Katherine Mansfield The Dolls House
Рассказ на адаптированном английском. Уровень сложности средний (intermediate).
When old Mrs Hay went dorsum to town later on staying with the Burnells, she sent the children a doll's house. The doll's firm was so big that two men had to conduct it. Information technology stood outside the Burnells' house, on two boxes. The doll'southward business firm was safe exterior; it was summer. It smelled of paint. Perhaps when winter came, and they had to behave it inside, the smell would exist gone. Because, really, the odor was awful.
'It was sweet of erstwhile Mrs Hay to give the children a present; most sweet and kind,' said the children'due south Aunt Beryl when they unpacked the doll's house. 'But the scent of paint is enough to make anyone seriously ill.'
The doll's firm was green, nighttime and oily, and bright yellow. There was a door, yellowish and shiny, and at that place were four windows, real windows.
But what a perfect, perfect petty house! Who could possibly exist worried about the smell? It was part of the feeling of happiness, part of the newness.
'Open up it quickly, someone!'
At first, they could not open it, it was too strong and new, but at last, the whole house front opened. And there you were, staring direct into the rooms, the living-room, the dining-room, the kitchen and the two bedrooms. That is the fashion for a house to open! Why don't all houses open similar that? Information technology was much more exciting than just looking in through a narrow front door!
'Oh-oh!' The girls' cries sounded most sad. The doll's house was too wonderful; information technology was too much for the Burnell children. They had never seen anything like it in their lives. In that location were pictures on the wall. Ruby carpet covered all the floors except the kitchen. There were red chairs in the living-room and light-green chairs in the dining-room, there were tables, and beds with real covers, at that place was a cooker, and shelves with tiny plates and a jug.
But more than anything, Kezia liked the lamp. The lamp stood in the middle of the dining-room table, a little yellow and white lamp.
The father and mother dolls, who sabbatum stiffly in the living-room, and their two little children asleep upstairs, were actually too big for the doll's house. They didn't look every bit if they belonged in that location. Only the lamp was perfect. It seemed to smile at Kezia, to say: 'I live here.' The lamp was existent.
♦
The Burnell children could hardly walk fast enough to schoolhouse the adjacent morning time. They wanted to tell everybody, proudly to depict their doll's business firm earlier the school bong rang.
'I'll tell them,' said Isabel, 'because I'm the eldest. And yous two tin join in after. But I'yard going to tell get-go.'
There was nothing to answer. Isabel was always correct, and Lottie and Kezia knew this. Then they walked along the road to school and said cypher.
'And and so I'll choose who'south going to come and meet it first. Female parent said I could bring someone.'
Their mother had told them that they could enquire the girls from school to come up and look at the doll'southward house, while information technology stood outside. The girls could come up two at a time. They could not stay for tea, or come up into the house, though. But they could stand quietly outside, while Isabel pointed to all the cute things in the doll's firm, and Lottie and Kezia looked pleased…
Simply even though they hurried to school, the bell was ringing as they arrived at the gate. They didn't have time to tell the others about the doll's house, later on all. Merely Isabel looked very important and whispered behind her manus to the girls most her, 'Got something to tell you at playtime.'
Playtime came and the girls surrounded Isabel. The girls in her form nearly fought to put their arms around her, to walk away with her, to exist her special friend. Isabel stood under the trees and the little girls pressed up close. And the just two who stayed outside the group were the little Kelveys. But they were ever on the outside. They knew better than to come anywhere nearly the Burnells.
The fact was, the school was not actually the kind of schoolhouse that the Burnells wanted their children to go to. But it was the but schoolhouse for miles. And then all the children in the neighbourhood, rich and poor, went there. Just the Kelveys were different from all the residue. Many of the parents, including the Burnells, even told their children that they must not speak to the Kelveys. And so the other girls, led by the Burnells, walked past the Kelveys with their noses in the air. Even the teacher had a special vox for the Kelveys, and a special grin for the other children when Lil Kelvey brought her a bunch of distressing-looking flowers.
The Kelveys were the daughters of a hard-working petty woman who went from firm to firm washing people'due south clothes. This was awful plenty. But where was Mr Kelvey? Nobody knew for certain. Just everybody said he was in prison. Very overnice friends for other people's children! And their appearance! People said that they couldn't understand why Mrs Kelvey dressed her children in such foreign wearing apparel. The truth was that the people Mrs Kelvey worked for sometimes gave her old things that they did not need. She used these things to dress her children.
Lil Kelvey, the older girl, for instance, came to school in a skirt made from the Burnells' old dark-green tablecover, and a blouse made from the Logans' old scarlet curtains. Her chapeau used to belong to Miss Lecky, who worked in the post office. Lil really looked very funny — it was impossible non to express mirth at her. And her little sis, Else, wore a long white wearing apparel and a pair of little male child'southward boots. But Else looked strange all the time. She was small and thin, with very short hair, and enormous eyes. Nobody had ever seen her smile, and she rarely spoke. She spent her life holding on to Lil, a piece of Lil'due south brim held tight in her hand. Where Lil went, Else followed.
Now, they stood on the border of the group of girls; you couldn't stop them listening. When the little girls turned round and looked at them coldly, Lil, as usual, gave her empty-headed smile, merely Else only looked.
And Isabel'south phonation, very proud, continued telling. The girls were excited when they heard most the carpet, and the beds with real covers, and the cooker with an oven door.
When she had finished, Kezia said, 'Y'all've forgotten the lamp, Isabel.'
'Oh yes,' said Isabel, 'and in that location's a little lamp, all made of yellow drinking glass, that stands on the dining-room table. It looks just similar a existent one.'
'The lamp's best of all,' cried Kezia. She thought Isabel wasn't telling the girls enough about the footling lamp. Only nobody was listening to her, because now Isabel was choosing two girls to come dorsum with them after school and look at the doll's house. She chose Emmie Cole and Lena Logan. But when the others knew that they were all going to accept a take a chance to come across the doll's house, they were very, very nice to Isabel. One by one, they put their artillery around Isabel's waist and walked abroad with her. They had something to whisper to her, a secret, 'Isabel'due south my friend.' Only the piffling Kelveys moved abroad, forgotten — at that place was null more for them to hear.
♦
Days passed, and more than and more than children saw the doll's firm. It was all they talked nearly.
'Accept you seen the Burnells' doll's house?'
'Oh, isn't information technology lovely!'
'Haven't you lot seen it notwithstanding? Oh, dear!'
Even in the lunch hr, they talked about it. The little girls sat under the copse eating their thick meat sandwiches and big pieces of cake. All the time, the Kelveys were sitting as near equally they could. They listened as well, picayune Else property on to Lil, as they ate their jam sandwiches out of a newspaper.
♦
'Mother,' said Kezia, 'tin can't I ask the Kelveys but once?'
'Certainly non, Kezia.'
'Only why not?'
'Run abroad, Kezia, you know quite well why not.'
♦
At last, everybody had seen the doll's business firm except the Kelveys. On that day, the little girls were non quite so interested in the subject. Information technology was the dejeuner hr. The children were continuing together nether the copse. All of a sudden, as they looked at the Kelveys, eating out of their paper, always by themselves, e'er listening, they wanted to be nasty to them. Emmie Cole started the whisper.
'Lil Kelvey'due south going to exist a servant when she grows upward.'
'O-oh, how awful!' said Isabel Burnell, and she looked back at Emmie with very wide eyes.
Emmie swallowed and nodded to Isabel. She had often seen her mother swallow and nod like that at like times.
'It's truthful — it'south true — information technology's truthful,' she said.
Lena Logan looked very interested. 'Shall I ask her?' she whispered.
'Yous wouldn't,' said Jessie May.
'Pooh, I'chiliad not frightened,' said Lena. Suddenly, she jumped up and danced in front of the other girls. 'Watch! Picket me! Sentinel me at present!' said Lena. And moving slowly along, laughing behind her hand, and looking dorsum at the others, Lena went over to the Kelveys.
Lil looked up from her lunch. She put the residuum of her jam sandwich away apace. Else also stopped eating. What was coming now?
'Is it true you lot're going to exist a servant when you lot grow upward, Lil Kelvey?' Lena cried.
Expressionless silence. But instead of answering, Lil only gave her silly smile. The question didn't seem to worry her at all. Poor Lena!
Her friends smiled at each other and even began to express joy a little.
Lena got angry. She moved closer to Lil and Else and spoke to them through her teeth. 'Yah, your fathers in prison!' she said, quite clearly.
This was such a wonderful thing to say that the piffling girls all rushed away, deeply, securely excited, and wild with happiness. Someone found a long rope and they began skipping. And they had never skipped and so high, or run in and out of ropes so fast before.
In the afternoon, the Burnell children went dwelling house. There were visitors. Isabel and Lottie liked visitors, and then they ran upstairs to change their apparel. But Kezia quietly went out of the back of the business firm. There was nobody at that place. She climbed onto the big white gates.
Presently, she saw ii small shapes coming along the road towards her. Now she could see that one was in front and ane close backside. Now she could see that they were the Kelveys. Kezia jumped down from the gate. She started to run away, but then she changed her mind. She stopped and waited. The Kelveys came nearer, and beside them walked their shadows, very long. Kezia climbed back onto the gate. The Kelveys were coming nearer.
'How-do-you-do,' she said as they passed her.
They were then surprised that they stopped walking. Lil gave her light-headed smile. Else stared.
'You tin come and come across our doll's business firm if you lot want to,' said Kezia.
Only Lil'southward face turned red and she shook her head chop-chop.
'Why not?' asked Kezia.
Lil opened her mouth. At start, she said nothing, then she said, 'Your mother told our female parent that you mustn't speak to us.'
'Oh, well,' said Kezia. She didn't know what to say. 'It doesn't matter. Yous can come up and see our doll'south house all the aforementioned. Come on. Nobody'south looking.'
But Lil shook her head still harder.
'Don't you lot want to?' asked Kezia.
Suddenly, something pulled at Lil'south skirt. She turned round. Else was looking at her with large optics, she was looking worried, she wanted to go with Kezia. For a moment, Lil looked dorsum at Else. But then Else gave her skirt a fiddling pull again. So Lil started forward. Kezia led the way. They followed her, similar two little lost cats, to where the doll's firm stood.
'There information technology is,' said Kezia.
There was a intermission. Lil breathed very loudly; Else was still as rock.
'I'll open information technology for you,' said Kezia kindly. She opened the front of the doll's firm and they all looked within.
'There'due south the living-room and the dining-room, and that'due south the…'
'Kezia!'
It was Aunt Beryl's vocalisation. They turned around. Aunt Beryl stood at the back door, staring as if she could not believe what she saw.
'How dare you lot invite the little Kelveys to come here!' Aunt Beryl said. Her vocalisation was cold and very aroused. 'Kezia, you know very well that you must not talk to them. Run abroad, children, run away at in one case. And don't come up dorsum again.' And she came out and chased them out as if she were chasing chickens.
'Off you lot go, immediately!' she called, cold and proud.
She didn't demand to tell them more than in one case. Their faces were burning, red with shame, and they tried to make themselves very small. Lil hurried off, and Else, looking every bit if she did not quite understand what was happening, followed her.
'Y'all disobedient lilliputian girl!' said Aunt Beryl to Kezia. She turned and shut upwards the doll'south house quickly and noisily.
Beryl'due south afternoon had been atrocious. She had received a very frightening letter of the alphabet from Willie Brent. He wanted to meet her that evening; he wanted to meet her secretly. If she did not appear, he wrote, he would come up to the house and ask for her. He would tell her family unit all well-nigh their hush-hush meetings!
But now, afterwards frightening the little Kelvey girls and shouting angrily at Kezia, she suddenly felt much improve. Her heart felt lighter. She went back into the business firm, singing a little vocal to herself.
After the Kelveys had gone quite a long way from the Burnells' house, they sat downwardly to residual at the side of the road. Lil'southward cheeks were still called-for! She took off her lid and held it on her knee. Silently, they looked across the fields, past the river, to the group of trees where Logan'due south cows were standing. What were their thoughts?
Presently, Else moved closer to her sis. Past now she had forgotten the angry lady. She put out a finger, touched her sister'south hat and smiled her rare smile.
'I did see the little lamp,' she said softly.
Then they were both silent in one case more.
Katherine Mansfield The Dolls House,
Source: https://lingvanord.info/katherine-mansfield-the-dolls-house-rasskaz/
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