“I’m getting out of here！”Granddad said to me“I’ve been in many a battle，but this is the worst of all”
We pushed past the firemen and got to the street at lastBy this time there was a big crowd of people“What’s happened？Where’s the fire？”everyone wanted to know
But we didn’t wait to talkGranddad took me to his little house and gave me some ice cream
“I’m sorry you didn’t get to see the whole show，Granddad.”I said“Will you go with me next Saturday？”
Granddad shook his head“No，Robert.”he said“I don’t like moviesThey are too noisyMy first movie will be my last！”
曾祖父的最后一次战斗
我永远不会忘记那个星期六。那天，我带曾祖父去看电影。这是他第一次看电影。我九岁，曾祖父已经90多岁了。
电影是野蛮的西部片子。1920年的那个星期六下午其结果也是很野蛮的。
我们到达电影院时，稍微迟了一会儿。灯光已转弱，钢琴旁的年轻女子已开始演奏。那个年代，电影是无声的。伴随影片的惟一声音来自一架钢琴。
我帮曾祖父在第一排找到座位。他舒服地坐下，朝后靠着时，胡特·吉布森正骑着马横穿过银幕。我望着曾祖父，他两眼盯着银幕，嘴唇在动着。我看到，他正骑着马同胡特·吉布森一起向前飞奔！
胡特正从歹徒那里逃脱。马跑得越来越快，弹钢琴的女子弹得越来越响。
突然，曾祖父跳了起来，对着胡特大喊。“当心！”他大声喊道。“快跑，胡特！他们追近了！”
弹钢琴的女子转过身来。她发现，就在她身后有一位高大的老人，伸着双臂。那就是我的曾祖父。她以为他发疯了。她尖叫一声，爬到钢琴上面，接着从银幕中跳了过去，把银幕弄了一个大洞。她嚎叫着从电影院后门跑了出去。
那天下午，电影院里有大约40位观众，只有曾祖父一个人不是12岁以下的孩子。这一场激动使我们所有的男孩子觉得应该做点什么。可是，干什么好呢？胡特给我们做了提示！他被击中，从马上掉下来，正好跌进银幕上的洞里！
我的一位名叫萨米的朋友爬上去看胡特怎么样了。有三四个人跟随着萨米。一会儿，就有大约12个尖叫着的男孩子挤在银幕周围。多么吵闹啊！
收票员跑了过来。“停机！”他呼喊着。“开灯！”但是，看来没人听见他的话。
就在这时，萨米打响了他的玩具砸炮枪。有人看到砸炮枪里冒烟，就尖声叫喊着“失火了！”
曾祖父依然站着。他大声叫喊，“找消防队来！哪儿失火了？”
正在此刻，有几个人从后门走进来。弹钢琴的女孩子已告诉他们有个疯子，他们来是要抓曾祖父！
在他们抓住他之前，一名消防队员从前门走了进来。他拿着一根水龙。“来水！”他向身后的消防队员大声喊叫。接着，他将皮管对准银幕把水力开足。银幕上的洞越来越大。现在，我们只能看到胡特的头顶和他那匹马的尾巴。
“我要离开这儿！”曾祖父对我说。“我参加过多次战斗，这是最糟的一次。”
我们从消防队员中挤过去，终于到了大街上。这时，已聚集了一大群人。“出什么事了？哪儿失火了？”人人都想知道。
但我们没有留下来聊天。曾祖父把我带到他的小屋，并给了我一些冰淇淋吃。
“真对不起，曾祖父，你没能把电影看完。”我说。“下星期六你还跟我一起去吗？”
曾祖父摇摇头。“不，罗伯特。”他说。“我不喜欢电影，太吵了。我看的第一场电影就是我最后一场电影了。”
The Future
At a village fair，I decided to visit a fortuneteller called Madam Bellinsky．I went into her tent and she told me to sit down．After I had given her some money，she looked into a crystal ball and said：“A relation of yours is coming to see you．She will be arriving this evening and intends to stay for a few days．The moment you leave this tent，you will get a big surprise．A woman you know well will rush towards you．She will speak to you and then she will lead you away from this place．That is all．”
As soon as I went outside，I forgot all about Madam Bellinsky because my wife hurried towards me．“Where have you been hiding？”she asked impatiently．“Your sister will be here in less than an hour and we must be at the station to meet her．We are late already．”As she walked away，I followed her out of the fair.
未卜先知
在一个乡村集市上，我决定去拜访一位名叫Bellinsky 的算命人。我走进她的帐篷，她让我坐下。当我给她一些钱后，她就看着一个水晶球，说：“您的一位亲戚要来看您。她今晚到达，并打算在这儿住几天。您一出帐篷，便会吃一惊，一个您熟悉的妇女会向您跑来，她会跟您说话，然后把您从这里领走，我要说的就是这些。”
我一走出来，就把Bellinsky 太太的话全忘了，因为我妻子急急忙忙向我跑来。“你刚才躲到哪里去了？”她不耐烦地问，“还有不到一小时你姐姐就要到了，我们必须到车站去接她，我们已经晚啦！”我跟着她离开了乡村集市。
“Jump from an Airplane？Who，Me？”Fight Against Fear My best friends could not believe it．“Jump from an airplane？Gloria never would！”they said．
But I did！And I shall always be glad．
Let me tell you the story．It happened this ways：
I write for a big city newspaper．I wanted to write a story about making a sky jump．But I am not good at any sport．I don’t know how to swim．I can’t throw or hit a ball．How could I jump from a plane？
But for an exciting story that would seem real，I had to jump．So at last I said，“I will jump！I must stop being afraid！”
My friend John wanted to help me．“Before you jump，you must learn how.”John said．“I will take you to the airfield tonight．At ground school there，you can learn how to jump．It is not hard．Then in the morning you can jump．”On the way to ground school，John talked and talked．Everything he said began with “don’t”，it seemed to me．“Don’t land in the water，Gloria.”he said．“Don’t land on a road filled with cars．Don’t land on top of a building．”No wonder I became more and more afraid to try a sky jump！
“Ready—Get Set—”At the field，we met Harry，who teaches sky jumping．Harry also had more than one “don’t”for me．“Don’t just fall from the plane.”Harry said．“You must dive out．Then hold out your arms as you fall．Don’t think about your parachute．It will open soon after you jump．If it does not，you have another parachute．You can open that one yourself．Don’t be afraid，Gloria！”
“I’m still afraid.”I said．“What will happen if both parachutes open at once？”
“That would be too bad.”Harry answered．“But it won’t happen．”
Next he showed me how to jump．“Face the front of the plane.”he said．“Hold on here at the wing．Stand on this little step．Kick back and UP with your feet．Push away from the plane．”
Then he told me how to land．“Near the ground，face into the wind．Don’t look down．Don’t pull your feet up．”“At the moment you land，put your chin way down．Keep your arms in and your legs together．Try to land on both feet．”
Harry saw how afraid I was．“You will not get hurt a bit.”he said．
That night I could not go to sleep．I kept hearing，“Do this，do that！Don’t do this，don’t do that！”Over and over I said to myself，“Don’t be afraid！It will not hurt！”But I believed it would．
“—Jump！”Morning came at last．Once more I was at the field．There，I put on clothes that made me look like a big white bag．An orange helmet was pushed down onto my head．Two heavy parachutes were put on me．
It was hard to walk to the plane．But I made it！And soon the plane was climbing．I began to feel sick．The plane had no door to close．I could see blue sky through the opening．
Then Harry hooked a line from my parachute to a ring inside the plane．The line would pull my parachute open after I had jumped．
“Get ready，Gloria.”Harry said．I wanted to cry，“No，no，no！”
I came to the gate.But I could not look down．I hung on so hard my hands hurt．The wind pulled at my clothes．And it hurt my eyes．
“Jump！”Harry called loudly．“Jump！”To my surprise，I jumped．Kicking like a frog，I pushed away from the plane．Out went my arms．I shut my eyes．Down，down I fell．I moved my arms．It worked！The air seemed to hold me up．All at once I was very happy．Then I felt a quick pull．My big orange parachute had opened！It was the best surprise I ever had．I looked down．There were rivers，trees，fields，houses．The world was still there！I looked and listened．I heard the soft sound of the air．This was fun！I pulled one of the lines．My parachute made a quick turn．But it did not turn the fight way．Quickly I pulled the other line．