Tony?and?his?mother?got?on?a?bus?in?the?middle?of?the?town.?At?first?they?drove?through?streets?of?small,?grey?houses.?Then?the?bus?left?the?town?and?drove?along?a?country?road.
The?bus?stopped?in?every?village.?Tony?saw?green?fields?and?small,?quiet?villages.?Every?house?had?a?garden.?The?smell?of?the?flowers?came?in?through?the?open?windows?of?the?bus.
托尼和母親在鎮中心上了一輛公共汽車。起初，他們穿過一排排矮小的灰色房子，然后，汽車開出城外，開上了一條鄉間小路。
公共汽車每到一個村子都會停下來。托尼看到綠色的田野和僻靜的小村落。每座房子都帶有花園，花香從開著的車窗透了進來。
At?last?the?bus?stopped.?Tony?could?see?a?river?and?an?old?bridge.?A?small?road?ran?across?the?bridge,?through?the?fields?and?over?a?hill.?"Come?on,?Tony,"?said?his?mother.?They?got?out?of?the?bus?and?walked?two?kilometres?in?the?hot?sun.?There?were?white?and?yellow?flowers?at?the?side?of?the?road.?Tony?did?not?know?their?names.?He?wanted?to?know?more?about?them.?He?wanted?to?know?more?about?the?trees?too.?There?were?no?flowers?or?trees?in?his?street.
最后車停了下來。托尼看到一條小河和一座老舊的橋。一條小路越過小橋，穿過田野，延伸至一座小山丘的另一邊。“來吧，托尼。”他的母親說道。他們下了車，在熱辣的陽光下走了兩公里路。路邊開著白色和黃色的花，托尼不知道它們的名字，他想更多地了解這些花，也想多了解了解那些樹。在他住的那條街上，既沒有花，也沒有樹。
He?looked?at?the?cows?in?the?fields.
"I've?never?seen?a?real?cow,"?he?said?to?himself.?He?watched?them?moving?very?slowly?through?the?long,?green?grass.?They?looked?big?and?quiet.
Tony?and?his?mother?arrived?at?the?farmhouse?and?walked?through?the?farmyard.?Chickens?were?looking?for?food.?A?fat?white?cat?sat?on?a?wall?and?watched?them?with?sleepy?eyes.
他看著田野里的奶牛。
“我還從沒見過真正的奶牛。”他自言自語道。他看著奶牛在高高的綠草中緩緩地穿行。它們看起來既高大又安靜。
托尼和母親來到農場里的房子那兒，穿過房子前的庭院。小雞正在四處覓食。一只胖胖的白貓坐在墻上，睡眼蒙朧地看著他們。
Mr?Wood?came?to?the?door?and?spoke?to?Tony's?mother.?"Hullo,?Betty.?It's?nice?to?see?you?again.?Thank?you?for?your?letter.?How?are?you?"?They?talked?together?like?old?friends.
Tony?stood?at?the?door.?He?felt?lost?and?uncomfortable.?But?the?farmer?smiled?at?him.
"Is?this?your?son,?Betty?"?he?asked.
"Yes.?This?is?Anthony -?but?we?call?him?Tony?at?home.?He?left?school?two?weeks?ago. He's?a?good?boy,?and?he's?very?strong.?Please?give?him?a?job,?Mr?Wood.?We?need?the?money.?We've?got?six?children,?you?know."
The?farmer?looked?at?Tony.?"How?old?are?you,?boy?"?he?asked.
"Thirteen,?sir."
"Do?you?like?the?country?"
"Yes,?sir,"?said?Tony.
伍德先生來到門口，對托尼的母親說道：“你好啊，貝蒂，真高興又見到你了。謝謝你的來信。你還好嗎？”他們像老朋友一樣交談起來。
托尼站在門口，他有點不知所措，覺得不大自在。可農場主對他笑了。
“這就是你的兒子吧，貝蒂？”他問道。
“是的。這就是安東尼——可是我們在家里都叫他托尼。他是在兩個星期前離開學校的。他是個好孩子，身體也很壯實。請您給他找點活干吧，伍德先生。我們需要錢，要知道，我們家里有六個孩子呢。”
農場主看著托尼。“你多大了，孩子？”他問道。
“13歲，先生。”
“你喜歡鄉下嗎？”
“喜歡，先生。”托尼答道。
"Would?you?like?to?work?for?me,?Tony?"?asked?Mr?Wood.?"Would?you?like?to?be?a?farm?boy?"
Tony?thought?about?the?factory?and?the?shops.?The?shops?were?bad,?but?the?factory?was?worse.?When?people?came?out?of?the?factory?in?the?evening?their?faces?looked?white?and?ill.?"Nothing?can?be?worse?than?that,"?he?thought.?He?looked?into?the?farmer's?smiling?red?face.?"Yes,?sir,"?he?said.?"Yes,?please."
“你愿意替我干活嗎，托尼？”伍德先生問道，“愿意做個在農場干活的鄉下孩子嗎？”
托尼想了想工廠，又想了想商店。商店的情況不怎么樣，可是工廠就更糟。人們晚上走出廠門的時候，一個個面色蒼白，一臉病容。“沒什么會比那更糟了。”他想道。他注視著農場主那張紅紅的笑臉，說：“是的，我愿意，先生，我愿意替您干活。”
