The Doll’s House――成人世界的缩微模型.docVIP

The Doll’s House――成人世界的缩微模型 　　Excerpts1） 　　Days passed， and as more children saw the doll’s house， the fame of it spread. It became the one subject， the rage2）. Even the dinner hour was given up to talking about it. The little girls sat under the pines eating their thick mutton sandwiches and big slabs3） of johnny cake spread with butter. While always， as near as they could get， sat the Kelveys， our Else holding on to Lil， listening too， while they chewed their jam sandwiches out of a newspaper soaked with large red blobs4）. 　　“Mother，” said Kezia， “can’t I ask the Kelveys just once？” 　　“Certainly not， Kezia.” 　　“But why not？” 　　“Run away， Kezia； you know quite well why not.” 　　At last everybody had seen it except them. On that day the subject rather flagged5）. It was the dinner hour. The children stood together under the pine trees， and suddenly， as they looked at the Kelveys eating out of their paper， always by themselves， always listening， they wanted to be horrid to them. Emmie Cole started the whisper. 　　“Lil Kelvey’s going to be a servant when she grows up.” 　　“O-oh， how awful！” said Isabel Burnell， and she made eyes at Emmie. 　　“It’s true―it’s true―it’s true，” she said. 　　Then Lena Logan’s little eyes snapped. “Shall I ask her？” she whispered. 　　“Bet you don’t，” said Jessie May. 　　“Pooh， I’m not frightened，” said Lena. Suddenly she gave a little squeal6） and danced in front of the other girls. “Watch！ Watch me！ Watch me now！” said Lena. And sliding， gliding， dragging one foot， giggling behind her hand， Lena went over to the Kelveys. 　　Lil looked up from her dinner. She wrapped the rest quickly away. Our Else stopped chewing. What was coming now？ 　　“Is it true you’re going to be a servant when you grow up， Lil Kelvey？” shrilled Lena. 　　Dead silence. But instead of answering， Lil only gave her silly， shame-faced smile. She didn’t seem to mind the question at all. What a sell for Lena！ The girls began to titter7）. 　　Lena couldn’t stand that.