【荆棘鸟】第二章 15

Arithmetic she found easy, but when called upon to demonstrate toper skill verbally she could not remember how many two and two made. Reading was the entrance into a world so fascinating she couldn't get enough of it; but when Sister Agatha made her stand to read a passage out loud, she could hardly pronounce "cat," let alone "miaow." It seemed to her that she was forever quivering under Sister Agatha's sarcastic 1 comments or flushing bright red because the rest of the class was laughing at her. For it was always her slate 2 Sister Agatha held up to sneer 3 at, always her laboriously 4 written sheets of paper Sister Agatha used to demonstrate the ugliness of untidy work. Some of the richer children were lucky enough to possess erasers, but Meggie's only eraser was the tip of her finger, which she licked and rubbed over her nervous mistakes until the writing smudged and the paper came away in miniature sausages. It made holes and was strictly 5 forbidden, but she was desperate enough to do anything to avoid Sister Agatha's strictures.
  Until her advent 6 Stuart had been the chief target of Sister Agatha's cane 7 and venom 8. However, Meggie was a much better target, for Stuart's wistful tranquility and almost saintlike aloofness 9 were hard nuts to crack, even for Sister Agatha. On the other hand, Meggie trembled and went as red as a beet 10, for all she tried so manfully to adhere to the Cleary line of behavior as defined by Frank. Stuart pitied Meggie deeply and tried to make  it easier for her by deliberately 11 sidetracking the nun 12's anger onto his own head. She saw through his ploys 13 immediately, angered afresh to see the Cleary clannishness 14 as much in evidence with the girl as it had always been among the boys. Had anyone questioned her as to exactly why she had such a down on the Clearys, she would not have been able to answer. But for an old nun as embittered 15 by the course her life had taken as Sister Agatha, a proud and touchy 16 family like the Clearys was not easy to swallow. Meggie's worst sin was being left-handed. When she gingerly picked up her slate pencil to embark 17 on her first writing lesson, Sister Agatha descended 18 on her like Caesar on the Gauls.
"Meghan Cleary, put that pencil down!" she thundered. Thus began a battle royal. Meggie was incurably 19 and hopelessly left-handed. When Sister Agatha forcibly bent 20 the fingers of Meggie's right hand correctly around the pencil and poised 21 it above the slate, Meggie sat there with her head reeling
 

她觉得算术很容易学，可是把她叫起来进行口算的时候，她连二加二等于几都记不祝读书把她引进了一个极其迷人的天地，她怎么也读不够，可是当阿加莎嬷嬷叫她站起来高声朗读一段的时候，她几乎连“猫”字都读不上来，更甭提“喵喵叫”这个词了。看来，她要永远在阿加莎嬷嬷的挖苦下颤栗不止或满脸通红了，因为班上别的同学都在笑她呢。阿加莎嬷嬷总是把她的石板举起来加以嘲笑，也总是用地辛辛苦苦地写了字的纸来说明潦草的作业是多么要不得。阔一些孩子中有人有橡皮，这是幸运的，而梅吉却只好用手指尖当橡皮；她舔舔手指头，去擦她由于紧张而写错的字，把写的东西擦的一塌糊涂，纸上滚出许多像细小的香肠一样的团团。这使纸上出现了许多破洞，因此用指尖当橡皮被严格地禁止了。可是，她为了逃避阿加莎嬷嬷的责难，是什么事情都敢于做出来的。
    在她到学校以前，斯图尔特是阿加莎嬷嬷的藤条和泄愤的主要目标。然而，梅吉这个靶子要合适得多，因为斯图尔特带着令人反感的镇静和几乎是圣徒般的冷漠是难以对付的，即使对阿加莎嬷嬷来说也是这样。相反，梅吉却吓得瑟瑟发抖，脸红得像甜菜，尽管她努力想遵循弗兰克给克利里家所定下的行为准则。斯图尔特深切的同情梅吉，他有意使修女把火发到他的头上来，以便使梅吉的日子好过一些，但是修女立旋就看透了他的把戏，便重新发起火来，非要看看克利里家族的通性在这个女孩子身上是否也像在男孩子们身上那样明显。要是有人问她，她到底为什么如此嫌恶克利里家，她也答不上来。但是对于像阿加莎嬷嬷这样被一生所走过的路弄得怒气冲冲的老修女来说，要对付像克利里这样傲然的而棘手的家伙又谈何容易。
    梅吉最糟糕的是左撇子。在第一堂写字课上，当她小心翼翼地拿起石笔开始写字的时候，阿加莎嬷嬷就像凯撒攻击高卢人那样向她冲了过来