Letters in the Mail by E. Caldwell

 

Almost everybody likes to receive letters. And perhaps nobody in Stillwater liked to get letters more than Ray Buffin. But unfortunately Ray received fewer letters in his box at the post-office than anybody else.

Guy Hodge and Ralph Barnhill were two young men in town who liked to play jokes on people. But they never meant anything bad. One afternoon they decided to play a joke on Ray Buffin. Their plan was to ask a girl in town to send Ray a love letter withoutsigning it, and then tell everybody in the post-office to watch Ray read the letter; then somebody was to ask Ray if he had received a love letter from a girl. After that somebody was to snatch the letter out of his hand and read it aloud.

They bought blue writing paper and went round the corner to the office of the telephone company where Grace Brooks worked as a night telephone operator. Grace was pretty though not very young. She had begun working for the company many years ago, after she had finished school. She had remained unmarried all those years, and because she worked at night and slept in the daytime it was very difficult for her to find a husband.

At first, after Guy and Ralf had explained to her what they wanted to do and had asked her to write the letter to Ray, Grace refused to do it.

"Now, be a good girl, Grace, do us a favour and writethe letter." Suddenly she turned away. She didn'twant the young men to see her crying. She remembered the time she had got acquainted with Ray. Ray wanted to marry her. But she had just finished school then and had started to work for the telephone company; she was very young then and did not want to marry anybody. Time passed. During all those years she had seen him a few times but only a polite word had passed between them, and each time he looked sadder and sadder.

Finally she agreed to write the letter for Guy and Ralph and said that she would send it in the morning.

After they left the telephone office Grace thought about Ray and cried. Late at night she wrote the letter.

The next day Guy and Ralph were in the post-of-fice at 4 o'clock. By that time there was a large crowd in the post-office. When Ray came in and saw a letter in his box he looked at it in surprise. He couldn't believe his eyes. He opened the box, took out the blue envelope and went to the corner of the room to read it. When he finished he behaved like mad. He smiled happily and ran out of the room before Guy and Ralph had time to say anything to stop him. Ray hurried round the corner to the telephone office.

When Guy and Ralph ran into the room where Grace worked they saw Ray Buffin standing near the girl with the widest and happiest smile they had ever seen on his face. It was clear they had not spoken a word yet. They just stood in silence, too happy to worry about Guy and Ralph watching them.

Find in the text English equivalents for the following words and expressions:

 

Give Russian equivalents for the following words and expressions from the text and use them in the sentences of your own:

receive letters, watch smb do smth, read (speak) aloud, explain smth to smb, refuse to do smth, get acquainted with smb, look at smth (smb) in surprise, in silence, worry about smth/smb, without doing smth.

 

III Questions on the text:

1) Did Ray Buffin often receive letters?

2) What was it Guy Hodge and Ralph Barnhill liked to do?

3) What was their plan?

4) Who was Grace Brooks?

5) Why did the two young men ask her to do them a favour?

6) Why didn't the girl agree at once?

7) What was Ray's reaction when he saw a letter in his box?

8) What did he do next?

9) What did Guy and Ralph see when they entered the telephone office?

 

IV Discuss fhe following:

1) Why did the girl agree to write the letter in the end?

2) Comment on the phrase "They mere too happy to worry about Guy and Ralph watching them."

3) What do you think Grace wrote in her letter?

4) Why do people like to receive letters? Do you agree that it is easier to express your feelings in a letter than during a talk? Give your grounds.

5) Why do you think the art of writing letters is dying nowadays?

 

V Refell the story on the part of 1) Ray, 2) Grace, 3) Ralph or Guy.

Unit 7