Notes
thrust (力強くすばやく)押す;
chubby まるまる太った;
flowing 流れ；
ache (ずきずき)痛む;
stiff (曲がらなくて)硬い;
numb まひした、無感覚になった;
be drowned 溺れる、溺死される;
groan うめき声;
faithfulness 忠実;
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He climbed down the side of the dike and thrust his chubby little hand and finger into the tiny hole and stopped the flowing of the water. Then he cried out for help, but no one heard him; no one came to help. It grew dark, and cold; he was hungry; his arm ached and it began to grow stiff and numb. He shouted again: “0 mother! mother!” But his mother thought Peter must be spending the night with the blind man, and did not know of his danger. Peter thought how warm and cozy all at home were sleeping in their beds, and he said to himself, “I will not let them be drowned!” So that good boy stayed there all night long, holding back the water. Early next morning, a minister on his way to visit the sick, heard a groan, saw the boy, and called out to him, “What is the matter, my boy? Are you hurt? Why are you sitting there?” When Peter told him what he had done, the minister said, “I will hold my hand there while you run quickly to the town and get help.” Very soon men came and repaired the leak in the dike, but all knew that Peter, by his courage and faithfulness, had saved the town of Haarlem that night. ((Excerpt from the book “Worlds Story Retold”. The end)
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