Читать книгу 5-Minuten-Lektüren: Summer Holidays - PONS - Страница 7
Оглавление2 The Victoria Line
There are many things that Victoria does not like. She does not like small spaces.[1] She does not like dark places. She does not like busy places with lots of people. Also, she does not really like new people and places.
So, you can probably[2] understand why the underground[3] in London is not one of Victoria’s favourite places. Normally, Victoria does not need to use the underground. The small bookshop where she works is very close to her house in Pimlico. Most of her friends live in the same area. Most of the places she likes to visit are in that area, too. But this evening, Victoria has no choice;[4] she must use the underground. Her new friend, Catherine, lives in Brixton and it’s Catherine’s birthday.
Victoria knows Brixton is only three stops on the tube,[5] but it is too far to walk and her blue bike is broken.[6]
“You can do this,”[7] Victoria says in a quiet voice.[8] She is standing on the platform[9] waiting for the train. She is a short young woman with long dark hair, big green eyes and a pretty face. She has her ticket in one hand and a small red birthday gift[10] in the other.
The train arrives at the platform and Victoria closes her eyes. The noise[11] is horrible. The smell is horrible. All of the loud, busy people on the platform are, Victoria thinks, horrible. The door of the train opens. Everyone on the platform moves towards[12] the train and gets on.
“You can do this,” Victoria says again, and before the doors close she runs onto the train, too.
“See, you can do it” she thinks. She wants to smile,[13] when the train starts to move. When she opens her eyes, she is sitting on a young man on one of the seats.
“Oh! Excuse me!”[14] she says as she stands up again. “I’m so sorry!”
“Oh no, it’s fine,” says the young man with a smile. “I hope your gift is OK.”
Victoria sits down on the seat and looks at the gift. “I’m sure it is. It’s only books.”
“Oh,” says the man. “What books?”[15]
“Jane Austen[16] novels,” says Victoria. She normally does not speak to people she does not know.
“Really?” says the man with another smile. “I love Austen. She’s probably my favourite author.”
“Oh. She’s my favourite author, too,” says Victoria.
The train stops at the next station and more people get on. An old woman sits down on the seat next to Victoria, so she moves nearer[17] to the young man. Normally, Victoria does not like to be too near to people she does not know. But, she thinks, there is something very nice about the young man. His face is very kind,[18] and his smile is very pleasant.[19] And, she remembers, he loves Jane Austen.
“So, are you going to a party?” asks the man when the train starts to move again.
“Yes, in Brixton.”
“Oh. I live in Stockwell, the next stop,”[20] says the man.
“Oh.”
Victoria is normally a very shy[21] person. She speaks to her friends. She speaks to the customers[22] in the bookshop. She does not normally speak to people she does not know. But she does want to speak to the young man with the kind face.
“I catch this train[23] every evening.” He says. “At the same time.”
Victoria does not speak.
“Do you catch this train, too?” says the young man, and the train starts to slow down.[24] “Maybe we can talk a little bit more about Jane Austen one day.”
The train stops and the doors open. People stand up and get off the train. The young man stands up, too. He looks at Victoria.
For a moment she does not say anything.[25] Then. “Yes,” she says. “Yes, I catch this train every day.”
And when the young man smiles, Victoria thinks that maybe the underground is one of her favourite places.
Or maybe just the Victoria Line.
[1] spaces — Räume
[2] probably — wahrscheinlich
[3] underground — U-Bahn
[4] has no choice— hat keine Wahl
[5] tube — Londoner U-Bahn
[6] broken — kaputt
[7] You can do this — du schaffst es
[8] quiet voice — leise Stimme
[9] platform — Bahnsteig
[10] gift — Geschenk
[11] noise — Geräusch
[12] towards — in Richtung
[13] wants to smile — möchte lächeln
[14] Excuse me! — Entschuldigung!
[15] What books? Was für Bücher?
[16] Jane Austen (1775–1817) war eine britische Schriftstellerin, deren Werke wie „Stolz und Vorurteil“ oder „Emma“ zu den Klassikern der englischen Literatur gehören.
[17] nearer — näher
[18] kind — nett, sympathisch
[19] pleasant — angenehm, freundlich
[20] stop — Haltestelle
[21] shy — schüchtern
[22] customers — Kunden
[23] I catch this train — ich nehme diesen Zug
[24] slow down — langsamer fahren
[25] she does not say anything — sagt nichts
