04-01-03-三怪客泛舟记 [17]
．He looked at Harris and me．
Harris said，'Oh，yes．'He thought that George and I could sleep in one bed very easily．
'I'm very sorry，sir，'the man repeated．'We haven't got any beds．We've already got three men in one bed．'
We picked up our things，and we went over to the Travellers'rest．It was a pretty little place．I said I thought it was better than the other hotel．Harris said it would be all right．We would not look at the man with red hair and ugly boots．
The people at the Travellers'rest did not wait to hear what we wanted．The lady at the desk said she had already sent away fourteen people．There was no room of any kind．We asked her if she knew somewhere we could spend the night．She said there was a little house along the road…
We did not wait．We picked up the basket，the bags and the coats，and we ran along the road．
The people there laughed at us．There were only three beds in the house，and there were seven men there already．
Someone said，'Why don't you try the little shop next to the Black Horse？'
So we went back along the road，but there were no beds at the little shop．However，there was an old lady in the shop．She said she had a friend who had some rooms．She added that she would take us there．
The old woman walked very slowly，and it took us twenty minutes to get to her friend's house．During the walk，she told us about all the pains she had in her back．When we got there，there were already some people in her friend's rooms．From there we went to number 27．Number 27 was full．They sent us to number 32，and number 32 was full．
Then we went back along the road．Suddenly Harris sat down on the basket．He said he was not going to move．He added that it seemed to be nice and quiet there， and he said that he would like to die there．
Just then，a little boy came past．'Do you know any old people that we can frighten，so that they will give us their beds？'we asked him．
'No，I don't，'the boy answered，but he added that his mother would give us a room．And that was where we spent the night-in two very short beds．
After that，we were never quite so difficult about hotels…
On our present trip，though，nothing exciting happened．We continued slowly on our way，and we stopped for lunch near Monkey Island．
We decided to have cold meat for lunch．Then，after that，George brought out a tin of fruit．We love tinned fruit，all three of us．We looked at the picture on the tin．We thought about the fruit．We imagined the taste of it．We smiled at each other，and Harris got out a spoon．Then we looked for the tin-opener．We took everything out of the big basket．We took everything out of the bags．There was no tin-opener．We pulled up the boards at the bottom of the boat．We put everything out on the grass by the river，and we shook every-thing．There was no tin-opener！
Then Harris tried to open the tin with a little knife，and he cut himself badly．George tried with some scissors．The scissors flew up，and nearly hit him in the eye．I tried to make a hole in the tin with the sharp end of a piece of metal．But I missed．As a result，I fell in the water，and the tin flew away and broke a cup．
Then we all got angry．We took that tin，and we put it on the grass by the river．Harris went into a field and got a big，sharp stone．I got a long，thick piece of wood．George held the tin，and Harris put the sharp end of his stone against the top of it．I took the piece of wood，and held it high in the air．Then I brought it down as hard as I could．
It was George's hat that saved his life that day．He keeps that hat now．On a winter evening，when men are telling sto-ries about the dangers they have known，George brings out his hat．He shows it to his friends．Then he tells the story again-and he adds more details to it each time．
Harris was not hurt too badly．
After that，I took the tin away．I beat it until I was exhaust-ed and miserable．Then Harris took it．
We beat it until it was long and thin．We beat it until it was square．We hit it with the wood until it was every shape there is-but we could not make a hole in it．Then George tried，and he knocked it into a shape which was strange
Harris said，'Oh，yes．'He thought that George and I could sleep in one bed very easily．
'I'm very sorry，sir，'the man repeated．'We haven't got any beds．We've already got three men in one bed．'
We picked up our things，and we went over to the Travellers'rest．It was a pretty little place．I said I thought it was better than the other hotel．Harris said it would be all right．We would not look at the man with red hair and ugly boots．
The people at the Travellers'rest did not wait to hear what we wanted．The lady at the desk said she had already sent away fourteen people．There was no room of any kind．We asked her if she knew somewhere we could spend the night．She said there was a little house along the road…
We did not wait．We picked up the basket，the bags and the coats，and we ran along the road．
The people there laughed at us．There were only three beds in the house，and there were seven men there already．
Someone said，'Why don't you try the little shop next to the Black Horse？'
So we went back along the road，but there were no beds at the little shop．However，there was an old lady in the shop．She said she had a friend who had some rooms．She added that she would take us there．
The old woman walked very slowly，and it took us twenty minutes to get to her friend's house．During the walk，she told us about all the pains she had in her back．When we got there，there were already some people in her friend's rooms．From there we went to number 27．Number 27 was full．They sent us to number 32，and number 32 was full．
Then we went back along the road．Suddenly Harris sat down on the basket．He said he was not going to move．He added that it seemed to be nice and quiet there， and he said that he would like to die there．
Just then，a little boy came past．'Do you know any old people that we can frighten，so that they will give us their beds？'we asked him．
'No，I don't，'the boy answered，but he added that his mother would give us a room．And that was where we spent the night-in two very short beds．
After that，we were never quite so difficult about hotels…
On our present trip，though，nothing exciting happened．We continued slowly on our way，and we stopped for lunch near Monkey Island．
We decided to have cold meat for lunch．Then，after that，George brought out a tin of fruit．We love tinned fruit，all three of us．We looked at the picture on the tin．We thought about the fruit．We imagined the taste of it．We smiled at each other，and Harris got out a spoon．Then we looked for the tin-opener．We took everything out of the big basket．We took everything out of the bags．There was no tin-opener．We pulled up the boards at the bottom of the boat．We put everything out on the grass by the river，and we shook every-thing．There was no tin-opener！
Then Harris tried to open the tin with a little knife，and he cut himself badly．George tried with some scissors．The scissors flew up，and nearly hit him in the eye．I tried to make a hole in the tin with the sharp end of a piece of metal．But I missed．As a result，I fell in the water，and the tin flew away and broke a cup．
Then we all got angry．We took that tin，and we put it on the grass by the river．Harris went into a field and got a big，sharp stone．I got a long，thick piece of wood．George held the tin，and Harris put the sharp end of his stone against the top of it．I took the piece of wood，and held it high in the air．Then I brought it down as hard as I could．
It was George's hat that saved his life that day．He keeps that hat now．On a winter evening，when men are telling sto-ries about the dangers they have known，George brings out his hat．He shows it to his friends．Then he tells the story again-and he adds more details to it each time．
Harris was not hurt too badly．
After that，I took the tin away．I beat it until I was exhaust-ed and miserable．Then Harris took it．
We beat it until it was long and thin．We beat it until it was square．We hit it with the wood until it was every shape there is-but we could not make a hole in it．Then George tried，and he knocked it into a shape which was strange