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The Mystery of Allegra

Peter Foreman

A Very Short Introduction

She is five years and three months old. She wears a long white nightdress and she has blond hair and big eyes, as blue as an Italian sky in summer. Her voice is soft and sweet, and she wants Adrian to take her to her Mamà, who is a long way away.


Adrian is on holiday, travelling in Italy with his parents. Late one evening they find the Villa Henderson and decide to take rooms there for the night. But Adrian wakes in the middle of the night to find Allegra in his room, with her big blue eyes and cold little hands. At first Adrian is very surprised, then he remembers that Chiara Henderson said she had a little daughter. But why does Allegra say that her mother is a long way away? And Adrian's bedroom door is locked, so how did Allegra get into his room?

Adrian does not understand. He decides to ask Allegra's mother in the morning. But in the morning he has a very big surprise...

Chapter 1

Allegra One

We were driving along a dark road when my mother saw a sign, which said in big letters: Villa Henderson—Bed and Breakfast.

'It's in English!' my mother said. She was surprised because we were on holiday in Italy.

// Did the local people manage a foreign hotel(villa)?

Villa?

vil·la

/?vil?/ noun? 別墅

(especially in continental Europe) a large and luxurious country residence.

a large country house of Roman times, having an estate and consisting of farm and residential buildings arranged around a courtyard.

'Are you English?' my father asked.

'Yes, I am,' she answered in a quiet voice.

// Do you speak English?

// The father asks that?maybe because she looks like a English girl.

'My name is Margaret Henderson,' said the old woman, 'and this is my daughter Chiara. She has a daughter too, so I'm a grandmother.'

// I would say the grandmother loves her granddaughter very much.

'Good night and sleep well,' said Chiara with a smile.

But I didn't sleep well.

// “But I didn't sleep well.”: The author says some big ture words in order to prove this story is real, nonsence.

// 瞎說什么大實話

I slept a little, woke up, then slept again. And then I woke up suddenly.

// First night in the villa (in the everywhere not home) will be uncomfortable.

My left hand touched the table — and then something took hold of my right arm.

It was a cold little hand. The hair on my neck stood up and my legs began to shake.

// Have you ever touched the ghost? It will feel like this.

She was looking at me with big eyes, as blue as an Italian sky in summer.Her blond hair was as bright as sunlight round her pale face.

'What a beautiful child!' I thought.

// What a couple of the beautiful eyes.

But she couldn't say the letter 'r'.

// The translator of the Holmes is lived in FuJian.

// 就像福建人分不清 H、F，所以胡建的翻譯家(林紓)才會把 Holmes 翻譯為福爾摩斯，而不是赫爾墨斯或者霍姆斯。

For a while I didn't speak, and I just looked at her. Why did she say 'was' and not 'is' when she spoke about her parents?

// She is a ghost, RUN.

'Did she? Well, I know she sometimes walks in her sleep.'

// It is Dream Walk, Run, Adrian.

We heard Allegra on the stairs; then she came out. I looked at her. I looked and looked. But I couldn't believe my eyes.

// What happened? See you next chapter.

corridor n.?

a long, narrow passage between two rows of rooms in a building通道；走廊

villa?

n. a big country house with large gardens 別墅

Chapter 2

Allegra Two

'No, Mummy, I wasn't in his room.' She spoke English beautifully, but she couldn't say the letter 'r'!

// She is a liar.

I looked at the window. It was closed. Then I went to the door. It was locked. I began to feel very afraid.

'How did you get in here?' I asked.

// Do you have to do this, Allegra? I do not want to die. Please do not scare me.

I wanted to show this little girl to Chiara. Then she would know that her daughter wasn't walking in her sleep — and I would know that I wasn't dreaming!

// Am I a butterfly, or a butterfly is me?

My parents liked the villa so we stayed there for a week. But I wanted to go. I was afraid.

// hhhhh

Every night the blond Allegra came to my room in her long white nightdress, and asked me to take her to her Mamà.

// hhhhh

?Who was she? I didn't believe in ghosts, but I was beginning to think that she was a ghost.

// was? v.曾經(jīng)是

The day before we left, I wrote some notes:

ALLEGRA HENDERSON

— 5 years old. Tall, black hair, brown eyes, pale.

…

ALLEGRA THE GHOST

— 5 years old. Tall, blond hair, blue eyes, pale.

…

// A serious man wants to find the answer.

convent school?

a school for girls that is run by Roman Catholic nuns. 女修道院學校

Chapter 3

Allegra Three

Our dear little Allegra died on April 21st a year ago. Oh, it's like a terrible dream!

// The little girl could feel she is going to die.

When I read this, I was shocked. Allegra dead! I felt very sad and I began to cry.

// It is hard to believe.

They had a little daughter. When they told me her name, I couldn't believe my ears.

Allegra came to me suddenly. It's a beautiful name and we hoped that she would be a happy child.

// A little girl has a same name.

'But please tell me the exact day. You see, I'd like to buy her a present next year.'

// It is a clever answer.

I was thinking about Allegra Henderson. She died on April 21st when she was five years and three months old. So she was born on January 21st too!

// She is a ghost too!

And while I was reading about Byron and Shelley, I began to understand the mystery of Allegra.

// See you next chapter.

Chapter 4

Lord Byron's Daughter

But Byron was rich and Claire thought that Allegra would have a better life with him. Of course, she did not want to give Allegra to Byron

// Claire is thinking about Allegra's future, so she has to give up Allegra's feeling.

Claire: Allegra was the only thing that I loved in the world.

// She do not love the world, she only loves Allegra.

// We often say that we have to love the world, it is not ture. A lots of people do not love the world.

Every day she did the same things at the same time. This quiet life was very different from her life with Byron.

// Allegra was four years old at this time.

He thought that the convent was good for Allegra

// A man never has a feel about convent.

Claire died in 1879 when she was eighty-one years old.

// See you next Chapter.

balcony?

n. a raised flat surface which is built out from the upstairs wall of a building 陽臺

Chapter 5

Bagno a Ripoli

She was unhappy and she couldn't rest because she wanted to be with her mother.

// Someone could not rest will become a ghost.

Her name was Allegra, and she would be five years and three months on April 21st.

It was now the evening of April 20th.

// RAN

'Are you going to take me to Mamà?'

'Yes, Allegra. We're going to Bagno a Ripoli. But we must hurry. Come on, let's go!'

// The upset background music is playing.

I took her cold little hand. We went out of the house and got into my car. I drove very fast through the night.

// Grab her hand and go!

'Mamà?' she called. 'Are you here? It's me, Allegra. I'm here, your Allegra is here.' She was crying with happiness.

I was happy too,

// Call Mama's name in front of the tombstone

And very slowly the ghost of Allegra began to disappear. And her voice was slowly going away.

// Gone with wind.

Chapter 6

Allegra Four

At eight o'clock the next morning Allegra's mother came to my room and woke me up. She had a big smile on her face.

// My hard work it worked

But I don't want to tell her why. You see, today is April 20th and tomorrow my daughter will be five years and three months old.

Oh! I forgot to tell you her name! But you know it already — don't you?

// Yes, it is Allegra, hhhhh.

@牛津書蟲雙語讀物

@Google dictionary