雾都孤儿

Chapter Nine: Old Friends Meet

Oliver knew that Mr Brownlow lived in London. He wanted to see him again and explain many things. He asked Rose, "Can we visit Mr Brownlow?"

"Yes, I want to meet Mr Brownlow," Rose said.

Oliver was very happy. Rose wanted to meet Mr Brownlow and tell him Nancy's secret. She knew he was a good man.

Rose and Oliver took a carriage to Mr Brownlow's house. When they arrived Rose said, "Oliver, please wait in the carriage for a few minutes."

Rose followed a servant to a big sitting room. There she met Mr Brownlow. He was an old gentleman with kind eyes.

"My name is Rose Maylie. I am here to talk about my dear friend, Oliver Twist."

"Oliver Twist! Oh, please tell me what you know about the poor child. I am very interested in him," said Mr Brownlow.

Rose told him about Oliver. "He is a kind boy with a good heart. We love him very much. And he loves you and Mrs Bedwin."

"This brings me great happiness! Great happiness! But where is Oliver now?" asked Mr Brownlow. "He is in the carriage," said Rose.

"Oh, please call him! I want to call Mrs Bedwin."

When Oliver saw Mr Brownlow and Mrs Bedwin he was extremely happy. He hugged them and cried with joy. He had many things to tell them.

After a while Rose said, "Mr Brownlow, can I talk to you alone?"

"Of course, dear. Please come into the next room and sit down."

Rose told Mr Brownlow about Nancy's visit. "What cruel people!" said Mr Brownlow. "This is a strange mystery. We must find this man called Monks.

He knows many things."

"Only Nancy can help us," said Rose. "But we must wait until Sunday night."

It was eleven o'clock on Sunday night. Sikes and Fagin heard the church bell. Nancy heard it too.

"A good night for working," said Sikes.

"I"m going out," said Nancy. She put on her hat and left.

Fagin looked at Sikes and said, "Let her go. One of my boys can follow her!"

It was a very foggy night. Nancy went to London Bridge and met Rose and Mr Brownlow. They went down the steps to the river.

Fagin's boy followed Nancy and hid behind the steps. He listened to everything.

Mr Brownlow said to Nancy, "We are here to help Oliver. We want to know about Oliver's mother and father. Only Monks knows about them. We must find him and learn his secret."

Nancy said, "You can find Monks at the Red Lion Hotel in King Street.

He is tall and wears a black coat. He is about twenty-eight. He has black hair and a cruel face. He also has a red mark on his neck."

"A red mark on his neck!" exclaimed Mr Brownlow. "Do you know him?"asked Nancy.

"Perhaps I do," said Mr Brownlow. "Can you tell us about Fagin and Sikes?

Where can we find them?"

"No, I cannot tell you this," said Nancy. Everyone was silent.

Then Mr Brownlow said, "I understand. Now what can we do for you,Nancy? Take this money, please."

"Yes, we want to help you," said Rose.

"No, you cannot help me. You are both very kind. But I must go now. God bless you!

Good night!" Nancy looked around and then ran away.

Rose was very sorry for Nancy. She and Mr Brownlow returned home in a carriage.

Chapter Ten: Monks

Fagin's boy ran to tell Fagin and Sikes everything. Fagin was furious. His eyes were red and his face was white. He had terrible thoughts. He was afraid of prison and death .

Sikes hated Nancy because she wanted to help Oliver. "I want to kill Nancy! I want to kill her!" cried Sikes. He ran to his house. Nancy was sleeping.

"Get up, Nancy!" cried Sikes.

"Why are you so angry?" asked Nancy. "Tonight you betrayed us!" said Sikes.

"No, Bill. I did not betray you or Fagin. Believe me! Please do not kill me.

I said nothing about you or Fagin. Let us leave this terrible place and go away together."

Sikes was furious. He took his pistol and hit Nancy's face again and again.

Nancy fell. Her face was covered with blood. There was blood everywhere.

Nancy was dead!

Sikes washed himself, but there was blood on his clothes. He ran out of the house. His dog followed him. He went to the country. He wanted to hide there. In the country the people talked about a terrible murder in London.

Sikes was afraid.

He thought, "I must return to London and hide there. After a week I can go to France. But first I must kill my dog. Everyone knows I have a dog." Sikes called his dog many times,but it ran away.

Mr Brownlow, Doctor Losberne and another friend went to the Red Lion Hotel and kidnapped Monks! They took him to Miss Maylie's house. They locked him in a room. Monks was very angry and said, "Why are you doing this? You were my father's friend!"

"Yes, I was his good friend," said Mr Brownlow. "I know a lot about you and your criminal friends. You have a brother called Oliver."

"I haven't got a brother!" said Monks angrily.

"You are lying !" said Mr Brownlow. I know your family history. You are Oliver's half-brother. You have the same father, but not the same mother.

Your mother was bad. She left your father. He then met and loved a beautiful girl called Agnes. Your father was rich. One day he went to Rome for work. Before he went he told me about Agnes. He made a new will in favour of Agnes and her child Oliver. In Rome your father became ill and died. Your mother went to Rome. She found the will and burnt it. A few days ago you spoke to Mr and Mrs Bumble. They gave you Agnes' ring and you threw it into the river."

Monks face was white. He was very nervous .

"I know other things too. I know that Nancy is dead. The police want to talk to you, Monks."

"I didn't kill her!" cried Monks.

"Tell that to the police. Or sign your name on this piece of paper. It tells the truth about Oliver and his father's will. It gives Oliver's money back to him. Sign it, Monks, and you are free."

Monks was afraid. "I don't work for Fagin. I didn't kill Nancy. Please don"t tell the police about me," he said. He was silent for a while. Then he said, "Give me that paper. I want to sign it."

Monks read the paper and signed it. Mr Brownlow let him go free.

简爱

Part Seven: New Friends

I wanted to travel as far away from Thornfield as I could, so I spent all my money on a journey which took two days and nights. I arrived at a place where there were no towns or villages. There were very few houses. I had no money, and I was cold, tired and hungry.

It was dark now, and I could see a light in the window of a house. I looked through the window. There were two young women in the room. I thought that they looked kind, so I knocked on the door. It was opened by a servant.

'Who are you?' she asked. 'What do you want?'

'I'm alone in the world, and I have no money or food,' I told her. 'I'm tired and hungry. Please, can you help me?'

The servant stared at me. She did not look very friendly.

'I'll give you some bread,' she said. 'But then you must go. You can't stay here.' She came back and gave me the bread, and said, 'Now go away.'

But I was too tired to move. I sat down outside the door of the house.

'There is no one to help me,' I said. 'I will die here.'

I didn't know that someone was watching and listening to me.

'You are not going to die,' a voice said. A tall, handsome young man was looking down at me.

'Who are you?' He knocked on the door and the servant opened it again.

'Who is this young woman, Hannah?' he asked.

'I don't know, sir,' the servant replied. 'I gave her some bread and told her to go away.'

'She can't go away, Hannah,' the young man said. 'She is too ill. We must take her inside and help her.'

They took me into the house, where it was warm and comfortable. The two young women asked me my name. 'I am Jane Elliott,' I told them. I

didn't want to tell them my real name in case Mr Rochester tried to find me. I wanted to start a new life.

My kind new friends took me upstairs to a bedroom, where I slept for a very long time. When I woke up, I felt much better.

I was soon well enough to talk to the people who had been so kind to me.

The names of the two young women were Diana and Mary Rivers. The young man was their brother, and his name was St John Rivers. He was a clergyman. He had fair hair and blue eyes, and was very good looking.

But his face was always serious, and he did not often laugh or smile. He planned to go to India to work.

Diana and Mary were much friendlier than their brother, but I didn't want to tell them about Mr Rochester. 'I have no family of my own.' I said. 'My parents are dead. I went to Lowood School, and after I left I went to work as a governess. I had to leave suddenly, but I have done nothing wrong. Please believe me.'

'Don't worry, Jane, we believe you,' said Diana. 'Don't talk any more now.

You are tired.'

'You will want to find some work,' said St John. 'Yes, and as soon as possible,' I replied.

'Good,' he said. 'Then I will help you.'

Diana and Mary went back to work at their teaching jobs in the south of England soon afterwards. St John asked me to teach the children who lived near his church. The school was very small and the children were very poor,but I enjoyed my work.

I lived in a small cottage near the school. I did not have much money, and I saw very few people, but St John often came to see me, and gave me books to read. My life was very quiet, but I was happy, except for when I thought about Mr Rochester.

I knew that I would always love him.