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埃莉诺波特英语故事黑衣女人・H・The Lady in Blackby Eleanor H.PorterOur storytoday iscalled The Lady in Black//It was written by EleanorH.Porter.Here isFaith Lapiduswith the story.The housewas verystill.In the little roomover theporch,the Lady in Blacksat alone.Near her,a childswhitedress lay across a chair.On thefloor ather feetlaya tiny pairof shoes.A dollhung overachairanda toysoldier occupiedthe littlestand bythe bed.And everywherewas silence—the strangesilence thatcomes onlyto aroom where the clockhas stoppedticking.The clockstood on the shelfnearthe endof the bed.The Lady in Blacklooked atit.She rememberedthewave of anger thathad comeover herwhen shehad reachedout herhand andsilenced theclock thatnightthree monthsbefore.It hadbeen silenteversince andit shouldremain silent,too.Of whatpossible usewere thehours itwouldtick awaynow Asif anythingmattered,with littleKathleen lyingout therewhite andstill under the blackearth!HMuvver!The Lady in Blackmoved restlesslyand lookedtoward theclosed door.Behind it,she knew,was a littleboy withwide blueeyes whowanted her.But shewished hewould notcall herby thatname.It onlyremindedher ofthose otherlittle lips-silent now.Muvver!The voicewas moredemanding.The Lady in Blackdid not answer.He mightgo away,she thought,if shedid notanswer.There was a shortsilence,and thenthe dooropened slowly.Pe-eek!H It was a cry ofjoyful discovery,but itwas followedalmost immediatelyby silence.Theunsmiling womandid notinvite himto comenear.The boywas unsteadyat hisfirst step.He paused,then spokecarefully,Ts-here.It wasmaybe theworst thinghe couldhave said.To the Ladyin Black itwas ayet morepainful reminderofthat otherone who was notthere.She gavea sharpcry and covered her face withher hands.Bobby,Bobby“she criedout,in arelease ofunreasoning sadness.Go away!Go away!I wantto bealone-alone!All thebrightness fledfrom the boys face.His eyesshowed afeeling ofdeep hurt.He waited,but shedidnot move.Then,with ahalf-quieted cry,he leftthe room.Long minutesafterward,the Ladyin Blackraised her head andsaw himthrough thewindow.He wasinthe yard withhis father,playing underthe apple tree.Playing!The Ladyin Blacklooked at them withserious eyes,and hermouth hardenedat thecorners.Bobby hadsomeone toplay withhim,someone tolove himand carefor him,while outthere onthehillside Kathleenwas alone-all alone.With alittle crythe Ladyin Blacksprangto her feet and hurried into her own room.Her handsshook asshepinned onher hat andcoveredherself withher blackveil.But herstep wasfirm asshe walkeddownstairsand outthrough thehall.The manundertheappletreerose hurriedlyand cameforward.Helen,dearest,—not again,today!he begged.Darling,it cant do any good!But shesalone—all alone.You dontseem tothink!No onethinks—no oneknows howI feel.You dontunderstand.If youdid,youd comewith me.You wouldntask meto stay-here!choked thewoman.I havebeen with you,dear,”said the man gently.Ive beenwithyoutoday,and every day,almost,since-since she left us.But itcantdoanygood-this continuousmourning overher grave.It onlymakesmore sadnessforyou,for me,and forBobby.Bobby is—here,you know,dear!No,no,dont sayit,cried thewoman wildly.You dontunderstand!You dontunderstand!And sheturned andhurriedaway,followed bythe worriedeyes of the man,and thesad eyesof the boy.It was notalong walkto theburial place.The Ladyin Blackknew theway.Yet,she stumbledand reachedoutblindly.She fellbefore alittle stonemarked Kathleen.n Nearher agray-haired woman,with herhandsfull ofpink andwhite roses,watched hersympathetically.The gray-haired womanpaused andopened her lipsas ifshe wouldspeak.Then sheturned slowlyand beganto arrangeher flowerson agravenearby.The Ladyin Blackraised herhead.Fora timeshe watchedin silence.Then shethrew backher veilandspoke.You care,too,she saidsoftly.You understand.Tve seenyou herebefore,Im sure.And wasyours-alittle girl11The gray-haired woman shook herhead.No,dearie,its alittle boy-or hewasalittle boyforty yearsago.Forty years-so long!How couldyou havelived fortyyears-without himAgain thelittlewomanshookherhead.One hasto—sometimes,dearie,but thislittle boywasnt mine.But youcare.You understand.Ive seenyou hereso oftenbefore.Yes.You see,theres noone elseto care.But therewas once,and Imcaring now,for hersake.“For her”His mother.Oh-h!It wasa tenderlittle cry,full ofquick sympathy.The eyesof the Ladyin Black wereonthestonemarked Kathleen.HIt aintas ifI didn*t knowhow shedfeel/*said thegray-haired woman.You see,I wasnurse tothe boywhenit happened,and foryears afterwardI workedin thefamily.So I know.I sawthe wholething fromthebeginning,from theverydaywhen thelittle boyhere metwiththeaccident.Accident!It wasacryof concernand sympathyfrom Kathleens mother.Yes.It wasa runawayand hedidnt livetwo days.I know!I know!choked theLadyin Black.Yet shewasnotthinking of theboyand therunaway horseaccident.Things stoppedthen formy mistress/continued thelittle gray-haired woman,and thatwas thebeginningof theend.She hada husband andadaughter,but theydidnt seemto beimportant-not eitherofem.Nothin seemedimportantexcept thislittle graveout here.She came and spenthours overit,bringinflowers andtalkin toit.The LadyinBlackraised herhead suddenlyand quicklylooked intothe womansface.The womanwenton speaking.The housegot sadderand sadder,but she didnt seemto mind.She seemedto wantit so.She shutoutthe sunshine and putaway manyofthepictures.She satonly in the boysroom.And there,everythingwas justas itwas whenheleftit.She wouldntlet athing betouched.I wonderedafterward thatshedidnt seewhere itwas allleadin tobut shedidnt.zLeading toThe voiceshook.Yes.I wonderedshedidnt see shewas Iosinem-that husbandand daughter;but shedidntseeit.The LadyinBlacksat verystill.Even thebirds seemedto havestopped theirsinging.Then thegray-haired womanspoke:“So,you see,thats whyI comeand putflowers here.Its forher.Theres noone elsenow toca re/shesighed,rising toherfeet.But youhavent toldyet-what happened,said theLadyinBlack,softly.I dontknow myselfreally.Iknowthemanwent away.He gotsomethin todo travelinso hewasnthome much.When hedid comehe lookedsick andbad.He comeless andless,and hedied.But thatwasafter shedied.Hes buriedover therebeside herandtheboy.The girl-well,nobody knowswherethegirlis.Girls likeflowers andsunshineandlaughter andyoung people,you know,and shedidnt getany ofthemat home.So shewent—where shedid getem,I suppose.There,and ifI haventgone andtired youall outwith mytalkin!said thelittle gray-haired womanregretfully.No,no.I wasglad tohear it,said theLadyinBlack,rising unsteadilytoherfeet.Her facehad grownwh ite,a ndher eyesshowed asudden fear.But Imust gonow.Thank you.And sheturnedandhurriedaway.The housewas verystill whentheLadyinBlackreached home.She shiveredat itssilence.She hurriedupthe stairs,almost withguilt.In herownroomshe pulledatthedark veilthat coveredherface.Shewas cryingnow,a chokinglittle crywith brokenwords runningthrough it.She wasstill cryingas sheremovedher blackdress.Long minuteslater,theLady-in blackno longer-moved slowlydown thestairway.Her eyesshowedtraces oftears,but herlips werebravely curvedin asmile.She worea whitedress anda singlewhiterose inher hair.Behind her,inthelittle roomover theporch,atinyclock tickedloudly onits shelfneartheend ofthebed.There cameasound ofrunning feetinthehall below,then:Muvver!-its Muvvercome back!shouted ahappy voice.And withalittlesobbing cryBobby*smotheropenedherarms toherson.TheLadyinBlackwaswrittenbyEleanorH.Porter.Itwasadapted byLawan Daviswhowasalso theproducer.The storytellerwas FaithLapidus.Words inThis Storyporch-n,a structureattached tothe entranceofabuilding thathas aroof andthatmay ormay nothave wallsMuvver-n.childs pronunciationoftheword mother*afterward-adv.atalater time;after somethinghas happenedmourning-v.to feelor showgreat sadnessbecause someonehas diedrunaway-adj.a vehicleor animalmoving ina fastand dangerousway thatcannot becontrolled traces-n.a verysmall amountof something。