第7章 THE BOY WHO WAS ALWAYS TOO LATE 总是迟到的男孩

SOLOMON SLOW was the son of a gentleman, who lived on the border of the New Forest. His mother called him Solomon, “Because,” she said, “he is a wise child; ‘slow and sure' is sure to do well.”

“Yes,” said his father; “but he is too slow; and unless he become a little more quick, and a little less lazy, I shall never make a man of him.”

When he was about ten years old, his father and some friends planned a picnic in the Forest, and hired a large van to take them there. They were to set out at seven in the morning. Solomon knew this, as he had heard his father say so the night before.

The sun was shining very brightly when he awoke at six the next morning;but he was as lazy as ever. “If I get up about ten minutes before seven,” said he, “I shall be down in plenty of time.” So he lay still in bed, and heard all the party pass his door as they went down stairs.

They even called to him; but he gave no answer, and only lazily rolled himself up in the clothes. At last, up he jumped, dressed, and ran down stairs;but he found the breakfast-room empty, and the van gone!

Snatching up his hat, he ran as fast as he could down the road; but there was a high wind, and the dust was in clouds everywhere. He screamed and bawled for the van to stop; but all in vain. No one could hear him; and at last, tired with running, and half choked with dust, he walked sulkily home.

But even this did not cure him. He was a lazy boy, and grew up to be a lazy man; and when in business, though the coach passed his door every day, he was seldom ready. Just look at him, in the picture, running up the hill, and bawling “Stop! stop!”

Questions

What was the boy's name? Where did he live? What did his mother say of him? What did his father say of him? At what time was the picnic party to start? When did Solomon awake? What did he say to himself? What did he find when he did come down stairs? What did he then do? Did he succeed? What kind of man did he turn out?

Pronunciation

bright'-ly an'-swer sulk'-i-ly Sol'-o-mon plen'-ty

la'-zi-ly run'-ning bus'-iness min'-utes emp'-ty

Write

heard lazily sulkily

planned answer running

brightly snatching business

所罗门·斯洛是一位绅士的儿子，家住新福里斯特旁边。他妈妈叫他所罗门，“因为，”她说，“他是个聪明的孩子，反应慢但是踏实的人做事是很好的。”

“是的，”所罗门的父亲说，“但是他也太磨磨唧唧了，除非他做事能麻利一点儿，不要那么懒，否则我觉得他永远成不了一个男子汉。”

所罗门大约10岁的时候，他父亲和一帮朋友计划雇一辆面包车，去福里斯特野餐。他们打算早上7点出发。所罗门知道这个安排，因为他在前一天晚上就听爸爸说过了。

第二天早上6点，所罗门起床的时候，外面阳光正灿烂，但是他还是像以前一样懒得很。“如果我6点50起床，”他说，“那时间也足够。”所以他依旧躺在床上不动，他的家人从他门前经过，下楼的声音他也听到了。

而且所罗门的家人也喊他下楼了，可他还是没有回答，只是懒懒地开始穿衣服。最后，他终于从床上一跃而起，穿好衣服，跑下楼梯。可是，他发现早餐室里已经没人了，面包车也走了！

所罗门飞快地抓上帽子，用最快的速度跑到路上，但是风很大，灰尘四处飞扬。他大喊大叫让面包车停下来。但是都徒劳无益，没人听得见他的呼喊。最后，他累得跑不动了，被尘土也呛得受不了了，于是便闷闷不乐地回家了。

但是，即使这一次经历也没能让所罗门长教训。他小时候很懒，长大后仍旧如此。等他工作的时候，虽然公共汽车总是从他门口经过，他也没有准备充分的时候。只需看看图片里的那个所罗门就行了，他在山坡上奔跑，大喊着“停下来！停下来！”