原来是这一把
The right one, after all
Name: ________________ Date: ________
小林回到咖啡店时，刚才的男人正站在门口，手里拿着另一把黑伞。那把伞右边歪了一块。小林不用再看，就知道是自己的。
“对不起，我接了个电话，一着急就拿错了。”他说着，把伞递过去。
男人先摸了摸伞把下面的小布袋，松了一口气。“钥匙还在。谢谢你特意回来。我姓周，就住后面那栋楼。”
原来，小周出门前把钥匙放进了伞上的小袋子。他怕外套口袋太浅，坐下时会把钥匙弄丢。没想到，钥匙没丢，整把伞却跟别人回了家。
“你的伞，我修了一下。”小周把那把歪伞打开，指了指右边，“我找店员借了胶带。撑着没问题，不过风太大还是得小心。”
小林接过伞，转了半圈。伞骨还是有点歪，但不像以前那样晃了。“我本来一直想修，就是总忘。”
“那今天也不算白跑。”小周说。
店员从抽屉里拿出两条细绳，一蓝一黄。“一人一条吧，下次就认得了。”小周留下蓝的，小林把黄的系在伞把上。系好后，他特意打了两个结。
两个人走到门外，才发现雨已经停了。小周朝楼后走去，小林往家的方向走。走出几步，他又折了回来。
店员抬起头：“又拿错了？”
“没有。”小林举起带黄绳的伞，“我的茶还在窗边。”
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 另 | lìng | other; another |
| 钥匙 | yàoshi | key |
| 袋子 | dàizi | bag; sack |
| 外套 | wàitào | coat; jacket; overcoat |
| 整 | zhěng | exactly; sharp (as in 十点整) |
| 修 | xiū | to repair; to mend; to fix |
| 细 | xì | thin; slender; fine |
| 留下 | liúxià | to leave behind |
| 停 | tíng | to stop; to halt |
| 步 | bù | step; pace |
| 窗 | chuāng | window |
| 黑 | hēi | black; dark |
English (for the teacher)
When Xiaolin got back to the café, the man from before was standing at the door, holding another black umbrella. That umbrella was bent on the right side. Xiaolin didn’t need to look again; he knew it was his.
“I’m sorry, I took a phone call, got flustered and took the wrong one.” As he spoke, he handed the umbrella over.
The man first felt the little pouch under the handle and breathed a sigh of relief. “The keys are still here. Thank you for coming all the way back. My name’s Zhou; I live in the building just behind here.”
As it turned out, before he went out, Xiao Zhou had put his keys in the little pouch on his umbrella. He was afraid his coat pockets were too shallow and the keys would fall out when he sat down. He never expected that the keys wouldn’t get lost, but the whole umbrella would go home with someone else.
“I fixed your umbrella a bit.” Xiao Zhou opened the bent umbrella and pointed at the right side. “I borrowed some tape from the waiter. It’s fine to hold up, but you’ll still need to be careful when it’s very windy.”
Xiaolin took the umbrella and turned it half a circle. The ribs were still a little bent, but they didn’t wobble the way they used to. “I’ve been meaning to fix it; I just keep forgetting.”
“Then today wasn’t a wasted trip.” Xiao Zhou said.
The waiter took two thin cords out of a drawer, one blue and one yellow. “One each; next time you’ll know which is yours.” Xiao Zhou kept the blue one, and Xiaolin tied the yellow one to his handle. When he’d tied it, he made a point of tying two knots.
Only when the two of them walked outside did they find the rain had stopped. Xiao Zhou headed round to the back of the building, and Xiaolin set off towards home. After a few steps, he turned back again.
The waiter looked up: “Took the wrong one again?”
“No.” Xiaolin held up the umbrella with the yellow cord. “My tea’s still by the window.”