英语 英语 日语 日语 韩语 韩语 法语 法语 德语 德语 西班牙语 西班牙语 意大利语 意大利语 阿拉伯语 阿拉伯语 葡萄牙语 葡萄牙语 越南语 越南语 俄语 俄语 芬兰语 芬兰语 泰语 泰语 泰语 丹麦语 泰语 对外汉语

儿童英语读物 The Mystery of the Hidden Painting CHAPTER 2 The Painting

时间:2017-07-11 07:33来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
特别声明:本栏目内容均从网络收集或者网友提供,供仅参考试用,我们无法保证内容完整和正确。如果资料损害了您的权益,请与站长联系,我们将及时删除并致以歉意。
    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

After dinner, when the whole family was settled in the big living room, Jessie ran up to her room and brought down the portrait. She took it over to her grandfather and held it out to him.

“Grandfather,” she said softly. “We found this in the attic1 today. We’re all wondering who this lovely lady is. Henry thinks it’s Grandmother, but this lady looks so young.”

Mr. Alden stared at the picture. He seemed to have drifted off into another world. Looking at her grandfather’s sad face, Violet said immediately, “It doesn’t matter, Grandfather. We’ll take the picture right back to the attic.”

She picked up the painting, but Mr. Alden held out a hand to her. “It’s all right, Violet. You can leave it here.”

“Is this our grandmother?” she asked.

Grandfather smiled. “Yes, it is. It was painted when she was a very young woman, and very beautiful. But then, she was beautiful until the day she died.”

“Why was it up in the attic?” Benny asked. “Why isn’t it hanging right here?” Benny pointed3 to the wall over the fireplace.

Grandfather sighed. “Well, children, it’s a long story. All of you sit down and I’ll tell you.”

Benny and Violet sat at Mr. Alden’s feet. Jessie and Henry sat on the sofa next to Grandfather’s easy chair. They all looked at him, waiting for him to go on.

Grandfather cleared his throat. “I gave your grandmother—her name was Celia—the necklace she is wearing in the portrait as a wedding present. I had had it designed by a very talented jeweler. It was one of a kind. There was no other just like it anywhere. Your grandmother loved it so much she had this portrait painted of her wearing her precious wedding present. A year after our wedding, we had a big party to celebrate our first anniversary and, of course, she wore the necklace.

“Oh, it was a wonderful party, with food made by the best caterer4 in town and an orchestra and beautiful flowers. When the party was over, Celia put the necklace in its velvet5 box and placed the box in her dressing6 table drawer. She intended to put it in the safe the next day.”

“What happened then?” Benny asked breathlessly.

“Well,” Mr. Alden continued, “she was so busy the next day helping7 the caterers gather together all the dishes and glasses and pots they had brought to the house that she forgot about the necklace. Until that night. She opened her drawer and took out the velvet jewelry8 box … but it was empty. The necklace was gone.”

“Oh, no!” Jessie cried out.

“Where was it?” Benny asked, his eyes wide with surprise.

Grandfather shrugged9. “We never found it. We looked all over. The police came the next day and questioned everyone who had been in the house the day before. Everyone—all the people who worked for the caterer, every delivery person, everyone. They even questioned me! But no one knew anything or had seen anything. The necklace was gone forever.”

“But the picture,” Violet asked softly, “why is it in the attic?”

Grandfather sighed again. “I had hung the painting right over the mantelpiece after it was painted. I loved looking at it. But once the necklace disappeared, your grandmother couldn’t bear to look at the painting. It always reminded her of the wedding present she had so loved that was gone. So we took the painting down and put it up in the attic. After all these years, I had forgotten it was still there.”

“That is such a sad story, Grandfather,” Jessie said.

Grandfather smiled. The sadness was gone from his face. “Well, Jessie, that was a long time ago. But I will tell you, that as the oldest granddaughter the necklace would have been yours.”

“Oh, Jessie, look what you might have had,” Benny said.

The children laughed and Grandfather stood up. “Why don’t we all go into the kitchen and see if there is any of Mrs. McGregor’s chocolate cake left.”

“And some milk,” Benny added.

Grandfather laughed and put his arm around Benny’s shoulders. “And some milk,” he agreed.

They all sat around the big table in the cheerful kitchen. Grandfather poured milk for each of them and Jessie cut slices of cake.

“That’s the end of this chocolate cake,” she said, rinsing10 the empty plate under hot water.

“Maybe Mrs. McGregor will make another one tomorrow,” Benny said hopefully.

“Or a lemon meringue pie,” Henry said, just as hopefully.

As they ate their snack, Jessie said, “Grandfather, it’s so sad that Grandmother’s necklace just disappeared. Grandmother looked so lovely wearing it, too.”

Grandfather smiled. “Yes, she did. I’m glad that she had it to enjoy for a little while anyway.”

“Are you sure the police really talked to everyone who might have known anything about it?” Henry asked.

“Absolutely,” Mr. Alden said. “I was surprised at how many people they thought of to question. It was embarrassing, because they insisted on talking to all of our guests, too. And some of them weren’t very happy about that. They felt it was insulting. But the detective in charge of the case insisted.”

Mr. Alden smiled. “You can’t imagine where they looked for the necklace, too. As upset as we were at the time, your grandmother and I laughed.”

“Where?” Violet asked with interest.

“Would you believe even in the refrigerator?”

The children laughed. “Why the refrigerator?” Jessie asked.

“Well,” Mr. Alden said, “they said it wasn’t impossible that the thief might have put it there just for a little while … until he or she could get it out of the house.”

“That seems sort of silly,” Henry said.

“It did to me, too,” Mr. Alden said. “And it wasn’t in the refrigerator, anyway. But it did make a good story for a couple of years. It did make your grandmother laugh.”

“Grandfather,” Jessie said thoughtfully, “you said that Grandmother opened the jewelry box and it was empty.”

“That’s right, Jessie,” Mr. Alden said.

“What did you do with the box?” Jessie asked. “It must have always reminded Grandmother of the theft.”

“You’re right,” Grandfather said. “So I took the empty box and put it in a drawer in the desk in my den2. That way your grandmother wouldn’t keep seeing it.”

“And then did you throw it away?” Benny asked.

“No, children, believe it or not, I still have that empty box,” Mr. Alden said.

Violet’s eyes widened. “Could we see it?” she asked.

“Of course,” Mr. Alden said. “I still have it in the den.”

They all walked into the little room that Grandfather had set up as an office at home. It was here that he did any work he brought home from his office. It was a comfortable room with a leather couch and an easy chair and a big desk. Mr. Alden opened a drawer in the mahogany desk and took out a square blue velvet box. He gently handed it to Violet.

Violet opened the box and looked at the inside, which was lined with ivory-colored satin. There was a soft hollow that had once held the sapphire11 necklace. “I can almost see it,” Violet said.

“Me too” Benny agreed.

“Well, now,” Grandfather said cheerfully, “I don’t want you children to be upset about this. So let’s just forget about it. It’s bedtime, anyway.”

Later Jessie sat in Violet’s bedroom and watched Violet brushing her hair. Anyone looking at the room would have immediately known it was Violet’s. The wallpaper, the bedspread, and the curtains all had violets on them.

Violet stopped brushing and turned to Jessie. “What do you suppose happened to the necklace?”

“I don’t know,” Jessie answered, lying on her back on Violet’s bed. “Grandfather said they questioned everybody and there were no clues at all.”

Violet sighed. “What a shame. It looked like such a beautiful necklace. It would have been gorgeous around your neck, too.”

They both laughed at the very idea of it and then forgot about the missing necklace when Watch came in and tried to jump up on the bed.

It rained for the next three days, and the Aldens were becoming more and more bored. One afternoon they were all in the boxcar. Henry was trying to write his poem for Grandfather’s birthday. Violet and Benny were playing jacks12, and Jessie was reading the Greenfield newspaper. Suddenly she let out a cry.

“Look,” she shouted. She held out the paper with one hand and pointed to a picture with the other.

Henry, Violet, and Benny ran over and all stared at the paper. “Look at what?” Benny asked. “It’s just a picture of a lady we don’t know.”

“Look at what she’s wearing!” Jessie insisted.

Violet took the paper. “She’s wearing an evening dress. It’s very pretty. And the caption13 under the picture says: Mrs. Elizabeth Harkins, who was the chairperson of the Elmford Hospital Dance.”

“What else is she wearing?” Jessie asked impatiently.

Henry looked closer. “A necklace,” he said.

“It looks just like the necklace in the painting,” Jessie said.

Violet looked at the paper again. “Jessie, the necklace in this picture is so small and the picture is black and white. How can you tell anything from this?”

“I know they look alike,” Jessie said. “Let’s go back to the house and look at the painting again.”

They all ran back and into the living room, where Grandfather had left the painting leaning against a bookcase. Jessie put the portrait down on the sofa and placed the newspaper picture right next to it. The children leaned over and looked at them both very closely.

“See!” Jessie said. “They do look alike!”

“I think she’s right,” Violet said.

Henry frowned. “I can’t really tell.”

Benny hopped14 on one foot with excitement. “Maybe we have another mystery. But how are we going to solve it? We don’t even know that Mrs. Harkins.”

Henry looked at the newspaper again. “Look! She lives in Elmford … where Aunt Jane lives. Maybe we could go to visit Aunt Jane and—”

“And talk to Mrs. Harkins,” Jessie finished for him.

“We’ll have to ask Grandfather if we can go,” Violet said.

“He likes us to visit Aunt Jane,” Benny assured her.

Henry looked thoughtful. “I don’t think we should tell Grandfather about Mrs. Harkins. If it turns out her necklace is a different one from our grandmother’s, he’d be so disappointed.”

Violet agreed. “Henry is right. We don’t want to upset Grandfather for no reason.”

“All right,” Jessie said. “We’ll ask him about visiting Aunt Jane tonight.”

Violet went over to the desk in a corner of the room and took a large sheet of white paper and a pencil out of a drawer.

“What are you doing?” Jessie asked.

Violet sat down next to the painting and, leaning on a large book, started to draw. “I’m going to copy the necklace very carefully. So, if we do get to talk to Mrs. Harkins, we can show her what our necklace looks like.”

Benny watched her carefully. “But ours is blue.”

Violet smiled. “Right. I’ll color my picture when I’m finished.”

“That’s a great idea, Violet,” Henry said, looking at his sister with admiration15.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 attic Hv4zZ     
n.顶楼,屋顶室
参考例句:
  • Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
  • What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理?
2 den 5w9xk     
n.兽穴;秘密地方;安静的小房间,私室
参考例句:
  • There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
  • The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。
3 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
4 caterer caterer     
n. 备办食物者,备办宴席者
参考例句:
  • My wife went to a lot of trouble; she called a caterer. 我太太花了很多心血,她找了专办派对的人来。
  • The wedding reception has been organized by an outside caterer. 婚宴由外界的饮食公司承办。
5 velvet 5gqyO     
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的
参考例句:
  • This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
  • The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。
6 dressing 1uOzJG     
n.(食物)调料;包扎伤口的用品,敷料
参考例句:
  • Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
  • The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。
7 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
8 jewelry 0auz1     
n.(jewllery)(总称)珠宝
参考例句:
  • The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
  • Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。
9 shrugged 497904474a48f991a3d1961b0476ebce     
vt.耸肩(shrug的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀,什么也没说。
  • She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩,装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 rinsing cc80e70477186de83e96464130c222ba     
n.清水,残渣v.漂洗( rinse的现在分词 );冲洗;用清水漂洗掉(肥皂泡等);(用清水)冲掉
参考例句:
  • Pablo made a swishing noise rinsing wine in his mouth. 巴勃罗用酒漱着口,发出咕噜噜噜的声音。 来自辞典例句
  • The absorption of many molecular layers could be reestablished by rinsing the foils with tap water. 多分子层的吸附作用可用自来水淋洗金属箔而重新实现。 来自辞典例句
11 sapphire ETFzw     
n.青玉,蓝宝石;adj.天蓝色的
参考例句:
  • Now let us consider crystals such as diamond or sapphire.现在让我们考虑象钻石和蓝宝石这样的晶体。
  • He left a sapphire ring to her.他留给她一枚蓝宝石戒指。
12 jacks 2b0facb0ce94beb5f627e3c22cc18d34     
n.抓子游戏;千斤顶( jack的名词复数 );(电)插孔;[电子学]插座;放弃
参考例句:
  • Hydraulic jacks under the machine produce the movement. 是机器下面的液压千斤顶造成的移动。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The front end is equipped with hydraulic jacks used for grade adjustment. 前瑞安装有液压千斤顶用来调整坡度。 来自辞典例句
13 caption FT2y3     
n.说明,字幕,标题;v.加上标题,加上说明
参考例句:
  • I didn't understand the drawing until I read the caption.直到我看到这幅画的说明才弄懂其意思。
  • There is a caption under the picture.图片下边附有说明。
14 hopped 91b136feb9c3ae690a1c2672986faa1c     
跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 ); 单足蹦跳; 齐足(或双足)跳行; 摘葎草花
参考例句:
  • He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
  • He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车,向市区开去。
15 admiration afpyA     
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕
参考例句:
  • He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
  • We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。
本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎点击提交分享给大家。
------分隔线----------------------------
顶一下
(0)
0%
踩一下
(0)
0%
最新评论 查看所有评论
发表评论 查看所有评论
请自觉遵守互联网相关的政策法规,严禁发布色情、暴力、反动的言论。
评价:
表情:
验证码:
听力搜索
推荐频道
论坛新贴