1. 'Look Behind You!'
‘Tom!'
There was no reply.
‘Tom!'
There was no reply.
'Where is he?' said Aunt Polly.
She went to the door of the kitchen and looked into the garden. 'TOM!' she shouted again.
There was no reply from the garden.
Then Aunt Polly heard a noise in the kitchen. She turned round and she saw Tom. He came out of the food cupboard. He ran towards the door. Aunt Polly grabbed his jacket and he stopped.
'Why were you in the food cupboard?' she asked.
Then she saw Tom's mouth. It was bright red. 'I know!' she said. 'You were eating my fruit! Tom, you are a bad boy!'
The old lady lifted her hand. She was going to hit Tom.
'Look behind you, Aunt Polly!' said Tom.
Aunt Polly let go of Tom's jacket and turned round quickly. Tom ran away. He ran into the garden and climbed over the fence.
'Tom Sawyer!' said Aunt Polly. Then she laughed. 'He always plays tricks on me,' she said to herself. 'I never learn.'
It was 1844 – Tom was eleven years old. He lived in St. Petersburg, Missouri. St Petersburg was a town on the Mississippi River, in North America.
Tom's parents were dead. He lived with his father's sister, Aunt Polly. Tom was not clean and tidy. He did not help Aunt Polly with the housework. He often behaved badly. But Aunt Polly loved him very much.
Aunt Polly loved Tom but she worried about him too. 'Tom must behave better,' she said to herself. 'He must obey me. He must be a good boy. He stole my fruit and I will punish him. He must do some work. Tomorrow is Saturday. There's no school on Saturday. Tomorrow, Tom will paint the fence.
Answer the questions:
1. Where does Tom Sawyer live?
2. How old is the boy?
3. Who does Tom live with?
4. Is Tom an obedient boy?
5. Why does he live with his aunt?
2. The Fence
It was Saturday morning. There was no school today. But Tom had to work. He had to paint the fence. It was a long fence around the garden of Aunt Polly's house.
Tom had a big bucket of paint and a brush with a long handle. He looked at the fence.
'I want to go swimming. I want to go fishing. I want to play with my friends,' said Tom to himself. 'I don't want to paint the fence. My friends will all see me. They'll laugh at me.'
Tom started to paint.
After an hour, Tom was tired. He looked sadly at the big bucket of paint and the brush with the long handle. Then Tom had an idea. He smiled.
He started to paint the fence again.
Soon he saw one of his friends, Ben Rogers. Ben was walking towards him. He was making strange noises. Ben was a steamboat on the Mississippi River!
'Ting-a-ling!' he said. He was making the noise of the bell on the steamboat. 'Sssh! Sssh!' he said. He was making the noise of the steam in the engine of the steamboat.
Ben was holding a big red apple.
Tm going swimming,' Ben said. 'You have to work!'
'I'm not working,' said Tom. 'This isn't workl'
'Do you like painting the fence?' asked Ben. He was surprised.
'Yes,' said Tom.
Tom started to paint again. Sometimes he stopped and looked at the fence. Then he painted again. There was a happy smile on his face.
Ben watched him. 'Let me paint the fence,' he said.
'No,' said Tom. 'It's very difficult to paint a fence.'
Ben was not happy. Tom liked painting the fence. So Ben wanted to paint the fence.
'Please let me paint it,' he said. 'I'll give you some of my apple.'
Tom thought for a minute. 'No,' he replied. And he smiled and started to paint again.
'I'll give you all of my apple,' said Ben.
Tom thought for another minute. 'All right,' he said.
So Tom sat down and started to eat Ben's apple. And Ben started to paint the fence.
True or false:
1. It was Sunday morning and Tom was free.
2. Tom had a big bucket of paint and a brush with a long handle.
3. Tom wants to paint the fence.
4. Soon Tom saw his aunt.
5. Ben Rogers didn’t want to paint the fence and he ate his apple.
3. The Beetle
It was Sunday morning. It was half past ten. Everybody in St Petersburg was in the church.
The church was a small, wooden building. Inside the church, there were rows of seats. There were rows of seats on the left-hand side of the church. There were rows of seats on the right-hand side. There was a space - the aisle - in the middle of the church. People walked along the aisle and sat in their seats.
The minister stood in front of the rows of seats. He was a very serious man. Every Sunday, the minister said very serious prayers. Every Sunday, the people sang hymns. Then every Sunday, the minister talked to the people. The minister's talk - his sermon - was always long and very serious.
The minister enjoyed his sermons. But many people did not enjoy them. Tom did not enjoy the sermons!
Today, Tom was sitting next to Aunt Polly. They were listening to the sermon. Tom was bored. He wanted to go swimming or fishing. He wanted to play with his friends. He was not enjoying the sermon.
Suddenly, Tom remembered his beetle. He had a small box in his pocket. In the box, there was a very large black beetle. Tom took the box out of his pocket and opened it. Then he took the beetle out of the box. The beetle was very strong. It opened its mouth and it
bit one of Tom's fingers. Tom threw the beetle into the aisle.
The beetle lay on the floor. It was on its back and its legs were moving. The beetle was interesting. The minister's sermon was not interesting. So, many people looked at the beetle.
It was a very hot morning. But it was cool inside the church. A dog had come into the church. The dog wanted to be cool. It was lying at the back of the church.
The dog saw the beetle too. It walked along the aisle and looked closely at the beetle. The beetle bit the dog's nose.
YELP! The dog howled loudly. It ran round and round the church with the beetle on its nose. Somebody started to laugh. Another person started to laugh. Soon, everybody in the church was laughing. But the minister did not laugh. He talked seriously, but nobody was listening. He finished his sermon quickly.
Tom walked home from church happily. Church was interesting sometimes! He smiled. 'I'll get another big beetle,' he said to himself.
Tom passed Jeff Thatcher's house. Jeff was the same age as Tom. But he was not Tom's friend. Jeff's father was a lawyer in St Petersburg.
Tom saw a girl in the garden of Jeff's house. He did not know her. She had yellow hair and blue eyes. She was beautiful!
Suddenly, Tom was in love! Last week, Tom had loved Amy Lawrence. Now, Tom forgot about Amy Lawrence. He loved the girl with yellow hair and blue eyes.
Tom looked at the girl. She looked at him. Tom did some clever tricks. He put his head and hands on the ground and lifted his into the air. Then he got up and put a wooden stick on his nose. He walked carefully in a circle and a stick did not fall from his nose.
The girl did not speak but she smiled at Tom. Then she went into the house. Tom was very happy. He ran home and he thought about the girl with yellow hair all day.
That night, Tom went back to Jeff Thatcher's house. He looked at the house for an hour but he did not see the girl.
Then Tom had an idea. He climbed over the fence and stood near a window. Tom wanted to shout to the girl but he did not know her name. So he made the noise of a cat. MI-AOW! MLAOW!
Suddenly, somebody opened a window and threw some water over Tom's head. Then they closed the window again.
Tom quickly climbed back over the fence. He picked up a stone. Then he turned round and threw it in the window. CRASH! The glass broke. He ran home.