The Inside of the World
When I was a very little boy, I was always asking questions.
One day when I was walking with my nurse along the city street, I asked, "Jane, what's under the street?" "Oh, just dirt (尘土) ," she replied. "And what is under the dirt?" "Oh, more dirt," she replied.
. So I asked again, "Well, what's under that?" "Oh, nothing-I don't know-why are you always asking so many questions?" she asked
I knew there must be something under that. . I also heard that Chinese lived on the other side of the world, head down. I wanted to find out if that was true.
, down, down, down, till I came through on the other side, and then I would know. I was a very little boy, you see. With a small shovel (铁锹) , I started a hole in the back yard behind the grapevines (葡萄藤). No one knew what I was doing. .
Then one evening my father asked, "What's that hole in the back yard?" .
He didn't laugh when I told him, but he asked me if I knew how far I would have to dig.
I hadn't dug through the world, but I did know how far it was.
| A. I knew my secret was out B. I wasn't satisfied with her answer C. And I just wanted to know what it was D. So I made up my mind I would dig down through the world E. I wanted to keep it a secret until I had dug all the way through F. As a result, I became closer and closer to the inside of the world |
