Приключения Тома Сойера: адаптированный текст + задания. Уровень B1

’

‘No, Ben, I’m afraid–’

‘I’ll give you ALL of it!’

Tom gave the brush to Ben and sat in the shade.

He didn’t have to work any more. Some other boys stopped by now and then; at first they joked but remained to whitewash. Billy Fisher bought his chance to whitewash for a kite, Johnny Miller – for a dead rat – and so on, and so on, hour after hour. And when the afternoon came, Tom who had been so poor in the morning, became a wealthy boy. Besides the before mentioned things, he had twelve marbles, a piece of blue bottle-glass to look through, a key that wouldn’t unlock anything, a tin soldier, a kitten with only one eye, the handle of a knife, and a lot of other valuable things.

He had had a nice, good, idle time, plenty of company – and the fence had three coats of whitewash on it!

* * *

Tom came to the living-room which was their bedroom, breakfast-room, dining-room, and library at the same time, Aunt Polly was sitting by an open window. She was sure that Tom had left long ago, and she was surprised at seeing him.

‘May I go and play now, aunt?’ he asked.

‘What, already? How much have you done?’

‘It’s all done, aunt.’

‘Tom, don’t lie to me – I hate it.’

Aunt Polly went out to see for herself. She found the whole fence whitewashed thoroughly.

She said:

‘So, you can work when you decide to do so, Tom.’ And then she added: ‘But you seldom feel like working. Well, you can go and play.’

She even gave him an apple as a reward. Tom climbed over the fence and was gone.

There was a gate, but usually he preferred to leave this way.

Tom went to the town square, where two “armies” were preparing for battle. Tom was the General of one of them. Tom and his best friend Joe Harper, commanding officer of the other army, ordered their soldiers to fight and then sat by the side chatting.

Tom’s army won a great victory, after a long and hard battle. Then the dead were counted, prisoners exchanged, and the day for the next battle was chosen; the armies walked away, and Tom went home.

On his way back, he passed the house of his schoolmate Jeff Thatcher. In the yard he noticed a beautiful girl who immediately won his heart. Tom forgot his girlfriend, Amy Lawrence right at once.

When he was sure the strange girl was watching, he began to show off, acting like a fool, doing all sorts of silly tricks. Although the girl seemed not to pay attention, she threw a flower to him just before she went into the house.