The three pirates

Mark Twain

難詞探意

1. pirate /'pa?r?t/ n. 海盜

2. opportunity /,?p?'tju?n?ti/ n. 時機；機會

3. guilty /'g?lti/ adj. 感到內疚的

Tom now felt hopeless again. He felt that no one cared about him anymore. He didn't want to be a bad boy. It's just that people gave him no choice. He left the village, imagining that he would never return. After walking quite a long way, he found his good friend, Joe Harper. Joe seemed to be feeling pretty terrible himself.When Tom told him that he was planning on traveling the world looking for new and exciting adventures, Joe said that he had the same idea.He was angry because his mother had hit him for no reason. He didn't feel that she loved him or wanted him anymore, so he ran away.

The boys decided that since they both lost their families, they would have to be a family now. Just the two of them: Tom and Joe, friends and brothers forever. So, now they had to plan what they would do next. After a few moments,they agreed to becomepirates.

Near the village, at the wildest part of the Mississippi River, was a small island, about one mile wide. Tom and Joe decided to make it their new home. It was totally empty of people and there were lots of trees, so no one would see them from the shore. It was the perfect secret hiding place for pirates.

While looking at the island, they met Huckleberry Finn. He didn't have family either,so they asked him if he'd like to become a pirate, too. He happily agreed to join them. They planned to meet at 12 o'clock that night and take a small boat over to the island. In this way,no one could see them going there. They were all to bring food and any other useful supplies to help them live on the island.

Tom brought some meat, a compass, and his knife with him that evening. He waited for his friends up on a hill above the river. It was a very quite night, so he started to whistle. Then he heard someone whistle the same song somewhere down the hill. Tom tried to whistle again, and someone said, “Hey！ Who's that?”

“I'm Tom Sawyer, the famous Black Pirate! And who am I talking to?”

“Huck Finn, the Red-handed and Joe Harper, the Destroyer of the Seas.” These were all names that Tom had found in one of his favorite books.

“Do you know the secret word?”

“Blood! ”

“Ok, wait for me. I'm coming down,” Tom said as he started walking down the hill.

Once they were together, they looked at what everyone had brought. Joe had some meat with him and Huck had brought his tobacco.Seeming happy with this, the Black Pirate said,“Ok, men, now we need something to build fire with.”

Once they had the firewood, the pirates then found the little boat that would take them to their island. Tom stood at the front of the boat and gave orders to the other boys, “Ok, let's go faster now. Alright. A little to the right. Wait, no a little to the left. Watch out for those rocks up ahead! ”

At one point they could see the village they had left forever. Tom was happy to be leaving it and everyone he ever knew. He thought about his aunt and his friend Becky. He wished they could see him now, being so brave.

A couple of hours later, they landed on the shore of the island. The first thing they did was hide the boat and find a place to keep their food safe from the animals. They decided not to build a shelter for themselves, as they liked the idea of sleeping outside, like real pirates.

Later that evening,after dinner, they relaxed around a fire. Huck thought this was the perfectopportunityto smoke. The other two pirates watched him and wished that they knew how to smoke and then they could really be like pirates. After a couple of minutes of silence,Huck asked, “So, what exactly do pirates do?”

Tom was the first to answer.“Well, Huck,they steal treasure from ships and kill the sailors, except for the women. They don't kill women.”

“And they wear beautiful clothing from all over the world,” said Joe.

Huck looked at his own clothes. “My clothing's not very beautiful. Where can I get some better ones?” he said.

“Don't worry, Huck. We'll have plenty of opportunities to find new clothes once we start to travel.”

Soon they all became tired, but the only person to really sleep was Huckleberry. The other two pirates were feeling a littleguiltyabout having stolen the meat, the boat, and the firewood. They agreed that they will never take anything of anybody else in the future.

—From The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Reading

Check

1. What were the three pirates called?________________________________________

2. Where was their new home?

3. Why did the other two pirates feel guilty?________________________________________________

Language

Study

Sentence for writing

Tom was the first to answer.

【信息提取】the first to do sth 意為“第一個做某事的人”。

【句式仿寫】他是第一個來的人。