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7
The Wrong Letter
送错的信
1
One morning the postman
came down Elm Road. In his bag were two letters.
They looked like this: “Miss P Jones 10 Elm
Road Bilton”; “Miss F Jones 79 Elm Road
Bilton”
There were two Miss
Jones in Elm Road. Pippa Jones lived at number 10.
She was mad about ponies. Flo Jones lived at
number 79. She was mad about football.
But that morning the postman had broken his
glasses and he couldn’t see very well.
That’s how the mix
-up began.
Pony-mad Pippa was out at
the stable when her letter came. Pippa had a pony
called Blossom who was a champion jumper.
She gave Blossom some oats and a kiss
on the nose. Then her dad stuck his head out of
the back door. “Pippa, there is a
lette
r
for you.”
Football-mad Flo was in the garden when
her letter arrived. Flo played for Redland Rovers.
She was wearing her Rovers kit as
usual.
She
dribbled
past
the
cat
and
swerved
round
the
swing.
“Thud.”
the
ball
hit
the
back
door.
“goal.”
cried
Flo.
“Flo!”
called her mum. “Stop that racket and come inside.
There’s a letter for you. ”
Flo tore open her letter. It said: Dear
Miss Jones, The Junior Cup is on Saturday at
Chestnut field. We hope to see you there.
“Wow!” said Flo. “I’m playing in the
Cup Final on Saturday. Redland Rovers will win for
sure.” At 10 El
m Road, Pippa
was
also
reading
her
letter.
“Dear
Miss
Jones,
The
Junior
Cup
Final
is
on
Saturday
at
Redland
Park.
We
hope
to
see
you
there. ”
“Fantastic,” said Pippa. “I’m riding Blossom in
the Junior Cup. We are sure to win.”
2
Pippa and Flo couldn’t
wait
for Saturday to come.
They didn’t notice that they had got the wrong
letter. They were both
going to the
wrong place. On Saturday morning Pippa rode
Blossom to Redland Park. Down the road they passed
Flo on her
way to Chestnut Field. Pippa
stared at Flo i
n her red and white
football kit. “Fancy dressing up like that to play
a stupid game
of football,” she thought
to herself. Flo stared at Pippa in her black
riding hat and boots. “Fancy dressing up like that
to
ride
a boring old pony,”
she thought to hersel
f.
Pippa arrived at Redland Park. But
where were the other ponies? All she could see was
the Redland Rovers team kicking a ball.
“Excuse me,” said Pippa. “Where are the
fences to jump?”
The Rovers
team laughed. “This is a football match. Ponies
can’t play.” said one. Rovers’ captain went over
to Pippa.
“Have you seen Flo Jones? She
hasn’t come yet and we’re one player short.” ‘I
don’t know anyone called Flo,’ said
Pippa.
‘My
name
is
Pippa
Jones.’
‘Well,
you’ll
have
to
play
then,’
said
the
captain.
‘Hurry
up
and
get
changed,
kick-
off
is in five minutes.’
Pippa
was horrified. She didn’t want to play football.
She wanted to ride Blossom in the Junior Cup. She
tried to explain but
the
Rovers team didn’t listen. They pushed her into
the changing room. They gav
e her
football boots and a shirt. The shirt
came to her knees. And the boots
pinched her feet. When Pippa ran she kept tripping
over her laces. They lined up for kick-off
and the referee blew his whistle to
start the game.
The ball came whizzing
towards Pi
ppa. ‘What shall I do with
it?’ she wailed. ‘Just kick it that way,’ shouted
Rovers’
captain. Pippa kicked the ball.
‘Youch, my toe.’ she yelled.
The ball went to one of the Blue team.
Pippa tried to get it back. But she tripped over
her laces and fell in a muddy puddle.
‘This is all a mistake.’ moaned Pippa.
‘I’m in the wrong place.’
3
Flo was in the wrong place too. She was
in Chestnut Field. But where was the Cup Final?
All she could see were girls trotting
round on ponies. ‘What is all this?’
Flo asked a man in a brown hat. ‘It’s the Junior
Show. I am Mr. Trotter, one of the
judges. What is your name?’
‘Flo Jones. I am here to play
football.’ Mr. Trotter wasn’t listening. He was
busy looking at a list of names. ‘Ah yes.
Here you are. Miss Jones. You are
jumping twenty-
third.’ ‘Jumping? Me?’
Flo turned pale. ‘But I can’t ... I haven’t
even got a pony.’ Mr. Trotter laughed.
‘Dear me! You’ve come without your pony? Then
we’ll have to find one for you.
Five minutes later Flo was sitting on a
big, black pon
y. It snorted and stamped
its feet. ‘His name’s Thunder. You have to
show him who is boss.’ said Mr.
Trotter. Flo looked at Thunder. She was pretty
sure he was boss. ‘I don’t know how to
ride,’ she said. ‘There’s been a
mistake...’
‘You’ll be
fine. Good luck.’ said Mr. Trotter and slapped
Thunder on the back. Thunder galloped off with Flo
holding
on tight. The fences looked
very high. Flo wanted to jump off but Thunder
wouldn’t stop. The loudspeaker boomed: ‘And
the next rider is Miss Pippa Jones on
Thunde
r.’ The crowd clapped. ‘But my
name isn’t Pippa!’ cried Flo. ‘Somebody
get me down.’
It
was too late. Thunder was heading for the first
fence. Flo shut her eyes. She was sure they were
going to hit it. Just in time
Thunder
jumped. They landed with a bump
and
Flo’s hat slipped down over her eyes. Now she
couldn’t see where she was
going.
Thunder
sailed
over
the
next
jump.
And
the
next.
But
Flo
was
slipping
out
of
the
saddle.
She
was
almost
upside
down,
hanging onto Thunder’s neck. ‘What an
odd way to ride,’ said Mr. Trotter. Thunder took
the next three fences at a gallop.
They
came to the last one, a high brick wall. Thunder
took off. ‘he
-
lp.’ cried
Flo, flying in the air.
They landed with a thud. Then Flo fell
off onto the grass. Everyone crowed around her.
They picked her up and patted her
on
the back. ‘Are you all right?’ ‘Well done.’ ‘Jolly
good riding.’ ‘What happened?’ asked Flo, getting
up.
‘You won. You jumped all
the fences in the fastest time,’ said Mr. Trotter.
He pinned a rosette on Thunder and
gave
Flo a
silver
cup.
‘This
year’s
winner
of
the
Junior
Cup
is
Miss
Pippa
Jones,’
she
said.
‘My
real
name
is
Flo,’
smiled
Flo
happily.
4
Back at the Cup Final, things weren’t
going well for Pippa. Her legs hurt. She was wet
and muddy and the boots were ki
lling
her. There were two minutes left. The
score was 2-
2, but Pippa didn’t care.
She just wanted the game to end so that she could
go home.
The
Blues’ goalkeeper kicked the ball out. It bounced
straight to Pippa. She wasn’t pleased to see it.
‘Go away!’
she
shouted
crossly and gave the ball a mighty kick. To her
surprise the ball soared through the air towards
the Blues’ goal. The
goalkeeper dived-
but the
ball hit the back of the net. ‘Goal!’ shouted the
Rovers. ‘What a goal!’
At
that moment the final whistle blew. Pippa was Girl
of the Match. Her team carried her off the pitch,
cheering. Everyone
wanted to pat her on
the back. Pippa had won the Junior Cup for Rovers.
After the game Pippa set off home with Blossom. On
her way up Elm Road she passed Flo.
Pippa and Flo both stopped. They both stared. Both
of them were covered in mud and
holding
silver cups. ‘Is your name... Pippa Jones?’ asked
Flo. Pippa nodded. ‘Then you must be Flo Jones.’
then they
understood. So that’s what
had happened.
‘I must have
got your letter,’ said Flo. ‘I went to a pony
show.’ ‘And I must have got your letter,’ said
Pippa. ‘I
went to a football match.’
They both started to laugh.
‘Football is fun,’ grinned Pippa, ‘When you get
used to it.’ ‘And riding a pony is really quite
ex
citing,’ said
Flo.
After that, Pippa and
Flo became the best of friends. Not only did they
share the same name, they also liked the same
things.
Now, on one Saturday Flo goes
riding with Pippa. And, on the next Saturday,
Pippa plays football with Flo. The postman still
brings letters to both their houses.
But these days he’s got a new pair of
glasses.
注释
came down Elm
Road
来到榆树路
postman
邮递员
was mad about
…
特别喜欢…
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