英语泛读

Never Late (1)

Never late for what? Who is never late? Upon reading the title of the story ,you may have these questions in your mind. If you then read the whole story you'll get the answer.

     Life is a strange business. Perhaps you have noticed that yourself. You do the same things again and again, and nothing happens. Then, one day, you do the same thing once more and something certainly happens.
　　Though I have travelled in hundreds of trains, few unusual things have ever happened to me. But one day in a train something did happen. I do not mean that I was hurt: no one was hurt. 　return　
    I do my work in a hot country far away from England. Every September I go there to do my business, and every July I come back to England to have a rest. So every September I go to Paris and take a train from the great French city to Mendova, and at Mendova I catch my ship.
　　There is one very fast train from Paris to Mendova, and it suits me well. It is one of the best trains in the world. It goes as far as Endoran, but it stops at Mendova for a few minutes to let travellers get out or in. It is called (English) The flying bluebird. It goes every day, it reaches Mendova at seven minutes past nine in the morning, and it is never late.
    A ship leaves Mendova at half past eleven every Tuesday morning, and so you will understand that The flying Bluedbird suits me very well, I always travel by it, and I have nearly two and a half hours at Mendova to go from the station to the ship. That is more than enough time.
    Well, one September night, I took my place in The flying Bluebird as usual. I had a place by the window, and I hoped for a restful journey. The train leaves Paris at nine o‘ clock every night, and I was in my place soon after half past eight. There were three or four people there with me, but very soon a lot of others got into the train. When no more people could sit down, they began to stand up near us and also in the corridor. In a short time the corridor was full too, and it was impossible for any more travelers to get into the train.
    I could see a lot of other people outside the corridor windows, but they could not get in, and the train left Paris without them. We left at nine o’clock and were soon traveling very fast.
    The man sitting next to me started to ask all kinds of questions: “Where do you work?” he said ,“How long does it take you to get there? Are you married? How many children have you? How much money do they pay you every year?
    How much have you in the bank? How much do you spend every month?”
    He asked questions for about twenty minutes but I did not give him any clear answers, and at last he stopped and began to read the paper.
    I usually sleep quite well in the train, but this time I slept only a little. There were too many people, and there were too many things: small bags, large bags, coats hats, boxes, newspapers and food. As usual, we got angry about the window. Most people wanted it shut, and two of us wanted it open. But that always happens. It was shut all night, as usual.
    The train went on noisily through the night and sometimes I was able to get a little sleep. I was sorry for all the people who were standing up in the corridor. There was no sleep for them: it was hard enough for them to stand up, because the floor was covered with all kinds of things. One or two of them sat on their boxes, but most of them had to stand up all the way.
    When I awoke in the early morning I felt hot and dirty, and glad that the journey was reaching its end. We were now not far from Mendova; and as soon as we reached Mendova, I always got out and had a wash and something to eat and drink.
    At seven minutes past nine The Flying Bluebird stopped. We were at Mendova, and I stood up thankfully. I got down my two suitcases, held one in each hand, and tried to move towards the door into the corridor. In order to get out of the train, I had to pass down the corridor to the door at the far end. There was no other way out .
    I could not even get into the corridor. There was a suitcase on the floor by my feet, and three men were standing in my way. I felt a touch of fear. I had to get out, you see; I had to catch my ship, which left at half past eleven. And the train did not stop again until it reached Endoran, two hundred miles away.
    “I must get out!” I cried, Everyone there understood me, but no one could move.
At last I was able to put one foot over the suitcase on the floor, and I nearly reached the door into the corridor. But then, very slowly, the train began to move. It was taking me away!
    “Stop!” I cried. “I want to get out!” But no one outside the train could hear me, and the people inside did not care much. The train moved a little faster. What could I do? I was not even in the corridor.
    Fear made me think quickly. In front of my eyes, just above the door, was a notice that told everyone how to stop the train. I had to pull an iron thing near the notice. I did not waste time. I pulled it ..
    Of course, no one likes to stop a train if there is no need. But it seemed to be the right thing for me to do at the time. I had to catch my ship. That was the only thought in my mind: to get out and catch my ship.

(to be continued)
Approximately 1100words.

吉林大学远程教育学院 Distant Education College, Jilin University