1705040770 “I was only a little girl, wasn’t I, mother? And then Tom came back home again. He didn’t go to business for a long time, did he? When people came to see us, he used to jump up and go to his bedroom.

1705040771

1705040772 “I kept remembering things like that. Even then I could not believe what Sylvia had told me was true. It was too horrible to believe, so I got up from the table and rushed out of the room so that you would not see I was crying. When you followed me upstairs, I couldn’t tell you. I wanted to.

1705040773

1705040774 “I knew Sylvia would tell everyone. So I had to go to school this afternoon, it was no good trying to put it off, it would have been horrible waiting for to-morrow. It’s over now. That’s why I told Daddy, when he wanted me to stay away from school, that I mustn’t miss any marks for being absent. You see why I had to go, don’t you, Mother, dear? It’s not fair. I never did anything. Why should they look down at me? Or be sorry for me? I don’t want their pity. Oh, Mother! Mother! She was standing by the school porch, Sylvia was, I mean. She stared at me, but I hurried by; my head up. I did not speak to her, but I hoped she would not tell. Hope and hoped. In the lobby I said ‘Our Father which art in Heaven’ as I took my hat and coat off, but all the time … I knew … she’d tell… . I walked into the classroom with my head in the air, speaking to no one. Inside I felt cold and sick though I kept hoping… . Sylvia sat the other side of the room; I watched her, though. For a long time she worked at the essay. It was about Irish Peasant Customs; between the words I wrote I looked up to see what she was doing. Soon she had finished; and catching my eye when next I looked she nodded. Her eyes were queer. I felt cold again as I saw her write something on a scrap of paper, which she rolled into a ball slowly, then she passed it to Dora Green. Holding the paper ball under her desk, Dora unscrewed it, reading it with her head bent forward, then she looked across at me. My face was hot, I turned my head away. It was no use watching any more, I knew that soon they would all be staring at me.

1705040775

1705040776 “I wrote on and on; anything. I don’t think I shall get any marks for the essay. Then I heard Miss Neal ask crossly, ‘Doris Lowe, what has Betty Sharp just handed to you? ‘ Doris held up the little piece of paper, and said, her voice faltering, ‘This note, Miss Neal.’ She had to take it out to the desk. I watched Miss Neal’s face flush as she read the paper. She frowned at Doris and asked angrily: ‘Who wrote this? ‘ Doris did not know, she stood first on one foot and then on the other, while Miss Neal went from desk to desk, asking each girl: ‘Did you write this note that I have just taken from Doris? ’

1705040777

1705040778 “Suddenly, Sylvia stood up. It was nearly her turn to answer. She said, ‘I wrote it, Miss Neal. It’s true.’ Miss Neal said, ‘I do not wish to know anything about that. Please go to Miss Wade. Tell her that I sent you, and say that I shall come along to see her in a few moments.’ As Sylvia got slowly to her feet, Miss Neal came over to me. I put my head down on the desk and cried and cried. Miss Neal said, ‘Come along to the rest room, my dear, ‘ and I stood up. I couldn’t see very well, things were misty. Miss Neal put her arms round my shoulders, guiding me. I did not know she was so decent … so kind. She nursed me for a while, like you used to Mother, stroking my hair. I couldn’t stop crying though, not for a long while. At last she patted my head and left me. Then Miss Wade came. She knew about Tom. I mustn’t worry about it she said. Then she suggested I would be better at home for the rest of this afternoon, and so I came.

1705040779

1705040780 “Fancy Sylvia telling them like that, Mother. How could she? I shall be glad when I leave school, I shall be glad then! I did not know Tommy had been in prison! I did not know… .”

1705040781

1705040782 Tears trickled steadily down the woman’s cheeks. She kept wondering “What can I do? What can I do?” the child’s voice broke through to her consciousness again: “didn’t know! I only broke her pencil… .”

1705040783

1705040784 Notes

1705040785

1705040786 Sylvia, the girl with whom she had quarreled.

1705040787

1705040788 him in prison, her brother Tom.

1705040789

1705040790 lobby, a passageway, especially when used also as a waiting room.

1705040791

1705040792 “Our Father which art in Heaven,” the opening sentence of the Lord’s prayer （The Christian Bible, the New Testament, Matthew, Chapter VI, 9-13）.

1705040793

1705040794 Miss Neal, the classroom teacher.

1705040795

1705040796 Miss Wade, the principal of the school.

1705040797

1705040798 things were misty, because tears were coming into her eyes.

1705040799

1705040800 fancy, imagine; think of.

1705040801

1705040802 the woman’s, the mother’s.

1705040803

1705040804 Questions

1705040805

1705040806 1. What is the shadow? On whom did it fall?

1705040807

1705040808 2. In similar cases, what is the usual attitude of society, Sylvia’s or the teachers’.

1705040809

1705040810 参考译文

1705040811

1705040812 【作品简介】

1705040813

1705040814 《长长的阴影》，作者约翰·汉普森，选自迈克尔·罗伯茨编辑的《新国家》,97—100页。

1705040815

1705040816 【作者简介】

1705040817

1705040818 约翰·汉普森，真名为约翰·汉普森·辛普森，二十世纪三四十年代的新生代作家。当时已经出版多部作品，其中《灰狗巴士上的周六夜》（1931年）是第一部。

1705040819

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