Аня из Авонлеи
I. An Irate Neighbor
He’llbegoingtoschooltoyou,Anne,soyoumayexpecttrouble,that’swhat.Andyou’llhaveanotherstrangepupil,too.PaulIrvingiscomingfromtheStatestolivewithhisgrandmother.Yourememberhisfather,Marilla...StephenIrving,himthatjiltedLavendarLewisoveratGrafton?”
“Idon’tthinkhejiltedher.Therewasaquarrel...Isupposetherewasblameonbothsides.”
“Well,anyway,hedidn’tmarryher,andshe’sbeenasqueeraspossibleeversince,theysay...livingallbyherselfinthatlittlestonehouseshecallsEchoLodge.StephenwentofftotheStatesandwentintobusinesswithhisuncleandmarriedaYankee.He’sneverbeenhomesince,thoughhismotherhasbeenuptoseehimonceortwice.Hiswifediedtwoyearsagoandhe’ssendingtheboyhometohismotherforaspell.He’stenyearsoldandIdon’tknowifhe’llbeaverydesirablepupil.YoucannevertellaboutthoseYankees.”
MrsLyndelookeduponallpeoplewhohadthemisfortunetobebornorbroughtupelsewherethaninPrinceEdwardIslandwithadecidedcan-any-good-thing-come-out-of-Nazarethair.TheyMIGHTbegoodpeople,ofcourse;butyouwereonthesafesideindoubtingit.Shehadaspecialprejudiceagainst“Yankees.”HerhusbandhadbeencheatedoutoftendollarsbyanemployerforwhomhehadonceworkedinBostonandneitherangelsnorprincipalitiesnorpowerscouldhaveconvincedMrs.RachelthatthewholeUnitedStateswasnotresponsibleforit.
