然后说说故事里的一些意象。
光明与黑暗
The story is full of images of light and darkness. The boy suggests in the third paragraph that the scenes for him and his playmates to horse around include “dark muddy lanes”, “dark dripping gardens” and “dark odorous stables”. In contrast, the boy’s dream girl brings light, as her figure is “defined by the light from the half-opened door”. When she speaks to him, the boy says that “The light from the lamp opposite our door caught the white curve of her neck, lit up her hair that rested there and, falling, lit up the hand upon the railing”. But is she really going to bring light (or “hope”, if that is what light symbolizes) to the boy who has always been surrounded by darkness (or “despair”). I doubt so, as the girl is not the original source of light. It is merely an illusion. In the closing scene, the boy “heard a voice call from one end of the gallery that the light was out. The upper part of the hall was now completely dark”. His hope has vanished!
历险
I also find it amusing that the boy imagines himself carrying a “chalice safely through a throng of foes” when he goes to the market with his aunt. This foreshadows his “sacred” quest to buy a gift for the girl he admires. After wrestling with a few “foes” including his teacher and his uncle who have to a certain extent delayed his journey, the boy is able to reach his destination, only to plunge into bitter disillusionment.