THE month of courtship had wasted: its very last hours were being
numbered. There was no putting off the day that advanced- the bridal
day; and all preparations for its arrival were complete. I, at
least, had nothing more to do: there were my trunks, packed, locked,
corded, ranged in a row along the wall of my little chamber;

A SPLENDID Midsummer shone over England: skies so pure, suns so
radiant as were then seen in long succession, seldom favour even
singly, our wave-girt land. It was as if a band of Italian days had
come from the South, like a flock of glorious passenger birds, and
lighted to rest them on the cliffs of Albion. The hay was al

READER, I married him. A quiet wedding we had: he and I, the parson
and clerk, were alone present. When we got back from church, I went
into the kitchen of the manor-house, where Mary was cooking the dinner
and John cleaning the knives, and I said-
  'Mary, I have been married to Mr. Rochester this morning.' The

SOPHIE came at seven to dress me: she was very long indeed in
accomplishing her task; so long that Mr. Rochester, grown, I
suppose, impatient of my delay, sent up to ask why I did not come. She
was just fastening my veil (the plain square of blond after all) to my
hair with a brooch; I hurried from under her hands as soon as I c

AS I rose and dressed, I thought over what had happened, and
wondered if it were a dream. I could not be certain of the reality
till I had seen Mr. Rochester again, and heard him renew his words
of love and promise.
  While arranging my hair, I looked at my face in the glass, and felt
it was no longer plain: ther

MR. ROCHESTER had given me but one week's leave of absence: yet a
month elapsed before I quitted Gateshead. I wished to leave
immediately after the funeral, but Georgiana entreated me to stay till
she could get off to London, whither she was now at last invited by
her uncle, Mr. Gibson, who had come down to direct his sister's

I HAD forgotten to draw my curtain, which I usually did, and also
to let down my window-blind. The consequence was, that when the
moon, which was full and bright (for the night was fine), came in
her course to that space in the sky opposite my casement, and looked
in at me through the unveiled panes, her glorious gaze roused me.

MERRY days were these at Thornfield Hall; and busy days too: how
different from the first three months of stillness, monotony, and
solitude I had passed beneath its roof! All sad feelings seemed now
driven from the house, all gloomy associations forgotten: there was
life everywhere, movement all day long. You could not now trave

I BOTH wished and feared to see Mr. Rochester on the day which
followed this sleepless night: I wanted to hear his voice again, yet
feared to meet his eye. During the early part of the morning, I
momentarily expected his coming; he was not in the frequent habit of
entering the schoolroom, but he did step in for a few minutes

FOR several subsequent days I saw little of Mr. Rochester. In the
mornings he seemed much engaged with business, and, in the
afternoon, gentlemen from Millcote or the neighbourhood called, and
sometimes stayed to dine with him. When his sprain was well enough
to admit of horse exercise, he rode out a good deal; probably to

THE promise of a smooth career, which my first calm introduction to
Thornfield Hall seemed to pledge, was not belied on a longer
acquaintance with the place and its inmates. Mrs. Fairfax turned out
to be what she appeared, a placid-tempered, kind-natured woman, of
competent education and average intelligence. My pupil was

Tell me whom you love，and I will tell you who you are.
告诉我你爱的人是谁，我就会知道你是什么样的人。——荷塞
John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way1 through Grand Central Station2.
He looked for the girl whose heart h

The ball has stopped wars and started them, whipsawed financial markets and sent shivers of ineluctable joy and cardiac arrest rippling across entire countries at the same moment.
And the way it rolls at the World Cup means everything.

Mike and his pregnant wife live on a farm in a rural area in the west of England. No running water, no electricity, etc. One night, Mikes' wife is begins to deliver the baby. The local doctor is there in attendance. "What d'ya want me to do, Doctor?
" "Hold the lantern, Mike. Here it comes!" the doctor delivers the child and holds it up for the

Dream on
Sail on the wind of a stormy sea
Wake from the sound of an age
Gone forever?
But it's all right
We'll survive
This is the time of our lives
Out on the streets and boulevards
See the way they run
A future of uncertainty
The word against the gun
Where have they gone?
Who are the ones who will help us al