阳阳的画
The man who draws all night
Name: ________________ Date: ________
阳阳二十八岁了，可是小区里的人还叫他“阳阳”。他小时候，是赵老师的学生。
大家都说，阳阳在一家大公司上班，很忙。可是他家的窗帘，白天也总是拉着。
爷爷敲了很久的门。快十二点了，阳阳才穿着睡衣来开门。
他家里都是画：墙上有，桌子上也有。每一张画里，都有一只白猫。
“你们别告诉我妈，”阳阳的脸红了，“我三个月以前就不上班了。我想画漫画。”
原来，每天晚上十点，豆腐都会来他的窗户外面。阳阳给它吃猫粮，它就坐在那儿，让阳阳画它。
“我一个人在家画画，它是我的同事。所以我就叫它‘同事’。”
每一张画的下面，都写着几月几号。乐乐拿出手机，把这些画都拍了下来。
爷爷问：“星期天晚上，同事来上班了吗？”
“没来。我等到两点。不过星期天早上六点，我还没睡，看见它跟在一个老人后面。那个老人走路的时候，两只手放在背后。”
房间里一下子安静了。
爷爷的两只手，也放在背后。他马上把手放到了前面。
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 小时候 | xiǎoshíhou | in one's childhood; when one was little |
| 门 | mén | door; gate |
| 画 | huà | to draw; to paint; painting; picture |
| 每 | měi | each; every |
| 告诉 | gàosù | to tell; to inform |
| 外面 | wàimiàn | outside; out |
| 下面 | xiàmiàn | next; following |
| 下来 | xiàlai | (after a verb) indicates completion or continuation from past to present (as in 坚持下来) |
| 后面 | hòumiàn | back; rear; behind |
| 走路 | zǒulù | to walk |
| 手 | shǒu | hand |
| 前面 | qiánmiàn | in front; ahead |
English (for the teacher)
Yangyang was twenty-eight, but the compound still called him “Yangyang”, like a little boy. As a boy, he had been Teacher Zhao’s pupil.
Everyone said Yangyang worked at a big company and was very busy. But his curtains stayed closed even in the daytime.
Grandpa knocked for a long time. It was nearly noon before Yangyang came to the door in his pyjamas.
His flat was full of drawings: on the walls, on the table. And in every drawing there was a white cat.
“Don’t tell my mum,” said Yangyang, going red. “I quit my job three months ago. I want to draw comics.”
So that was it: every night at ten, Tofu came and sat outside his window. Yangyang gave it cat food, and it sat there and let him draw it.
“I work at home on my own, drawing, and it’s my colleague. So I call it ‘Colleague’.”
Under every drawing was the date. Lele took out her phone and took a photo of each one.
Grandpa asked, “On Sunday night, did Colleague turn up for work?”
“No. I waited until two. But at six on Sunday morning, before I’d gone to bed, I saw it following an old man. When that old man walked, he kept his hands behind his back.”
The room went very quiet.
Grandpa’s hands were behind his back too. He quickly brought them round to the front.