LITTLE BLACK BALLS (2)

LITTLE BLACK BALLS (2)

See, I've got this friend. Everyone calls him the Paper Man.

He dosn't dress in clothes. He dresses in newspapers. He wraps them around his arms and legs and ties them up with string.

In the winter he wears lots of papers and in the summer he takes some of them off.

The Paper Man dosn't believe in money. He's not into buying things. He thinks everybody should get by with a lot less.

" I don't need a car, " he told me.
" Or a house. Or a washing machine. I've got the stars. And the cool wind off the sea. I've got the birds. And the fish. I don't need television. Now when I can watch the clouds tell a different story every day. "

This is how the Paper Man goes on. He dosn't care what other people think. He has a mind of his own.

He lives in a bank hut on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea.His carpet is paper. His bedcovers are paper. And his friends are the wild creatures that live on the cliffside.

The kids at school think he's crazy.
When they see him wandering around in his paper clothes they call out names. From a safe distance of course.

They pretend they want to buy a paper. Or ask him for fish and chips. but really they're scared of him. No one goes near his hut except me. I'm his friend.

I help him to care for the animal. He has  a blind possum that he feeds every day. And a hawk that sits on his bed. It's a pet. A black hawk with a yellow beak. The hawk can fly off whenever it wants to. But it never does.

Anyway, yesterday I went to see him after school. He was sitting on a rock in the sun. On his lap he had a bag made out of old newspapers. I could see straight away that there was something moving inside.

" What have you got ? " I said.

The Paper Man looked up with a sad smile. " A friend, " he told me.

I pulled back the paper and looked. It was a beautiful little kangaroo. She stared up at me with soft, moist eyes.

She felt safe in the arms of the Paper man. He was strong and gentle. Animals knew that he would never harm them.

" Can you fix it ? " I asked him. I thought I knew what his answer was going to be. The paper Man had healed hundreds of animals. None of them had ever died.

He shook his head slowly. " This one has bad trouble, " he said. " It has a lump inside. It needs to go to a vet. For an operation."

I knew he didn't like to go into town where people laughed at his newspaper clothes.
" No worries ", I said " I 'll take her in for you.

He looked up at me. " That's really nice of you,Sally, " he said.
" But vet cost money. It's two hundred dollars for an operation. We have to get two hundred dollars. 

" I'll take up a collection, " I said.

He shook his head. " It wouldn't be right. Not begging for money. " He walked into the hut and brought out a rusty old tin. He reached inside and took out something.

It was a jewel. Small and lovely. it was smooth with blue and purple swirls running deep inside.

" An opal, " he said. My last one. From the old days. When I was a miner. "

I looked at the opal as it rolled around like an egg on his cracked, brown palm.

Suddenly he took my hand. he opened my fingers and gave me the opal.

" Take it into town, " said the Paper Man. " And sell it at the jeweller's. It's worth two hundred dollars. Cash it in for me. I know I can trust you,Sally. "

I went red in the face. No one else would have ever trusted me with two hundred dollars. People always say I lose things. That  I'm a scatterbrain living in a dream world.

I stood up tall. " I'll do it. " I said. "But I won't be able to go to the jeweller's until after school tomorrow. The shops will be shut by now. And I can't wag school. "

The Paper Man's face crinkled up with a smile.
" That's the girl, " he said.

(つづく　2/9)

タグ：やさしい英語 やさしい洋書