Tony?did?not?often?hear?music.?His?family?was?poor,?and?poor?people?did?not?often?hear?music.?There?was?no?TV?or?radio?in?those?days.?There?were?concerts?in?the?town,?of?course,?but?poor?people?did?not?go?to?concerts.?Sometimes?an?Italian?street?musician?came?to?town.?He?had?a?little?piano?on?wheels,?and?a?poor?thin?monkey?which?sat?on?top?of?it.?The?people?came?out?of?their?houses?to?listen?to?his?music.?Then?the?monkey?went?round?with?a?little?tin?cup.?"Give?us?a?penny!"?sang?the?musician.?But?when?the?monkey?came?back,?the?tin?cup?was?always?empty.?The?musician?shook?his?head?and?pushed?his?little?piano?away.
托尼難得聽到音樂。他家境貧寒，而窮苦人家總是沒什么音樂可聽的。那個時候既沒有電視，也沒有收音機，城里當然也舉行音樂會，但窮人是去不起的。城里偶爾也會來一個意大利流浪琴師。他有架帶輪子的小鋼琴，琴上還坐著一只可憐的小瘦猴。人們紛紛走出門來聽他演奏。接著，小猴就拿著一只小小的錫杯在人群里轉一圈。“施舍點吧！”琴師喝道。可是小猴回來的時候，杯子總是空的。琴師只有搖搖頭，推著小小的鋼琴走了。
There?were?six?children?in?the?Evans?family,?and?Tony?was?the?oldest.?They?lived?in?a?very?small?house?at?the?end?of?a?long,?grey?street.?The?toilet?was?outside,?in?the?yard.?There?was?no?bathroom.?Everybody?washed?in?the?kitchen.?On?Saturday?evenings?everybody?in?the?family?had?a?bath?one?after?another?in?an?old?tin?bath?in?front?of?the?fire.?It?took?all?evening.?Every?Monday?Mrs?Evans?washed?all?the?family's?clothes?in?the?tin?bath.?But?the?Evans?were?clean?and?they?had?enough?to?eat.?Tony?did?not?feel?poor,?because?all?his?friends?were?poor?too.
埃文斯家有六個孩子，托尼是老大。他們一家住在一條陰暗的長巷子盡頭一幢很小很小的房子里。馬桶在外面的院子里。家里沒地方洗漱，全家人只得在廚房里將就。每到周六晚上，一家人就一個接一個在爐火前用一個舊的錫澡盆洗澡，要一整晚才能全部洗完。每個星期一，埃文斯太太都要把一家人的衣服泡在錫澡盆里洗干凈。但是埃文斯一家衣著干凈，也能吃得飽飯。托尼不覺得自己家窮，因為他的朋友們也都很窮。
In?those?days,?poor?children?usually?left?school?when?they?were?thirteen.?Most?of?Tony's?friends?found?jobs?in?shops?or?factories?in?the?town.?Tony?did?not?want?to?work?in?a?shop?or?a?factory.?But?he?needed?a?job?because?his?family?needed?the?money.
A?few?days?after?his?thirteenth?birthday,?Tony?left?school?too.?He?began?to?look?for?a?job.?But?he?was?unlucky.?The?factory?did?not?want?him.?The?shops?did?not?want?him.?Then?his?mother?thought,?"What?about?farming?"
One?hot?summer?afternoon?she?decided?to?take?her?son?to?a?farm?outside?the?town.
"I?worked?on?Mr?Wood's?farm?when?I?was?young,"?she?told?Tony.?"Then?I?met?your?father?and?we?moved?to?the?town.?But?I?enjoyed?farm?work,?and?I?think?you'll?like?it?too…?I?wrote?to?Mr?Wood?last?week?and?asked?him?to?give?you?a?job?on?the?farm.?That?will?be?better?than?the?factory."
那時候，窮人家的孩子往往到了13歲就輟學了。托尼的朋友們大多在城里的商店或是工廠里找了活兒干。而托尼既不愿意去商店，也不愿意進工廠。可他需要一份活計，因為家里需要這點錢。
13歲生日過完沒幾天，托尼也離開了學校，他開始找工作。可是他的運氣不好。工廠不要他，商店也不要他。然后他的母親想到：“種田怎么樣？”
一個炎熱的夏日午后，她決定把兒子帶到郊外的一個農場去。
“年輕時，我曾在伍德先生的農場里干過活兒，”她對托尼說，“然后我遇見了你父親，我們搬到了城里。可是我喜歡干農活，我覺著你也會喜歡的…我上個星期給伍德先生寫了封信，讓他給你在農場里找份活兒干，總比在工廠里強。”
