Anne’s homesickness wore off, greatly helped in the wearing by her weekend visits home. As long as the open weather lasted the Avonlea students went out to Carmody on the new branch railway every Friday night. Diana and several other Avonlea young folks were generally on hand to meet them and they all walked over to Avonlea in a merry party. Anne thought those Friday evening gypsyings over the autumnal hills in the crisp golden air, with the homelights of Avonlea twinkling beyond, were the best and dearest hours in the whole week.
Gilbert Blythe nearly always walked with Ruby Gillis and carried her satchel for her. Ruby was a very handsome young lady, now thinking herself quite as grown up as she really was; she wore her skirts as long as her mother would let her and did her hair up in town, though she had to take it down when she went home. She had large, bright-blue eyes, a brilliant complexion, and a plump showy figure. She laughed a great deal, was cheerful and good-tempered, and enjoyed the pleasant things of life frankly.
“But I shouldn’t think she was the sort of girl Gilbert would like,” whispered Jane to Anne. Anne did not think so either, but she would not have said so for the Avery scholarship. She could not help thinking, too, that it would be very pleasant to have such a friend as Gilbert to jest and chatter with and exchange ideas about books and studies and ambitions. Gilbert had ambitions, she knew, and Ruby Gillis did not seem the sort of person with whom such could be profitably discussed.
There was no silly sentiment in Anne’s ideas concerning Gilbert. Boys were to her, when she thought about them at all, merely possible good comrades. If she and Gilbert had been friends she would not have cared how many other friends he had nor with whom he walked. She had a genius for friendship; girl friends she had in plenty; but she had a vague consciousness that masculine friendship might also be a good thing to round out one’s conceptions of companionship and furnish broader standpoints of judgment and comparison. Not that Anne could have put her feelings on the matter into just such clear definition. But she thought that if Gilbert had ever walked home with her from the train, over the crisp fields and along the ferny byways, they might have had many and merry and interesting conversations about the new world that was opening around them and their hopes and ambitions therein. Gilbert was a clever young fellow, with his own thoughts about things and a determination to get the best out of life and put the best into it. Ruby Gillis told Jane Andrews that she didn’t understand half the things Gilbert Blythe said; he talked just like Anne Shirley did when she had a thoughtful fit on and for her part she didn’t think it any fun to be bothering about books and that sort of thing when you didn’t have to. Frank Stockley had lots more dash and go, but then he wasn’t half as good-looking as Gilbert and she really couldn’t decide which she liked best!
In the Academy Anne gradually drew a little circle of friends about her, thoughtful, imaginative, ambitious students like herself. With the “rose-red” girl, Stella Maynard, and the “dream girl,” Priscilla Grant, she soon became intimate, finding the latter pale spiritual-looking maiden to be full to the brim of mischief and pranks and fun, while the vivid, black-eyed Stella had a heartful of wistful dreams and fancies, as aerial and rainbow-like as Anne’s own.
After the Christmas holidays the Avonlea students gave up going home on Fridays and settled down to hard work. By this time all the Queen’s scholars had gravitated into their own places in the ranks and the various classes had assumed distinct and settled shadings of individuality. Certain facts had become generally accepted. It was admitted that the medal contestants had practically narrowed down to three—Gilbert Blythe, Anne Shirley, and Lewis Wilson; the Avery scholarship was more doubtful, any one of a certain six being a possible winner. The bronze medal for mathematics was considered as good as won by a fat, funny little up-country boy with a bumpy forehead and a patched coat.
Ruby Gillis was the handsomest girl of the year at the Academy; in the Second Year classes Stella Maynard carried off the palm for beauty, with small but critical minority in favor of Anne Shirley. Ethel Marr was admitted by all competent judges to have the most stylish modes of hair-dressing, and Jane Andrews—plain, plodding, conscientious Jane—carried off the honors in the domestic science course. Even Josie Pye attained a certain preeminence as the sharpest-tongued young lady in attendance at Queen’s. So it may be fairly stated that Miss Stacy’s old pupil’s held their own in the wider arena of the academical course.
Anne worked hard and steadily. Her rivalry with Gilbert was as intense as it had ever been in Avonlea school, although it was not known in the class at large, but somehow the bitterness had gone out of it. Anne no longer wished to win for the sake of defeating Gilbert; rather, for the proud consciousness of a well-won victory over a worthy foeman. It would be worth while to win, but she no longer thought life would be insupportable if she did not.
In spite of lessons the students found opportunities for pleasant times. Anne spent many of her spare hours at Beechwood and generally ate her Sunday dinners there and went to church with Miss Barry. The latter was, as she admitted, growing old, but her black eyes were not dim nor the vigor of her tongue in the least abated. But she never sharpened the latter on Anne, who continued to be a prime favorite with the critical old lady.
“That Anne-girl improves all the time,” she said. “I get tired of other girls—there is such a provoking and eternal sameness about them. Anne has as many shades as a rainbow and every shade is the prettiest while it lasts. I don’t know that she is as amusing as she was when she was a child, but she makes me love her and I like people who make me love them. It saves me so much trouble in making myself love them.”
Then, almost before anybody realized it, spring had come; out in Avonlea the Mayflowers were peeping pinkly out on the sere barrens where snow-wreaths lingered; and the “mist of green” was on the woods and in the valleys. But in Charlottetown harassed Queen’s students thought and talked only of examinations.
“It doesn’t seem possible that the term is nearly over,” said Anne. “Why, last fall it seemed so long to look forward to—a whole winter of studies and classes. And here we are, with the exams looming up next week. Girls, sometimes I feel as if those exams meant everything, but when I look at the big buds swelling on those chestnut trees and the misty blue air at the end of the streets they don’t seem half so important.”
Jane and Ruby and Josie, who had dropped in, did not take this view of it. To them the coming examinations were constantly very important indeed—far more important than chestnut buds or Maytime hazes. It was all very well for Anne, who was sure of passing at least, to have her moments of belittling them, but when your whole future depended on them—as the girls truly thought theirs did—you could not regard them philosophically.
“I’ve lost seven pounds in the last two weeks,” sighed Jane. “It’s no use to say don’t worry. I WILL worry. Worrying helps you some—it seems as if you were doing something when you’re worrying. It would be dreadful if I failed to get my license after going to Queen’s all winter and spending so much money.”
“I don’t care,” said Josie Pye. “If I don’t pass this year I’m coming back next. My father can afford to send me. Anne, Frank Stockley says that Professor Tremaine said Gilbert Blythe was sure to get the medal and that Emily Clay would likely win the Avery scholarship.”
“That may make me feel badly tomorrow, Josie,” laughed Anne, “but just now I honestly feel that as long as I know the violets are coming out all purple down in the hollow below Green Gables and that little ferns are poking their heads up in Lovers’ Lane, it’s not a great deal of difference whether I win the Avery or not. I’ve done my best and I begin to understand what is meant by the ‘joy of the strife.’ Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing. Girls, don’t talk about exams! Look at that arch of pale green sky over those houses and picture to yourself what it must look like over the purply-dark beech-woods back of Avonlea.”
“What are you going to wear for commencement, Jane?” asked Ruby practically.
Jane and Josie both answered at once and the chatter drifted into a side eddy of fashions. But Anne, with her elbows on the window sill, her soft cheek laid against her clasped hands, and her eyes filled with visions, looked out unheedingly across city roof and spire to that glorious dome of sunset sky and wove her dreams of a possible future from the golden tissue of youth’s own optimism. All the Beyond was hers with its possibilities lurking rosily in the oncoming years—each year a rose of promise to be woven into an immortal chaplet.
背景和作者介绍
这篇摘录自《绿山墙的安妮》，这是一部备受喜爱的经典小说，由加拿大作家露西·莫德·蒙哥马利创作。该小说于1908年首次出版，讲述了安妮·雪莉的故事，她是一个富有想象力和活力的孤儿，被误送到马瑞拉和马修·卡斯伯特那里，他们是一对兄妹，原本打算收养一个男孩来帮助他们在爱德华王子岛艾凡里镇的农场工作。小说背景设定在20世纪初，生动地描绘了加拿大的乡村生活、大自然的美丽以及成长的挑战和快乐。
露西·莫德·蒙哥马利本人于1874年出生于爱德华王子岛，她对该岛的景观和文化的深刻了解极大地影响了她的写作。她的作品引起了全球几代读者的共鸣，以其温暖、幽默和对人性的深刻洞察而闻名。
详细解读和意义
这段话突出了安妮从思乡之情过渡到在学校里更加安定的生活，在那里她结交了朋友并面临学术挑战。叙事探讨了友谊、雄心、竞争以及成长的苦乐参半的主题。安妮对友谊的反思，尤其是她对吉尔伯特·布莱思的想法，揭示了她对人际关系的成熟和深思熟虑的态度——重视陪伴、智力交流和相互尊重，而不是肤浅的吸引力或嫉妒。
故事还触及了年轻学生面临的压力，例如考试和社会期望，但安妮乐观的态度和对自然世界的欣赏提醒读者平衡和视角的重要性。她能够在“绿色的薄雾”和即将到来的春天中找到快乐，象征着希望和复兴，鼓励读者以勇气和优雅拥抱生活的挑战。
给学生的经验教训和见解
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友谊的价值： 安妮对友谊的细致理解教导学生欣赏不同的关系，包括那些拓宽视野并鼓励个人成长的关系。建立在共同兴趣和相互尊重基础上的友谊可以丰富生活和学习。
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良性竞争： 安妮与吉尔伯特的竞争被描绘成具有激励作用而非破坏性。学生们可以了解到，当以公平和尊重的态度对待竞争时，它可以激发卓越和自我提升，而不是怨恨。
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平衡雄心和幸福： 这段话展示了考试可能造成的压力，但安妮的视角提醒学生们要保持雄心与心理健康之间的平衡，并在学业成就之外找到快乐。
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乐观和韧性： 安妮对未来的希望和对成功与失败的接受鼓励了韧性。学生们可以学会将挫折视为成长的一部分，并对挑战保持积极的态度。
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对自然的欣赏： 对艾凡里景观的生动描述邀请学生们与大自然建立联系，大自然可以成为慰藉、灵感和正念的源泉。
在日常生活中运用这些经验教训
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在学习中： 效仿安妮在学习中的奉献精神和持续的努力，并将挑战视为成长的机会而不是障碍。培养支持你的学术和个人抱负的友谊。
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在社交互动中： 珍视鼓励开放对话和相互尊重的友谊。避免损害关系的嫉妒或竞争；相反，培养友情和支持。
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在管理压力中： 面对考试或其他压力时，记住安妮的例子，即平衡工作与反思和欣赏周围世界的时刻。练习正念并保持视角。
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在个人成长中： 将失败视为学习经历。牢记你的目标，但对未来保持灵活和乐观。
从故事中培养积极的特质
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想象力和创造力： 安妮生动的想象力丰富了她的生活和人际关系。学生们应该培养他们的创造力，将其作为解决问题和自我表达的一种手段。
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同情心和善良： 安妮爱和接受他人的能力，即使是那些与她不同的人，也是同情心的有力一课。
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勇气和决心： 尽管面临困境，安妮仍然勇敢而坚强地面对生活，激励学生们坚持不懈。
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在简单事物中找到快乐： 在大自然、友谊和小的快乐中找到幸福可以极大地增强幸福感。
通过反思安妮的经历和态度，学生们可以培养一种平衡、充满希望和韧性的方法来面对自己的生活，从而促进学业成功和个人成就。
