The summer evenings were long. It was not dark, yet. Presently Tom checked his whistle. A stranger was before him—a boy a shade larger than himself. A new-comer of any age or either sex was an impressive curiosity in the poor little shabby village of St. Petersburg. This boy was well dressed, too—well dressed on a week-day. This was simply astounding. His cap was a dainty thing, his close-buttoned blue cloth roundabout was new and natty, and so were his pantaloons. He had shoes on—and it was only Friday. He even wore a necktie, a bright bit of ribbon. He had a citified air about him that ate into Tom’s vitals. The more Tom stared at the splendid marvel, the higher he turned up his nose at his finery and the shabbier and shabbier his own outfit seemed to him to grow. Neither boy spoke. If one moved, the other moved—but only sidewise, in a circle; they kept face to face and eye to eye all the time. Finally Tom said: “I can lick you!” “I’d like to see you try it.” “Well, I can do it.” “No you can’t, either.” “

夏天的傍晚很長，到現(xiàn)在天還沒黑。湯姆驀地止住口哨，只見一個(gè)陌生人站在他面前——一個(gè)塊頭略大于他的孩子。在圣彼得堡這個(gè)貧困潦倒的小村里，任何初來乍到者，無論年齡大小，是男是女，都會(huì)引起人們的關(guān)注和好奇。這個(gè)男孩衣著講究，明明不是周末，卻如此精心打扮，實(shí)在過于出格，簡直令人不可思議。他頭上的帽子很別致，藍(lán)布短上衣扣得嚴(yán)嚴(yán)實(shí)實(shí)，簇新、整潔而又漂亮，褲子也是如此。他腳上還穿著鞋子——今天才不過是星期五。他甚至還打了一個(gè)領(lǐng)結(jié)，那是一根鮮艷的絲帶。他那儼然一城里人的派頭，深深刺痛了湯姆的自尊心。湯姆越是看這個(gè)不知從何而來的衣冠楚楚的家伙，越是對(duì)他的時(shí)髦裝束嗤之以鼻，就越發(fā)覺得自己的這身打扮顯得寒磣。兩個(gè)孩子都沒吭聲，誰挪動(dòng)一步，另一個(gè)也跟著挪動(dòng)——但只是橫著身子轉(zhuǎn)圈兒，他們始終臉對(duì)臉、眼瞅眼地轉(zhuǎn)著圈兒。湯姆終于開了腔： “我能揍你一頓?！?“我倒樂意陪你試試。” “好，試試就試試?！?“得了吧，諒你沒那個(gè)膽?！?“誰說的，我敢。” “你不行，你不敢?！?/p>

欣賞：當(dāng)鄉(xiāng)下孩子遇到城里孩子，可能會(huì)產(chǎn)生羨慕嫉妒恨，甚至導(dǎo)致打架?。ㄟ€是要搞好關(guān)系，和睦相處的?。?/p>