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chater ne behd the gy（第1页）

ITwasadullautumndayandJillPolewascryingbehindthegym。

Shewascryingbecausetheyhadbeenbullyingher。Thisisnotgoingtobeaschoolstory，soIshallsayaslittleaspossibleaboutJill’sschool，whichisnotapleasantsubject。Itwas“co-educational”，aschoolforbothboysandgirls，whatusedtobecalleda“mixed”school；somesaiditwasnotnearlysomixedasthemindsofthepeoplewhoranit。Thesepeoplehadtheideathatboysandgirlsshouldbeallowedtodowhattheyliked。Andunfortunatelywhattenorfifteenofthebiggestboysandgirlslikedbestwasbullyingtheothers。Allsortsofthings，horridthings，wentonwhichatanordinaryschoolwouldhavebeenfoundoutandstoppedinhalfaterm；butatthisschooltheyweren’t。Oreveniftheywere，thepeoplewhodidthemwerenotexpelledorpunished。Theheadsaidtheywereinterestingpsychologicalcasesandsentforthemandtalkedtothemforhours。Andifyouknewtherightsortofthingstosaytothehead，themainresultwasthatyoubecameratherafavouritethanotherwise。

ThatwaswhyJillPolewascryingonthatdullautumndayonthedamplittlepathwhichrunsbetweenthebackofthegymandtheshrubbery。Andshehadn’tnearlyfinishedhercrywhenaboycameroundthecornerofthegymwhistling，withhishandsinhispockets。Henearlyranintoher。

“Can’tyoulookwhereyou’regoing？”saidJillPole。

“Allright，”saidtheboy，“youneedn’tstart—”andthenhenoticedherface。“Isay，Pole，”hesaid，“what’sup？”

Jillonlymadefaces，thesortyoumakewhenyou’retryingtosaysomethingbutfindthatifyouspeakyou’llstartcryingagain。

“It’sthem，Isuppose—asusual，”saidtheboygrimly，digginghishandsfartherintohispockets。

Jillnodded。Therewasnoneedforhertosayanything，evenifshecouldhavesaidit。Theybothknew。

“Now，lookhere，”saidtheboy，“there’snogoodusall—”

Hemeantwell，buthedidtalkratherlikesomeonebeginningalecture。Jillsuddenlyflewintoatemper（whichisquitealikelythingtohappenifyouhavebeeninterruptedinacry）。

“Oh，goawayandmindyourownbusiness，”shesaid。“Nobodyaskedyoutocomebargingin，didthey？Andyou’reanicepersontostarttellinguswhatwealloughttodo，aren’tyou？IsupposeyoumeanweoughttospendallourtimesuckinguptoThem，andcurryingfavour，anddancingattendanceonthemlikeyoudo。”

“Oh，Lor！”saidtheboy，sittingdownonthegrassybankattheedgeoftheshrubberyandveryquicklygettingupagainbecausethegrasswassoakingwet。HisnameunfortunatelywasEustaceScrubb，buthewasn’tabadsort。

“Pole！”hesaid。“Isthatfair？HaveIbeendoinganythingofthesortthisterm？Didn’tIstanduptoCarterabouttherabbit？Anddidn’tIkeepthesecretaboutSpivvins—undertorturetoo？Anddidn’tI—”

“Id-don’tknowandIdon’tcare，”sobbedJill。

Scrubbsawthatshewasn’tquiteherselfyetandverysensiblyofferedherapeppermint。Hehadonetoo。PresentlyJillbegantoseethingsinaclearerlight。

“I’msorry，Scrubb，”shesaidpresently。“Iwasn’tfair。Youhavedoneallthat—thisterm。”

“Thenwashoutlasttermifyoucan，”saidEustace。“Iwasadifferentchapthen。Iwas—gosh！WhatalittletickIwas。”

“Well，honestly，youwere。”saidJill。

“Youthinktherehasbeenachange，then？”saidEustace。

“It’snotonlyme，”saidJill。“Everyone’sbeensayingso。They’venoticedit。EleanorBlakistonheardAdelaPennyfathertalkingaboutitinourchangingroomyesterday。Shesaid，‘Someone’sgotholdofthatScrubbkid。He’squiteunmanageablethisterm。Weshallhavetoattendtohimnext。’”

Eustacegaveashudder。EveryoneatExperimentHouseknewwhatitwaslikebeing“attendedto”bythem。

Bothchildrenwerequietforamoment。Thedropsdrippedoffthelaurelleaves。

“Whywereyousodifferentlastterm？”saidJillpresently。

“Alotofqueerthingshappenedtomeinthehols，”saidEustacemysteriously。

“Whatsortofthings？”askedJill。

Eustacedidn’tsayanythingforquitealongtime。Thenhesaid：

“Lookhere，Pole，youandIhatethisplaceaboutasmuchasanybodycanhateanything，don’twe？”

“IknowIdo，”saidJill。

“ThenIreallythinkIcantrustyou。”

“Dam’goodofyou，”saidJill。

“Yes，butthisisareallyterrificsecret。Pole，Isay，areyougoodatbelievingthings？Imeanthingsthateveryoneherewouldlaughat？”

“I’veneverhadthechance，”saidJill，“butIthinkIwouldbe。”

“CouldyoubelievemeifIsaidI’dbeenrightoutoftheworld—outsidethisworld—lasthols？”

“Iwouldn’tknowwhatyoumeant。”

“Well，don’tlet’sbotheraboutworldsthen。SupposingItoldyouI’dbeeninaplacewhereanimalscantalkandwherethereare—er—enchantmentsanddragons—and—well，allthesortsofthingsyouhaveinfairy-tales。”Scrubbfeltterriblyawkwardashesaidthisandgotredintheface。

“Howdidyougetthere？”saidJill。Shealsofeltcuriouslyshy。

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