Learn English Through Novel Story ★ The Secret Garden -- English Listening Practice Level 3

The secret garden by francis hudson burnett chapter one little miss mary nobody seemed to care about mary she was born in india where her father was a british official he was busy with his work and her mother who was very beautiful spent all her time going to parties so an indian woman kamala was paid to take care of the little girl mary was not a pretty child she had a thin angry face and thin yellow hair she was always giving orders to kamala who had to obey mary never thought of other people but only of

herself in fact she was a very selfish disagreeable bad temper little girl one very hot morning when she was about nine years old she woke up and saw that instead of kamala There was a different indian servant by her bed what are you doing here she asked crossley go away and send kamala to me at once the woman looked afraid i'm sorry miss mary she she can't come something strange was happening that day some of the house servants were missing and everybody looked frightened but nobody told mary anything and kamala still did not come so

at last mary went out into the garden and played by herself under a tree she pretended she was making her own flower garden and picked large red flowers to push into the ground all the time she was saying crossly to herself i hate kamala i'll hit her when she comes back just then she saw her mother coming into the garden with a young englishman they did not notice the child who listened to their conversation it's very bad is it Her mother asked the young man in a worried voice very bad he answered seriously people are

dying like flies it's dangerous to stay in this town you should go to the hills where there's no disease oh i know she cried we must leave soon suddenly they heard loud cries coming from the servants rooms at the side of the house what's happened cried mary's mother wildly i think one of your servants has just died you didn't tell me the disease is here in your house i didn't know she screamed quick come with me and together they ran into the house now mary understood what was wrong the terrible disease had already killed many

people in the town and in all the houses people were dying in mary's house it was kamala who had just died later that day three more servants died there all through the night And the next day people ran in and out of the house shouting and crying nobody thought of mary she hid in her bedroom frightened by the strange and terrible sounds that she heard around her sometimes she cried and sometimes she slept when she woke the next day the house was silent perhaps the disease has gone she thought and everybody is well again i

wonder who will take care of me instead of kamala why doesn't someone bring me some food it's strange the house is so quiet but just then she heard men's voices in the hall how sad said one that beautiful woman there was a child too wasn't there said the other although none of us ever saw her mary was standing in the middle of her room when they opened the door a few minutes later the two men jump back in surprise my name is mary lennox She said crossley i was asleep when everyone was ill and now

i'm hungry it's the child the one nobody ever saw said the older man to the other they've all forgotten her why was i forgotten ask mary angrily why has nobody come to take care of me the younger man looked at her very sadly poor child he said you see there's nobody left alive in the house so nobody can come in this strange and sudden way mary learnt that both her mother and her father had died the few servants who had not died had run away in the night no one had remembered little miss mary she

was all alone because she had never known her parents well she did not miss them at all she only thought of herself as she had always done Where will i live she wondered i hope i'll stay with people who let me do what i want at first she was taken to an english family who had known her parents she hated their untidy house and noisy children and preferred playing by herself in the garden one day she was playing her favorite game pretending to make a garden when one of the children basil offered to help go

away cried mary i don't want your help for a moment basil looked angry and then he began to laugh he danced round and round mary and sang a funny little song about miss mary and her stupid flowers this made mary very cross indeed no one had ever laughed at her so unkindly you're going home soon said basil and we're all very pleased you're leaving I'm pleased too replied mary but where's home you're stupid if you don't know that loved basil england of course you're going to live with your uncle mr archibald craven i've never heard

of him said mary coldly but i know about him because i heard father and mother talking said basil he lives in a big lonely old house and has no friends because he's so bad tempered he's got a crooked back and he's horrid i don't believe you cried mary but the next day basil's parents explained that she was going to live with her uncle in yorkshire in the north of england mary looked bored and cross and said nothing after the long sea journey she was met In london by mr craven's housekeeper mrs medlock together they traveled

north by train mrs medlock was a large woman with a very red face and bright black eyes mary did not like her but that was not surprising because she did not usually like people mrs medlock did not like mary either what a disagreeable child thought the housekeeper but perhaps i should talk to her i can tell you a bit about your uncle if you like she said aloud he lives in a big old house a long way from anywhere there are nearly 100 rooms but most of them are shut and locked there's a big park

round the house and all kinds of gardens well what do you think of that nothing replied mary it doesn't matter to me Mrs medlock laughed you're a hard little girl well if you don't care mr craven doesn't either he never spends time on anyone he's got a crooked back you see and although he's always been rich he was never really happy until he married married repeated mary in surprise yes he married a sweet pretty girl and he loved her deeply so when she died oh did she die ask mary interested yes she did and now

he doesn't care about anybody if he's at home he stays in his room and sees nobody he won't want to see you so you must stay out of his way and do what you're told mary stared out of the train window at the gray sky and the rain she was not looking forward to life at her uncle's house the train journey lasted all day and it was dark when they arrived at the station Then there was a long drive to get to the house it was a cold windy night and it was raining heavily after

a while mary began to hear a strange wild noise she looked out of the window but could see nothing except the darkness what's that noise she asked mrs medlock it's it's not the sea is it no that's the moor it's the sound the wind makes blowing across the moor what is a moor it's just miles and miles of wild land with no trees or houses your uncle's house is right on the edge of the moor mary listened to this strange frightening sound i don't like it she thought i don't like it she looked more disagreeable

than ever [Music] Chapter 2 mary in yorkshire they arrived at a very large old house it looked dark and unfriendly from the outside inside mary looked around the big shadowy hall and felt very small and lost they went straight upstairs mary was shown to a room where there was a warm fire and food on the table this is your room said mrs medlock go to bed when you've had some supper and remember you must stay in your room mr craven doesn't want you to wander all over the house when mary woke up the next morning

she saw a young servant girl cleaning the fireplace the room seemed dark and rather strange with pictures of dogs and horses and ladies on the walls it was not a child's room at all from the window she could not see any trees or houses only wild land Which looked like a kind of purple sea [Music] who are you she asked the servant coldly martha miss answered the girl with a smile and what's that outside mary continued that's the more smiled martha do you like it no replied mary immediately i hate it that's because you don't

know it you will like it i love it it's lovely in spring and summer when there are flowers it always smells so sweet the airs are fresh and the birds sing so beautifully i never want to leave the moor mary was feeling very bad tempered you're a strange servant she said in india we don't have conversations with servants We give orders and they obey and that's that martha did not seem to mind mary's crossness i know i talked too much she laughed are you going to be my servant ask mary well not really i work

for mrs medlock i'm going to clean your room and bring you your food but you won't need a servant except for those things but who's going to dress me martha stopped cleaning and stared at mary the cannon dressed this sun she asked shocked what do you mean i don't understand your language oh i forgot we all speak the yorkshire dialect here but of course you don't understand that i meant to say can't you put on your own clothes of course not my servant always used to dress me well i think you should learn to dress

yourself my mother always says People should be able to take care of themselves even if they're rich and important little miss mary was furious with martha it's different in india where i come from you don't know anything about india or about servants or about anything you you she could not explain what she meant suddenly she felt very confused and lonely she threw herself down on the bed and started crying wildly now now don't cry like that martha said gently i'm very sorry you're right i don't know anything about anything please stop crying miss she sounded

kind and friendly and mary began to feel better and soon stopped crying martha went on talking as she finished her cleaning but mary looked out of the window in a bored way and pretended not to listen i've got 11 brothers and sisters you know miss there's not much money in our house And they all eat so much food mother says it's the good fresh air on the mower that makes them so hungry my brother dicken he's always out on the moor he's 12. and he's got a horse which he rides sometimes where did he get

it asked mary she had always wanted an animal of her own and so she began to feel a little interest in dicken oh it's a wild horse but he's a kind boy and animals like him you see [Music] now you must have your breakfast miss here it is on the table i don't want it said mary i'm not hungry what cried martha my little brothers and sisters would eat all this in five minutes why us mary coldly because they don't get enough to eat that's why and they're always hungry you're very lucky to have the

food miss mary said nothing but she drank some tea and ate a little bread now Put a coat on and run outside to play said martha it'll do you good to be in the fresh air mary looked out of the window at the cold gray sky why should i go out on a day like this she asked well there's nothing to play with indoors is that mary realized martha was right but who will go with me she said martha stared at her nobody you'll have to learn to play by yourself dicken plays by himself on

the moors for hours with the wild birds and the sheep and the other animals she looked away for a moment perhaps i shouldn't tell you this but but one of the world gardens is locked up nobody's been in it for 10 years it was mrs craven's garden and when she died so suddenly mr craven locked it and buried the key oh i must go i can hear mrs medlock's bell ringing for me mary went downstairs And wandered through the great empty gardens many of the fruit and vegetable gardens had walls round them but there were

no locked doors she saw an old man digging in one of the vegetable gardens but he looked cross and unfriendly so she walked on how ugly it all looks in winter she thought but what a mystery the locked garden is why did my uncle bury the key if he loved his wife why did he hate her garden perhaps i'll never know i don't suppose i like him if i ever meet him and he won't like me so i won't be able to ask him just then she noticed a robin singing to her from a tree

on the other side of a wall i think that tree's in the secret garden she told herself there's an extra wall here and there's no way in she went back to where the gardener was digging and spoke to him at first he answered in a very bad tempered way But suddenly the robin flew down near them and the old man began to smile he looked a different person then and mary thought how much nicer people looked when they smiled the gardener spoke gently to the robin when the pretty little bird hopped on the ground near

them he's my friend he is said the old man there aren't any other robins in the garden so he's a bit lonely he spoke in strong yorkshire dialect so mary had to listen carefully to understand him she looked very hard at the robin i'm lonely too she said she had not realized this before what's your name she asked the gardener ben weatherstaff i'm lonely myself the robin's my only friend you see i haven't got any friends at all said mary yorkshire people always say what they are thinking and old ben was a yorkshire moore man

We're alike you and me he told mary we're not pretty to look at and we're both very disagreeable nobody had ever said this to mary before am i really as ugly and disagreeable as ben she wondered suddenly the robin flew to a tree near mary and started singing to her ben laughed loudly well he said he wants to be your friend oh would you please be my friend she whispered to the robin she spoke in a soft quiet voice and old ben looked at her in surprise you said that really nicely he said you sound

like dicken when he talks to animals on the mower do you know dicken asked mary but just then the robin flew away oh look he's flown into the garden with no door please ben how can i get into it ben stopped smiling and picked up his spade You can't and that's that it's not your business nobody can find the door run away and play will you i must get on with my work and he walked away he did not even say goodbye in the next few days mary spent almost all her time in the gardens

the fresh air from the moor made her hungry and she was becoming stronger and healthier one day she noticed the robin again he was on top of a wall singing to her good morning isn't this fun come this way he seemed to say as he hopped along the wall mary began to laugh as she danced along beside him i know the secret gardens on the other side of this wall she thought excitedly and the robin lives there but where's the door that evening she asked martha to stay and talk to her beside the fire after

supper they could hear the wind blowing round the old house but the room was warm and comfortable Mary only had one idea in her head tell me about the secret garden she said well all right then miss but we are supposed to talk about it you know it was mrs craven's favorite garden and she and mr craven used to take care of it themselves they spent hours there reading and talking very happy they were they used the branch of an old tree as a seat but one day when she was sitting on the branch it

broke and she fell she was very badly hurt and the next day she died that's why he hates the garden so much and won't let anyone go in there how sad said mary poor mr craven it was the first time that she had ever felt sorry for anyone just then as she was listening to the wind outside she heard another noise in the house can you hear a child crying She asked martha martha looked confused no she replied no i think it must be the wind but at that moment the wind blew open their door

and they heard the crying very clearly i told you cried mary at once martha shut the door it was the wind she repeated but she did not speak in her usual natural way and mary did not believe her the next day it was very rainy so mary did not go out instead she decided to wander around the house looking into some of the hundred rooms that mrs medlock had told her about she spent all morning going in and out of dark silent rooms which were full of heavy furniture and old pictures she saw no servants

at all and was on her way back to her room for lunch when she heard a cry it's a bit like the cry that i heard last night she thought just then the housekeeper mrs medlock appeared With her keys in her hand what are you doing here she asked crossley i didn't know which way to go and i heard someone crying answered mary you didn't hear anything go back to your room now and if you don't stay there i'll lock you in mary hated mrs medlock for this there was someone crying i know there was

she said to herself but i'll discover who it is soon she was almost beginning to enjoy herself in yorkshire [Music] chapter three finding the secret garden when mary woke up two days later the wind and rain had all disappeared and the sky was a beautiful blue spring will be here soon said martha happily love the mower then when it's full of flowers and birds Could i get to them all ask mary you've never done much walking have you i don't think you could walk the five miles to our cottage but i'd like to meet your

family mary said martha looked at the little girl for a moment she remembered how disagreeable mary had been when she first arrived but now mary looked interested and friendly i'll ask mother said martha she can always think of a good plan she's sensible and hard-working and kind i know you like her i like dicken although i've never seen him i wonder what dicken will think of you he won't like me said mary no one does but do you like yourself that's what mother would ask no not really i've never thought of that well i must

go now it's my day off so i'm going home to help mother with the housework goodbye miss see you tomorrow mary felt lonelier than ever when martha Had gone so she went outside the sunshine made the gardens look different and the change in the weather had even made ben weatherstaff easier to talk to can you smell spring in the air he asked her things are growing deep down in the ground soon you'll see little green shoots coming up young plants they are you watch them i will replied mary oh there's the robin the little bird

hopped onto ben spade are things growing in the garden where he lives what garden said ben in his bad tempered voice you know the secret garden are the flowers dead there she really wanted to know the answer ask the robin said ben crossley he's the only one who's been in there for the last ten years ten years was a long time mary thought she had been born ten years ago She walked away thinking she had begun to like the gardens and the robin and martha and dicken and their mother before she came to yorkshire she

had not liked anybody she was walking beside the long wall of the secret garden when a most wonderful thing happened she suddenly realized the robin was following her she felt very pleased and excited by this and cried out you like me don't you and i like you too as he hopped along beside her she hopped and sang too to show him that she was his friend just then he stopped at a place where a dog had dug a hole in the ground as mary looked at the hole she noticed something almost buried there she put

her hand in and pulled it out it was an old key perhaps it's been buried for 10 years she whispered to herself perhaps it's the key to the secret garden She looked at it for a long time how lovely it would be to find the garden and see what had happened to it in the last 10 years she could play in it all by herself and nobody would know she was there she put the key safely in her pocket the next morning martha was back at missile's weight manor and told mary all about her day

with her family i really enjoyed myself i helped mother with a whole week's washing and baking and i told the children about you they wanted to know about your servants and the ship that brought you to england and everything i can tell you some more for next time offered mary they'd like to hear about riding on elephants and camels wouldn't they oh that would be kind of you miss and luke mother has sent you a present a present repeated mary how could a family of 14 hungry people Give anyone a present mother bought it from

a man who came to the door to sell things she told me martha you brought me your pay like a good girl and we need it all but i'm going to buy something for that lonely child at the manor and she bought one and here it is it was a skipping rope mary stared at it what is it she asked do they have skipping ropes in india well this is how you use it just watch me martha took the rope and ran into the middle of the room she counted up to a hundred as she

skipped that looks lovely said mary your mother is very kind do you think i could ever skip like that just try said martha mother says it'll make you strong and healthy skip outside in the fresh air mary put her coat on and took the skipping rope as she was opening the door she thought of something and turned round Martha it was your money really thank you she never thanked people usually and she did not know how to do it so she held out her hand because she knew that adults did that martha shook her hand

and laughed here is strange child she said like an old woman now run away and play the skipping rope was wonderful mary counted and skipped skipped and counted until her face was hot and red she was having more fun than she had ever had before she skipped through the gardens until she found ben weatherstaff who was digging and talking to his robin she wanted them both to see her skip well said ben you're looking fine and healthy today go on skipping it's good for you mary skipped all the way to the secret garden wall and

there was the robin he had followed her mary was very pleased you showed me where the key was Yesterday she laughed i've got it in my pocket so you ought to show me the door today the robin hopped onto an old climbing plant on the wall and sang his most beautiful song suddenly the wind made the plant move and mary saw something under the dark green leaves the thick heavy plant was covering a door mary's heart was beating fast and her hands were shaking as she pushed the leaves away and found the keyhole she took

the key out of her pocket and it fitted the hole using both hands she managed to unlock the door then she turned round to see if anyone was watching but there was no one so she pushed the door which opened slowly for the first time in ten years she walked quickly in and shut the door behind her at last she was inside the secret garden It was the loveliest most exciting place she had ever seen there were old rose trees everywhere and the walls were covered with climbing roses she looked carefully at the grey branches

were the roses still alive ben would know she hoped they weren't all dead but she was inside the wonderful garden in a world of her own it seemed very strange and silent but she did not feel lonely at all then she noticed some small green shoots coming up through the grass so something was growing in the garden after all when she found a lot more shoots in different places she decided they needed more air and light so she began to pull out the thick grass around them she worked away clearing the ground for two or

three hours and had to take her coat off because she got so hot the robin hopped around pleased to see someone gardening she almost forgot about lunch And when she arrived back in her room she was very hungry and ate twice as much as usual martha she said as she was eating i've been thinking this is a big lonely house and there isn't much for me to do do you think if i buy a little spade i can make my own garden that's just what mother said replied martha you'd enjoy digging and watching plants growing

dicken can get you a sped and some seeds to plant if you like oh thank you martha i've got some money that mrs medlock gave me will you write and ask dicken to buy them for me i will and he'll bring them to you himself oh then i'll see him mary looked very excited then she remembered something i heard that cry in the house again martha it wasn't the wind this time i've heard it three times now who is it martha looked uncomfortable You mustn't go wandering around the house you know mr craven wouldn't like

it now i must go and help the others downstairs i'll see you at tea time as the door closed behind martha mary thought to herself this really is the strangest house that anyone ever lived in [Music] chapter four meeting dicken mary spent nearly a week working in the secret garden each day she found new shoots coming out of the ground soon there would be flowers everywhere thousands of them it was an exciting game to her when she was inside those beautiful old walls no one knew where she was during that week she became more friendly

with ben who was often digging in one of the vegetable gardens what are your favorite flowers ben she asked him one day roses i used to work for a young lady who Loved roses you see and she had a lot in her garden that was 10 years ago but she died very sad it was what happened to the roses ask mary they were left there in the garden if rose branches look dry and gray are they still alive us mary it was so important to know in the spring they'll show green shoots and then but

why are you so interested in roses he asked mary's face went red i just wanted to pretend i've got a garden i haven't got anyone to play with well that's true said ben he seemed to feel sorry for her mary decided she liked old ben although he was sometimes bad tempered she skipped along and into the wood at the end of the gardens suddenly she heard a strange noise and there in front of her was a boy he was sitting under a tree Playing on a wooden pipe he was about 12 with a healthy red

face and bright blue eyes there was a squirrel and a crow in the tree and two rabbits sitting on the grass near him they're listening to the music thought mary i mustn't frighten them she stood very still the boy stopped playing that's right he said animals don't like it if you move suddenly i'm dicken and you must be miss mary i've brought you the sped and the seeds he spoke in an easy friendly way mary liked him at once as they were looking at the seed packets together the robin hopped onto a branch near them

dicken listened carefully to the robin song he's saying he's your friend he told mary really oh i am pleased he likes me can you understand everything that birds say i think i do and they think i do I've lived on the moor with them for so long sometimes i think i am a bird or an animal not a boy at all his smile was the widest she had ever seen he explained how to plant the seeds suddenly he said i can help you plant them where's your garden mary went red then white she had never

thought of this what was she going to say could you keep a secret it's a great secret if anyone discovers it i'll i'll die i keep secrets for all the wild birds and animals on the moor so i can keep yours too he replied i've stolen a garden she said very fast nobody goes into it nobody wants it i love it and nobody takes care of it they're letting it die and she threw her arms over her face and started crying Don't cry said dicken gently where is it come with me and i'll show you

said miss mary they went to the secret garden and entered it together dicken walked round looking at everything martha told me about this place but i never thought i'd see it he said it's wonderful what about the roses ask mary worriedly are they still alive what do you think look at these shoots on the branches most of them are alive all right he took out his knife and cut away some of the dead wood from the rose trees mary showed him the work she had done in the garden and they talked as they cut and

cleared dicken said mary suddenly i like you i never thought i'd like as many as five people only five laughed dicken he did look funny when he laughed thought mary yes your mother martha the robin Ben and you then she asked him a question in yorkshire dialect because that was his language does the like me was her question of course i liked the wonderful replied dicken a big smile on his round face mary had never been so happy when she went back to the house for her lunch she told martha about dickens visit i've got

news for you too said martha mr craven's come home and wants to see you he's going away again tomorrow for several months oh said mary that was good news she would have all summer in the secret garden before he came back but she must be careful he mustn't guess her secret now just then mrs medlock arrived in her best black dress to take mary down to mr craven's room mary's uncle Had black hair with some white in it and high crooked shoulders his face was not ugly but very sad during their conversation he watched her

in a worried way perhaps he was thinking of other things at the same time he looked at the thin child are you well he asked mary tried to keep her voice calm as she replied i'm getting stronger and healthier what do you want to do in this big empty house i just want to play outside i enjoy that yes martha's mother susan sowerby spoke to me the other day she's a sensible woman and she said you needed fresh air but where do you play everywhere i just skip and run and look for green shoots i

don't damage anything don't look so frightened of course a child like you couldn't damage anything play where you like Is there anything that you want mary came a step nearer to him and her voice shook a little as she spoke i could i have a bit of garden mr craven looked very surprised to plant seeds in to make them come alive mary went on bravely it was too hot in india so i was always ill and tired there but here it's different i i love the garden he passed a hand quickly over his eyes then

he looked kindly at mary i knew someone once who loved growing things like you yes child take as much of the garden as you want he smiled gently at her now leave me i'm very tired mary ran all the way back to her room martha she shouted mr craven's really a nice man but he looks very unhappy he said i can have my own garden she was planning to work in the garden With dicken every day to make it beautiful for the summer [Music] chapter five meeting colin in the middle of the night mary woke

up heavy rain had started falling again and the wind was blowing violently round the walls of the old house suddenly she heard crying again this time she decided to discover who it was she left her room and in the darkness followed the crying sound round corners and through doors up and down stairs to the other side of the big house at last she found the right room she pushed the door open and went in it was a big room with beautiful old furniture and pictures in the large bed was a boy who looked tired and

cross with a thin white tearful face he stared at mary Who are you he whispered are you a dream no i'm not i'm mary lennox mr cravens my uncle he's my father said the boy i'm colin craven no one ever told me he had a son said mary very surprised well no one ever told me you'd come to live here i'm ill you see i don't want people to see me and talk about me if i live i may have a crooked back like my father but i'll probably die what a strange house this is

said mary so many secrets does your father come and see you often not often he doesn't like seeing me because it makes him remember my mother she died when i was born so he almost hates me i think why do you say you're going to die ask mary i've always been ill I've nearly died several times and my back's never been strong my doctor feels sure that i'm going to die but he's my father's cousin and very poor so he'd like me to die then he'd get all the money when my father dies he gives

me medicine and tells me to rest we had a grand doctor from london once who told me to go out in the fresh air and try to get well but i hate fresh air and another thing all the servants have to do what i want because if i'm angry i become ill mary thought she liked this boy although he seemed so strange he asked her lots of questions and she told him all about her life in india how old are you he asked suddenly i'm 10 and so are you replied mary forgetting to be careful

because when you were born the garden door was locked And the key was buried and i know that was ten years ago colin sat up in bed and looked very interested what door who locked it where's the key i want to see it i'll make the servants tell me where it is they'll take me there and you can come too oh please don't don't do that cried mary colin stared at her don't you want to see it yes but if you make them open the door it will never be a secret again you see if

only we know about it if we if we can find the key we can go and play there every day we can help the garden come alive again and no one will know about it except us i see said colin slowly yes i'd like that it'll be our secret i've never had a secret before And perhaps added mary cleverly we can find a boy to push you in your wheelchair if you can't walk and we can go there together without any other people you'll feel better outside i know i do i'd like that he said

dreamily i think i'd like fresh air in a secret garden then mary told him about the moor and dicken and ben weatherstaff and the robin and colin listened to it all with great interest he began to smile and look much happier i like having you here he said you must come and see me every day but i'm tired now i'll sing you a song my servant kamala used to do that in india said mary and very soon colin was asleep the next afternoon mary visited colin again and he seemed very pleased to see her he

had sent his nurse away and had told nobody about mary's visit Mary had not told anybody either they read some of his books together and told each other's stories they were enjoying themselves and laughing loudly when suddenly the door opened dr craven and mrs medlock came in they almost fell over in surprise what's happening here asked dr craven colin sat up straight to mary he looked just like an indian prince this is my cousin mary lennox he said calmly i like her she must visit me often oh i'm sorry sir said poor mrs medlock to

the doctor i don't know how she discovered him i told the servants to keep it a secret don't be stupid medlock said the indian prince coldly nobody told her she heard me crying and found me herself bring our tea up now i'm afraid you're getting too hot and excited my boy said dr craven That's not good for you don't forget you're ill i want to forget said colin i'll be angry if mary doesn't visit me she makes me feel better dr craven did not look happy when he left the room what a change in the

boy sir said the housekeeper he's usually so disagreeable with all of us he really seems to like that strange little girl and he does look better dr craven had to agree [Music] chapter 6 colin is afraid because it rained all the next week mary went to talk to colin every day instead of visiting the garden but she woke early one morning to see the sun shining into her room and she ran out to the secret garden at once she did not even wait to have her breakfast it was beautifully sunny and warm and a thousand

more shoots were pushing Their way out of the ground dicken was already there digging hard with the crow and a young fox beside him have you seen the robin he asked mary the little bird was flying busily backwards and forwards as fast as he could carrying pieces of dry grass he's building a nest whispered mary they watched the robin for a moment then mary said i must tell you something you probably know about colin craven don't you well i've met him and i'm going to help him to get better that's good news there was a

big smile on dickens honest face we all knew he was ill he's afraid he'll have a crooked back like his father i think that's what's making him ill perhaps we can bring him here and let him rest under the trees that'll do him good that's what we'll do they had a lot of gardening and planning to do And mary did not have time to visit colin that day when she came back to the house in the evening martha told her that the servants had had trouble with colin he's been very bad tempered all afternoon with

all of us because you didn't come this well i was busy you'll have to learn not to be so selfish replied mary coldly she forgot how selfish she had been when she was ill in india i'll go and see him now when she went into his room he was lying in bed looking tired he did not turn to look at her what's the matter with you she asked crossley my backaches and my head hurts why didn't you come this afternoon i was working in the garden with dicken i won't let that boy come to the

garden if you stay with him instead of talking to me mary suddenly became very angry if you send dicken away i'll never come into this room again You all have to if i say so i'll make the servants bring you in here oh will you prince but no one can make me talk to you i won't look at you i'll stare at the floor you selfish girl cried colin you're more selfish than i am you're the most selfish boy i've ever met i'm not as selfish as your fine he keeps you playing outside when he

knows i'm ill and alone mary had never been so furious dicken is nicer than any other boy in the world he's like an angel an angel don't make me laugh he's just a poor country boy with holes in his shoes he's a thousand times better than you are colin had never argued with anyone like himself in his life and in fact it was good for him but now he was beginning to feel sorry for himself Always ill he said and started to cry i'm sure my back is a bit crooked i'm going to die no

you're not said mary crossley colin opened his eyes very wide nobody had said that to him before he was angry but a bit pleased at the same time what you mean you know i'm going to die everybody says i'm going to die i don't believe it said mary in her most disagreeable voice you just say that to make people feel sorry for you you're too hurried to die colin forgot about his painful back and sat up in bed get out of the room at once he shouted and threw a book at her i'm going mary

shouted in reply and i won't come back the door banged shut behind her when she reached her own room she had decided never to tell him her great secret he can stay in his room And die if he wants she thought but soon she began to remember how ill he had been and how frightened he was frightened that one day his back would become as crooked as his father's perhaps perhaps i'll go back and see him tomorrow that night she was woken by the most terrible screams that she had ever heard servants were opening and

shutting doors and running about it's colin thought mary he'll go on screaming until he makes himself really ill how selfish he is somebody should stop him just then martha ran into the room we don't know what to do she cried he likes you miss come and see if you can make him karma please well i'm very cross with him said mary and jumped out of bed i'm going to stop him that's right said martha he needs someone like you to argue with it'll give him something new to think About mary ran into colin's room right

up to his bed stop screaming she shouted furiously stop at once i hate you everybody hates you you'll die if you go on screaming like this and i hope you will the screams stopped immediately this was the first time that anyone had spoken so angrily to colin and he was shocked but he went on crying quietly to himself my back's becoming crooked i can feel it i know i'm going to die large tears ran down his face don't be stupid cried mary there's nothing the matter with your horrid back martha come here and help me

look at his back martha and mrs medlock were standing at the door staring at mary their mouths half open they both looked very frightened martha came forward to help and miss mary looked carefully at colin's thin white back up and down Her face was serious and angry at the same time the room was very quiet there's nothing wrong with your back she said at last nothing at all it's as straight as mine only colin knew how important those crossly spoken childish words were all his life he had been afraid to ask about his back and

his terrible fear had made him ill now an angry little girl told him his back was straight and he believed her he was no longer afraid they were both common now he gave mary his hand i think i'm almost sure i will live if we can go out in the garden together sometimes i'm very tired now will you stay with me until i go to sleep the servants went out very quietly i'll tell you all about the secret garden whispered mary i think it's full of roses and beautiful flowers birds like making their nests there

Because it's so quiet and safe and perhaps our robin but colin was already asleep the next day mary met dicken as usual in the secret garden and told him about colin mary loved dickens yorkshire dialect and was trying to learn it herself she spoke a little now we mun get poor colin out here in sunshine and we must lose no time about it dicken laughed well done i didn't know you could speak yorkshire you're right we must bring colin to the garden as soon as we can so that afternoon she went to see colin i'm

sorry i said i'd send dicken away he said i hated you when you said he was like an angel well he's a funny kind of angel but he understands wild animals better than anyone suddenly mary knew that this was the right moment to tell him she caught hold of his hands colin this is important Can you keep a secret yes yes he whispered excitedly what is it we found the door into the secret garden oh mary will i live long enough to see it of course you will don't be stupid said mary crossley but it

was a very natural thing to say and they both laughed colin told mrs medlock and the doctor that he wanted to go out in his wheelchair at first the doctor was worried the boy would get too tired but when he heard that dicken would push the wheelchair he agreed dickens a sensible boy he told colin but don't forget i've told you i want to forget that i'm ill said colin in his prince's voice don't you understand it's because my cousin makes me forget that i feel better when i'm with her [Music] Chapter 7 colin and

the garden of course it was most important that no one should see colin mary or dicken entering the secret garden so colin gave orders to the gardeners that they must all keep away from that part of the garden in future the next afternoon colin was carried downstairs by a manservant and put in his wheelchair outside the front door dicken arrived with his crow two squirrels and the fox and started pushing the wheelchair gently away from the house and into the gardens mary walked beside the chair spring had really arrived now and it seemed very exciting

to colin who had lived indoors for so long he smelt the warm air from the moor and watched the little white clouds in the blue sky in a very short time he heard mary say this is where i found the key and this is the door and this this is the secret garden Colin covered his eyes with his hands until he was inside the four high walls and the door was shut again then he looked round at the roses climbing the old red walls the pink and white flowers on the fruit trees and the birds

and the butterflies everywhere the sun warmed his face and he suddenly knew he felt different mary dicken he cried i'm going to get better i'm going to live forever and ever and ever as dicken pushed the wheelchair all around the garden he told colin the names of all the plants the sunshine the bird sang and in every corner of the garden there was something interesting to look at the three children talked and laughed and by the end of the afternoon all three were speaking yorkshire together i'll come back here every afternoon said colin i want

to watch things growing soon you'll be strong enough to walk and dig You'll be able to help us with the gardening said dicken kindly do you really think i'll be able to to walk and dig ask colin of course you will you got legs like us but they're not very strong answered colin they shake and and i'm afraid to stand on them when you want to use them you'll be able to said dicken the garden was quiet for a moment suddenly colin said who's that mary turned her head and noticed ben weatherstaff's angry face looking

at her over the garden wall what are you doing in that garden young mess he shouted he had not seen colin or dicken the robin showed me the way then she replied yo yo he stopped shouting and his mouth dropped open as he saw dicken pushing a boy in a wheelchair over the grass towards him do you know who i am ask the boy in the chair old ben stared you've Got your mother's eyes he said in a shaking voice yes i know you hear mr craven's son the little boy with a crooked back colin

forgot that he had ever had backache back's as straight as yours is he shouted ben stared instead he only knew what he had heard from the servants you haven't got a crooked back he asked our crooked legs that was too much colin was furious and it made him feel strong come here dicken he shouted and threw off his blanket dicken was by his side in a second mary felt sick with fear could colin stand then colin's thin feet were on the grass and he was standing holding dickens arm he looked strangely tall and he held

his head very high look at me he shouted at ben just look at me he's as straight as any boy in yorkshire Said dicken tears were running down ben's brown old face they said you were going to die he whispered well you can see that's not true said colin now get down from the wall and come here i want to talk to you you've got to help us keep the garden a secret yes sir said old ben as he dried his eyes that was the first of many beautiful afternoons in the secret garden colin was

brought there by dicken and mary nearly every day and he saw all the changes that happened there during the spring and early summer ben weatherstaff now in the secret joined them as often as he could one day colin spoke to all of them listen everybody i think there's something like magic that makes gardens grow and things happen perhaps if i believe in it the magic will make me strong let's all sit down in a circle and ask the magic to work So they all sat on the grass in a circle dicken with his crow his

fox and the two squirrels mary colin and ben colin repeated these words several times the sun's shining that's the magic being strong that's the magic magic help me magic help me at last colin stopped now i'm going to walk round the garden he said and took dickens arm slowly he walked from one wall to another followed closely by mary and ben and when he had walked all the way around he said you see i can walk now the magic worked it's wonderful cried mary your father will think he's dreaming when he sees you i won't

tell him yet i'm going to keep it a secret from everybody i'll come to the garden and walk and run a little more every day until i'm as healthy as any other boy then when my father comes home i'll walk Up to him and say here i am father you see i'm not going to die now began a difficult time for colin and mary dicken told his mother about it one evening as he was digging the cottage garden you see mother they don't want the doctor or the servants to guess that colin can walk and

is getting better so they have to pretend he's still ill and just as disagreeable as he used to be if they're running about all day in the fresh air that'll make them hungry i should think yes that's the problem they're both getting fatter and healthier and they really enjoy their food now but they have to send some of it back to the kitchen uneaten if they eat it all people will realize how healthy they are sometimes they're very hungry i know what we can do said mrs sowerby you can take some fresh milk and some

of my newly baked bread to the garden in the mornings if they have that it'll do them a lot of good what a game those children are playing and she laughed until tears came to her Eyes one afternoon when they were all working in the garden the door opened and a woman came quietly in it's mother cried dicken and ran towards her i told her where the door was because i knew she would keep the secret colin held out his hand to her i've wanted to see you for a long time he said dear bye

susan sowerby whispered holding his hand yes so like your mother do you think ask colin carefully that will make my father like me i'm sure it will she answered warmly he must see you he must come home now you see how healthy the boy is susan are still ben look how strong and straight his legs are now yes she laughed playing and working outside and eating good yorkshire food has made him strong and miss mary too she added turning to mary mrs medlock heard that your mother was a pretty woman you'll soon be as pretty

as she was do you believe in magic Colin asked her i do she answered but everybody gives it a different name it makes the sun shine and the seeds grow and it has made you healthy she sat down on the grass and stayed for a while talking and laughing with the children in the quiet sunny garden when she stood up to leave colin suddenly put out a hand to her i wish you were my mother he whispered mrs sabi put her arms around him and held him to her dear boy you're as close to your

mother as you could be here in her garden and your father will come back soon [Music] chapter 8 mr craven comes home while the secret garden was returning to life a man with high crooked shoulders was wandering round the most beautiful places in europe for ten years he had lived this lonely life his heart full of sadness and his head Full of dark dreams everywhere he went he carried his unhappiness with him like a black cloud other travellers thought he was half mad or a man who could not forget some terrible crime his name was

archibald craven but one day as he sat by a mountain stream he actually looked at a flower and for the first time in ten years he realized how beautiful something living could be the valley seemed very quiet as he sat there staring at the flower he felt strangely calm what is happening to me he whispered i feel different i almost feel i'm alive again at that moment hundreds of miles away in yorkshire colin was seeing the secret garden for the first time and saying i'm going to live forever and ever and ever but mr craven

did not know this that night in his hotel room he slept better than usual as the weeks passed He even began to think a little about his home and his son one evening in late summer as he was sitting quietly beside a lake he felt the strange calmness again he fell asleep and had a dream that seemed very real he heard a voice calling him it was sweet and clear and happy the voice of his young wife archie archie archie my dear he jumped up where are you the garden called the beautiful voice and then

the dream ended in the morning when he woke he remembered the dream she says she's in the garden he thought but the doors locked and the keys buried that morning he received a letter from susan sowerby in it she asked him to come home but she did not give a reason mr craven thought of his dream and decided to return to england immediately on the long journey back to yorkshire He was thinking about colin i wonder how he is i wanted to forget him because he makes me think of his mother he lived and she

died but perhaps i've been wrong susan sowerby says i should go home so perhaps she thinks i can help him when he arrived home he found the housekeeper very confused about colin's health he's very strange sir said mrs medlock he looks better it's true but some days he eats nothing at all and other days he eats just like a healthy boy he used to scream even at the idea of fresh air but now he spends all his time outside in his wheelchair with miss mary and dick and sowerby he's in the garden at the moment

in the garden repeated mr craven those were the words of the dream he hurried out of the house and towards the place which he had not visited for so long he found the door with a climbing plant over it and stood outside listening for a moment Surely i can hear voices inside the garden he thought aren't there children whispering laughing running in there or am i going mad and then the moment came when the children could not stay quiet there was wild laughing and shouting and the door was thrown open a boy ran out a

tall healthy handsome boy straight into the man's arms mr craven stared into the boy's laughing eyes oh what who he cried colin had not planned to meet his father like this but perhaps this was the best way to come running out with his cousin and his friend father he said i'm colin you can't believe it i can't believe it myself it was the garden and mary and dicken and the magic that made me well we've kept it a secret up to now aren't you happy father i'm going to live forever and ever and ever Mr

craven put his hands on the boy's shoulders for a moment he could not speak take me into the garden my boy he said at last and tell me all about it and in the secret garden where the roses were at their best and the butterflies were flying from flower to flower in the summer sunshine they told colin's father their story sometimes he laughed and sometimes he cried but most of the time he just looked unbelieving into the handsome face of the sun that he had almost forgotten now said colin at the end it isn't a

secret anymore i'll never use the wheelchair again i'm going to walk back with you father to the house and so that afternoon mrs medlock martha and the other servants had the greatest shock of their lives through the gardens towards the house came mr craven looking happier than they had ever seen him and by his side With his shoulders straight his head held high and a smile on his lips walked young colin [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] do [Music]