02 David is sent away to school(12)

 I thought of him a lot that night，with hislaughing, hand-some face， and his careless, confident manner. I could never have imaginedwhat a dark shadow he would throw over the lives of people who were dear to me.I stayed at Salem House for three more months. Although one or two of theteachers，like Mr Mell, were kind to us boys，and tried to teachus properly, we were too afraid of Mr Creakle and his stick to concentrate onour studies. But Tom-my Traddles and I cheered each other up if we were beaten，and I waslucky enough to be friendly with the great Steerforth，in spite ofthe difference in our ages.

那晚，他让我捉摸不透，他的笑声，他那英俊的脸，他那不拘小节、桀骜不驯的气度。而我怎么也想像不到后来他会给我的亲友们的生活蒙上一层沉重的阴影。

　　我在萨伦学校又呆了三个月。虽然也有一两个教师，如梅尔先生，对孩子们很和气，也设法给我们以正规的教育，但我们都害怕克里古尔先生和他的棍子，所以根本没法专心学习。不过，汤米·特拉德和我总是在挨打的时候互相安慰，而且我还很幸运与大孩子斯提福兹保持友好，虽然我们俩年龄相差很多。