It was a dark winter's day in London. A yellow, thick fog hung over the streets. A cab was driving slowly. In that cab, an odd-looking little girl sat with her father.
The girl was looking out of the window at the people with a strange thoughtfulness in her big eyes. Such look was unusual for such a small child. In fact, Sara Crewe was only seven. And she could not remember any time she was not thinking about grown-ups and the world around her. She felt much older than she actually was.
“Papa,” she said in a low, mysterious little voice, “papa.”
“What is it, darling?” Captain Crewe answered and looked down into her face. “What is Sara thinking of?”
“Is this the place?” Sara whispered and moved closer to him. “Is it, papa?”
“Yes, little Sara, it is. Here we are at last.” She was only seven years old, but she knew that he felt sad when he said it.
She was born in India, and “the place,” as she always called it, was a boarding school in England. She saw other children being sent there. She saw their parents get letters from them. And she knew that one day she will go there, too.
She never knew her mother, because she died when Sara was born. Her only family in the world was her father. A young, good-looking, rich man. He loved his daughter very much and did everything for her. And Sara was very sad that her father could not stay with her in the school.
“Couldn't you go to that place with me, papa?” she asked when she was five years old. “Couldn't you go to school, too? I would help you with your lessons.”
“But you will not have to stay for a very long time, little Sara,” he used to answer her. “You will go to a nice house where there will be a lot of little girls, and you will play together. I will send you many books, and you will grow so fast that it will seem less than a year before you are big enough and can take care of papa.”
They got out of the cabin and saw a row of big, boring, brick houses. One of the houses had a plate that said:
MISS MINCHIN,
Select Seminary for Young Ladies.
They came to the door and rang the bell. The door opened and they entered a well-furnished but quiet ugly room. Just right then Miss Minchin entered the room. She was very like her house, Sara felt:tall and boring, and respectable and ugly. She smiled, but her smile was cold.
“It will be a great privilege to have charge of such a beautiful and promising child, Captain Crewe,” she said, as she said to each papa and mamma who brought a child to her school.
“Just make sure she doesn't spend too much time with books. Make her ride her pony or go out and buy a new doll. She should play more with dolls.”
He explained to Miss Minchin that his lawyer Mr. Barrow would pay for everything. He would write to Sara twice a week. The last rule was simple toɔ:Sara gets anything she wants.
When he left, Sara was sitting on the floor of her sitting room. Not every girl at the school had her own room, but Sara did. When Miss Minchin sent her sister, Miss Amelia, to see what the child was doing, she found the door locked.
“What a weird child!” she said to her sister when she went downstairs again.
“She is a spoiled child, that's for sure,” answered Miss Minchin. “Sitting in her room in her ridiculously expensive clothes. Her father treats her like a little princess. Well, she will look like a princess at the head of the line when we take the schoolchildren to church on Sunday.”
Glossary
aɡain [ǝ'ɡen] – adv опять; вновь
answer ['a:nsǝ] – n ответ; v отвечать
ask [a:sk] – v спрашивать; просить
brinɡ (brouɡht, brouɡht) [brɪŋ] – v приносить; приводить
cab ['kkb] – n такси
come (came, come) [kʌm] – v приходить
downstairs [daun'steǝz] – adv вниз
enouɡh [ɪ'nʌf] – adv достаточно
enter ['entǝ] – v входить
explain [ɪk'spleɪn] – v объяснять
feel (felt, felt) [fi:l] – v чувствовать, ощущать
ɡo (went, ɡone) [ɡǝu] – v идти; ходить; становиться
lock [lɒk] – n замо́к; v запирать на замок; закрывать
lonɡ [lɒŋ] – adj длинный; долгий
odd [ɒd] – adj странный
parent ['peǝr(ǝ)nt] – n родитель
place [pleɪs] – n место; v помещать
remember [rɪ'membǝ] – v вспоминать, запоминать, помнить
rich [rɪʧ] – adj богатый
ride (rode, ridden) [raɪd] – v ездить (верхом); кататься; скользить; мчаться
school [sku:l] – n школа
seem [si:m] – v казаться
send (sent, sent) [send] – v посылать; отправлять
sit (sat, sat) [sɪt] – v садиться, сесть
slowly ['slǝuli] – adv медленно
sure ['ʃuǝ] – adj уверенный, убеждённый
thick [θɪk] – adj толстый; густой; тяжёлый
thouɡhtfulness ['θɔ:tfulnɪs] – n задумчивость; внимательность
uɡly ['ʌɡli] – adj некрасивый, уродливый, безобразный
whisper ['wɪspǝ] – n шёпот; v шептать
write (wrote, written) [raɪt] – v писать
