【正文】 opened one of the basket s. When he began to pl ay a tune, we had our f i rst gl im pse of t he snake. I t rose out of t he basket and began t o f oll ow the m ovements of t he pipe. We wer e ver y m uch surpr ised when the snake charm er suddenl y began t o play j azz t unes and modern pop songs. The snake, however , conti nued t o 39。dance39。 slowl y. I t obvi ously coul d not t el the di f er ence bet wen I ndian music and j az! Leson43 Over the Sout h Pole 飛越南極 I n 1929, thr ee year s af ter his fl ight over the Nor th Pol e, t he Amer ican expl orer, R. E. Byr d, successf ull y fl ew over the South Pol e for t he fi rst ti me. Though, at f ir st , Byrd and his men were able to t ake a great m any phot ogr aphs of the mount ai ns that lay below, t hey soon ran i nto seri ous tr oubl e. At one point , i t seemed cert ai n t hat their pl ane woul d crash. I t coul d only get over t he mount ains if i t rose to 10, 000 feet. Byrd at once ordered hi s men t o thr ow out two heavy food sacks. The plane was then able t o r ise and it cleared t he mountains by 400 f et . Byr d now knew t hat he woul d be able t o reach the South Pol e whi ch was 300 mi les away, f or there wer e no mor e mountains i n sight. The air cr aft was able t o f ly over the endles whit e pl ains wi thout di f icult y. Lesson44 Through the f orest 穿過森林 Mrs Anne Sterl ing di d not t hink of the r isk she was taki ng when she r an thr ough a for est aft er t wo men. They had rushed up t o her whil e she was having a pi i c at the edge of a for est wi th her chi ldr en and t r ied to st eal her handbag. I n the st ruggle, the str ap broke and, wi th the bag in their possesion, both m en st ar t ed r unning t hr ough the t rees. Mrs St er li ng got so angry that she r an af ter t hem. She was soon out of br eath, but she conti nued t o r un. When she caught up wi th t hem , she saw t hat t hey had sat down and wer e going t hrough the contents of t he bag, so she r an str ai ght at them. The men got suc h a fr ight that they dropped the bag and ran away. 39。The str ap needs mendi ng,39。 sai d Mr s Ster li ng later , 39。but t hey di d not st eal anyt hing.39。 Leson45 A cl ear consci ence 問心無愧 The whole vi l age soon learnt t hat a l ar ge sum of money had been l ost . Sam Bent on, t he l ocal but cher , had l ost hi s walet whi le t aki ng his savi ngs to t he post off ice. Sam was sure t hat t he wal et must have been f ound by one of the vi l ager s, but it was not r etur ned t o him . Thr ee months pased, and t hen one m orning, Sam f ound hi s wal et out si de hi s f ront door . It had been wr apped up in newspaper and it cont ained hal f the m oney he had l ost , t oget her wi th a not e whi ch said: 39。A thi ef, yes, 39。but onl y 5o per cent a t hi ef! 39。 Two months l at er, some mor e money was sent to Sam wi th another not e:39。 Only 25 per cent a thief now!39。 I n ti me, al l Sam 39。s money was paid back in this way. The l ast note said:39。 I am 100 per cent honest now! 39。 lesson46 Expensi ve and un fortabl e 既昂貴又受罪 When a plane f rom London ar ri ved at Sydney ai rpor t, worker s began t o unl oad a number of wooden boxes whi ch cont ai ned cl othing. No one could account for t he fact that one of t he boxes was ext rem el y heavy. It suddenly occurr ed to one of t he workers t o open up the box. He was ast onished at what he found. A man was l ying i n the box on t op of a pi l e of wooll en goods. He was so sur pr ised at bei ng discovered t hat he di d not even tr y t o r un away. Af ter he was ar est ed, the m an adm it ted hidi ng in t he box bef ore t he plane lef t London. He had had a long and unf ort abl e t ri p, f or he had been confined t o the wooden box f or over ten hours. The man was ordered t o pay amp。345 f or the cost of the t ri p. The nor mal pri ce of a t ic ket is amp。230 ! Lesson47 A thi rst y ghost 嗜酒的鬼魂 A publ ic house which was r ecentl y bought by Mr Ian Thompson is up f or sale. Mr Thompson is goi ng to sel i t because i t is haunt ed. He told me t hat he coul d not go to sl ep one night because he heard a str ange noise ing f r om t he bar . The next morni ng, he f ound that he door s had been bl ocked by chair s and t he fur nit ur e had been moved. Though Mr Thompson had t urned the l ights of f bef ore he went t o bed, t hey wer e on i n the m or ning. He also said t hat he had f ound f ive empt y whisky bott les whi ch the ghost must have dr unk the night bef ore. When I suggested t hat some vil lagers must have e in f or a fr ee dri nk, Mr Thom pson shook hi s head. The vil ager s have t old hi m t hat hey wil l not accept the i nn even i f he gives it away. Lesson48 Di d you want t o tel l me somethi ng? 你想對我說什么嗎？ Dent ists al ways ask quest ions when it i s impossi ble f or you to answer . My denti st had j ust pull ed out one of my t eet h and had told me t o rest for a whi le. I tr ied t o say somet hi ng, but my m out h was f ul l of cot tonwool . He knew I col lected bi rds39。 eggs and asked me whet her my col lecti on was gr owi ng. He t hen asked me how my br ot her was and whether I li ked my new j ob in London. In answer to t hese quest ions I eit her nodded or m ade str ange noi ses. Meanwhi le, my t ongue was busy sear chi ng out t he hol e where t he tooth had been. I suddenl y fel t ver y wor ri ed, but could not sa y anyt hing. When the denti st at last removed the cott on wool fr om my mouth, I was able t o tel l hi m t hat he had pull ed out t he wrong t ooth. Lesson49 The end of a dream 美夢告終 Ti red of sleepi ng on the f loor , a young man in Teheran saved up f or year s to buy a re al bed. For t he fi rst t i m e i n his l if e, he became the pr oud owner of a bed whi ch had spri ngs and a mat ress. Because the weat her was very hot , he c ar i ed t he bed on to the r oof of his house. He sl ept very wel l for t he