1、he shoutedHe did not see me behind the curtainEliza!Georgy!Jane isnt here!Tell Mamma shes run out into the rainwhat a bad animal she is!How lucky I drew the curtain,I thoughtHe would never have found me,because he was not very intelligentBut Eliza guessed at once where I wasShes in the window-seat,J
2、ohn,she called from the sitting-roomSo I came out immediately,as I did not want him to pull me outWhat do you want?I asked himSay,“What do you want,Master Reed”,he answered,sitting in an armchairI want you to come hereJohn Reed was fourteen and I was only tenHe was large and rather fatHe usually ate
3、 too much at meals,which made him illHe should have been at boarding school,but his mother,who loved him very much,had brought him home for a month or two,because she thought his health was delicateJohn did not love his mother or his sister,and he hated me He bullied and punished me,not two or three
4、 times a week,not once or twice a day,but all the timeMy whole body trembled when he came nearSometimes he hit me,sometimes he just threatened me,and I lived in terrible fear of himI had no idea about how to stop himThe servants did not want to offend their young master,and Mrs Reed could see no fau
5、lt in her dear boySo I obeyed Johns order and approached his armchair,thinking how very ugly his face wasPerhaps he understood what I was thinking,for he hit me hard on the faceThat is for your rudeness to Mamma just now,he said,and for your wickedness in hiding,and for looking at me like that,you r
6、at!I was so used to his bullying that I never thought of hitting him backWhat were you doing behind that curtain?he askedI was reading,I answeredShow me the bookI gave it to himYou have no right to take our books,he continuedYou have no money and your father left yor noneYou ought to beg in the stre
7、ets,not live here in comfort with a gentlemans familyAayway,all these books are mine,and so is the whole house,or will be in a few yearstimeIll teach you not to borrow my books againHe lifted the heavy book and threw it hard at meIt hit me and I fell,cutting my head on the doorI was in great pain,an
8、d suddenly for the first time in my life,I forgot my fear of John ReedYou wicked,cruel boy!I criedYou are a bully!You are as bad as a murderer!What!he criedDid she say that to me?Did you hear,Eliza and Georgiana?Ill tell Mamma,but firstHe rushed to attack me,but now he was fighting with a desperate
9、girlI really saw him as a wicked murdererI felt the blood running down my face,and the pain gave me strengthI fought back as hard as I couldMy resistance surprised him,and he shouted for helpHis sisters ran for Mrs Reed,who called her maid,Miss Abbott,and BessieThey pulled us apart and I heard them
10、say,What a wicked girl!She attacked Master John!Mrs Reed said calmly,Take her away to the red room and lock her in thereAnd so I was carried upstairs,arms waving and legs kickingAs soon as we arrived in the red room,I became quiet again,and the two servants both started scolding meReally,Miss Eyre,s
11、aid Miss Abbott,how could you hit him?Hes your young master!How can he be my master?I am not a servant!I criedNo,Miss Eyre,you are less than a servant,because you do not work,replied Miss AbbottThey both looked at me as if they strongly disapproved of meYou should remember,miss,said Bessie,that your
12、 aunt pays for your food and clothes,and you should be gratefulYou have no other relations or friendsAll my short life I had been told this,and I had no answer to itI stayed silent,listening to these painful remindersAnd if you are angry and rude,Mrs Reed may send you away,added BessieAnyway,God wil
13、l punish you,Jane Eyre,for your wicked heartPray to God,and say youre sorryThey left the room,locking the door carefully behind themThe red room was a cold,silent room,hardly ever used,although it was one of the largest bedrooms in the houseNine years ago,my uncle,Mr Reed,had died in this room,and s
14、ince then nobody had wanted to sleep in itNow that I was alone I thought bitterly of the people I lived withJohn Reed,his sisters,his mother,the servants,they all accused me,scolded me,hated meWhy could I never please them?Eliza was selfish,but was respectedGeorgiana had a bad temper,but she was pop
15、ular with everybody because she was beautiful John was rude,cruel and violent,but nobody punished himI tried to make no mistakes,but they called me,naughty every moment of the dayNow that I had turned against John to protect myself,everybody blamed meAnd so I spent that whole long afternoon in the r
16、ed room asking myself why I had to suffer and why life was so unfairPerhaps I would run away,or starve myself to deathGradually it became dark outsideThe rain was still beating on the windows,and I could hear the wind in the treesNow I was no longer angry,and I began to think the Reeds might be righ
17、tPerhaps I was wickedDid I deserve to die,and be buried in the churchyard like my uncle Reed?I could not remember him,but knew he was my mothers brother,who had taken me to his house when my parents both diedOn his death bed he had made his wife,aunt Reed,promise to look after me like her own childr
18、enI supposed she now regretted her promiseA strange idea came to meI felt sure that if Mr Reed had lived he would have treated me kindly,and now,as I looked round at the dark furniture and the walls in shadow,I began to fear that his ghost might come back to punish his wife for not keeping her promi
19、seHe might rise from the grave in the churchyard and appear in this room!I was so frightened by this thought that I hardly dared to breatheSuddenly in the darkness I saw a light moving on the ceilingIt may have been from a lamp outside,but in my nervous state I did not think of thatI felt sure it mu
20、st be a ghost,a visitor from another worldMy head was hot,my heart beat fastWas that the sound of wings in my ears?Was that something moving near me?Screaming wildly,I rushed to the door and shook itMiss Abbott and Bessie came running to open itMiss Eyre,are you ill?asked BessieTake me out of here!I
21、 screamedWhy?Whats the matter?she askedI saw a light,and I thought it was a ghost,I cried,holding tightly on to Bessies hands not even hurt,said Miss Abbott in disgustShe screamed just to bring us hereI know all her little tricksWhat is all this?demanded an angry voiceMrs Reed appeared at the door o
22、f the roomAbbott and Bessie,I think I told you to leave Jane Eyre in this room till I cameShe screamed so loudly,maam,said Bessie softlyLet go off her hands,Bessie,was Mrs Reeds only answerJane Eyre,you need not think you can succeed in getting out of the room like thisYour naughty tricks will not w
23、ork with meYou will stay here an hour longer as a punishment for trying to deceive usOh aunt,please forgive me!I cant bear it!I shall die if you keep me hereI screamed and kicked as she held meSilence!Control yourself!She pushed me,resisting wildly,back into the red room and locked me inThere I was
24、in the darkness again,with the silence and the ghostsI must have faintedI cannot remember anything more2 Leaving GatesheadI woke up to find the doctor lifting me very carefully into my own bedIt was good to be back in my familiar bedroom,with a warm fire and candle-lightIt was also a great relief to
25、 recognize Dr Lloyd,who Mrs Reed called in for her servants(she always called a specialist for herself and the children)He was looking after me so kindlyI felt he would protect me from Mrs ReedHe talked to me a little,then gave Bessie orders to take good care of meWhen he left,I felt very lonely aga
26、inBut I was surprised to find that Bessie did not scold me at allIn fact she was so kind to me that I became brave enough to ask a questionBessie,whats happened?Am I ill?Yes,you became ill in the red room,but youll get better,dont worry,Miss Jane,she answeredThen she went next door to fetch another servantI could hear her whisper
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