把手上的蓝线
The blue thread
Name: ________________ Date: ________
小林走出公司时，雨正下得大。地铁站就在对面，可他不想挤进那一片伞里。他拐进街角的咖啡店，点了一杯茶，打算等雨小一点再走。
门边的伞桶里，几把黑伞挤在一起。他把自己的伞放进去，坐到窗边。隔壁桌的男人正在打电话，一只手翻着包，另一只手在桌上找东西。小林帮他捡起掉在地上的手套，男人连声说谢谢。
茶喝到一半，手机响了。是快递员打来的：他买的小桌子到了，楼下没人收。小林看了看窗外，雨一点也没小。他赶紧结账，从伞桶里抽出一把黑伞，跑了出去。
回到家，他先把桌子搬进屋，再把湿伞放到阳台上。正要松手时，他发现伞把上缠着一条蓝线。自己的伞上没有这条线。
他把伞重新打开。伞面很新，右边的伞骨也完好无损。可他那把伞的右边早就歪了，风一大就翻。他刚才竟然一路都没发现。
蓝线下面还挂着一个小布袋。袋口没拉上，露出半把钥匙。小林没把它拿出来，只看了看袋子外面的小标签：周。
他想起咖啡店里打电话的男人，立刻给店里打了电话。店员听完笑了：“刚才也有人来找伞。他说，谁拿错了，就请谁先别走远。”
“我马上回去。”小林说。
出门前，他看了一眼还没拆开的桌子。等雨停的计划没实现，回家的路倒要再走一遍。
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 桶 | tǒng | bucket; pail; barrel |
| 窗 | chuāng | window |
| 另 | lìng | other; another |
| 响 | xiǎng | to sound; to ring; sound; noise |
| 结账 | jiézhàng | to pay the bill; to check out |
| 重新 | chóngxīn | again; anew; afresh |
| 挂 | guà | to hang; to put up |
| 拉 | lā | to empty one's bowels; to have (diarrhea) |
| 钥匙 | yàoshi | key |
| 袋子 | dàizi | bag; sack |
| 计划 | jìhuà | plan; project; program; to plan; to map out |
| 黑 | hēi | black; dark |
English (for the teacher)
When Xiaolin walked out of the office, it was pouring. The subway station was just across the street, but he didn’t want to squeeze into that sea of umbrellas. He turned into the café on the corner, ordered a cup of tea, and planned to wait until the rain eased before going.
In the umbrella stand by the door, a few black umbrellas were crowded together. He put his own umbrella in and sat down by the window. The man at the next table was on the phone, digging through his bag with one hand and feeling around the table with the other. Xiaolin picked up the glove the man had dropped on the floor, and the man thanked him again and again.
Halfway through his tea, his phone rang. It was the delivery man: the little table he had bought had arrived, and there was no one downstairs to take it. Xiaolin looked out of the window; the rain hadn’t eased at all. He paid in a hurry, pulled a black umbrella out of the stand and ran out.
Back home, he first carried the table inside, then put the wet umbrella out on the balcony. Just as he was about to let go of it, he noticed a blue thread wound around the handle. His own umbrella didn’t have that thread.
He opened the umbrella again. The canopy was new, and the ribs on the right side were perfectly fine. But the right side of his umbrella had been bent for ages, and it turned inside out whenever the wind picked up. And he hadn’t noticed the whole way home.
Under the blue thread hung a small cloth pouch. Its zip was open, and half a key was showing. Xiaolin didn’t take it out; he only looked at the little label on the outside of the pouch: Zhou.
He thought of the man on the phone in the café, and called the café at once. The waiter laughed when he heard: “Someone just came in looking for an umbrella too. He said whoever took the wrong one should please not go far.”
“I’ll come right back.” Xiaolin said.
Before he left, he glanced at the table he still hadn’t unpacked. His plan to wait for the rain to stop hadn’t worked out, and now he had to walk the way home all over again.