Salta il testo dell’articolo
I . The Red Room There was no possibility of taking a walk that day . It had rained since lunch . A cold winter wind had brought dark clouds over the house , so nobody could go out . I was glad of it , because I never liked long walks on cold afternoons . I hated coming home in the grey evening with frozen fingers and a heavy heart , while Bessie , the nurse , scolded me all the way . My name is Jane Eyre , and at that time I was ten years old . I lived at Gateshead Hall with my aunt , Mrs Reed , and her three children , Eliza , John and Georgiana . My parents had both died when I was a baby . My uncle , Mr Reed , who was my mother’s brother , had brought me to his house . Before he died , he made his wife promise that she would bring me up as one of her own children . She kept the promise in words , but not in her heart , and her children followed her example . That afternoon the others sat round their mother by the fire in the drawing room . I was not allowed to join them . Mrs Reed said that she would keep me apart until I learned to be more cheerful and pleasant , like a proper child . So I took a book with pictures of birds from the shelf , climbed into the window seat and drew the red curtain . There , hidden from everyone , with the rain on the glass beside me , I was happy for a while . It did not last , because the door opened and my cousin John came in looking for me . He was fourteen , a large , heavy boy who ate too much and studied too little . He bullied me all the time . Nobody in the house ever stopped him , and the servants did not dare to say a word against him . “ Where is that rat ? ” he shouted , and his sister Eliza looked in and told him where I was . He made me come out and stand in front of him , and for a moment he put out his tongue at me . Then , without a word , he struck me hard on the face . “ That is for your rudeness to Mama , ” he said , “ and for hiding like a thief behind the curtain . What were you doing there ? ” “ I was reading , ” I said , and when he asked for the book , I gave it to him . “ You have no right to take our books , ” he said . “ Mama says you have no money , because your father left you nothing . You ought to beg in the street instead of living here with us . Now go and stand by the door . ” I did not know what he planned , but I did as he said . Then I saw him lift the book , and I tried to move away , but it was too late . The heavy book hit me . I fell against the door and cut my head , so that the blood ran down my face and the pain was sharp . Suddenly I was not afraid of him any longer .
Indietro Pagina 1 di 31 Pagina 1 di 31 Avanti Continua a leggere con le traduzioni Crea un account gratuito: 7 giorni di Pro, poi 20 traduzioni di parole al giorno oppure un piano a pagamento.
