"Montgomery, Lucy Maud - Anne Of Green Gables" - читать интересную книгу автора (Montgomery Lucy Maud)

people adopting a boy! From an orphan asylum! Well, the world was
certainly turning upside down! She would be surprised at nothing after
this! Nothing!
"What on earth put such a notion into your head?" she demanded
disapprovingly.
This had been done without here advice being asked, and must perforce
be disapproved.
"Well, we've been thinking about it for some time-all winter in fact,"
returned Marilla. "Mrs. Alexander Spencer was up here one day before
Christmas and she said she was going to get a little girl from the asylum
over in Hopeton in the spring. Her cousin lives there and Mrs. Spencer has
visited here and knows all about it. So Matthew and I have talked it over
off and on ever since. We thought we'd get a boy. Matthew is getting up in
years, you know-he's sixtyand he isn't so spry as he once was. His heart
troubles him a good deal. And you know how desperate hard it's got to be
to get hired help. There's never anybody to be had but those stupid,
half-grown little French boys; and as soon as you do get one broke into
your ways and taught something he's up and off to the lobster canneries or
the States. At first Matthew suggested getting a Home boy. But I said `no'
flat to that. `They may be all right-I'm not saying they're not-but no
London street Arabs for me,' I said. `Give me a native born at least.
There'll be a risk, no matter who we get. But I'll feel easier in my mind
and sleep sounder at nights if we get a born Canadian.' So in the end we
decided to ask Mrs. Spencer to pick us out one when she went over to get
her little girl. We heard last week she was going, so we sent her word by
Richard Spencer's folks at Carmody to bring us a smart, likely boy of
about ten or eleven. We decided that would be the best age-old enough to
be of some use in doing chores right off and young enough to be trained up
proper. We mean to give him a good home and schooling. We had a telegram
from Mrs. Alexander Spencer today-the mail-man brought it from the
stationsaying they were coming on the five-thirty train tonight. So
Matthew went to Bright River to meet him. Mrs. Spencer will drop him off
there. Of course she goes on to White Sands station herself"
Mrs. Rachel prided herself on always speaking her mind; she proceeded
to speak it now, having adjusted her mental attitude to this amazing piece
of news.
"Well, Marilla, I'll just tell you plain that I think you're doing a
mighty foolish thing-a risky thing, that's what. You don't know what
you're getting. You're bringing a strange child into your house and home
and you don't know a single thing about him nor what his disposition is
like nor what sort of parents he had nor how he's likely to turn out. Why,
it was only last week I read in the paper how a man and his wife up west
of the Island took a boy out of an orphan asylum and he set fire to the
house at night-set it ON PURPOSE, Marilla-and nearly burnt them to a crisp
in their beds. And I know another case where an adopted boy used to such
the eggs-they couldn't break him of it. If you had asked my advice in the
matter-which you didn't do, Marilla-I'd have said for mercy's sake not to
think of such a thing, that's what."
This Job's comforting seemed neither to offend nor alarm Marilla. She
knitted steadily on.