Lesson 11 The Watch

The watch was my grandfather’s. It hung by his bed. The face was marked with elegant Roman numerals and the case was gold—heavy and beautifully chased. It was a magnificent watch and I often gazed at it longingly^① as I sat with my grandfather in the afternoons after school.

Grandfather, ill as he was, always liked to have me there. He would often ask about my progress at school. The day I told him of my success in the exam inations, he was pleased as Punch. “You’ll be going to the new school next then, Will?” he asked.

“Then college,” I said, seeing the path straight before me. “Then I shall be a doctor.”

“That you will, I’ve no doubt, but you’ll need plenty of patience. Patience and hard work.”

“Yes, granddad,” I said.

“Aye, Will, that’s the way to succeed.” He fidgeted^② with the sheets. “It must be getting on.”

I handed him the watch. He gazed at it for some moments, and wound it. When he passed it back to me I held it, feeling its weight.

“That watch was given me for fifty years of faithful service with my firm,” my grandfather said proudly. He had been a blacksm ith, though it was hard now to believe that those frail hands had once w ielded the huge blacksmith’s hammer.

One evening at the height of summer, as I was leaving him, he touched my hand. “Thank you, lad,” he said in a voice grow ing weak and tired. “And you’ll not forget what I told you?”

I was suddenly very moved. “No, granddad,” I promised, “I’ll not forget.”

The next morning my mother told me that he had died in his sleep.

When his will was read, I learned that my grandfather had left me his watch. My mother was to hold it in trust until she considered me old enough to look after it, and she wanted to put it away until then, but I protested so strongly that she finally agreed to hang it in the kitchen where I could always see it.

The summer soon ended and it was time for me to enter the new school. I have never made friends easily, and for a time I did little more than get on speaking terms with the other boys. One of them was a well-to-do fellow whose way of impressing the rest of us was to parade his possessions before us. Craw ley’s bicycle was new; his boots were of the best hide^③; everything, in fact, that Craw ley had was better than ours—until he brought the watch.

Yes, said Craw ley, the watch had a sweep second hand and luminous figures, and wasn’t it absolutely the finest watch we had ever seen?

“I have a better watch than that,” I announced.

“Yeah?”

“Yes, I have,” I insisted. “My grandfather left it to me.”

“Well, show it to us,” Craw ley said.

“I haven’t got it here.”

“You haven’t got it at all,” Craw ley said.

“I’ll bring it this afternoon,” I said. “Then you’ll see.”

I wondered how I would persuade my mother to let me take the watch, but on the bus going home I remembered that today was washing day, when my mother put the watch in a drawer, away from the steam. I had only to wait for her to step outside and I could slip the watch into my pocket.

I was too excited to wait for the return bus, and after lunch I got my bike out of the shed. “Are you taking your bike, Will?” asked my mother. “I thought it needed mending.”

“It’s only a little thing,” I told her. “It’ll be all right.”

I rode fast, excitem ent coursing through me. Then suddenly a puppy ran out into my path. I pulled at my back brake and the cable snapped^④—that was what I had intended to repair. I jammed on the front brake, the bike jarred^⑤ to a standstill, and I shot over the handlebars.

I picked myself up, rubbing the side on which I had fallen. Then I put a trembling hand into my pocket, and brought out what was left of m y grandfather’s proudest possession. There was deep bulge^⑥ in the case, the glass was shattered, and the Roman numerals looked crazily at one another. I put the watch back and rode slow ly on to school, numb with misery^⑦.

“Where’s the watch, Will?” asked the boys.

“My mother wouldn’t let me bring it,” I lied.

“His m other wouldn’t let him,” Craw ley jeered^⑧. “What a story!” The others took up his cries.

As I sat quietly at my desk, a strange feeling stole over me. It was not shame at my classmates’ mocking, nor was it fear of my mother’s anger. Now, all I could think of was my grandfather lying in his bed, his tired voice saying, “Patience, Will, patience.”

And I nearly wept, for it was the saddest moment of my young life.

Notes

① longingly [ˑlɒŋɪŋlɪ] adv. 渴求地，盼望地

② fidget [ˑfɪdʒɪt] vi. 坐立不安，焦躁

③ hide [haɪd] n. 兽皮；（观看野生动物的）隐蔽处

④ snap [snæp] v. (使) 咔嚓一声折断；(使)啪的一声绷断

⑤ jar [dʒɑ:(r)] vi. 发出刺耳的声音；（对……）产生不快的影响

⑥ bulge [bʌldʒ] n. 膨胀；凸出部分；暴涨，突增

⑦ misery [ˑmɪzərɪ] n. 痛苦；不幸；悲惨的境遇

⑧ jeer [dʒɪə(r)] v. 嘲笑，戏弄

Exercises

Ⅰ. How well did you read?

1. [Note the fact] Granddad asked Will not to forget his advice about the___.

A. proper way to care for the watch

B. qualities needed for success

C. characteristics of a good blacksmith

2. [Draw a conclusion] Granddad probably looked on the watch as a reward for his___.

A. patience and hard work

B. imagination and courage

C. strength and kindness

3. [Give the reason] Will mentioned the watch at school because he___.

A. was tired of Craw ley’s boasting

B. wanted to impress the other boys

C. both A and B

4. [Check the details] Which happened first?

A. Will’s bike stopped.

B. The cable snapped.

C. W ill was thrown off the bike.

5. [Give the reason] Will didn’t ask his mother about taking the watch because he___.

A. didn’t think of it

B. didn’t like to bother her

C. knew she wouldn’t let him

6. [Give the reason] A t the end, Will felt sad mainly because___.

A. the watch could never be repaired

B. his mother would be angry

C. his grandfather would have been disappointed in him

7. Translate the sentence in Paragraph 2 “Grandfather, ill as he was, always liked to have me there.”

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Ⅱ. Read for words and exp ressions

1. Choose one best paraphrase for the underlined words.

(1) The face was marked with elegant Roman numerals and the case was gold—heavy and beautifully chased. (Para. 1)

A. run after; followed

B. tried hard to get

C. decorated with a special tool

(2) I handed him the watch. He gazed at it for some moments, and wound it. (Para. 7)

A. turned and tw isted something repeatedly

B. turned something around and around, especially to make something start moving

C. had difficulty in breathing

(3) He had been a blacksmith, though it was hard now to believe that those frail hands had once w ielded the huge blacksmith’s hammer. (Para. 8)

A. physically weak

B. easily broken or damaged

C. likely to become ill

(4) When his w ill was read, I learned that my grandfather had left me his watch. (Para. 12)

A. power of the mind to decide and do

B. statement about what is to be done with one’s property after death

C. what someone wants to happen in a particular situation

(5) One of them was a well-to-do fellow whose way of impressing the rest of us was to parade his possessions before us. (Para. 13)

A. walk up and down

B. show off; display

C. walk and march together

2. Choose one best paraphrase for the underlined expressions.

(1) My mother was to hold it in trust until she considered me old enough to look after it, and she wanted to put it away until then… (Para. 12)

A. sent to prison or to a hospital

B. put something in the place where it is usually kept

C. save money

(2) “His mother wouldn’t let him,” Craw ley jeered. “What a story!” The others took up his cries. (Para. 29)

A. become interested in

B. do something about an idea or suggestion

C. continue a story or activity that someone else has started

Ⅲ. Writing practice

If Will had taken the bus back to school instead of his bike, this story might have turned out quite differently. Please w rite what might have happened.

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