【英文文学】Wee Willie Winkie ; and other child stories.docx

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1、【英文文学】Wee Willie Winkie ; and other child storiesWee Willie WinkieHIS full name was Percival William Williams, but he picked up the other name in a nursery-book, and that was the end of the christened titles. His mothers ayah called him Willie-Baba, but as he never paid the faintest attention to any

2、thing that the ayah said, her wisdom did not help matters.His father was the Colonel of the 195th, and as soon as Wee Willie Winkie was old enough to understand what Military Discipline meant, Colonel Williams put him under it. There was no other way of managing the child. When he was good for a wee

3、k, he drew good-conduct pay; and when he was bad, he was deprived of his good-conduct stripe. Generally he was bad, for India offers many chances of going wrong to little six-year-olds.Children resent familiarity from strangers, and Wee Willie Winkie was a very particular child. Once he accepted an

4、acquaintance, he was graciously pleased to thaw. He accepted Brandis, a subaltern of the 195th, on sight. Brandis was having tea at the Colonels, and Wee Willie Winkie entered strong in the possession of a good-conduct badge won for not chasing the hens round the compound. He regarded Brandis with g

5、ravity for at least ten minutes, and then delivered himself of his opinion.I like you, said he slowly, getting off his chair and coming over to Brandis. I like you. I shall call you Coppy, because of your hair. Do you mind being called Coppy? It is because of ve hair, you know.Here was one of the mo

6、st embarrassing of Wee Willie Winkies peculiarities. He would look at a stranger for some time, and then, without warning or explanation, would give him a name. And the name stuck. No regimental penalties could break Wee Willie Winkie of this habit. He lost his good-conduct badge for christening the

7、 Commissioners wife Pobs; but nothing that the Colonel could do made the Station forego the nickname, and Mrs. Collen remained Pobs till the end of her stay. So Brandis was christened Coppy, and rose, therefore, in the estimation of the regiment.If Wee Willie Winkie took an interest in any one, the

8、fortunate man was envied alike by the mess and the rank and file. And in their envy lay no suspicion of self-interest. The Colonels son was idolised on his own merits entirely. Yet Wee Willie Winkie was not lovely. His face was permanently freckled, as his legs were permanently scratched, and in spi

9、te of his mothers almost tearful remonstrances he had insisted upon having his long yellow locks cut short in the military fashion. I want my hair like Sergeant Tummils, said Wee Willie Winkie, and, his father abetting, the sacrifice was accomplished.Three weeks after the bestowal of his youthful af

10、fections on Lieutenant Brandis henceforward to be called Coppy for the sake of brevity Wee Willie Winkie was destined to behold strange things and far beyond his comprehension.Coppy returned his liking with interest. Coppy had let him wear for five rapturous minutes his own big sword just as tall as

11、 Wee Willie Winkie. Coppy had promised him a terrier puppy; and Coppy had permitted him to witness the miraculous operation of shaving. Nay, more Coppy had said that even he, Wee Willie Winkie, would rise in time to the ownership of a box of shiny knives, a silver soap-box, and a silver-handled sput

12、terbrush, as Wee Willie Winkie called it. Decidedly, there was no one except his father, who could give or take away good-conduct badges at pleasure, half so wise, strong, and valiant as Coppy with the Afghan and Egyptian medals on his breast. Why, then, should Coppy be guilty of the unmanly weaknes

13、s of kissing vehemently kissing a big girl, Miss Allardyce to wit? In the course of a morning ride Wee Willie Winkie had seen Coppy so doing, and, like the gentleman he was, had promptly wheeled round and cantered back to his groom, lest the groom should also see.Under ordinary circumstances he woul

14、d have spoken to his father, but he felt instinctively that this was a matter on which Coppy ought first to be consulted.Coppy, shouted Wee Willie Winkie, reining up outside that subalterns bungalow early one morning I want to see you, Coppy!Come in, young un, returned Coppy, who was at early breakf

15、ast in the midst of his dogs. What mischief have you been getting into now?Wee Willie Winkie had done nothing notoriously bad for three days, and so stood on a pinnacle of virtue.Ive been doing nothing bad, said he, curling himself into a long chair with a studious affectation of the Colonels languo

16、r after a hot parade. He buried his freckled nose in a tea-cup and, with eyes staring roundly over the rim, asked: I say, Coppy, is it pwoper to kiss big girls?By Jove! Youre beginning early. Who do you want to kiss?No one. My muvvers always kissing me if I dont stop her. If it isnt pwoper, how was

17、you kissing Major Allardyces big girl last morning, by ve canal?Coppys brow wrinkled. He and Miss Allardyce had with great craft managed to keep their engagement secret for a fortnight. There were urgent and imperative reasons why Major Allardyce should not know how matters stood for at least anothe

18、r month, and this small marplot had discovered a great deal too much.I saw you, said Wee Willie Winkie calmly. But ve sais didnt see. I said, Hut jao!” Oh, you had that much sense, you young rip, groaned poor Coppy, half amused and half angry. And how many people may you have told about it?Only me m

19、yself. You didnt tell when I twied to wide ve buffalo ven my pony was lame; and I fought you wouldnt like.Winkie, said Coppy enthusiastically, shaking the small hand, youre the best of good fellows. Look here, you cant understand all these things. One of these days hang it, how can I make you see it

20、! Im going to marry Miss Allardyce, and then shell be Mrs. Coppy, as you say. If your young mind is so scandalised at the idea of kissing big girls, go and tell your father.What will happen? said Wee Willie Winkie, who firmly believed that his father was omnipotent.I shall get into trouble, said Cop

21、py, playing his trump card with an appealing look at the holder of the ace.Ven I wont, said Wee Willie Winkie briefly. But my faver says its un-man-ly to be always kissing, and I didnt fink youd do vat, Coppy.Im not always kissing, old chap. Its only now and then, and when youre bigger youll do it t

22、oo. Your father meant its not good for little boys.Ah! said Wee Willie Winkie, now fully enlightened. Its like ve sputter-brush?Exactly, said Coppy gravely.But I dont fink Ill ever want to kiss big girls, nor no one, cept my muvver. And I must vat, you know.There was a long pause, broken by Wee Will

23、ie Winkie.Are you fond of vis big girl, Coppy?Awfully! said Coppy.Fonder van you are of Bell or ve Butcha or me?Its in a different way, said Coppy. You see, one of these days Miss Allardyce will belong to me, but youll grow up and command the Regiment and all sorts of things. Its quite different, yo

24、u see.Very well, said Wee Willie Winkie, rising. If youre fond of ve big girl I wont tell any one. I must go now.Coppy rose and escorted his small guest to the door, adding Youre the best of little fellows, Winkie. I tell you what. In thirty days from now you can tell if you like tell any one you li

25、ke.Thus the secret of the Brandis-Allardyce engagement was dependent on a little childs word. Coppy, who knew Wee Willie Winkies idea of truth, was at ease, for he felt that he would not break promises. Wee Willie Winkie betrayed a special and unusual interest in Miss Allardyce, and, slowly revolvin

26、g round that embarrassed young lady, was used to regard her gravely with unwinking eye. He was trying to discover why Coppy should have kissed her. She was not half so nice as his own mother. On the other hand, she was Coppys property, and would in time belong to him. Therefore it behoved him to tre

27、at her with as much respect as Coppys big sword or shiny pistol.The idea that he shared a great secret in common with Coppy kept Wee Willie Winkie unusually virtuous for three weeks. Then the Old Adam broke out, and he made what he called a camp-fire at the bottom of the garden. How could he have fo

28、reseen that the flying sparks would have lighted the Colonels little hay-rick and consumed a weeks store for the horses? Sudden and swift was the punishment deprivation of the good-conduct badge and, most sorrowful of all, two days confinement to barracks the house and verandah coupled with the with

29、drawal of the light of his fathers countenance.He took the sentence like the man he strove to be, drew himself up with a quivering under-lip, saluted, and, once clear of the room, ran to weep bitterly in his nursery called by him my quarters. Coppy came in the afternoon and attempted to console the

30、culprit.Im under awwest, said Wee Willie Winkie mournfully, and I didnt ought to speak to you.Very early the next morning he climbed on to the roof of the house that was not forbidden and beheld Miss Allardyce going for a ride.Where are you going? cried Wee Willie Winkie.Across the river, she answer

31、ed, and trotted forward.Now the cantonment in which the 195th lay was bounded on the north by a river dry in the winter. From his earliest years, Wee Willie Winkie had been forbidden to go across the river, and had noted that even Coppy the almost almighty Coppy had never set foot beyond it. Wee Wil

32、lie Winkie had once been read to, out of a big blue book, the history of the Princess and the Goblins a most wonderful tale of a land where the Goblins were always warring with the children of men until they were defeated by one Curdie. Ever since that date it seemed to him that the bare black and p

33、urple hills across the river were inhabited by Goblins, and, in truth, every one had said that there lived the Bad Men. Even in his own house the lower halves of the windows were covered with green paper on account of the Bad Men who might, if allowed clear view, fire into peaceful drawing-rooms and

34、 comfortable bedrooms. Certainly, beyond the river, which was the end of all the Earth, lived the Bad Men. And here was Major Allardyces big girl, Coppys property, preparing to venture into their borders! What would Coppy say if anything happened to her? If the Goblins ran off with her as they did w

35、ith Curdies Princess? She must at all hazards be turned back.The house was still. Wee Willie Winkie reflected for a moment on the very terrible wrath of his father; and then broke his arrest! It was a crime unspeakable. The low sun threw his shadow, very large and very black, on the trim garden-path

36、s, as he went down to the stables and ordered his pony. It seemed to him in the hush of the dawn that all the big world had been bidden to stand still and look at Wee Willie Winkie guilty of mutiny. The drowsy sais gave him his mount, and, since the one great sin made all others insignificant, Wee W

37、illie Winkie said that he was going to ride over to Coppy Sahib, and went out at a foot-pace, stepping on the soft mould of the flower-borders.The devastating track of the ponys feet was the last misdeed that cut him off from all sympathy of Humanity. He turned into the road, leaned forward, and rod

38、e as fast as the pony could put foot to the ground in the direction of the river.But the liveliest of twelve-two ponies can do little against the long canter of a Waler. Miss Allardyce was far ahead, had passed through the crops, beyond the Police-posts, when all the guards were asleep, and her moun

39、t was scattering the pebbles of the river-bed as Wee Willie Winkie left the cantonment and British India behind him. Bowed forward and still flogging, Wee Willie Winkie shot into Afghan territory, and could just see Miss Allardyce, a black speck, flickering across the stony plain. The reason of her

40、wandering was simple enough. Coppy, in a tone of too-hastily-assumed authority, had told her overnight that she must not ride out by the river. And she had gone to prove her own spirit and teach Coppy a lesson.Almost at the foot of the inhospitable hills, Wee Willie Winkie saw the Waler blunder and

41、come down heavily. Miss Allardyce struggled clear, but her ankle had been severely twisted, and she could not stand. Having fully shown her spirit, she wept, and was surprised by the apparition of a white, wide-eyed child in khaki, on a nearly spent pony.Are you badly, badly hurted? shouted Wee Will

42、ie Winkie, as soon as he was within range. You didnt ought to be here.I dont know, said Miss Allardyce ruefully, ignoring the reproof. Good gracious, child, what are you doing here?You said you was going acwoss ve wiver, panted Wee Willie Winkie, throwing himself off his pony. And nobody not even Co

43、ppy must go acwoss ve wiver, and I came after you ever so hard, but you wouldnt stop, and now youve hurted yourself, and Coppy will be angwy wiv me, and Ive bwoken my awwest! Ive bwoken my awwest!The future Colonel of the 195th sat down and sobbed. In spite of the pain in her ankle the girl was move

44、d.Have you ridden all the way from cantonments, little man? What for?You belonged to Coppy. Coppy told me so! wailed Wee Willie Winkie disconsolately. I saw him kissing you, and he said he was fonder of you van Bell or ve Butcha or me. And so I came. You must get up and come back. You didnt ought to

45、 be here. Vis is a bad place, and Ive bwoken my awwest.I cant move, Winkie, said Miss Allardyce, with a groan. Ive hurt my foot. What shall I do?She showed a readiness to weep anew, which steadied Wee Willie Winkie, who had been brought up to believe that tears were the depth of unmanliness. Still,

46、when one is as great a sinner as Wee Willie Winkie, even a man may be permitted to break down.Winkie, said Miss Allardyce, when youve rested a little, ride back and tell them to send out something to carry me back in. It hurts fearfully.The child sat still for a little time and Miss Allardyce closed

47、 her eyes; the pain was nearly making her faint. She was roused by Wee Willie Winkie tying up the reins on his ponys neck and setting it free with a vicious cut of his whip that made it whicker. The little animal headed towards the cantonments.Oh, Winkie, what are you doing?Hush! said Wee Willie Win

48、kie. Veres a man coming one of ve Bad Men. I must stay wiv you. My faver says a man must always look after a girl. Jack will go home, and ven veyll come and look for us. Vats why I let him go.Not one man but two or three had appeared from behind the rocks of the hills, and the heart of Wee Willie Winkie sank within him, for just in this manner were the Goblins wont to steal out and vex Curdies so