英语故事-TheNeighbour

1、英语故事The NeighbourThe mobcamedownthe road ； it came- a group of infuriated men- roaring ； dancing ； kicking ； at everything in their way. The mencried ，“ Get them all ！ The cowards haveto pay with their blood. ” Many of them were drunk. They did not know what they were doing.The girl heard them come

2、towards the house. She was scared. She knew that her old grandfather could not protect her. Nobody could help them ， she thought ， nobody but god. She closed her eyes and began to pray ， but the words of the familiar prayer would not come to her mind.“ Grandfather ”， she whispered ，“ Grandfather ？”T

3、he old man turned towards her. In the darkness of the room she could not see his face and groped for his hand. The old man took her little hand and pressed it reassuringly. Then he pulled her towards him and put his frail arms protectively around her small shoulders.Donot worry ， bitia-ranihe whispe

4、red ，Godis with us. Whatever happens ， it is his will.The girl felt a tight knot of rise in her throat.Tears sprang into her eyes. She wiped them off with the back of her hand and cried out ， “ It is not fair ， Grandfather ， it is just not fair. Why do they come for us？ We have donethem no harm. We

5、are not responsible for what happened at the other end of the town. Why do they harm us ？ We are their neighbors ， their friends. ”The old man sighed ， “ These men out in the street tonight are neither our neighbors nor our friends. They are ruthless ， misled fanatics driven by frustration and by pe

6、rsonal grievances against society or the government ， or a community. They start this rioting ， looting and killing. Today it is us ， tomorrow someone else. ”But Grandfather , they they 。The old man pulled the girl s face against his shoulders. “ Tshhhh， ” he said gently ， “ do not worry. Maybe they

7、 will pass us. ”With pounding heart the listened in to the night.She could hear the mob draw closer and closer ； they come advancing towards their house. It was a small ， simple cement construction ， sandwiched between drab ， identical building on either side. There was a tiny patch of grass between

8、 the dilapidated wooden gate and the front door. A row of pink and yellow gladioli ， all neatly tied to sticks ， stretched along the boundary wall. Tutu ， their neighbor s eighteen-year-old son ， had given her the flower bulbs and taught her about gardening and growing flowers. The girl liked Tutu.

9、She admired him. How she wished he was here now. Tutu would help them ， he certainly would. He would not let them die.“Grandfatherwhispered Let us call Tutu. He/ “ Tshhhh， bitia-rani ， tshhh ， ” answered the oldman.The girl fell silent. She buried her face in herhands and in broken whispers she bega

10、n to pray ，“ Let thempass， dear God， let them pass. If you help menow， promise never to lie ， never to fight. I will be good， I promise ，I will. But please ， help us now. Let them pass. ”But the mobdid not pass. It stopped in front of the old man s house. A mankicked the gate open and rushed towards

11、 the entrance. There were thirty of them ， armed with lathis ， axes and iron bars. They hammeredat the door and bawled， “ Open up，you dirty cowards. Open up in fright.” Grandfather ，Grandfather ， “ she pleaded ，” please do something. They arecoming. They are breaking the door in.“ Hide， bitia-rani ，

12、 hide ，” urged the old manandhobbled to his feet painfully.Hide somewhere, anywhere under the bed ， behind the door. Oh God ， oh God ， where do we hide ？” In panic and desperation he stared around the familiar room ， not knowing which way to turn.“ Grandfather ， Grandfather ， ” called out the girl s

13、oftly ，“ comehere behind the almirah. Comequickly or theywill find us. ”“ Bitia-rani ， ” cried the helpless old man as he blindly groped his way through the dark.The girl was by his side in a flash. Taking him by the hand she guided him towards the almirah. She pushed him into the gap between the al

14、mirah and the wall and then she squeezed herself in facing the door. Her heart beat loudly and painfully in her chest. “ Dear God， ” she prayed once more ， “ help me， please. ” Behind her she heard her grandfather s rapid breathing. He coughed ， a harsh dry racking sound.“ Grandfather ， ” the girl b

15、egged ，“ don t coughnow ， please. They will find us. ”“ Yes， yes ， ” answered the old man， trying his best to control the sudden urge to cough ，“ yes. ”An outburst of frenzied uproar from the crowd at theentrance sent fresh shivers of fear down the girl s spine.She held her breath and listened to th

16、e blows of iron bars that pounded against the wood ， again and again. And then the door gave way and crashed against the wall. The small house seemed to tremble as the mobpoured headlong in to the drawing room， overturning chairs ， breaking glasses hitting mindlessly at everything within their reach

17、. The man were yelling，“ Getthe cowards ！ Get them. ”And above all these voices rang out one ， loud and clear and laden with hatred ，“ comeout ，you traitors ， comeout ， before we come and get you. ”The girl s heart missed a beat. She gulped and sidled closer towards her grandfather. It could not be

18、true ！ It could not. This voice she knew， knew it only too well. The same voice had told her only the other day ，“ Why， look atyour dahlias ， my little princess ， they are bigger than mine. Next week some of our snapdragon seedlings will be ready. You can have some if you like. ” The voice had been

19、kind and warm and the hand that patted her hair had a gentle touch. But now that very samevoice was full of brutality. It was Tutu s voice ， Tutu ， their neighbor s son-Tutu ， her friend. So her grandfather was right ， oh ， so right ！ Neighbors had turned into foes and they were here to kill them.Fe

20、ar seized the girl ， fear and despair. She knew she was lost.There was nobody who would help ， nobody she could turn to now. And pressing her hands to her face the girl began to pray. For the first time that night， the prayer welled upfrom deep inside her and the words almost forced themselves over

21、her lips.“ Search the rooms， ” thundered the samevoice. “ They must be at home. They are hiding ， the skunks ， but we will find them. ”The voice came closer ， came towards the bedroom. The door was kicked open and silhouetted against the drawing room light stood a tall young man-Tutu， the neighbor s

22、 son. He switched on the torch. Its beam searched through the dark room. It crept over the floor and under the bed， it zigzagged over the wall towards the window ， glided down the curtains and traveled on. The young man took a step forward， thenanother. He did not speak a ward， but the girl could he

23、ar his heavy breathing ， as he advanced closer and closer.Behind her， the girl felt her grandfather fighting off another coughing fit. “ Not now， Grandfather ， ” she prayed ， “ not now. ”The old man pressed his hand over his mouth in an attempt to choke off the rasping sound. But in vain. The young

24、man heard him. He spun around and focused the beam on the old man s face. Blinded by the sudden light ， the old manshielded his face with his arms ， coughing pitifully all the while.Shrinking away from the intruder ， the girl stared unbelievingly at him.“ Tutu ， ” she whispered ，“ Tutu. ” Hot angry

25、tearssprang into her eyes and before she knew what she was doing she was out of the hiding place and had hurled herself at the young man，hammering at his chest with her small fists.“ Leave my grandfather ！ Leave him alone ， ” she sobbed.With a swift movementof his arm the young mancaught the struggl

26、ing girl ， clamped a tight hand over her mouth. Then he kicked at the furniture ， overturned the cot and smashed the lamp.Drawn by the noise and turmoil two man appeared in the doorway.“ What is happening ？” one of them roared. “ Haveyou got them ？”The girl held her breath ， going limp in the young

27、man s arms. With his back to the door， Tutu shouted over his shoulder ，“ Nobody here ！ Get upstairs ， quick ， they mightbe upstairs ， the cowards， ” and he kicked the steel trunk with full force towards the door.The two man jumped back as the trunk hurled towards them， turned and rushed up the stair

28、s.The momentthey were gone the young manreleased the pressure around the girl s shoulder and whispered ，“ Listento me with care ， princess. You must get out of here as fast as you can. Climb through the window and get into the service lane through the rear door. Fast ， girl ， get going. Mymother is

29、waiting for you. Our back door is open.”“Tutu, oh, Tutu cried the girl , “Tutu, but youyou What will happen to Grandfather ? ”“ I will take care of him ， go now， girl ， run ！ ” the young man urged her and lifted her over the window-sill.“ Run four your life. ”With a soft thud the girl landed safely

30、on the ground and was over at the back door in a second. She opened the door and stepped into the service lane. Behind her she could hearthe mob rampage through the room. She stopped in her tracks.Grandfather. What would happen to Grandfather ？ She could not leave him， could she？ But Tutu s words ha

31、mmeredinside her head： “ Run， girl ， run for your life. ”The girl ran on ； she tripped over rubbish and discarded kitchen waste. But on she ran till she reached the narrow beamof light that fell into the lane through a doorway. With trembling hands she opened the door and sobbing with exhaustion ， s

32、he fell into the arms of a waiting woman. The woman drew the trembling girl close and whispered into the girl s hair ，“ Thank God， you are alive. Wewere so worriedabout you and your grandfather. Is he coming with Tutu？”“ I don t know， ” whispered the girl ，“ I don tknow. ” And she began to cry.The woman rocked her gently in her arms and said ， “ It is all right ， it is all right. It is all over now. Let us wait for them here. ”The girl did not know