Lesson 14　Henry, the Bootblack　第14課　擦鞋童亨利

support along boots

be long dollar years

manage

taught

corner

notice

money

blacking

gentle men

honest quite buy earned

Henry was a kind, good boy. His father was dead, and his mother was very poor.He had a little sister about two years old.

He wanted to help his mother, for she could not always earn enough to buy food for her little family.

One day, a man gave him a dollar for fnding a pocketbook which he had lost.

Henry might have kept all the money, for no one saw him when he found it. But his mother had taught him to be honest, and never to keep what did not belong, to him.

With the dollar he bought a box, three brushes, and some blacking. He then went to the corner of the street, and said to every one whose boots did not look nice，"Black your boots, sir, please?"

He was so polite that gentlemen soon began to notice him, and to let him black their boots. The frst day he brought home ffty cents, which he gave to his mother to buy food with.

When he gave her the money, she said, as she dropped a tear of joy，"You are a dear, good boy, Henry. I did not know how I could earn enough to buy bread with, but now I think we can manage to get along quite well."

Henry worked all the day, and went to school in the evening. He earned almost enough to support his mother and his little sister.

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亨利是個(gè)善良的好孩子。他爸爸死了，媽媽很貧窮。他有個(gè)一個(gè)兩歲左右的妹妹。

他非常想幫助媽媽，因?yàn)閶寢尳?jīng)常掙不夠錢去買食物，以至于沒(méi)法養(yǎng)活這個(gè)小家庭。

一天，因?yàn)樗麕蛣e人找到了丟失的錢包，人家給了他一美元。

亨利本可以自己悄悄留下這個(gè)錢包，因?yàn)闆](méi)有人發(fā)現(xiàn)他撿到了它；但是媽媽教育他做人要誠(chéng)實(shí)，永遠(yuǎn)不要拿不屬于自己的東西。

他用這一美元買了一個(gè)箱子、三把刷子和一些鞋油。然后他跑到街道的角落里，對(duì)每個(gè)鞋子看起來(lái)不是那么干凈的人輕聲問(wèn)道：“先生，需要擦鞋嗎？”

他太有禮貌了，紳士們都開(kāi)始注意他并且讓他擦皮鞋。第一天他就帶回家50分，給了媽媽讓她買吃的。

當(dāng)他把錢交給媽媽的時(shí)候，媽媽流下了幸福的淚水，她說(shuō)：“亨利，你真是個(gè)可愛(ài)的好孩子。之前我都不知道怎樣才能掙夠買面包的錢，現(xiàn)在我相信，我們可以一起努力共渡難關(guān)了。”

亨利白天工作一天，晚上去學(xué)校學(xué)習(xí)。他掙的錢幾乎可以養(yǎng)活媽媽和妹妹了。