[00:00.29]Lesson 2
[00:02.18]Thirteen equals one
[00:10.10]Was the vicar pleased that the clock was striking? Why?
[00:16.63]Our vicar is always raising money for one cause or another,
[00:20.87]but he has never managed to get enough money to have the church clock repaired.
[00:26.49]The big clock which used to strike the hours day and night was damaged many years ago and has been silent ever since.
[00:36.38]One night, however, our vicar woke up with a start:the clock was striking the hours!
[00:43.48]Looking at his watch, he saw that it was one o'clock,
[00:47.38]but the bell struck thirteen times before it stopped.
[00:51.91]Armed with a torch, the vicar went up into the clock tower to see what was going on.
[00:58.03]In the torchlight, he caught sight of a figure whom he immediately recognized as Bill Wilkins, our local grocer.
[01:06.24]'Whatever are you doing up here Bill?' asked the vicar in surprise.
[01:11.57]'I'm trying to repair the bell, ' answered Bill.
[01:15.23]'I've been coming up here night after night for weeks now.
[01:18.64]You see, I was hoping to give you a surprise.'
[01:22.40]'You certainly did give me a surprise!' said the vicar.
[01:25.82]'You've probably woken up everyone in the village as well.
[01:29.51]Still, I'm glad the bell is working again.'
[01:33.01]'That's the trouble, vicar, 'answered Bill. 'It's working all right,
[01:38.07]but I'm afraid that at one o'clock it will strike thirteen times and there's nothing I can do about it.'
[01:45.01]'We'll get used to that, Bill, 'said the vicar.
[01:48.05]'Thirteen is not as good as one, but it's better than nothing.
[01:52.95]Now let's go downstairs and have a cup of tea.'
我们教区的牧师总是为各种各样的事筹集资金。但始终未能筹足资金把教堂的钟修好。教堂的钟很大，以前不分昼夜打点报时，但很多年前遭到毁坏，从此便无声无息了。
一天夜里，我们的牧师突然被惊醒了，大钟又在“打点”报时了！他一看表，才1点钟，可是那钟一边敲了13下才停。牧师拿着一支电筒走上钟楼想去看看究竟发生了什么事情。借着电筒光。他看见一个人，马上认出那是本地杂货店主经比尔.威尔金斯。
“你究竟在这上面干什么，比尔？”牧师惊讶地问。
“我想把这口钟修好，”比尔回答说。“好几个星期了，我天天夜里到钟楼上来。嗯，我是想让你大吃一惊。”
“你确实使我大吃了一惊！”牧师说，“也许同时你把村里所有的人都吵醒了。不过，钟又能报时了，我还是很高兴的。”
“问题就在这里，牧师，”比尔回答说。“不错，钟能报时了，但是，恐怕每到1点钟，它总要敲13下，对此我已无能为力了。”
“大家慢慢就习惯了，比尔，”牧师说。“13下是不如1下好，但总比1下也不敲强。来，咱们下楼去喝杯茶吧。”