英文简介

英文简介
英文简介

英文简介
At the beginning of the story, seven year old Sara Crewe is about to enter boarding school. She has spent her life in India, living with her affluent father, but has been sent to London to be educated at the oppressive boarding school, Miss Minchin's Seminary for Young Ladies.
Awed by her vast fortunes, and wishing to keep her at the school as long as possible, Miss Minchin allows Sara to have far more luxuries than the average student. She has her own personal maid, a pony, a private sitting room and an extravagant wardrobe. She is permitted to do anything she pleases, and is constantly praised, complimented and shown off as the school's show pupil. When Captain Crewe becomes part owner of diamond mines--investing his life's fortune with a "dear friend"--Sara's status grows even more.
In spite of this adulation, Sara takes her situation in stride. She is bright, compassionate, and is generally well-liked by her classmates. A gifted storyteller, she can draw every student in the Seminary--even those that are not fond of her, such as Lavinia--to listen to her tales. She pretends she is a princess and strives to emulate the qualities of one: generosity, compassion and politeness. Her best friend, Ermengarde, is the "school dunce"; Sara helps her learn her lessons by weaving them into stories. Sara is the "adopted mother" of a younger student, Lottie. Sara and Lottie share a bond; neither has a mother. She also befriends Becky, the school scullery maid, and smuggles her food.
On Sara's eleventh birthday, one of Captain Crewe's solicitors arrives with bad news: Captain Crewe has died of brain fever. Furthermore, his "dear friend" has run off with his entire fortune, leaving Sara penniless. Miss Minchin, enraged, resolves to turn Sara out into the street but is finally convinced to keep her as a servant. She immediately takes all of Sara's belongings and sends her to the attic to sleep in a squalid room next door to Becky's. From that point on, Sara becomes an all-purpose servant at the school, doing everything from teaching French lessons to cleaning and running errands. She is deprived of food and adequate clothing. Many of the other servants take delight in ordering Sara about. As Sara's situation worsens, she begins to despair. She keeps herself going by imagining that she and Becky are prisoners in the Bastille. Her friends Ermengarde and Lottie also lift her spirits by sneaking to her attic to visit her whenever they can.
One day, a seriously ill and depressed man moves into the townhouse next to the Seminary. Sara calls him the "Indian Gentleman" when she sees several objects from India being carried into his home. She meets the Indian Gentleman's lascar, Ram Dass, when she spots him through a skylight and speaks Hindi with him. She also becomes interested in the family who frequently visits the Indian Gentleman, and dubs them The Large Family.
What Sara does not know is that the Indian Gentleman is actually her father's "dear friend," Mr. Carrisford. He was ill with brain fever in India himself, and ran away after Captain Crewe died, but he neither lost nor stole the Crewe wealth. In fact, he has increased it. He is guilt-ridden because he cannot find Crewe's daughter to restore her fortune.
The father of the Large Family, Mr. Carmichael, is Mr. Carrisford's solicitor. His main duty is to locate the lost Sara Crewe. The mission takes him on extended trips to Russia and France to follow possible leads. The children of the Large Family know about Sara, and hope she is found.
Sara and Mr. Carrisford live on opposite sides of their townhouse walls for years. Sara becomes increasingly thin and shabby looking, to the point where one of the children of the Large Family, Donald, believes she is a beggar and offers her a Christmas sixpence. The Carmichael children are interested in her, but do not ask her name, and go on their way. They begin to call her "the-little-girl-who-is-not-a-beggar" and watch her as carefully as she observes them, never guessing that she is the missing Sara Crewe their father is searching for.
Ram Dass tells Mr. Carrisford of Sara's miserable existence in the attic. Together, they hatch a plan to improve her life by secretly giving her gifts. While she is sleeping and working, Ram Dass and his assistants cross the roof and bring furniture, rugs, books and other presents. Every night, they kindle a fire in the fireplace and leave a huge meal for Sara and Becky. Eventually, they completely change the attic room into a comfortable, warm place. They even send expensive clothing to the school to replace Sara's rags. Sara sees this as proof that magic is real and that someone cares about her, and her spirits improve immensely. Nobody besides Becky ever discovers the transformed attic room, but Miss Minchin and Miss Amelia do notice, and are unsettled by, Sara's happier demeanor and new clothes.
One evening, Ram Dass' monkey escapes, and Sara takes him in from the cold. The next day, she brings him to Mr. Carrisford's house to return him. She casually mentions that she was born in India, and Carrisford and Carmichael discover that she is the missing Sara Crewe.
The Carmichaels explain everything to Sara, telling her that her fortune has doubled itself and that it will be kept safe until she is of age. Mr. Carrisford becomes her new guardian. Becky also escapes from Miss Minchin's school, becoming Sara's new attendant. Ermengarde and Lottie visit with her frequently. Sara regains her fortune and retains her generous nature. In the last chapter of the book, she devises a plan to donate bread to homeless children.

When her father enlists to fight for the British in WWI, young Sara Crewe goes to New York to attend the same boarding school her late mother attended. She soon clashes with the severe headmistress, M...

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When her father enlists to fight for the British in WWI, young Sara Crewe goes to New York to attend the same boarding school her late mother attended. She soon clashes with the severe headmistress, Miss Minchin, who attempts to stifle Sara's creativity and sense of self- worth. Sara's belief that "every girl's a princess" is tested to the limit, however, when word comes that her father was killed in action and his estate has been seized by the British government.

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