Lesson

15

A Wonderful Present

Pete Richards was the loneliest man in town on the day that little Jean Grace opened the door of his shop.

Pete’s grandfather had owned the shop until his death. Then the shop became Pete’s. The front window was full of beautiful old things: jewelry of a hundred years ago, gold and silver boxes, carved① figures from China and Japan and other nations.

On this winter afternoon, a child stood there, her face close to the window. With large and serious eyes, she studied each piece in the window. Then, looking pleased, she stepped back from the window and went into the shop.

There was not much light inside the shop, but the little girl could see that the place was full of things; old guns and clocks, more jewelry and boxes and figures, and a hundred other things for which she didn’t even know the names.

Pete himself stood behind the counter. He was only 30 years old, but already his hair was turning gray. His eyes were cold as he looked at the small girl.

“Please,” she began, “would you let me look at the pretty string② of blue beads③ in the window?”

Pete took the string of blue beads from the window. The beads were beautiful against his hand as he held the necklace up for her to see.

“They are just right,” said the child as though she were alone with the beads. “Will you wrap them up in pretty paper for me, please?”

Pete studied her with his cold eyes. “Are you buying these for someone?” he asked.

“They are for my big sister. She takes care of me. You see, this will be the first Christmas since our mother died. I’ve been looking for a really wonderful Christmas present for my sister.”

“How much money do you have?” asked Pete.

From the pocket of her coat, she took a handful of pennies and put them on the counter. “This is all I have,” she explained simply. “I’ve been saving the money for my sister’s present.”

Pete looked at her, his eyes thoughtful. Then he carefully closed his hand over the price mark on the necklace so that she could not see it. How could he tell her the price? The happy look in her big blue eyes struck him like the pain of an old wound.

“Just a minute,” he said and went to the back of the shop. “What’s your name?” he called out. He was very busy about something.

“Jean Grace,” answered the child.

When Pete returned to the front of the shop, he held a package in his hand. It was wrapped in pretty Christmas paper and tied with a green ribbon④.

“There you are,” he said. “Don’t lose it on the way home.”

She smiled happily at him as she ran out the door. Through the window he watched her go. He felt more alone than ever.

Something about Jean Grace and her string of beads had made him feel once more the pain of his old grief⑤. The child’s hair was as yellow as the sunlight; her eyes were as blue as the sea. Once upon a time, Pete had loved a girl with hair of that same yellow and with eyes just as blue. And the necklace of blue stones had been meant for her.

But one rainy night, a car had gone off the road and struck the girl whom Pete loved. After she died, Pete felt that he had nothing left in the world except his grief.

Since then, Pete Richards had lived too much alone. He talked with the people who came to his shop, but after business hours he remained alone with his grief. At last the grief for his lost love became grief for himself. In self-pity he almost succeeded in forgetting the girl.

The blue eyes of Jean Grace brought him out of that world of self-pity and made him remember again all that he had lost. The pain of remembering was so great that Pete wanted to run away from the happy Christmas shoppers who came to look at his beautiful old things during the next ten days.

When the last shopper had gone, late on Christmas Eve, Pete was glad. It was all over for another year.

But for Pete Richards, the night was not quite over. The door opened and a young woman came in. Pete could not understand it, but he felt that he had seen her before. Her hair was sunlight yellow and her eyes were sea-blue. Without speaking, she put on the counter a package wrapped in pretty Christmas paper. From her pocket she took out a green ribbon and put it with the package. When Pete opened the package, the string of blue beads lay again before him.

“Did this come from your shop?” she asked.

Pete looked at her with eyes no longer cold. “Yes, it did,” he said.

“Are the stones real?”

“Yes. They aren’t the best turquoise but they are real.”

“Can you remember to whom you sold them?”

“She was a small girl. Her name was Jean. She wanted them for her sister’s Christmas present.”

“How much were they?”

“I can’t tell you that,” he said. “The seller never tells anyone else what a buyer pays.”

“But Jean has never had more than a few pennies. How could she pay for them?”

Pete was putting the Christmas paper around the necklace and tying the green ribbon just as carefully as he had done for Jean Grace ten days earlier.

“She paid the biggest price one can ever pay,” he said. “She gave all she had.”

For a moment there was no sound in the little shop. Then somewhere in the city, church bells began to ring. It was midnight and the beginning of another Christmas Day.

“But why did you do it?” the girl asked.

Pete put the package into her hands.

“There is no one else to whom I can give a Christmas present,” he said. “It is already Christmas morning. Will you let me take you to your home? I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas at your door.”

And so, to the sound of many bells, Pete Richards and a girl whose name he had not yet learned walked out into the hope and happiness of a new Christmas Day.

(1,064 words)

①carve [kɑ:v] v. 雕刻，切开

②string [strɪŋ] n. 线，细绳，一串

③bead [bi:d] n. 珠子

④ribbon [ˑrɪbən] n. 缎带，丝带，带

⑤grief [ɡri:f] n. 悲痛，伤心事，不幸，忧伤

I. How well did you read?

1. [Check the details] Which of the following cannot be found for sale in Pete’s shop?

A. Old guns and clocks.

B. Jewelry, gold and silver boxes.

C. Carved figures from other nations.

D. Fashionable clothes.

2. [Note the fact] When Pete saw Jean Grace, he___________.

A. was very enthusiastic, hoping for some business to be done

B. was cold but he still served the young customer

C. was cold, unwilling to serve the young customer

D. was very warm to the young customer though he did not want to sell anything to her

3. [Note the fact] Jean Grace came to the shop to buy a Christmas present___________.

A. for her mother because the latter cared for her quite a lot

B. for her sister because the latter cared for her quite a lot

C. for herself because the necklace was very beautiful

D. for one of her family members because it was a custom

4. [Note the reason] Pete did not say the price of the necklace because___________.

A. he thought that the girl was not able to afford it

B. he priced the necklace too high

C. it would disappoint the girl

D. he was willing to help the girl to get it

5. [Given the reason] Pete was sad because___________.

A. he had lost his parents when he was young

B. his sweetheart had died after a long illness

C. he was buried in self-pity after the death of his sweetheart

D. he was lonely in his shop

6. [See the result] The eyes of Jean Grace brought Pete out of his world of self-pity___________.

A. and he tried to forget the memory of his sweetheart

B. and he remembered his lost love

C. and he began to look at the world optimistically

D. and he no longer felt the pain in him

7. [Evaluate the information] When Pete said that Jean Grace paid the biggest price one could ever pay, he meant that___________.

A. Jean Grace gave a lot of money for the necklace

B. Jean Grace gave all she had with her for the necklace

C. Jean Grace thought she paid a lot money for the necklace

D. Jean Grace wanted to have the best thing in the shop

8. [Draw a conclusion]At the end of the story we see that___________.

A. Pete found another girl that he could trust

B. Pete found someone who could give him comfort and love

C. Pete regained his ability to love

D. Pete at last found a place to go

II. Read for words.

1. Choose one best paraphrase or Chinese meaning for the underlined words.

(1) The happy look in her big blue eyes struck him like the pain of an old wound.

A. 打，敲 B. 使感动 C. 刺激

(2) At last the grief for his lost love became grief for himself.

A. sorrow B. happy C. love

2. Choose one best paraphrase for the underlined expressions.

(1) In self-pity he almost succeeded in forgetting the girl.

A. He hated himself

B. He felt sorry for himself

C. He abandoned himself

(2) The seller never tells anyone else what a buyer pays.

A. He does not want to tell.

B. He does not want to break the law.

C. He likes keeping secrets.

(3) For a moment there was no sound in the little shop.

A. both were angry

B. there were no people in the shop

C. neither of them talked