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Carl’s garden

1. Carl was a quiet, lonely man. Even after living in our neighbourhood for over 50 year...

介绍： 微信公众号：【英语PK台】每日18点推送当日课堂音频及全文本
参加课堂语音互动加京晶微信：goingforgold2018 验证注明添加理由
联系主持人 新浪微博： @京晶am774 @英语PK台
14点、22点直播互动区：
http://t.cn/R648k8q

Carl’s garden

1. Carl was a quiet, lonely man. Even after living in our neighbourhood for over 50 years, no one could really say they knew him very well. Yet he would always greet you with a big smile and a firm handshake.

2. When he saw a flyer at our local church asking for volunteers for caring for the gardens behind the minister's residence, he responded in his characteristic manner. Without fanfare, he just signed up. He was well into his 87th year when the thing we had always feared finally happened.

3. He was just finishing his watering for the day when three gang members approached him. Ignoring their attempt to intimidate him, he simply asked, "Would you like a drink from the hose?"

4. The tallest and toughest-looking of the three said, "Yeah, sure," with a malevolent little smile. As Carl offered the hose to him, the other two grabbed Carl's arm, throwing him down. As he was lying there, Carl's assailants stole his retirement watch and his wallet, and then fled.

5. Carl tried to get himself up, but he had been thrown down on his bad leg. The minister came running to help him. "Carl, are you okay? Are you hurt?" the minister asked as he helped Carl to his feet.

6. Carl just passed a hand over his brow and sighed, shaking his head." Just some punk kids. I hope they'll wise-up someday." He picked up the hose and adjusted the nozzle again and started to water. “I’ve got to finish my watering. It's been very dry lately," he said calmly.

7. A few weeks later the three returned. Their threat was unchanged. Carl again offered them a drink from his hose. This time they didn't rob him, but wrenched the hose from his hand and drenched him head to foot in the icy water. When they had finished their humiliation of him, they sauntered off down the street, falling over one another laughing at the hilarity of what they had just done. Carl just watched them. Then he turned toward the warmth giving sun, picked up his hose, and went on with his watering.

8. The summer was quickly fading into fall. Carl was doing some tilling when felt someone was approaching him from behind. He turned to see the tall leader of his summer tormentors. He braced himself for the expected attack.

9. "Don't worry old man, I'm not gonna hurt you this time." The young man spoke softly, offering a tattooed and scarred hand to Carl. Then, pulled a crumpled bag from his pocket and handed it to Carl.

10. "What's this?" Carl asked. "It's your stuff," the man explained. "It's your stuff back. Even the money in your wallet." "I don't understand," Carl said. "Why would you help me now?"

11. The man seemed embarrassed and ill at ease. "I learned something from you," he said. "I ran with that gang and hurt people like you. We picked you because you were old and we knew we could do it. But you never showed any hate to us for hating you." He stopped for a moment.

12. "I couldn't sleep after we stole your stuff, so here it is back. That bag's my way of saying thanks for straightening me out, I guess." And with that, he walked off down the street.

13. Carl opened the sack and took out his retirement watch and put it back on his wrist. Opening his wallet, he checked for his wedding photo. He gazed for a moment at the young bride who still smiled back at him from all those years ago.

14. He died one cold day after Christmas that winter. Many people attended his funeral. The minister noticed a tall young man with tattooed hands who he didn't know, sitting quietly in a distant corner of the church.

15. The following spring another flyer went up. It read: "Person needed to care for Carl's garden." It took a while, but then one day a knock was heard at the minister's office door.

16. Opening the door, the minister saw a pair of scarred and tattooed hands holding the flyer. "I believe this is my job, if you'll have me," the young man said. The minister didn’t hesitate and gave him the keys to the garden shed.

17. The man went to work and, over the next several years, he tended the flowers and vegetables just as Carl had done. He went to college, got married, and became a prominent member of the community. And he kept the garden as beautiful as he thought Carl would have kept it.