Comment

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    This story tells about the narrator’s unfortunate experience on The Flying Bluebird. The reader’s curiosity is aroused at the very beginning of the story. They are eager to know what happened that was unusual.

    The use of the word “fear” builds tension in the reader. Just as things would happen, the narrator was unable to get off in such a crowded train. Without thinking about the consequences, he stopped the train.

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Summary

    The ability to give an accurate summary requires accurate comprehension of the passage, distinguishing between essential and secondary information, and skill in composing clear, economical text. Students should be encouraged to practice this technique, either in spoken or written language.

    The narrator, an Englishman who worked in a hot country far from England, had traveled in hundreds of trains. One day something unusual happened to his in the train from Paris to Endoran. He should get off at Mendova and then change to a ship. But that day the train was very crowded: the corridor was filled up with people and the floor was covered with all kinds of things. So no doubt when the train reached Mendova, it was very hard for his, with a suitcase in each hand, to pass down the corridor to the door. No sooner had he reached the door than the train began to move. In despair, he stopped the train by following the instructions on the notice. The train stopped, but it caused much panic outside in the station. A fat man in blue, a man who worked on the train, was extremely angry at the narrator’s action. No one had ever stopped The Flying Bluebird before; it had always run on time. Railway policeman were sent for and it seemed the narrator was going to be taken to the police station for what he had done. The officer, however, was a man who could use his head. After he looked into the matter, he found out that the narrator was justified in stopping the train: the train was too crowded for his to get off. Now it was not the narrator but the man in blue who should go to the police station, because he was partly responsible for the overcrowdedness of the train.

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