LESSON 77

HOLDING THE FORT

守住堡垒

1．While Genie was walking slowly down street one day, she heard an odd rapping on the pavement^〔1〕 behind her. Looking round, she saw Rob Grey hobbling on crutches^〔2〕

2．"Why, what is the matter?" cried Genie. "I haven't seen you for a week, and now you are walking in that way."

3．"I shall have to walk in this way as much as a week longer, Genie. I sprained^〔3〕 my ankle by stopping too quick—no, not too quick, either, for there was something in my way."

"What was it?" asked Genie

4．"One of the Commandments^〔4〕," replied Rob. "You remember how that lecturer^〔5〕 talked to us about 'holding the fort'? Well, I thought I should like to do it; but it's a pretty long war, you know—all a lifetime, and no vacations^〔6〕—furloughs^〔7〕, I think they call them."

5．"If there was nothing to fight, we should not need to be soldiers," said Genie

6．"Well, I thought I would try; but the first day, when we came out of the schoolhouse, Jack Lee snatched my books out of my hand, and threw them into the mud

7．"I started after him as fast as I could run. I meant to throw him where he had thrown the books, when, all of a sudden, I thought of the Commandment about returning good for evil

8．"I stopped short—so short, that, somehow, my foot twisted under me. So, you see, it was one of the commandments."

9．"If one must stumble at them, it is a good thing to fall on the right side," said Genie, with a wise nod of her head

10．"The whole thing puzzles me, and makes me feel—well, like giving it up," said Rob. "It might have served me right when I was chasing Jack; but when I thought of the Commandment, I really tried to do the right thing."

11．"You did do it, Rob," said Genie. "You 'held the fort' that time. Why, don't you see—you are only a wounded^〔8〕 soldier."

12．"I never thought of that," said Rob. "If I believe that way—” He began to whistle, and limped off to school without finishing the sentence. But Genie knew, by the way he behaved^〔9〕 that day, that he had made up his mind to hold the fort.

【中文阅读】

1．有一天，吉妮在街上慢慢走着，忽然听到后面人行道上传来奇怪的敲击声。回头一看，原来是罗伯·格雷拄着拐杖一瘸一拐地走过来。

2．“怎么了？发生了什么事？”吉妮不禁失声喊道。“一个星期没见你，你走路怎么这个样子？”

3．“接下来至少一个星期我都得这样走路，吉妮。我太快停下来，所以摔坏了膝盖。不，也不是因为停得太快，是因为有东西挡了我的路。”

4．“就是其中一条戒律，”罗伯继续说，“你记得老师跟我们讲过的‘守住堡垒’那条戒律吗？啊，我那时想我应该这么做；可是你知道，这是一场持久战——整整一生，没有假期——暂时的休息都不行，我想他们是这么说的。”

5．“如果没有什么需要我们为之战斗，那么我们就不需要成为战士了。”吉妮说。

6．“嗯，我想我会试着去做；但是我们离开校舍的第一天，杰克·李忽然把我手里的书抢了过去，丢在烂泥地里。”

7．“我马上跑去追他，满脑子想着要抓到他，把他推到扔我书的那块烂泥地里。可是忽然间，我想起了‘以德报怨’那条戒律。”

8．“我突然停住脚步——那么突然，不知道为什么就把脚给扭了。所以，你看，就是一条戒律把我绊倒的。”

9．“如果一个人必须被戒律绊倒，那么倒向正确的一边也是一件好事。”吉妮一边说，一边睿智地点头。

10．“这件事情让我困惑，使我想要，嗯，想要放弃，”罗伯说，“如果是在我追杰克的时候摔倒，我能想得通，可是当我想起戒律的时候，我是真想做正确的事情啊。”

11．“罗伯，你确实做了正确的事情，”吉妮说，“那一刻你守住了堡垒。怎么，你还不明白吗——只不过你是一名负伤的战士。”

12．“我从来没这么想过，”罗伯说，“要是我这么想的话……”他吹起了口哨，抬起脚一瘸一拐地往学校走去，话也没说完。但是吉妮明白，从罗伯那天的举动就知道，他已经下定决心，要“守住城堡”。

注释

〔1〕Pavement, a walk covered with brick or other hard material.

〔2〕Crutches, long sticks with crosspieces at the top, to aid lame persons in walking.

〔3〕Sprained, injured by wrenching or twisting.

〔4〕Commandments, holy laws recorded in the Bible.

〔5〕Lecturer, a public speaker.

〔6〕Vacations, the time between two school terms.

〔7〕Furloughs, a soldier's leave of absense

〔8〕Wounded, hurt, injured

〔9〕Behaved, acted.