Escape!快逃！

Frederick Marryat

作者簡(jiǎn)介：

弗雷德里克·馬里亞特（Frederick Marryat），1792年7月10日出生于倫敦，1848年8月9日逝世于英格蘭諾?？丝さ奶m厄姆，英國(guó)海軍軍官，小說(shuō)家，狄更斯的友人，被譽(yù)為“海洋小說(shuō)的先驅(qū)”。

馬里亞特在14歲時(shí)加入了英國(guó)皇家海軍，并在世界許多地方服役，以卓越的表現(xiàn)而聞名，直到1830年退役時(shí)，他已獲得上校軍銜。隨后，他開始創(chuàng)作一系列冒險(xiǎn)小說(shuō)，這些作品以清晰直接的敘述風(fēng)格和源源不斷的幽默情節(jié)著稱。他還創(chuàng)作了許多兒童讀物，其中《新森林的孩子們》（The Children of the New Forest）講述了英格蘭內(nèi)戰(zhàn)的故事，是兒童文學(xué)的經(jīng)典之作。

作品簡(jiǎn)介：

1647年，貝弗利家的四個(gè)孩子——愛德華、漢弗萊、艾麗斯和小伊迪絲——正藏在新森林里。這時(shí)，英國(guó)國(guó)王正被關(guān)在獄中，全國(guó)各地都在打仗——克倫威爾的人和國(guó)王的人打仗。而如果你是支持國(guó)王的，你可就極度危險(xiǎn)了。孩子們的父親為國(guó)王作戰(zhàn)時(shí)犧牲了，他們的母親也死了，克倫威爾的士兵燒了他們的家，他們沒有錢，沒有食物，什么都沒有了。但是他們有一個(gè)真正的朋友——老雅各布·阿米蒂奇?，F(xiàn)在，在老雅各布的幫助下，他們必須學(xué)會(huì)靠土地生活——學(xué)習(xí)在森林里獵食，學(xué)習(xí)種菜，學(xué)習(xí)喂豬、養(yǎng)雞。但是到處都是克倫威爾的人，孩子們永遠(yuǎn)不能說(shuō)出他們姓貝弗利。

本文節(jié)選自《新森林的孩子們》第一章節(jié)，節(jié)選時(shí)有刪改。

One day in November 1647， JacobArmitage hurried through the New Forestto the house of Arnwood.

“You must leave this house immediately，”he said to Edward Beverley.“Come with me to pack your things. Youmust come to my home and stay there.”

“But why， Jacob？” Edward asked theold man“. Why？”

“The King has escaped from his prison at Hampton Court，” Jacob explained.“Hes riding south through theforest， and Cromwells soldiers are searchingfor him. And Ive just heard a group ofsoldiers in the forest—they were talkingabout Arnwood. They know that your fatherwas the Kings friend， and theyre planningto burn Arnwood tonight， because theythink the King is hiding here.”

“Burn Arnwood！ They cant do that！Its my house， and Im staying here！”Edward said angrily. He was fourteen yearsold， the oldest of the four Beverleychildren.

The Beverley children lived alone atArnwood， with an old woman who did thecooking and all the work of the house.Their father， Colonel Beverley， was killedwhile fighting for King Charles Ⅰ atNaseby in 1645. Before he left home， heasked Jacob， a poor forester who lived nearArnwood， to look after his family. Jacobknew the family well and was happy to dothis. And when the childrens mother dieda few months later， Jacob came every dayto visit the children and to help them.

“My dear boy，” Jacob said，“ rememberyour sisters and brother. The soldierswill shoot them， or burn them in the house.No， no， you must all come with me.”

In the end， Edward agreed. He andhis brother Humphrey， who was twelve，packed their things. Then they put themon Jacobs horse， White Billy， who waswaiting outside.

Jacob told Alice， who was eleven， andEdith， who was eight， that they were goingto visit his home in the forest. He did nottell them about the soldiers.

“Edward， here is my key，” said Jacobquietly.“ Lock the door of the house， andtake my gun from the wall. Don＇t leaveyour brother and sisters. I＇ll help the cookto pack her things， and then I＇ll followyou.”

The four children left the big houseand went into the forest with White Billy. Itwas five o＇clock in the afternoon， andalready dark. Jacob helped the cook， whohurried away to her family in Lymington，and then he hid in the trees near the house，and waited.

After a while， he heard horses， andthe Parliamentary soldiers arrived. Soonthey were in the gardens and all around thehouse. A few minutes later Jacob saw blacksmoke going up into the sky; then he sawflames at the windows. Arnwood wasburning！

“It is done，” thought Jacob， and hehurried away into the forest. In half anhour， he arrived at his cottage. He lookedback and saw the flames of Arnwoodshooting higher and higher above the trees.

When he knocked on his door， Edwardopened it and came out with Smoker，Jacobs big dog.

“My sisters are asleep in bed，” Edwardtold Jacob. Then Edward saw theflames of Arnwood and the angry red lightbetween the trees， and he was silent.

“I told you，” Jacob said. “The soldiersdidnt look for you in the housebefore they burnt it.”

“Arnwood is my house！” said Edwardangrily. “And when Im a man， Ill fightCromwells soldiers for this！”

“Perhaps you will，” Jacob said quietly.“But lets go inside now. Its a cold night.”

Edward slowly followed Jacob into thecottage. He hated Cromwell and the Parliamentarysoldiers. First， they killed his father，and now they burnt his house. He laydown on the bed， but he did not sleep.

Reading Check

1. Why did Jacob Armitage urgeEdward Beverley to leave Arnwoodimmediately？

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2. How are the Beverley children relatedto the King＇s cause， and why are theyin danger？

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3. Who has been taking care of theBeverley children since their parents＇passing？

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4. What was Edward＇s reaction whenhe saw the flames of Arnwood after it wasset fire by the soldiers？

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