Agatha Christie. The Lamp (part 3)

Слова для понимания:

• dream – сон
• shook his head – покачал головой
• turned on the light – включить свет
• trick of his imagination – игра воображения
• the wind was howling – ветер завывал
• find out how by yourself – самому узнать как
• Do you see? – Понимаешь? (здесь see – понимать)
• get big — взрослеть

Mr. Winburn had a strange dream that night. He dreamt about a great city. It was a children’s city; there were no grown-up people there, nothing but children, crowds of them. In his dream they all ran to the stranger crying: «Have you brought him?» It seemed that he understood what they meant and shook his head sadly. When they saw this, the children turned away and began to cry.

The city and the children disappeared and he woke up but the sobbing was still in his ears. He remembered that Geoffrey slept on the floor below, but the sound of a child’s weeping came from above. He turned on the light. Suddenly the sobbing stopped.
Mr. Winburn did not tell his daughter of the dream. That it was no trick of his imagination, he was sure; indeed, soon he heard it again in the daytime. The wind was howling in the chimney, but this was a separate sound— distinct, unmistakable: little sobs.

He found out too, that he was not the only one to hear them. He heard that the housemaid said that Geoffrey was crying that very morning.» But Geoffrey was very happy when he came down to breakfast; and Mr. Winburn knew that it was not Geoff who was crying.

Only Mrs. Lancaster never heard anything. Yet one day she also was shocked.

«Mummy, I wish you’d let me play with that little boy,» said Geoff once.

Mrs. Lancaster looked up from her writing table with a smile.

«What little boy, dear?»

«I don’t know his name: He was in the attics, sitting on the floor crying, but he ran away when he saw me. I think he was shy and then, when I was in the nursery, I saw that he was standing in the door watching me build and looked so lonely. I said: «Come and build with me but he didn’t say anything, just looked as — as if he saw a lot of chocolates, and his mummy had told him not to touch them.» Geoff sighed. «But when I asked Jane who he was and told her I wanted to play with him, she said there wasn’t a little boy in the house. She lied to me. I don’t love Jane at all.»

Mrs. Lancaster got up.

«Jane was right. There was no little boy.»

«But I saw him. Oh! Mummy, do let me play with him, he did look so lonely and unhappy.

I do want to do something to «make him better.»

Mrs. Lancaster wanted to say something, but her father shook his head.

«Geoff,» he said, «that poor little boy is lonely, and perhaps you may do something to help him; but you must find out how by yourself — like a puzzle  — do you see?»

«Is it because I am getting big I must do it all alone?»

«Yes, because you are getting big.»