1.Tom and his friends
'Tom! Tom! Where are you?'
No answer.
'Where is that boy? When I find him, I'm '
Aunt Polly looked under the bed. Then she opened the door and looked out into the garden.
'Tom!'
She heard something behind her. A small boy ran past, but Aunt Polly put out her hand and stopped him.
'Ah, there you are! And what's that in your pocket?'
'Nothing, Aunt Polly.'
'Nothing! It's an apple! I can see it. Now listen, Tom.
Those apples are not for you, and I -'
'Oh, Aunt Polly! Quick - look behind you!'
So Aunt Polly looked, and Tom was out of the house in a second. She laughed quietly. 'I never learn. I love that Tom,
my d ead sister's child, but he isn't an easy boy for an old lady. Well, it's Saturday tomorrow and there's no school, but it isn't going to be a holiday for Tom. Oh no! He's going to work
tomorrow!'
* * *
Saturday was a beautiful day. It was summer a nd the sun was hot and there were flowers in all the gardens. It was a day for everybody to be happy.
Tom c ame o ut of his house with a brush and a big pot of white paint in his hand. He looked at the fence; it was three metres
high and thirty metres long. He put his brush in the paint and
painted some of the fence. He did it again. Then he stopped and looked at the fence, put down h is brush and sat down. There were hours of work in front of him and he was the unhappiest boy in
the village.
After ten minutes Tom h ad an idea, a wonderful idea. He took up the brush again and began work. He saw his friend Joe Harper in the street, but he didn't look at him. Joe had an apple in
his hand. He came up to Tom and looked at the fence.
'I am sorry, Tom.'
Tom said nothing. The paint brush moved up and down.
'Working for your aunt?' said Joe. 'I'm going down to the
river. I'm sorry you can't come with me.'
Tom put down his brush. 'You call this work?' he said.
'Painting a fence?' said Joe. 'Of course it's work!'
'Perhaps it is and perhaps it isn't. But I like it,' said
Tom. 'I can go to the river any day. I can't paint a fence very often.'
Joe watched Tom for about five minutes. Tom painted very
slowly and carefully. He often stopped, moved back from the
fence and looked at his work with a smile. Joe began to get very interested, and said:
'Tom, can I paint a little?'
Tom t hought for a second. 'I'm sorry, Joe. You see, my a unt wants me to do it because I'm good at painting. My brother Sid
wanted to paint, too, but she said no.'
'Oh, please, Tom, just a little. I'm good at painting, too. Hey, do you want some of my apple?'
'No, Joe, I can't -'
'OK, you can have all my apple!'
Tom g ave Joe the brush. He did not smile, but for the first time that day he was a very happy boy. He sat down a nd ate Joe's apple.
More friends came t o laugh at Tom, but soon they all wanted to paint, too. By the afternoon Tom had three balls, an old knife, a cat with one eye, an old blue bottle, and a lot of other
exciting things. He was the richest boy in St Petersburg, and
the fence - all thirty metres of it - was a beautiful white.
He went back to the house.
孟庭苇资料'Aunt Polly! Can I go and play now?'
Aunt Polly came out of the house to look. When she saw the beautiful white fence, she was very pleased. She took Tom i nto the house and gave him an apple.
'Well, you can go and play. But don't come home late.'
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