has a wife. He is married to my sister!'

All the people in the church turned to see who was speaking.

It was Mr Mason, the visitor from the West Indies, with two other men.

What was he talking about? How could Mr Rochester be married? My heart turned cold. I could not believe that this was happening on my wedding day.

'But where is Mr Rochester's wife?' asked the clergyman. 'Why haven't we seen her?'

'She lives at Thornfield Hall,' Mr Mason replied. 'She is alive. I saw her recently.'

Mr Rochester struggled to speak. His face was white and distressed. At last he said, 'It is true. My wife is living at Thornfield Hall. We were married fifteen years ago in the West Indies, when we were both young. Her name is Bertha Mason, and she is Mason's sister. Soon after we were married, she changed. She became very strange, and then she became mad and dangerous.

She attacked me, and anyone who came near her. Last April, she tried to kill her own brother.

'She has a nurse, Grace Poole, who looks after her at Thornfield. I have told no one else that she is my wife. This young woman, Jane Eyre, knows nothing about her.' Mr Rochester's face was sad. 'Come with me, and I will take you to see her.'

We were all silent as we walked from the church back to Thornfield Hall.

Mr Rochester took us up to the attic and unlocked the door. Grace Poole was there, and in the room, too, was the frightening, terrible woman that I had seen in my bedroom. She was the person who had the cruel laugh. She was the one who had set fire to Mr Rochester's bed, who had tried to kill Mr Mason, and who had ruined my veil. Yes, she was mad, but she was also Mr Rochester's wife. I knew that I could not marry him.

Although I felt sorry for Mr Rochester, I knew that I must leave my home,

Thornfield Hall, forever. I put a few clothes into a small bag. I took a little money, and quietly left Thornfield Hall early the next morning. I told no one that I was going, and no one saw me leave.