英语听力：雾都孤儿 09. Oliver starts another life听力原文
9 Oliver starts another lifeIn a comfortable, pleasant sitting－room, the two ladies of
the house waited anxiously for the doctor and the police to
arrive. The owner of the house, Mrs Maylie, was an older
woman, but her niece, Rose, was a girl of seventeen, whose
quiet beauty and gentle charm won all hearts.
As soon as the doctor arrived, he ran breathlessly into the
house and burst into the room without knocking. He was clearly
a good friend of the ladies.
'I never heard of such a dreadful thing! You should both be
dead of fright! he said to Mrs May lie. 'In the silence of the
night, too! Are you both all right? Why didn't you send for me
at once? '
'We are quite all right, said Rose, smiling. 'But there's an
injured boy upstairs whom aunt wants you to see. '
Dr Losberne went up to examine Oliver, and was there for some
time He came down looking rather puzzled, and asked the two
ladies to see the boy with him.
'I can promise you there's nothing very frightening about him,
'he said.
Instead of the evil－looking robber they expected to see, the
two ladies found only a pale, thin child, lying peacefully
asleep.
He looked to innocent that Mrs Maylie said, 'This child could
never have been in a gang of robbers! '
'It certainly seems strange, agreed the doctor, 'but
wickedness can hide behind the most gentle face, you know. '
'But he's so young, too! ' cried Rose. 'Can you really believe
this poor boy is a criminal? Oh, Dr Losberne, and my dear
aunt, I beg you both to have pity on him. '
Mrs Maylie did not need persuading, and the doctor could not
resist Rose's tears. He had, in fact, an extremely kind heart,
which he tried to hide behind a quick, fierce manner- though
this usually deceived no one.
'Well, what's to be done, then? ' he said quickly. 'We'll have
the police here at any moment, ready to take the boy away and
throw him into prison! '
Rose begged him to think of a plan, and the doctor thought
hard for a few minutes, frowning fiercely. At last he said,
'I've got it! ' and rubbed his hand s together in
satisfaction.
A little later, Oliver woke up and was very anxious to tell
his story, although he had lost a lot of blood and was very
weak. When the doctor and the ladies had heard all about his
sad life, They were quite sure that they wanted to save O
liver from any unfair punishment. So Dr Losberne went down
to the kitchen to talk to the three servants who had surprised
Sikes and Oliver during the robbery. The doctor folded his
arms and gave the men a long, hard stare.
'Tell me, ' he began, can you be absolutely sure that the boy
upstairs is the same one that was in the house last night?
Well? '
The doctor, usually such a friendly man, seemed so angry that
the servants stared at him, open-mouthed. The doctor gave them
no time to think, and went on fiercely,
‘Three men see a boy for about a second in the dark, in the
middle of a lot of smoke and noise. A boy comes to the same
house the next day and because one arm is injured, They think
he must be the robber. Are you going to swear that this is the
same boy? Well? What do you say? ' he finished impatiently.
The servants looked at each other in great confusion.
Suddenly there was a ring at the gate; the police officers had
finally arrived. Dr Losberne gave orders that plenty of beer
should be served before the officers went up to see Oliver. He
also made sure that the servants had a generous amount of
beer, too.
When the Officers were finally allowed to see Oliver, Dr
Losberne said, 'This is a boy who was shot this morning while
walking on a farmer's property where he shouldn't have been.
The servants saw him and immediately thought he must be the
same boy from last night. But now they say they're sure it's
not the same boy. '
The servants were by now so confused by beer and excitement
that They were not sure of anything at all． The robbers had
certainly had a boy with them, They said, but whether this boy
was the same boy… well, it seemed very doubtful. The police,
too, had drunk quite a lot of beer by now, and before long
They were very willing to believe that Oliver was not the
robber of the night before. They had their own ideas about who
committed all the robberies in the area, and Oliver was
unknown to them.
At last the police left, and Oliver was allowed to recover in
the kind care of Mrs May lie, Rose, and Dr Losberne. It was
several weeks before he was well enough to get out of bed. But
then he quickly grew stronger, and every day told his rescuers
how grateful he was. One thing, however, caused him
unhappiness. He wanted to find Mr Brown low , the kind old man
who had looked after him in London. 'Mr Brown low would be
pleased to know how happy I am now, 'he said. So when Dr
Losberne offered to take Oliver to London to see Mr Brown low
, the boy was very pleased.
They set out by coach one fine morning, and when They arrived
in London, They went straight to Mr Brown low 's house.
Oliver's heart beat with excitement as They stopped outside.
But the house was empty. They were told by the people next
door that Mr Brown low had moved to the West Indies six weeks
before. Oliver was very disappointed; he had thought about Mr
Brown low so much recently, and had always hoped to find him
again. But now the kind old man had moved abroad, still
believing Oliver was a lying thief, and he might hold this
belief until the day he died.
This was a bitter disappointment to O liver, but his new
friends were still as kind to him as ever. They left the house
in Chertsey and moved to a quiet cottage it the country,
taking Oliver with them. Spring came, and in the fresh air,
away from the noise and smoke and trouble of the city, Oliver
began a new life. He went for walks with Rose and Mrs May lie,
or Rose read to him, and he worked hard at his lessons. He
felt as if he had left behind forever the world of crime and
hardship and poverty. **** 作者被禁止或删除 内容自动屏蔽 ****
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