My Great Expectations
By Eileen Chang (Zhang Ailing)
Time is like a sharp knife when it is misused, it can carve hard lines on beautiful faces and wear out blooming youth month by month, year by year but, well used it can mold a piece of simple stone into a magnificent statue. St. mary's, in spite of its long history of fifty years, is still a simple piece of white stone briefly carved. As time marches on, it may be marred by dust, worn out by whether, or broken into separate fragments, and it may be carefully, slowly carved by the knife, inch by inch, into a wonderful statue which will be placed among the glorious works of Michelangelo This knife is held not only by the principal, the teachers, and the students of tomorrow;. but all of our Schoolmates Have The Power of Controlling IT.
If I have a chance to live to be a snowy-haired old lady, I shall, in my peaceful dreams beside the fireside, seek for the old paths leading through the green plum trees which I have been familiar with in my early days. Of course, at that time, the youthful plum trees must also have grown into their pleasant old age, stretching their powerful arms to shade the crossing paths. The weather-worn old bell tower, standing in the golden sunlight, shall give out that slow, solemn blooming that is so familiar to my ears, as the girls, short and tall, pale and rosy, plump and slim, all blooming with the freshness of youth, shall pour into the church like a stream. There they will kneel and pray. Whispering to their spiritual Lord about the little things in their lives;. their grief, their tears, their quarrels, their love, and their great ambitions They shall ask him to help them in reaching their future goals, to be a write, a musician , an educationalist, or an ideal wife. And i can hear the O ld church tower ringing with the echoes of their prayers, whisper in return, "Yes, St. Mary's Hall may not have the largest dormitories and the best-looking school gardens among all the schools in China, but she certainly possesses the finest and the Most Hard-Working Girls, WHO Shall Glorify Her with their brilliant futures! "
