原版英文故事与诗歌：The Golden Boys

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号：tingroom，领取免费英语资料大礼包。

 

　　There was⁶ a small café on the beach where we sat every day, and everyday⁸ Mr Morelli in the café said⁹ “Good morning!” to my parents, and then always patted¹⁰ me on the head like a dog. Every day we walked down to our red and white umbrella, every day my father sat on his deckchair and read the newspaper then went to sleep, every day my mother went for a swim in the sea and then went to sleep. Every lunchtime¹¹ we ate¹² the same cheese sandwiches which my mother made¹³, and then every afternoon we went up to the café and ate an ice cream¹⁴ while¹⁵ my parents talked to Mr Morelli about the weather. Every summer for twelve years I sat there and read books and sometimes played volleyball with some of the other boys and girls who were there, but I never made any friends.

 

　　It was so boring¹⁶.

 

　　Every August for twelve years the same family sat next to us. They were called the Hamiltons. We had¹⁷ a red and white umbrella, they had a green one. Every morning my parents said “Good morning!” to Mr and Mrs Hamilton, and Mr and Mrs Hamilton said “Good morning!” to my parents. Sometimes they talked about the weather.

 

　　Mr and Mrs Hamilton had two sons. Richard was the same age as⁷ me, and his brother Philip was two years older than me. Richard and Philip were both taller than me. Richard and Philip were very friendly¹⁸, and both very handsome¹⁹. They were much friendlier²⁰ and more handsome than me. They made friends with everyone, and organised the games of volleyball on the beach or swimming races in the sea with the other children. They always won²² the games of volleyball and the swimming races. My parents liked Richard and Philip a lot. “Why can’t you be more like Richard and Philip?” they said to me. “Look at them! They make friends with everyone! They are polite²³, good boys! You just sit here reading²⁴ books and doing nothing!”

 

　　I, of course²⁵, hated²⁶ them.

 

　　Richard and Philip, Richard and Philip, Richard and Philip – it was all I ever¹ heard from my parents every August for twelve years. Richard and Philip were perfect²⁷. Everything about them was better than anything about me. Even²⁸ their green beach umbrella was better than our red and white one.

 

　　I was sixteen years old the last summer we went there. Perfect Richard and perfect Philip came²⁹ to the beach one day and said that they were going³⁰ to have a barbecue³¹ at lunchtime. They were going to cook for everyone! “Forget your cheese sandwiches”, they laughed, “Come and have some hamburgers or barbecue chicken with us! We’re going to cook!”

 

　　My parents, of course, thought³² this was wonderful. “Look at how good Richard and Philip are! They’re going to do a barbecue and they’ve invited³³ everybody³⁴! You couldn’t organise²¹ a barbecue!”

 

　　Every summer for twelve years, on the other side³⁶ of my family, sat Mrs Moffat. Mrs Moffat was a very large woman who came to the same beach every summer for twelve years on her own². Nobody³⁷ knew if she had a husband³⁸ or a family, but my parents said that she was very rich. Mrs Moffat always came to the beach wearing a large hat, a pair of sunglasses³⁹ and a gold necklace⁴⁰. She always carried a big bag with her. She never went swimming, but sat under her umbrella reading magazines⁴¹ until⁴² lunchtime when she went home.

 

　　Richard and Philip, of course, also invited Mrs Moffat to their barbecue.

 

　　Richard and Philip’s barbecue was, of course, a great success⁴³. About twenty people came and Richard and Philip cooked lots of hamburgers and chicken and made a big salad and brought⁴⁴ big pieces of watermelon and everyone laughed and joked⁴⁵ and told Mr and Mrs Hamilton how wonderful their sons were. I ate one hamburger and didn’t talk to anybody⁴⁶. After a while, I left, and made sure that nobody saw⁴⁷ me leave.

 

　　Mrs Moffat ate three plates of chicken and two hamburgers. After that she said she was very tired and was going to go and have a sleep. She walked over to her umbrella and sat down on her deckchair and went to sleep. When she woke up later⁴⁸, everybody on the beach was surprised⁴⁹ to hear her screaming⁵⁰ and shouting.

 

　　“My bag!!!! My bag!!!” she shouted. “It’s gone!!! It’s GONE!!!” Everybody on the beach ran⁵¹ over to Mrs Moffat to see what the problem⁵² was. “Someone has taken my bag!!!” she screamed⁵³, “Someone has stolen⁵⁴ my bag!!!”

 

　　“Impossible!” said everybody else. “This is a very safe, friendly beach! There are no thieves⁵⁵ here!” But it was true⁵⁶. Mrs Moffat’s big bag wasn’t there anymore⁵⁷.

 

　　Nobody had seen⁵⁸ any strangers⁵⁹ on the beach during⁶⁰ the barbecue, so they thought that Mrs Moffat had perhaps⁶¹ taken her bag somewhere⁶² and forgotten it. Mr Morelli from the café organised a search⁶⁴ of the beach. Everybody looked everywhere for Mrs Moffat’s big bag.

 

　　Eventually⁶⁵, they found⁶⁶ it. My father saw it hidden⁶⁷ in the sand under a deckchair. A green deckchair. Richard and Philip’s deckchair. My father took⁶⁸ it and gave⁶⁹ it back to Mrs Moffat. Everybody looked at Richard and Philip. Richard and Philip, the golden⁷⁰ boys, stood⁷¹ there looking surprised. Of course, they didn’t know what to say.

 

　　Mrs Moffat looked in her bag. She started screaming again. Her purse⁷² with her money in it wasn’t in the big bag. “My purse!” she shouted, “My purse has gone! Those boys have stolen it! They organised a barbecue so they could³⁵ steal⁷³ my purse!”

 

　　Everybody tried to explain⁷⁴ to Mrs Moffat that this couldn’t possibly be true, but Mrs Moffat called the police⁷⁵. The police arrived and asked golden Richard and golden Philip lots of questions. Richard and Philip couldn’t answer the questions. Eventually, they all got⁶³ into a police car and drove⁷⁶ away to the police station.

 

　　I sat there, pretending⁷⁷ to read my book and trying to hide⁷⁸ a big, fat purse under the sand on the beach.

 

　　That was the last summer we went to the beach. My parents never talked about Richard and Philip again.

分享到：