第1章03. The red room

　Suddenly the door of the room opened．John Reed rushed in．
　　'Where are you，rat？'he shouted．He did not see me behind the curtain．'Eliza！Georgy！Jane isn't here！Tell Mamma she's run out into the rain—what a bad animal she is！'
　　'How lucky I drew the curtain，'I thought．He would never have found me，because he was not very intelligent．But Eliza guessed at once where I was．
　　'She's in the window-seat，John，'she called from the sitting-room．So I came out immediately，as I did not want him to pull me out．
　　'What do you want？'I asked him．
　　'Say，“What do you want，Master Reed”，'he answered，sitting in an armchair．'I want you to come here．'
John Reed was fourteen and I was only ten．He was large and rather fat．He usually ate too much at meals，which made him ill．He should have been at boarding school，but his mother，who loved him very much，had brought him home for a month or two，because she thought his health was delicate．
突然，门开了，约翰•里德冲了进来。
　　“老鼠，你在哪儿？”他叫着，没有看到窗帘后面的我。“伊丽莎！乔吉！简不在这儿！告诉妈妈她跑出去淋雨了。真是个畜生！”
　　“幸好我拉上了窗帘，”我心想。他永远找不到我，因为他并不聪明。可是，伊丽莎一下子就猜出了我在哪里。
　　“约翰，她坐在窗台上。”她在起居室喊道。于是，我赶紧走了出来，因为我不愿意他来拽我。
　　“你想怎样？”我问道。
　　“说'里德主人，您想要什么'，”他坐在椅子子说。“我要你过来。”
　　约翰•里德已经14岁了，而我只有10岁。他长得又高又胖，常常狼吞虎咽吃得太多，以致闹病。他本该上寄宿学校的，可是他妈妈太宠他，把他接回家一两个月，因为她觉得他身体弱。