🎁Amazon Prime 📖Kindle Unlimited 🎧Audible Plus 🎵Amazon Music Unlimited 🌿iHerb 💰Binance
播客
描述
The Million Pound Bank Note by Mark Twain
原文
Chapter One: From San Francisco to London
When I was 27 years old, I worked in an office in San Francisco.
I did my job well and my future was promising.
I was alone in the world and I was happy.
On Saturday afternoons I didn't work.
I sailed my little sail boat on San Francisco Bay.
One Saturday afternoon, I sailed out too far.
The strong afternoon wind pushed my sail boat out of the bay, into the Pacific Ocean.
That night, when I had lost all hope, a small British brig saw me and took me on board.
The brig was sailing to London. The voyage was long and stormy.
I worked as a sailor to pay for my trip.
When I arrived in London, my clothes were old and dirty.
I had only one dollar in my pocket.
With this dollar, I ate and slept for the first twenty-four hours.
During the next twenty-four hours, I didn't eat and didn't sleep.
At about ten o'clock the following morning, I went to Portland Place.
I saw a child walking past, holding a big pear.
The child ate one small piece and then threw the pear onto the street.
I stopped and looked at it.
I was very hungry and I really wanted that pear.
But every time I tried to get it, someone passed by and looked at me.
I quickly turned in the other direction and waited for the person to pass by.
I tried again and again to get that pear, but the same thing happened. I was desperate.
I decided to get the pear and not to worry about the people who saw me.
At that moment, a gentleman opened a window behind me and said, "Come in here, please."
A well-dressed servant opened the door.
He took me to a beautiful room.
Here, two old gentlemen were sitting and discussing something important.
Their breakfast was still on the table.
I was very hungry and I stared at their breakfast.
I want to tell the reader that the two gentlemen had made a bet several days before.
I knew nothing about the bet until later.
Let me tell you what happened.