波莉安娜｜Pollyanna

每天五分钟听经典英文故事，读绘本，磨耳朵。一个用快乐游戏照亮整个小镇的女孩，即使遭遇不幸，也从不放弃寻找值得高兴的理由。Pollyanna came to her aunt's house for the first time, but her aunt did not come downstairs to greet herShe just sent the maid, Nancy, to take the girl to the attic, and handed her a sheet of paper full of rulesWhen to get up, when to eat, when to practice piano, when to read, not a single one could be missedBut when Nancy opened the attic door, she saw Pollyanna standing in the middle of the empty room, looking up at the small windowThe room was hot, the furniture was sparse, and the wallpaper was old and darkPollyanna said it was wonderful, because she could finally see the treetops, and the distant sky through the windowShe had no doll, no father, and an aunt she'd never really met, yet she still tried to make herself happyShe had certainly known sadness beforeOn the contrary, she had learned sadness very earlyAfter her mother died, she lived with her father, a poor pastor who was often ill, and later he left her tooThe glad game was what her father taught her in the hardest of timesOnce, Pollyanna asked her father for a dollThere were no dolls in the missionary barrel, but there was a pair of children's crutches insteadShe cried, but her father pointed at the crutches and said, you can be glad about them, because you don't need themFrom then on, they played a game: no matter what happened, you had to find something to be glad aboutThe harder it was, the trickier it was to find, but once you did, the game became all the more funPollyanna brought the game into her aunt's house, and into the whole townHer aunt wouldn't let her talk about her father, wouldn't let her run around freely, and certainly wouldn't let her live without rulesBut Pollyanna went out every dayShe visited Mrs. Snow, who had been bedridden for years, a woman who kept her curtains drawn tight, and was never satisfied with anythingPollyanna didn't rush to cheer her up, she brushed her hair first, and opened the curtainsMrs. Snow was still complaining, but her eyes, for the first time, turned toward the light outside the windowShe also met Mr. Pendleton in the woodsThe man had injured his leg, lived in a gloomy big house, and had no one but a dog by his sideHe didn't like visitors, and wouldn't admit he was lonelyBut Pollyanna kept coming to talk to him, telling him the leg was just a fracture, and would heal in timeShe also told him, at least he could be glad he hadn't broken both legsOne day, Pollyanna met Jimmy Bean by the roadsideThe boy had run away from the orphanage, wanting nothing more than a normal home, with a mother who would truly care about him, not a matron in charge of many childrenPollyanna brought him home, but her aunt wouldn't take him inSo she went to the Ladies' Aid Society, hoping those women would give Jimmy a home, but in the end, they decided to send the money far away, so it wouldn't affect their year-end reportPollyanna was disappointed, but she didn't give upShe remembered Mr. Pendleton once saying, the house was missing a childShe told him about Jimmy, at first he was angry, thinking it was just childish nonsenseBut later, he let Jimmy come to see himAnd later still, Mr. Pendleton told Aunt Polly himself: Jimmy would become his childWhen Pollyanna heard this, she smiled at onceShe was glad for Jimmy, and glad for Mr. Pendleton too, because this big house finally had a child's voice in itShe also, without meaning to, touched upon the old story between her aunt and Dr. ChiltonAunt Polly had once loved Dr. Chilton, but pushed him away after a quarrel, and Mr. Pendleton, had loved Pollyanna's motherWords the grown-ups had hidden for years, rose to the surface again, through Pollyanna's straightforward questionsShe didn't understand what was proper, or why people who loved each other, would punish one another with silenceShe just felt, if someone still missed another person, she should let them meet againOne day in late October, Pollyanna was walking home from schoolAs she crossed the street at the corner, a car suddenly came rushing toward herNo one could say exactly what happened in that moment, only that the child was brought home, unconsciousWhen she woke up, her head was bandaged, but her legs felt nothing at allAunt Polly told her, she was just injured, and would soon be betterPollyanna tried hard to find something to be glad about: at least it wasn't contagious, at least she wouldn't be bedridden forever, at least Mr. Pendleton's leg had healed after his fractureBut as the days passed, she still couldn't get out of bedShe finally understood, her leg wasn't just a simple fracture, it was her spine that had been injuredIn that moment, the glad game stopped right in front of herFor the first time, she admitted she couldn't find anything to be glad aboutThose words made it impossible for Aunt Polly to hide behind the rules any longerShe remembered, when this child first arrived, she was only carrying out her sister's willShe remembered, Pollyanna had always called her aunt, but had never truly received a warm homeShe also finally admitted, she had never forgotten Dr. ChiltonWhen Dr. Chilton arrived, Pollyanna lay in bed, watching the colored light from the prism by the windowThe doctor told her, there might still be a way to treat her, she would need to go far away, to see a famous doctor in New YorkPollyanna still couldn't stand up, and didn't know if she would ever walk again, but she was about to leave this house, and set out on a new journeyBefore she left, Aunt Polly came to her bedside, and for the first time, spoke without a cold, hard voiceShe told Pollyanna, when the child got better, she would bring Dr. Chilton back, to be her uncleWhen Pollyanna heard this, she clapped her hands with joy, then stoppedShe lay in bed, still unable to move her legs, but at last she had found something to be glad about againAunt Polly was no longer just the person who took her in前往小宇宙评论区与主播互动