05-02-大卫·科波菲尔 [17]
since she died．My stepfather sent me to work in London，and I hated it，and ran away，and someone stole my case and my money，and I've had to walk all the way，and I haven't slept in a bed for six nights！’Here my selfcontrol broke，and I fell to the ground，sobbing bitterly．
My aunt jumped to her feet，picked me up and took me into her sitting-room，where she mixed some medicine in a glass and made me drink it．She also wrapped me in a large blanket and put me on her sofa．Then she rang the bell for her servant，Janet．
‘Please ask Mr Dick to come here，Janet，’she said．
A tall，grey－haired，pleasant－looking gentleman entered a few minutes later，laughing rather strangely to himself．
‘Now，Mr Dick，’said my aunt firmly，‘don't be a fool，because we all know you're intelligent．’Mr Dick looked very serious at once．‘No doubt you remember that I had a nephew，David Copperfield？Well，this is his son．He has run away．’
‘Oh，really？David's son！Run away！Well！’said Mr Dick．
‘Now the question is，Mr Dick，what shall I do with him？’
‘Well—’Mr Dick looked vacantly at me，and then sudden ly his eyes shone．‘If I were you，I would wash him！’
‘Well done，Mr Dick！You always have the right answer！’said my aunt delightedly．
And so they washed me，and gave me clean clothes and deli cious food．While I was eating，my aunt stared at me，occa sionally whispering‘Good heavens！’to herself．When she could see that I felt better，she asked me question after ques tion，and I told her the story of my life．
‘Good heavens！’she said again，when I had finished．‘Why did your poor mother marry again？What a terrible mis take！’
‘Perhaps she was in love，’suggested Mr Dick，smiling his rather foolish smile．
‘In love！’said Miss Betsey crossly．‘Perhaps the poor silly girl thought she was in love！But now，Mr Dick，another question．What should we do with the boy？’
‘Well—'said Mr Dick，thinking．Then an idea suddenly came to him．‘You should put him to bed！’
‘Thank you again，Mr Dick，for your common sense！’said my aunt happily．‘Janet，put the boy to bed！’
And so，in a comfortable clean little bed，in a pleasant airy room at the top of Miss Betsey Trotwood's house，I floated away into the world of my dreams．
At breakfast next morning I bravely asked my aunt，‘Are you—have you—what's going to happen to me？’
‘I've written to your stepfather，’she replied．
‘Oh！Are you going to send me back to the Murdstones？Please don't，aunt！Please let me stay here！’I cried，trembling．
‘I don't know what I'll do yet． We'll have to wait and see，’she answered firmly．
This news made me very depressed，but there was nothing I could do about it and my aunt soon began to talk about some thing else．
‘What do you think of Mr Dick，child？’
‘He looks a little—well，mad．Is he mad，aunt？’
‘Well，his family called him mad，and wanted to lock him up for ever．But I met him，and thought—I still think—he's an extremely sensible，intelligent person．So I offered to take care of him，and he's lived in my house for ten years．Nobody knows what useful advice he's given me！I trust him com pletely！’
When I heard how generous my aunt had been to poor harmless Mr Dick，I began to understand her character better．In spite of her stern appearance and frequent crossness，she was very kind to people who needed her help．I hoped she would be kind to me．
Several days later，I was looking out of the sitting－room window when I saw Mr and Miss Murdstone riding into my aunt's garden．My aunt had seen them too，and hurried out，waving her umbrella angrily at them and shouting．‘Go away！Don't ride on my grass！Who do you think you are？Go
My aunt jumped to her feet，picked me up and took me into her sitting-room，where she mixed some medicine in a glass and made me drink it．She also wrapped me in a large blanket and put me on her sofa．Then she rang the bell for her servant，Janet．
‘Please ask Mr Dick to come here，Janet，’she said．
A tall，grey－haired，pleasant－looking gentleman entered a few minutes later，laughing rather strangely to himself．
‘Now，Mr Dick，’said my aunt firmly，‘don't be a fool，because we all know you're intelligent．’Mr Dick looked very serious at once．‘No doubt you remember that I had a nephew，David Copperfield？Well，this is his son．He has run away．’
‘Oh，really？David's son！Run away！Well！’said Mr Dick．
‘Now the question is，Mr Dick，what shall I do with him？’
‘Well—’Mr Dick looked vacantly at me，and then sudden ly his eyes shone．‘If I were you，I would wash him！’
‘Well done，Mr Dick！You always have the right answer！’said my aunt delightedly．
And so they washed me，and gave me clean clothes and deli cious food．While I was eating，my aunt stared at me，occa sionally whispering‘Good heavens！’to herself．When she could see that I felt better，she asked me question after ques tion，and I told her the story of my life．
‘Good heavens！’she said again，when I had finished．‘Why did your poor mother marry again？What a terrible mis take！’
‘Perhaps she was in love，’suggested Mr Dick，smiling his rather foolish smile．
‘In love！’said Miss Betsey crossly．‘Perhaps the poor silly girl thought she was in love！But now，Mr Dick，another question．What should we do with the boy？’
‘Well—'said Mr Dick，thinking．Then an idea suddenly came to him．‘You should put him to bed！’
‘Thank you again，Mr Dick，for your common sense！’said my aunt happily．‘Janet，put the boy to bed！’
And so，in a comfortable clean little bed，in a pleasant airy room at the top of Miss Betsey Trotwood's house，I floated away into the world of my dreams．
At breakfast next morning I bravely asked my aunt，‘Are you—have you—what's going to happen to me？’
‘I've written to your stepfather，’she replied．
‘Oh！Are you going to send me back to the Murdstones？Please don't，aunt！Please let me stay here！’I cried，trembling．
‘I don't know what I'll do yet． We'll have to wait and see，’she answered firmly．
This news made me very depressed，but there was nothing I could do about it and my aunt soon began to talk about some thing else．
‘What do you think of Mr Dick，child？’
‘He looks a little—well，mad．Is he mad，aunt？’
‘Well，his family called him mad，and wanted to lock him up for ever．But I met him，and thought—I still think—he's an extremely sensible，intelligent person．So I offered to take care of him，and he's lived in my house for ten years．Nobody knows what useful advice he's given me！I trust him com pletely！’
When I heard how generous my aunt had been to poor harmless Mr Dick，I began to understand her character better．In spite of her stern appearance and frequent crossness，she was very kind to people who needed her help．I hoped she would be kind to me．
Several days later，I was looking out of the sitting－room window when I saw Mr and Miss Murdstone riding into my aunt's garden．My aunt had seen them too，and hurried out，waving her umbrella angrily at them and shouting．‘Go away！Don't ride on my grass！Who do you think you are？Go