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YOUNG DETECTIVES’
LANGUAGE SCHOOL
The Theft of the
Maria Luigi
The Theft of the
Maria Luigi
© Tandem Verlag GmbH, Kbnigswinter
Autoren: Bruno Pannhausen und Christina Pannhausen
Muttersprachliches Korrektorat: Russell Cennydd
Lektorat: Silke Gerlach
Satz: Noch & Noch
Covergestaltung: Marlies Muller
Coverillustrationen: Hauke Kock
Innenseiten-lllustration (Schuhabdruck): about.pixel.de
Printed in EU
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durch den Verlag
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She Vanished
Hey, "look out," Paul hissed', twisting his face in pain.
"Oh, sorry," Tom said, looking at Paul.
EXERCISE 1
The pupils are looking at the painting of the "Maria Luigi".
Which other verbs plus preposition aren't correct?
a) to look after
b) to feel behind
c) to name on
d) to beat after
Tom had been staring at Diana all the time and hadn't noticed
that Paul suddenly had stopped in front of him, so Tom had
unintentionally kicked against his heels.
"What the hell are you looking at," Paul asked, watching
Tom's confused2 face. Then he saw Diana some steps away from
them.
She was good-looking, as usual, wearing her hair in thick
plaits3. She was whispering to Becky, her best friend, laughing
all the time.
"Give up," Paul said, poking4 Tom in his side, "you'll never
get anywhere with her, or have you forgotten how she pushed
1 to hiss: fauchen ? confused: durcheinander, verwirrt 3 plaits: Zopfe 4 to poke: stoBen
6
you out last time? And besides, I heard yesterday that maybe
Eggbean is going to invite her to the school party."
This party was a great dance, and for all pupils, teachers and
parents the most important event after the handing-out of the
school-leaving certificates. In the advanced classes, it was the
custom for every boy to invite a girl of his choice to the school
party. And now there were only four weeks left until the great
event.
"Damn it all," Tom hissed angrily, "what on earth has Diana
got to do with Eggbean?"
Eggbean - that was Andrew Webster. In the opinion of many
girls, he was the most attractive boy of the school. He also
played the piano and keyboard in the school band, especially
impressing teachers and parents on school functions. He was
also a member of the local boxing club and had won the junior
middleweight championship only two months before. Andrew
was quite tall and strong, neither too big nor too thin. He had a
muscular body, which he kept fit by regular boxing training.
His short, black hair was always well styled, and a certain
similarity with Superman couldn't be denied: a strong chin,
steel-blue eyes and a slim straight nose. The quiff alone, which
covered his forehead , made most of the girls adore him.
But in Tom's and Paul's opinion he behaved more like Clark
Kent. He was clumsy8, stupid, always arriving at the wrong
place at the wrong time. But only Paul and Tom looked upon
him in that way. All the others, including most of the teachers,
regarded him as intelligent, and his reserve9 was taken for
politeness. In reality, Eggbean was of a rather bashful"’ character.
I ’robably exactly this mixture of attractive outer appearance and
reserved inner life surrounded him with a mysterious aura. 5 *
5 custom: Branch, Sitte tj quaff: Tolle 7 forehead: Stirn 8 clumsy: tollpatschig 9 reserve:
Zuruckhaltung 10 bashful: schuchtern, scheu
7
"How can one win the junior boxing middleweight champi-
onship and yet have such a straight, well-shaped nose?" Tom
said with a curse as he thought of Eggbean.
EXERCISE 2
What's the meaning of „to push someone out"?
a)	jemaiiden zur Seite schieben
b)	jemanden hinausdriingen
c)	jemaiiden herumkommandieren
d) jemflnden hcrausfischcH
Every boxer, so he thought, had a flat, broad nose, caused by the
many punches he got. But not so Eggbean. He probably simply
had a very good cover and knocked out his opponents before
they could seriously hit him.
Paul and Tom had never had a longer conversation with him.
Eggbean was successful and popular, whereas Tom and Paul
weren't. They couldn't compete with him in any way, and that's
why they couldn't stand him.
They called him Eggbean, because it was his habit to cram"
hard-boiled eggs and cold baked beans into his stomach. About
one hour before a fight, he would devour two plates full of
them.
When asked why he did so, he answered that protein and vita-
mins got into one's muscles in a direct way, and that's why he had
such great strength. Tom and Paul regarded this as total nonsense.
There was, however, one problem for Andrew: he had to put up
11 to cram: stopfen
8
with enormous flatulence12 after consuming all those eggs and
beans, as there used to be a terrible smell in the changing room
before and after sports. But nobody dared to talk Andrew out of
his eggs and beans, important and popular as he was.
"I suppose he is winning his fights," Paul said, "because of his
terrible smell, his opponents hardly have enough air for
breathing. That's what I call chemical warfare11."
Today their class teacher, Mr Pomeroy, wanted to visit the
museum with his class. During their stay there, Eggbean was
always to be found among those nearest to the teacher, listening
with great interest to his explanations. Or did it only look like that,
because his face had assumed14 such an intelligent expression?
Tom and Paul were sure that Eggbean didn't understand a
word of what the teacher said, but he would nevertheless11 get
good marks, simply because he looked so intelligent, and he
always knew when it was important for him to be silent. Paul
and Tom never succeeded in looking so intelligent, and since
they were permanently whispering to each other, they were
often admonished1' or even punished.
At the moment, Mr Pomeroy was showing his class round the
halls with the paintings of the Gothic Period. Paul took some
notes about painters and epochs for the school magazine. He
wanted to give a short report on their visit to the museum, just
telling his readers in a few words that they had been in the
National Gallery, where they had seen many paintings by
famous artists. In the meantime he also took some photographs.
"And there, to your left, dear friends," Mr Pomeroy said,
"there you see the wonderful painting of 'St. George and the
Dragon', by the famous painter Paolo di Dono, called Uccello."
12 flatulence: Blahungen 1*1 chemical warfare: chemische KriegsfOhrung 14 to assume:
vermuten, annehmen 15 nevertheless: dennoch, gleichwohl 16 to admonish: ermahnen
9
EXERCISE 3
"Diana is the girl of Tom's choice." Find other examples
with "of one's choice"!
1..
2..
3..
The pupils cast17 a few bored glances18 at the painting. Only the
swots, staying as usual in one of the foremost rows facing the
teacher, were listening attentively19 to his words.
"The gothicising tendency of Uccello's art is nowhere more
apparent than in his painting." Mr Pomeroy enthusiastically
explained.
While the group of pupils were assembling20 around the
painting, Tom and Paul stayed farthest away from the front.
Over and over again Tom looked in the direction of Diana. But
she never returned his look, not even once.
Near Diana stood Becky, her best friend, and behind her was
Eggbean.
It seemed to Tom that Eggbean was always glancing at Diana.
"Look at Eggbean," Tom said to Paul. "Isn't he to close to
Diana?"
Paul looked at Eggbean, then at Tom and didn't answer.
"Hey, Paul, you're my friend. Say 'Yes'!"
"Yes," Paul said, not paying any attention to what Tom was
talking about.
"It must be very uncomfortable for Diana that Eggbean is so
close to her," Tom said.
17 to cast: werfen 18 glance: kurzer Blick 19 attentively: aufmerksam 20 to assemble: auf-
stellen, sich versammeln
10
"Yes," Paul answered.
"Also Becky and the other girls ..." Tom continued.
"Yes," Paul said taking some photographs.
"Becky and Diana aren't stupid."
"Yes."
"Why don't they push him away?"
"Yes."
"Or are they stupid?"
"Yes."
"But Eggbean is stupid."
"Yes."
"Hey, Paul, are you listening to me at all?"
"Yes."
"Oh, come on, we are really having serious problems with
him," Tom said.
"That means, you have problems with him," Paul replied,
stopping to take photographs.
"No, I mean, we should help them."
"So it's your turn, hero," Paul said ironically. "Go and rescue
them out of this tricky situation."
"Stop making fun of me," Tom said a little bit huffily21, then
he was silent.
But after a while he started talking again about Eggbean and
Diana.
"I've got an idea," he finally said, "if the girls find out about
stinking Eggbean, they won't see in him the fantastic boy any
longer".
"You mean, if Diana knows about him," Paul added.
"Well," Tom continued, "if Eggbean wants to go to our school
party with Diana, we'll tell him the day before or in the morning
21 huffy: eingeschnappt, gereizt
11
that a boxing fight is still outstanding, a fight versus Stevenson,
a boy from 9a. In his last fight with him, he was beaten. The fight
had to be ended because Stevenson had attacked Mr Lockhead,
the referee22, who had been suspected of making a wrong deci-
sion in favour of Eggbean.
EXERCISE 4
In each case only one sentence is correct. Which one?
la) Two months ago Tom went to France.
lb) Before two month Tom went to France.
2a) Paul left the house before one hour.
2b) Paul left the house one hour ago.
3a) Eggbean lost the key of his bike a moment ago.
3b) Eggbean lost the key of his bike before one moment.
"But what if he asks why the trainer hadn't informed him that
the fight would be due on that Saturday morning?" Paul asked.
"Then we'll tell him the trainer hadn't been able to meet
him, had to be off for a while, and had told us to inform
everybody."
Paul shook his head, but Tom went on: "And then Eggbean
will cram himself full of eggs and beans, as he always does, and
later on we'll tell him that the match has been cancelled.
In the evening, when he is dancing with Diana, he'll be
stinking and farting23 like mad, and Diana will lose interest in
him, I'm sure."
"But that's crazy," said Paul, still shaking his head, "and
you'll spray yourself with the best deo you can get, and you'll
22 referee: Schiedsrichter 23 to fart: pupsen, furzen
12
see Diana throw herself at your feet, because your smell is so
irresistible, in contrast to stinking Eggbean. And then you two
will live happily together till the end of your days, together with
the seven dwarfs24 from the fairy tale."
"You're still shaking your head, but do you have a better
idea?"
"First of all, Eggbean may be stupid, but not so stupid that he
shouldn't find out about, or see behind the nastiness of this
strategy. And secondly, it is not me, but you who is head over
heels in love with Diana."
"I'm not in love with her!" Tom refuted. "It's just..." Tom
stopped talking, searching for words.
"What?" Paul asked looking at Tom.
"It's just..."
"It's just a certain feeling you can't describe," Paul continued.
"Yes, maybe," Tom answered. "Who knows?"
"I know," Paul said, "and 1 know you."
"What do you know about love?" Tom asked angrily.
"Okay, Let's stop this conversation, before it comes to a
quarrel25," Paul said.
Tom lowered his eyes, angry and downcast.
"Of course, you re right," he said after a while, "a rather
idiotic idea, and yet we should try, we could think of ..."
A slight cough2B from Mr Pomeroy interrupted Tom. He
and Paul hadn't noticed that Mr Pomeroy had broken off his
explanation of art because he felt bothered by their perma-
nent chatter27. He hated being disturbed while lecturing on
art. He cast a severe28 glance at the two. All their classmates,
including Diana, were looking at them, giggling24 and whis-
pering.
24 dwarf: Zwerg 25 to quarrel: streiten 26 cough: Husten, hier: Husteln 27 chatter:
Geschwatz 28 severe: streng 29 giggling: Gekicher
13
EXERCISE 5
"Beside" or "Besides"? "Besides" is an adverb or a pre-
position, and "Beside" a preposition. Choose the correct
answer:
Tom sat Diana all evening, but she kept talking to
Paul instead.
There are some oaks the house.
Did you speak to anyone Eggbean?
They've got a lovely house the sea.
He was a painter and a bricklayer.
"Our dear friends here, Tom and Paul, have been discussing
Uccello's keen interest in perspective, I'm sure," Mr Pomeroy
said ironically. "Our two friends will certainly take great
pleasure in telling us all they know in a detailed report, let's say
next week."
Tom and Paul rolled their eyes in great horror, the giggling of
their classmates increased111.
"That's just what we need right now," Paul groaned.
Tom blushed11, and when he saw Diana laughing about him, his
face went red like a tomato, while the others laughed all the more.
"I have just been asking Paul where the toilet is," Tom tried to
excuse himself.
"Well, did he know?" Pomeroy asked, thus increasing Tom's
embarrassment32.
"Maybe you can tell me," Tom asked, wishing to be off
quickly. 30 *
30 to increase: ansteigen, zunehmen 31 to blush: erroten 32 embarrassment: Verlegenheit,
Peinlichkeit
14
"The toilets are downstairs, on the right-hand side, not far
from the entrance, where we were already, my dear friend," Mr
Pomeroy said, reproachfully33. "In the meantime, while we are
all waiting for you, dear Tom, we'll take pleasure in finding an
answer to the question of how big Uccelo's influence was on
twentieth-century art and literary criticism."
Hanging his head, Tom left the exhibition hall as quickly as
possible and ran downstairs, glad to have escaped Mr
Pomeroy's eye contact.
For a while, he stayed in front of the toilet door, not quite
knowing what to do. He didn't need the toilet really. Suddenly
he heard, out of a nearby side corridor, two people obviously
quarrelling, but in a low voice.
Nosily34 Tom neared the corner of the corridor.
"But..." one of the two whispered.
"No," the other man's deep and dark voice could be heard.
"But that is what we said."
EXERCISE 6
"Showing the class around the halls". What else can you
show someone around? Make sentences!
Example: You can show someone around the house.
a)	the factory_____________________________
b)	the theatre_____________________________
c)	the area______________________________
d)	the town______________________________
33 reproachful: vorwurfsvoll 34 nosily: neugierig
15
"Maybe that is what you and your fellows said," the deep voice
answered.
"But Eddy told me..."
"Eddy is not here," the dark voice said, "and by the
way, it doesn't matter very much to me what Scarface Eddy
says."
"But you can't..." the other voice tried to explain.
"1 can, mark my words! She is not one of Eddy's toys or
things," the dark voice interrupted the other one. "You can't put
her in the cellar like a piece of wood. She's a lady. But you guys
understand nothing about that. You don't know how to treat a
lady."
Tom cautiously looked round the corner and saw two men
from the cleaning firm. One of them was small and of slight
build, had many wrinkles in his face, and a gap in his teeth. The
other one was tall and broad-shouldered, a bulk of a man. He
had black hair, a flat nose and thick, bushy, black eyebrows. He
looked more like a weight lifter33 than a cleaner.
"But why..." the other voice tried to start, but was interrupted
again.
"Because I'm stronger than you," the dark voice said.
While saying that, the big one moved quite close to the small
one and threw a very angry glance at him.
"Okay, okay," the small one said, trying to laugh. "If it's so..."
"It is so!"
"Then we share the same opinion," the small one said still
trying to laugh.
Tom was wondering what they were talking about and why
they were quarreling. They were obviously talking about a very
important and beautiful woman.
35 weightlifter: Gewichtheber
16
The two men were waiting for the lift, which was to take them
to the cellar. They were holding a big rubbish bin and some
brooms3” and scrubbing brushes between them.
"She really is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen," the
tall man said.
"Isn't she too old for you?" the small one asked, grinning.
"Rubbish," the tall man hissed angrily. "She's young and she's
like dew drops in the morning. You do not really know what
she's like. The mere’7 view of her smile is so charming that you
forget everything else."
"Well," the smaller man said with a laugh, "that was love at
first sight1b, I'm sure."
"With a little bit of luck and Eddy's help we'll be in Italy in
two weeks time."
EXERCISE 7
Find other examples for the German "nicht wahr".
Example: We will celebrate a little, won't we?
a)	\Ne are full of mischief,?
b)	He is a great dancer,?
c)	They can climb up hills easily,?
d)	You want to compare both pictures,?
e)	She likes to play football,?
f)	The girl is at the phone,?
"Where you'll enjoy your honeymoon34," said the small man,
grinning again. 36
36 broom: Besen 37 mere: nur, bloB 38 love at first sight: Liebe auf den ersten Blick
ЗЯ honeymoon: Flitterwochen
17
"You can say so."
"And Eddy will arrange the wedding?"
"Yes, that's right."
"But before your departure we'll celebrate a little, won't we?"
the small one asked.
"Of course," said the big one. "Such an event calls for a drink.
Eddy has already prepared everything."
"I'll eat my hat if this isn't going to be a big party."
"Tom!" a loud voice behind Tom made him start.
It was David, who had been sent by Mr Pomeroy to fetch him.
"Hey, you gave me quite a start411," said Tom.
"What are you doing here at the corner?" David asked. He
then looked into the side corridor and shrugged his shoulders41.
"Come on, Mr Pomeroy is quite annoyed42 because you have
been away for such a long time. And the class is angry, because
we've got to listen to that long talk on Early Renaissance."
David went upstairs.
Tom felt a bit uncertain about what he should do now, but
then he risked a glance round the corner into the side corridor.
The two cleaners had gone.
When a few moments later Tom was back with his class again,
Mr Pomeroy led the group into the neighbouring hall.
"Well, my dear friends, now you're going to see the world's
most admired43 painting, the famous 'Maria Luigi' by Leonardo
di Bruno."
Mr Pomeroy assumed a solemn44 attitude. With giant strides
he went to the opposite wall. Suddenly he stopped. He regarded
the row of pictures on the wall. One painting was obviously
40 to give s.o. a start: jemanden erschrecken 41 to shrugg the shoulders: die Schultern
zucken 42 annoyed: verargert 43 to admire: bewundern 44 solemn: feierlich
18
missing, halfway between the others. Somewhat irritated he
looked into his museum guidebook, then again at the wall, at the
vacant space, and once more again into his guide, which he had
been holding in his hand all the time.
"It should be hanging exactly there," he said, looking a bit
helpless.
For the first time during the day, all the pupils were looking
at him attentively, Paul and Tom included. All of them first
looking at him, then at the blank spot on the wall.
"Just a moment," Mr Pomeroy exclaimed, hurrying back into
the previous hall, where he had seen a museum attendant.
EXERCISE 8
What's the meaning of "Diana gave him the brush-off"?
a)	Diana hat ihm den Bcsen in die Hand gegeben.
b)	Diana hat din abblitzen lessen.
c)	Diana hat dim erne Ohrfeige gegeben.
d)	Diana hat dim den K&pf gewaschen.
"Oh, excuse me," Mr Pomeroy was heard calling.
A few moments later he came back, accompanied by the
museum guard.
"According to my guidebook the picture of 'Maria Luigi'
should be hanging at exactly that place, but it is not there."
"Can I have your guide for a moment?" the guard asked.
He turned over a few pages in the little book, then looked at
the blank spot, then back again into the book.
19
"No, no," he said, "the museum guide is quite all right. A few
alterations45 were made last year, a few changes in the exhibition,
and these changes are not mentioned in the older guidebooks.
But your's seems to be a new one. No, no, it is okay."
"Well, but what about the 'Maria Luigi'?" Mr Pomeroy asked.
"What about her?"
"Just have a look. She is not there."
The guard looked at the blank space on the wall.
"May I have your museum guide again?" he asked, and then
started leafing46 through the pages a second time, looking quite
thoughtful47.
"No, you're right," he then said, "'Maria Luigi' is indeed not
here."
"But where is she then?" Mr Pomeroy asked again. "I came
here especially to show my pupils 'Maria Luigi', but they don't
see the picture, nothing but a dark spot."
"But you're not trying to tell me that all the other pictures here
are boring, are you?" the museum guard answered slightly
offended46.
"Oh, no," Mr Pomeroy tried to calm him down. "There are
wonderful pictures all around here but 'Maria Luigi'..."
"Have you already seen the 'Burning Zebra'?" the museum
guard asked.
"What?" Mr Pomeroy said, looking at the museum guard in
surprise.
"Or the 'Burning Ape'" the museum guard continued, "or the
'Burning Elephant' and the 'Burning Tiger'. We have the
'Burning Lion', too. A really fantastic painting by the famous
Spanish painter Charlf. They were all painted in his 'Burning
period'."
45 alteration: Umbau 4 to leaf: blattern 47 thoughtful: nachdenklich 48 slightly offended:
etwas beleidigt
20
"Oh," Mr Pomeroy briefly replied.
"Do you know Fabio Ficasso?" the museum guard asked. "A
quiet unknown painter. He died a few years ago. In the opinion
of most people he is too avant-garde. But I take the view that in
his paintings you can already see the beginning of the modern
style finished by Holewar, Baker and Butcher."
"That's very interesting," Mr Pomeroy said, pointing at the
missing 'Maria Luigi' again.
EXERCISE 9
Find other examples from your daily life for "better to go
on doing something"!
Example:
Paul better goes oil writing articles.
1.________________________________________________________
2.________________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________________
"I'm glad you said that," the museum guard smiled, "most of
my colleagues aren't interested in art. Most of the time they hang
around in pubs, drinking beer and talking about football."
"Yes, but Mr..." Mr Pomeroy tried to interrupt the museum
guard.
"Snider," the museum guard said.
"Excuse me?"
"Mr Snider," the museum guard said again. "My grandfather
was Admiral Roy Snider. Probably you have heard of him?"
"I'm sorry," Mr Pomeroy said.
21
"You don't know very much about history, do you?" the
museum guard said, looking at Mr Pomeroy intensively
"No," Mr Pomeroy retorted.
"And what about your pupils?"
"Please Mr..."
"Snider."
"Mr Snider," Mr Pomeroy said quit confused, "please would
you be so kind as to tell me what has happened to 'Maria
Luigi'?"
"Of course," the museum guard said again with a smile. "Five
hundred years ago Leonardo di Bruno, in my opinion the
greatest Italian painter, painted this painting. Two hundred
years ago, Napoleon appeared, robbed44 it in Italy and took it to
Paris. When Napoleon was defeated41, the British brought it to
London."
"Thank you very much for this explanation. Of course 'Maria
Luigi' has a famous history. But where is she now?" Mr Pomeroy
asked, obviously glad to get to the heart of this conversation.
"Oh yes, sure, you are right, of course, 'Maria Luigi' is some-
thing special. Maybe she is at the photographer's."
"The photographer?"
"Yes! Maybe!"
"What has he got to do with her?" Mr Pomeroy asked.
"Pictures, you know. Taking pictures," the museum guard
replied. "He sometimes comes here to pick her up in order to
take a few photos for the Pres» or some art book."
"But surely hundreds of photos of her exist, and books of art.
Why aren't these used?" Mr Pomeroy asked.
"You're right, of course. What 1 think is that the picture is in
the hands of a restorer51 at the moment."
4L to rob: rauben, ausrauben 50 to defeat: hier: besiegen 51 restorer: Restaurateur
22
"The restorer?"
"Yes. He comes here from time to time to have a look at the
pictures to make sure everything is all right with them."
As Mr Pomeroy couldn't think of anything else to say on the
subject, he had to be content with that answer.
EXERCISE 10
What's the correct translation?
"Er war der Erste, der das Verschwinden bemerkte."
a)	He was the first who discovered the disappearance.
b)	He was the first to discover the disappearance.
Paul took a few photos for the school magazine, especially of the
blank spot. Then he poked Tom in the ribs.
"Come on, put some questions to the museum guide and the
photographer as well. About the picture, how long it has been
off etc. That will make our title story."
The disappearance of 'Maria Luigi' had roused'2 Paul's ambi-
tion as a journalist, whereas’1 Tom was less enthusiastic. Looking
bored, he pulled out his notepad and started interviewing the
museum guard.
Tom was getting bored because when the museum guide had
started to talk it seemed that he would never stop.
For more than a year, Paul and Tom had been editing the school
magazine, with mainly54 Paul as the moving force. Tom saw his
activity as a journalistic assistant as an opportunity to brush up
52 to rouse: wachrufen 53 whereas: dahingegen, wahrend 54 mainly: hauptsachlich
23
his school image. Most of his teachers considered him lazy,
although everybody, teachers included, had to admit that he
was a very good writer, a good stylist.
He even succeeded in writing witty45 reports on the most
boring and uninteresting school excursions. That was one
reason why the magazine was very popular, and every month
all the pupils looked forward with great expectation to the
appearance of the new issue56.
Being on the staff7 of the school newspaper also meant
another advantage for Tom. Pretending to write a new article,
he had the chance of speaking with Diana, in Tom's opinion
the prettiest girl of the school. About two month ago he had
asked her for an interview, for the school magazine, as he said.
This way he hoped to give the impression of being cool in the
presence of such a pretty girl, but instead he behaved rather
arrogantly, pretending to be a star reporter. In reality, he only
wanted to ask if she would like to go to the school party with
him. As he was afraid of asking her in a direct way, he thought
up the idea of the interview.
But Tom, in his nervousness, made a rather bad job of it, and
Diana at once saw through his game. Because of this arrogant
behaviour towards her, she gave him the brush off.
Paul also used to write an article from time to time, but his
strength lay more in organizing, and he was a good photogra-
pher. Paul and Tom produced their newspaper mainly on their
own, with Tom as editor in chief, Paul as photographer, printer
and editor in one person.
They wrote their articles mostly at school in the afternoons,
with the help of a computer.
55 witty: geistreich, witzig 56 issue: Frage, hier: Ausgabe der Zeitung 57 staff: Mitarbeiter
24
EXERCISE И
What's the correct translation of "he was about to go out"?
The equipment there, and above all the high quality of the laser
printer, was simply better than any technical means58 they had
at home. It happened only rarely that one of their schoolmates
wrote an article. But guest writers with contributions54 about
school excursions and other events were always welcome.
Tom and Paul's school magazine appeared regularly every
first Tuesday of the month, so there were still a couple of days
left till the next publication date. Nearly all the articles were
ready, so was the layout with the photos already in place. The
still missing article on the visit to the museum, the disappear-
ance of 'Maria Luigi', was intended to be the leading article.
Since exciting topics were rare in the magazine, such an article
would be something exceptionaP’.
Tom's interview with the museum guide hadn't brought to
light any new facts about the whereabouts of the missing
picture. After seeing two further museum halls, Mr Pomeroy
had finished the excursion, visibly disappointed.
5h technical means: technische Mittel 59 contributions: Beitrage 60 exceptional: auBerge-
wohnlich
The Agent
Next day Paul was in the print lab, or copying room, of the
school, down in the basement. They were allowed to use the
laser printer, which made their work much easier and saved
them printing costs.
School was over, classrooms and corridors empty. Tom had
finished his work, sent it to the printer via network, and had
gone home, thinking all the time about a way of preventing a
meeting between Eggbean and Diana.
When Paul was checking the first printout of the new issue
with the headline 'Famous National Gallery Painting Mysteri-
ously Disappears', he suddenly noticed somebody moving
behind him. It gave him quite a fright when, turning around, he
saw a tall man, dressed in trench coat and hat. He was hardly
more than a yard away from Paul.
''Who are you?" Paul asked, frightened.
"You must be Paul," the man said, ignoring Paul's ques-
tion. "You're the editor of the school magazine, as I've been
told."
The man with a Humphrey Bogart look took the newspaper
out of Paul's hand.
"Is that your latest issue?" the man nodded61. "Famous
National Gallery painting mysteriously disappears," he started
reading aloud. "Quite a spectacular headline, too spectacular for
a school magazine, I think."
Paul didn't show any reaction to what the man had said.
61 to nodd: nicken
26
"But the picture has not disappeared, as far as I know, but is
at the photographer's," the man continued.
"That's wrong," Paul said, "my inquiries62 have resulted in..."
"That's wrong, nonsense," the man interrupted him. "You put
your questions to a museum guide who doesn't have the
slightest notion of anything."
EXERCISE 12
Bad English! Put the questions into the correct form!
What you want??
Where you go??
Where you from??
What must I do??
Whom you want to see??
What have you to sell??
What you said??
How did this bloke61 get to know that we talked with the
museum guide? Paul thought, looking at the man and feeling
more and more uncertain about him.
"This guide is so stupid that he can't even remember his
name, I bet."
"You didn't tell me your name," Paul said bravely, but feeling
a bit weak64 at the knees.
The stranger was bigger than he was and much stronger. The
copying room was small, and the man was standing right in
front of the door, so that Paul couldn't just simply run away.
62 inquiries: Nachforschungen 63 bloke: Bursche 64 weak: schwach
27
It was late in the afternoon. Pupils and teachers had already
left the school building. Only the caretaker was in the house. But
would he hear him if he cried for help down here in the base-
men t',c?
"By the way," the man said, moving another step closer.
Paul could smell his breath. It smelt like an ashtray66. Typical
smoker, Paul thought.
"By the way, do you know that you'll have to pay dearly for
claiming67 things in a newspaper that aren't true? The museum
could take you to court for telling lies. The National Gallery is
England's greatest museum and one of the most important in
the whole world. It has existed for more than 150 years and
won't accept being insulted6'’ by an ordinary pupil like you.
Great political and economic personalities such as Lord Roth-
schild or Lord Sainsbury were among its sponsors. They were
men of power and influence. Anyone insulting the museum
insults them, too. You understand?
Just imagine one of these sponsors having a few words with
your headmaster, about you. The head then will see your Mr
Pomeroy, and do you think he could be of any help to you?"
The man grinned, showing some ugly yellow teeth. Typical
smoker, Paul thought again, looking to the side.
"So it would be better for you to go on writing about excur-
sions to Tiverton, or some school function than about things you
don't understand, and which might get you into great trouble."
The next moment, the man got a lighter69 out of his coat pocket
and set fire to the first copy of the new school magazine.
Grinning all over his face, he looked at Paul while the flames
flickered. Then he dropped the burning newspaper, filling the
room with smoke.
6b basement: Keller, Untergeschoss 66 ashtray: Aschenbecher 67 to claim: behaupten 68
to insult: beleidigen 69 lighter: Feuerzeug
28
EXERCISE 13
Put in the following verbs into the simple past!
Example: He sees Diana. He saw Diana.
1) She pushes you out.___________________
2)1 hear his voice.__________________
3)	Only four weeks are left._________________
4)	Andrew plays the piano.___________________
5)	Mr Pomeroy goes out of the museum.
6)	He swims about one hour.
The man went to the door. Paul stamped out the flames. The
newspaper was almost completely burnt. Before the man left the
room, he looked round once more.
"Quite a lot of paper here in your copying room. Be careful, a
fire might break out here. That would be too bad for the beau-
tiful laser printer."
Then the man left the room, closing the door behind him with
a bang. Paul went weak at the knees. For the first time, he real-
ized70 just how much he was trembling71. He sat down on the
floor to recover from the shock.
70 to realize: bemerken 71 to tremble: bangen, sich furchten
The Right Attitude
"Nobody would send an agent to a school magazine, if there
wasn't more behind all this," said Tom, after Paul had told him
that evening about the stranger in the copying room.
"How do you know that he was an agent?" Paul asked.
"The way you described him," Tom replied.
Paul reflected72 for a moment about how he had described
the man. Then he tried to imagine what an agent might look
like.
"Are you sure he wasn't Mr Filch, the caretaker71?" Tom asked,
a little in doubt about what Paul told him.
"It's not a joke," Paul replied.
"But who is interested in an article in a school magazine?"
"I already told you, I don't know. But I'm telling you the
truth," Paul said.
"Okay, let's not argue. What do we have: a strange man, prob-
ably an agent and an article about a famous painting that is
missing."
"Maybe the painting was stolen and he is the thief," Paul said.
"No, no," Tom said. "A thief flees, he doesn't threaten74
pupils."
"Maybe the thief's accomplice," Paul said.
"Please, Paul, calm down. We don't know at all who this man
was," Tom said. "What's much more important is to know who
sent him. Somebody wants to prevent71 the disappearance of the
'Maria Luigi' from becoming publicly known. "
71 to reflect: nachdenken, reflektieren 73 caretaker: Hausmeister 74 to threaten: bedrohen
75 to prevent: verhindern
30
'Tom is right/ Paul thought. 'Probably the disappearance of
such a famous painting would have been reported straightaway
on TV, on the radio and in all the newspapers.'
EXERCISE 14
Find the correct opposite of "taciturnity"!
1)	modesty
2)	eloquence
3)	sensitivity
4)	timidity
5)	gayness
6)	scantiness
"But who wants to prevent our article?" Tom asked.
"Exactly, that's the question," said Paul. "Who will be in
trouble if it becomes known that the painting is gone?"
"Is it really gone?" Tom asked sceptically. "I mean we only
know that it was not in the exhibition when we were there.
Wouldn't it have been in the papers and reported on TV, if it
really had disappeared. Do you think the world is waiting for
us to tell them about the theft76 of the 'Maria Luigi'?"
Tom had spoken these last words in a strange voice, some-
what ironically But Paul was not put off by77 Tom's doubts.
"Come on," Paul said in a low voice. "A mysterious agent
threatens me, maybe a secret agent from another country, only
because of the article and then you have doubts about the
painting being missing?"
76 theft: Diebstahl 77 to be put off by: sich abschrecken lassen von
31
"Let's assume78 * you're right," Tom said. "How could it be that
we were the first and only ones to notice the theft of the
painting."
"But why not?" Tom said. "Why shouldn't we have been the
first to discover the disappearance? Who do you think was the
first to see America? Christopher Columbus, sitting in his cabin
and studying his sea-charts, or rather some unknown seaman,
not mentioned71 by historians, a sailor who was just on lookout
up there in the crow's nest80?"
Tom rubbed his chin, reflecting for a while.
"You're right," he said at last, "why not us?"
"That's the right attitude81," Paul laughed.
"Well now, once more, what do we know?"
Paul now seemed to be burning with curiosity82, feeling that
they were getting onto something big, maybe something of great
historical significance83. Paul felt like a real detective, like a real
journalist who was about to uncover a great scandal.
It was quite clear to him that the man in the copying room had
tried to intimidate84 him.
"We know," Paul said, that the museum guide was not
surprised at the disappearance of the 'Maria Luigi'.
"Exactly, he stayed quite cool," Tom said.
"And," Paul continued, "that there is a photographer who
regularly seems to take pictures of the paintings in the
museum."
"Yes, exactly," Tom added. "Mr Pomeroy said something
about photos for art books and newspaper magazines."
"So it is quite possible that the photographer took the
painting."
"And the guard didn't know anything about it."
78 Let’s assume: Angenommen, dass... 79 to mention: erwahnen 80 crow’s nest: Krahen-
nest (=Ausguck) 81 attitude: Einstellung 82 curiosity: Neugier 83 significance: Bedeutung
84 to intimidate so.: jmd. einschuchtern
32
"And further," said Paul, "there is a restorer who regularly
takes a close look at the old pictures. If a picture is damaged or
something else is wrong with it, he repairs it. "
EXERCISE 15
Fill in the right word!
V Beans aren't fruit but.
2)	Lilies aren't animals but.
3)	Hammer and saw aren't dishes but.
4)	Computer and TV aren't tops but.
5)	Saturn and Venus aren't mountains but.
6)	Lung and liver aren’t waterways but.
"The guard didn't know anything about that either."
"But where's the scandal, then?"
"Maybe that is the scandal," Tom said, "some people now and
then borrow the most valuable picture of the world, take it home
and then bring it back again the following week."
"Never heard about alarm systems?" Paul said.
"Maybe they are all damaged."
"You think that's it?"
"Why not?"
That sounded realistic and also very simple, maybe too
simple. For a while, Tom and Paul silently looked at each other.
"Anyway, how can such an old picture get damaged?" Tom
interrupted their silence at last. "Nothing but hanging, that's all
they do, don't they?"
Paul shrugged his shoulders.
33
"I have no idea," he said. "Maybe a visitor to the museum
suddenly stumbles85 and happens to rip a picture off the wall. Or
perhaps a cleaner accidentally cleans a picture so thoroughly86
that afterwards the picture can't be seen anymore."
"Yes, exactly," Tom laughed. "I once heard of an artist in
Germany who had put some trash in a corner, claiming87 it was
his latest work of art. But later a cleaner came and cleared the
corner. The work of art had gone."
Paul laughed. "I've heard of it, too. But I don't think a cleaner
of the National Gallery simply wiped off the whole 'Maria
Luigi'."
"Nor do I," Tom laughed. "By the way, the cleaners of the
National Gallery are men. I saw two of them when I went to the
toilet."
85 to stumble: stolpern 86 thoroughly: griindlich
The Beginning of the Investigation
The following day Tom and Paul set out for the National Gallery
immediately after school. In all their lives the two had been to the
museum only three times at the most, and now twice within a
week.
The latest edition of their school magazine would be out in
three days. Before then, Tom and Paul would need indisputable
proof that the famous painting really had disappeared, perhaps
even been stolen.
They got onto the tube, the London Underground, and went
by Central Line to Oxford Circus. There they pushed their way
forward to the southbound Brown Line, the Bakerloo Line. A
few minutes later, they got out at Charing Cross Station
together with hundreds of other passengers, left the Under-
ground with the mass of people and crossed Trafalgar Square,
not deigning88 to look at Nelson's Column, the monumental
pillar84 in the centre of the square, erected911 in honour of
Admiral Nelson's victory over Napoleon at the Battle of
Trafalgar.
It was a rainy day, but not very cold. The Londoners put up
with their special weather with their usual stoicism41. Tom and
Paul had set out to ask at the museum for the addresses of the
photographer and the restorer. If the painting hadn't disap-
peared in some mysterious way, it could only be in the hands of
the restorer or the photographer.
87 to claim: behaupten 88 to deign: gewahren 89 pillar: Pfeiler 90 to erect: errichten
91 stoicsim: Gleichmut
35
EXERCISE 16
Underline the adverbs!
The pupils cast a few bored glances at the painting. Only the
swots were attentively listening to his words. Mr Pomeroy
explained enthusiastically the famous painting. After that the
pupils quickly tried to find the exit of the museum. Mr Pomeroy's
dissertation wa* actually too boring.
When Tom and Paul entered the large entrance hall of the
National Gallery, they didn't know who would best be able to
answer their questions. The National Gallery is one of the most
complete collections of paintings in the whole world. The entry
to the main collection is free and it is no wonder that there's
always a great rush because of the many tourists.
First Tom and Paul stood around helplessly for a while,
watching the tourists. Then Paul picked up one of the cata-
logues lying around and started leafing through it.
“There!" Tom said at last, pointing to an information stand
and then went up to it.
The young woman at the information looked friendly.
"Can I help you?" she asked, smiling.
“Yes," Tom answered. "We are journalists of a school maga-
zine and would like to write an article on the museum."
The kind woman raised her eyebrows, reflecting shortly.
Then she tried to ask a colleague who was just helping a
tourist, however. Thereupon she turned back to Paul and
Tom.
36
"You would better go and see our Press Officer, Mr Jackson.
I'll take you to him. "
"She's good-looking," Tom whispered to Paul as the young
woman got up and left her information stand at the rear92 *.
"Will you follow me, please," the young woman said and Tom
and Paul followed her.
While walking along the numerous corridors, Tom kept
looking at the woman's backside and her long legs, grinning all
the time and idiotically raising his eyebrows.
Paul gave him a push, because Tom's behaviour was embar-
rassing him.
"You surely don't think that you'll be successful with
Diana or any other woman by pulling faces like that," Paul
said.
Tom stopped at once. The mention of Diana's name had really
hit him.
Mr Jackson, Press Officer of the National Gallery, was a
somewhat angular43 man wearing a pair of small glasses with
square frames held by a straight nose on his rectangular face.
His hair was cut short like an English lawn94, which made his
head look almost square. He had straight lips, which showed
neither a smile, nor anger, nor any other feeling. He was
broad-shouldered, with a strong chest and looked altogether
well trained.
The papers on his writing desk were divided into orderly piles95.
All documents, and even the pencils, were lying at right angles
to the edge of the table.
When Tom and Paul introduced96 themselves as reporters of
the school magazine, Mr Jackson offered them two chairs,
without a smile or any other sign of kindness.
92 at the rear: im hinteren Teil 93 angular: eckig 94 lawn: Rasen 95 pile: Stapel 96 to
introduce oneself: sich vorstellen
37
EXERCISE 17
Fill in the adverbs!
1)	Eggbean is a good dancer. He dances.
2)	Diana has a beautiful voice. She sings.
3)	Mr Pomeroy is an excellent teacher. He teaches.
4)	Tom is a fast runner. He runs.
5)	The dog is loud. The dog barks.
6)	Paul is a carefid boy. He climbs up trees.
"You're no doubt the two pupils who want to write an article on
the 'Maria Luigi' painting, aren't you," he said.
Tom was surprised, but also relieved47 that Mr Jackson seemed
to have heard of them. No long explanations would be needed.
Tom was about to answer when Paul, still fidgeting4* with his
catalogue, interrupted them.
"No," he said, "we're just writing a series about various
professions dealing with art."
Tom looked at Paul, irritated.
Paul went on, "We hoped we might hear something about a
restorer's job here or even have an interview with your restorer,
if possible."
"With the great number of works of art here we've got
several restorers working for us," Mr Jackson said unemotion-
ally.
"Our art lessons are currently94 dealing with Early Renais-
sance Painting. If perhaps you have got someone...?" Paul
asked, just in the same unemotional way.
97 relieved: erleichtert 98 to fidget: herumfuchteln 99 currently: momentan, zur Zeit
38
Tom was silent. Mr Jackson reached for a pencil. He took
down the telephone number and the address of a restorer.
"Here you are," he said, handing over the note. "Anything
else?"
"No, thank you," Paul said, took the piece of paper, got up
and went to the door.
Tom stared at Paul, quite confused. He didn't understand at
all, why Paul wanted to be off so quickly, why he hadn't told Mr
Jackson the truth, and why he hadn't inquired1™ about the
photographer.
"Are you coming?" Paul asked, giving Tom a smile. "Or do you
still want to interview Mr Jackson about press work of the
museum?"
EXERCISE 18
Tell, what you are going to do to help! Complete the sentences!
Example:
„Idon't know where the toilet is." - "Then I'll tell you.”
1)	"I cannot find my guidebook." -
"Then.
2)	"My rucksack is so heavy."-
"Then.
3)	"I don't understand those words in French." -
"Then.
4)	"1 cannot reach the book in the shelve."-
"Then.
100 to inquire: nachfragen, abfragen
39
Гот got up and followed Paul. They said goodbye and left.
At the last moment, Paul once more turned round and said,
"Oh Mr Jackson, one more question, out of sheer curiosity"11. At
the beginning you mentioned an article about 'Maria Luigi'. Did
you mean the famous picture of 'Maria Luigi' by Leonardo
di Bruno?"
"Oh, it's nothing," said Mr Jackson. "Two pupils had noticed
during an excursion to the museum that the painting was not
hanging in its place and wanted to write a report about it.
Of course, the painting had not disappeared, and it is back in
its place again."
When they were back in the entrance hall, Paul pulled Tom's
sleeve and took him upstairs to Level 2, where the paintings of
the 14th and 15th centuries were hanging.
"Could you tell me what you're doing here?" Tom asked,
following Paul.
"First," Paul said, "how does a press officer of the National
Gallery know that in some small school magazine, somewhere
at a school in London, an article will be published on the disap-
pearance of the 'Maria Luigi'? Second, that's why we should be
very careful about our inquiries. Third, he did give us the
address of the restorer. Fourth, the address of the photographer
is here in this catalogue."
With that, he gave him a light blow with the catalogue on his
head.
"And fifth, the 'Maria Luigi' is said to be back in her place
again, and that's what we are going to check now."
The 'Maria Luigi', however, was not back in her place;
she was not hanging in the exhibition room. Paul shook his
head.
101 out of sheer curiosity: aus reiner Neugier
40
EXERCISE 19
Past Perfect
Chose the correct verbs and put them into past perfect:
to disappear, to tell, to happen, to believe, to гит
1)	Tom wanted to know what to the picture.
2)	Eggbean several fights before.
3)Mr Jackson told Paul and Tom that 'Maria Luigi'
not.
4)	Why Paul the truth to Mr Jackson?
"How can he tell us such an impertinent102 lie? He certainly
doesn't think we are stupid, does he?"
"He said the picture was back in its place again. Perhaps he
means that it is in the museum again, but hasn't been put back
on show yet," Tom said.
"Hey," Paul said, "with such a way of thinking you'll never
become a famous star reporter. It is our task to get to the bottom
of things. Let's go!"
102 impertinent: unverschamt
The Houses of Parliament
They first went to see Jack de Jeanette, the restorer. His work-
shop was only few minutes away from the museum, in Old
Queen Street, quite near Westminster Abbey, the big old church
in which nearly all the Kings and Queens of England have
been crowned, and also where British scientists and poets are
buried103, together with some of the monarchs.
As everybody knows, the Palace of Westminster, also known as
the Houses of Parliament, is located opposite Westminster Abbey.
Tom and Paul got on one of the new buses. It was full of
people. Many tourists, but also many commuters"4, people with
ties and suits and briefcases, working somewhere in one of the
neighbouring ministries or legislative buildings, were sitting or
standing in the full bus.
Suddenly Paul pointed through the bus window at a man in
a trench coat, who was just crossing the road.
"Do you see that man with the squash-hat?"
Tom nodded, at the same moment feeling that he was becoming
hungry, perhaps because the man was just eating a hot dog.
"That's the agent who threatened me in the copying room,"
Paul said.
"Are you sure?" Tom asked.
"Absolutely!" Paul replied.
"You mean our secret agent is just walking around like a
tourist eating hot dogs?"
"Why not? Even agents get hungry."
103 to bury: verbergen, hier: begraben 104 commuter: Berufspendler
42
EXERCISE 20
Find the correct opposite of "frighten off".
1)	encourage
2)	admire
3)	swallow
The bus had just arrived at a bus stop. Paul and Tom rushed out.
"What are you going to do?" Tom asked, looking around for
a snack bar.
"WeTl pursue105 him," Paul said. "Perhaps we'll find out who
his client is."
They followed the agent with the squash-hat up to Westmin-
ster Hall, the older wing of the Palace of Westminster. The man
stopped there and looked at his watch. At that very moment
Big Ben, the clock of the Palace of Westminster, struck11’1’ two o'
clock. Tom, Paul, and the agent, too, looked up at the big old
clock.
The agent walked on, but after about three hundred yards he
stopped again, turned briefly and disappeared into the Houses
of Parliament.
"Do we also want to go in there?" Tom asked, feeling his
empty stomach again.
"I don't think they'll let us in. As far as I know, you can only
get in there with official permission, and you aren't allowed to
wander around freely, but are guided through, as on a visit to a
museum."
"But why is he allowed to enter?"
105 to pursue: verfolgen 106 to strike: schlagen
43
"Good question," Paul answered. "Maybe his client is a
Member of Parliament, a politician."
"Wow, Paul," Tom shouted, "I think we are on the trail of
something big107. But why should a politician concern himself
with the painting of the 'Maria Luigi'?"
"That's exactly what we're going to find out," Paul said
resolutely. He had been gripped again by his detective curiosity.
"That's why we'll pursue our plan of going to the restorer
right now," Paul said.
"On our way there we'll stop at a snack-bar. I'm simply
starving," Tom said.
They looked out for the next bus. But then Paul suddenly
stopped.
"I have another idea," he said. "What if the agent comes out
of the building again? Maybe he'll lead us to his house."
"I don't tl unk so!" Tom said, thinking of his empty stomach.
"Shouldn't we wait another ten minutes?" Paul asked. "You
can have your meal a little bit later."
Grinding108 his teeth, Tom agreed. They waited for the agent
for a while, but he was gone.
But, instead, another man came out of the main entrance of
the parliament building, a man who drew Tom's attention. He
was tall and had dark, short hair. He was wearing a fashionable
casual jacket and looked like an attractive and successful man
in his late forties.
"The man just coming out," Tom said, "I know him."
Paul regarded the man for a while, shrugging his shoulders.
"And? Who is it?" Paul asked.
"I don't know any more, but I've seen him somewhere
before."
107 to be on the trail of sth. big: etwas GroBem auf der Spur sein 108 to grind one’s teeth:
mit den Zahnen knirschen
44
EXERCISE 21
Ask for the objects of the following sentences: „who",
"whom" or „what"!
1)	Tom interviewed the museum guide.
2)	Ta ul wants to write articles for the school magazine.
3)	Paul noticed somebody moving behind him.
4)	Eggbean asks Diana to go out with him.
"Perhaps on TV? He looks like a journalist."
"No, that's not it."
"Why not on TV? Lots of people come and go in the Houses
of Parliament, and they're often on television."
"I don't know," Tom said doubtfully and lost in thought. "I'm
sure I saw him somewhere else, neighbourhood or school party
or something like that."
Tom couldn't remember any more.
They waited another five minutes. But then Paul, too, thought
that it was useless to stay there any longer.
The Restorer
When a good snack had filled Tom's stomach again, they met Mr
de Jeanette, the restorer, in his studio, a small, old factory hall of
red brick stone.
The building had no windows downstairs. Only upstairs,
just under the edge of the roof, was there a long row of
windows.
The restorer had a long, narrow face and a long, thin nose.
He opened the door only slightly, didn't ask them to come in
and only popped his nose around the door, like a wood-
pecker.
"School magazine, interview?" Mr de Jeanette said with a
bad-tempered1119 expression on his face. "I don't have any time
for that now. I am an artist and create great art of the twenty-first
century. I can't concern myself with such rubbish."
Tom and Paul were surprised at Mr de Jeanette's refusal109 110.
They obviously had disturbed him at the wrong moment. He
seemed to be impatient111.
Suddenly a noise could be heard from the back of his studio.
"Be off now! I've got work to do, and you're disturbing my
concentration. I need absolute peace and silence."
Once more, there was a rumble back in the studio. The restorer
was just about to close the door, when Paul started to talk to him
about the 'Maria Luigi'.
He hesitated for a moment, frowning112.
109 bad tempered: schlecht gelaunt 110 refusal: Ablehnung 111 impatient: ungeduldig
112 to frown: die Stirn runzein
46
EXERCISE 22
Simple past, past progressive, past perfect. Put in the
correct forms:
1)	After Tom(to return) from the gents, he
(to tell not) Mr Pomeroy about the two mysterious men.
2)	While the class(to visit) the museum, the painting
__________(to steal).
3)	Paul and Tom(to go on) to search for the painting.
4)	After they(to enter) the bus, Paul(to see)
a man in a trench coat.
5)	When a good snack(to fill) Tom's stomach again,
they met the restorer.
"Of course," he said, "I restored 'Maria Luigi', she needed it
badly. This wonderful painting was already full of dust and dirt.
You couldn't make out the colours any more, nothing but grey
dirt. And now ..." He made an affected gesture, at the same time
raising chin, nose and eyebrows, all this accompanied by a
sweeping movement of his hand.
"And now she shines again in all her former glory."
"That means you took the picture back to the museum
again?" Tom inquired.
"Naturellement113," the restorer replied.
"When was that?"
"My God, you and all your questions. What do I know? About
six months ago."
There was another rumble back in the studio. The restorer and
artist said goodbye to Tom and Paul, shutting the door in their faces.
113 naturellement: (frz.) selbstverstandlich
47
For a while, Tom and Paul helplessly looked at each other.
What the restorer had said sounded quite logical. On the other
hand, he made a suspicious impression. Why did he want to
shake off the two so quickly? And what about the noise in his
studio when he needed peace so urgently?
Slowly Paul and Tom walked up and down along the
sprawling”4 house with its studio. It was an old factory building,
closed walls of old bricks, windowless. Only up above, about
ten yards off the ground, was there a row of windows, just under
the edge of the roof.
For Tom and Paul it would be impossible to get up there to just
take a look into the hall.
"Just a second," Tom suddenly called, pointing at a big
rubbish skip at the end of the building.
"Forget it," Paul said. "Even if we stand on it and you then get
upon my shoulders, we'll still be seven yards short."
"But we could perhaps build a kind of ladder or pyramid with
which we could climb up," Tom said, looking around for some-
thing to put on top of the container.
But the whole area was very clean and tidy, without any
boards, beams115 or other big objects.
Paul opened the rubbish skip and looked in. There was an
awful stink.
EXERCISE 23
You can invite your friends three or four times to various
parties, but you can celebrate your birthday only
per year.
114 to sprawl: sich erstrecken 115 beams: Balken
48
"Here," Paul suddenly shouted, pointing at the drainpipe of the
eaves116 at the wall.
Tom nodded. "Let me do it," he said, "I'm more sporting than
you".
"Ha, ha," Paul laughed, but he let Tom climb up.
And Tom really succeeded in climbing up the drainpipe, up
to the row of windows. But on his way upwards, having climbed
up half of the pipe, he realized what ten yards upwards mean.
All this looked much easier from the ground. Such problems
never existed in Hollywood movies.
Tom's knees turned to jelly when he looked down and he
anxiously clutched at the pipe.
"Everything all right?" Paul shouted from the ground.
"Yes, yes," Tom answered, but avoided looking down a
second time. Then he briefly closed his eyes, took deep breaths,
and, working up his courage, he carried on climbing.
At last he arrived at the top; he had reached the row of win-
dows. Like a monkey, he skilfully climbed to the upper part of
the pipe and then started to peer through one of the windows.
Only some big shelves divided up the large hall. With the
exception of some tables and chairs, there was hardly any
furniture. There were pots of paints instead, and buckets,
canvasses117, half-finished paintings, easels118, boards and
picture frames.
Amongst all this, the restorer was sitting at a big table. Some
yards away from the table, an odd-looking man stood in a
strange position.
"What do you see?" Paul asked from down below.
"The restorer," Tom shouted, "he's drawing. And there's also
another man. A man. He's dressed up as ..."
116 eave: Dachrinne 117 canvas: Leinwand 118 easel: Staffelei
49
At this moment, the upper fastenings119 of the drainpipe
broke away. The pipe gave in, bending away from the wall
of the house due to Tom's weight. While gliding down about
two yards, Tom chafed120 his hands and let out a scream in
horror.
"The fastening!" Paul cried, shocked, from down below. "It's
coming off and breaking loose of the wall."
Tom, fearing the worst, was unable to move. What should he
do? Anxiously he clutched at the pipe. For a few seconds
nothing happened, then things happened very quickly.
The fastening broke out of the wall. The pipe bent more and
more away from the wall. Tom lost his hold and crashed down-
ward.
Anyone in a swimming pool jumping from the five-yard
diving board knows, with what impact you crash down into the
water. Ten yards up in the air is twice as much and, with such
an impact,121 Tom fell straight into the rubbish skip.
EXERCISE 24
"Who" or "which". Put in the right pronoun!
1)	Over there lives the man is a Member of Parliament.
2)	He knows other people,also belong to the Parliament.
3)	The painting they are looking for has disappeared.
4)	The new houses they are building look very interesting.
There was a noise like something falling into the dirt. A brown
liquid, fruit rests and flakes of paper came out.
119 fastening: Befestigung 120 chafe: reiben 121 impact: Aufprall
50
What a shock for Paul! He stared at the container.
Snippets of paper trickled down like confetti. Nothing else
moved. Silence.
Paul cautiously looked over the edge of the container.
"Tom/' he whispered, "are you still alive?"
He couldn't exactly recognize his friend, with all kinds of
brown, dirty rubbish covering him. A sharp smell was getting
right up Paul's nose. Then a small hill of mouldy tomatoes,
together with Tom's hands, came to the surface. There was a
groan122.
"How nasty!" and then Tom started groping123 his way
through the refuse.
With another louder groan, and with a face contorted124 with
pain, Tom at last climbed out of the container, helped by Paul:
"I think the feeling must be similar to Eggbean giving you a
thrashing with his fists," Tom said.
"I'm glad you're still alive," Paul said, laughing with relief.
"Anything broken?"
"I don't think so," Tom said. "It hurts a little bit everywhere,
but only when I breathe."
After they had found out that Tom was quite all right except
for numerous bruises and grazes125, and when they both had
recovered from the shock, Tom began to tell of what he had seen
in the restorer's studio.
The second man in there had been dressed up as Mickey
Mouse and was posing for the restorer, acting as a model for a
comic the restorer was just drawing. It was only natural that the
great artist Jack de Jeanette didn't want to be seen doing this.
That would obviously have embarrassed him. This all had
nothing to do with 'Maria Luigi' whatsoever.
122 groan: Stohnen 123 to grope: tasten 124 contorted: verzerrt, verkrummt 125 bruises
and grazes: Prellungen und Hautabschurfungen
51
After all this, the two friends took the District Line in the
direction of Wimbledon and got out at Parsons Green Station.
EXERCISE 25
Formulate questions with "what", "where", "whose" and
"where"!
Example:
The restorer had a long, narrow face (who/what). - Who had a
long, narrow face? /What did the restorer have?
1)	Paid and Tom go to the same school, (who/where)
2)	Her picture is in the museum, (whose/where)
3)	The fastening broke off the wall, (what/where)
4)	His horses don't interest people, (whose/what)
The Photographer
The photographer lived not far away in Baker Street.
Henry Bulb, the photographer, was not difficult to find,
because big neon lights at the beginning of the street drew atten-
tion to his studio.
"I can take super photographs for your school magazine, at a
super price," he said, after Paul and Tom had told him why they
had come to him.
"Photos of 'Maria Luigi', however, can only be taken with
special permission of the National Gallery. Of course, you'll get
them at a special price."
Paul and Tom looked at each other in astonishment126.
"I assume you didn't quite understand us," Paul said. "We
don't want to buy any photos, but we want to know whether you
have got the picture of 'Maria Luigi'," said Paul. "We believe ..."
But here Paul was again interrupted by Bulb.
"Of course, I could sell you some digital cameras. With them
you'll be able to take photos on your own. But that will be a bit
more expensive, but on the other hand you won't have to pay
for the development of the negatives.
If you don't know how to use such a camera, I would be glad
to give you lessons, making you a good price offer for pupils.
And if you wish, you can have your digital photos printed out
by me at a really good price, and all in top class quality. I've got
a specialist printer, you know. The printer you have at home
doesn't have this quality."
126 astonishment: Erstaunen
53
"Is the 'Maria Luigi' still in your hands?" Tom asked, insis-
tently.
The photographer was getting on his nerves.
EXERCISE 26
Which word does not belong to the series?
Ddust, dirt, rubbish, mud, muck, quarrel, sludge
2)	belly, leg, breast, thumb, elbow, tin, fist, finger
3)	parents, daughter, cousin, enemy, grandfather, aunt, niece
4)	earrings, necklace, wristband, screwdriver, bracelet, tie
5)	nice, funny, friendly, happy, annoying, easygoing
6)	mountain, ocean, continent, village, island, sea
"You sound like a jealous127 husband," Bulb said, grinning. "Is
'Maria Luigi' still in your hands?" he aped Tom, laughing.
"'Maria Luigi' is a painting, and not a woman you can touch. But
what do you boys know about it?"
Tom saw Paul getting red in his face, red with anger.
"Sir!" he said energetically, in order to prevent Tom from
throwing a fit of rage, and in order to get concrete information
from Bulb. "There is a strong suspicion128 that the 'Maria Luigi'
has been stolen. If the painting is in your hands, it won't be easy
for you to convince us or the police that you are not the thief."
Paul's words didn't seem to impress Bulb.
"What a lot of rubbish," he said. "Normally the 'Maria Luigi'
hangs in the National Gallery, on two nails, one left, one right,"
at the same time pointing left and right with his forefinger. "If I
127 jealous: eifersuchtig 128 suspicion: Verdacht
54
am to take photos of the painting, something I haven't done for
a long time, the Press Officer of the museum rings me up. Then
I go to the museum, take the 'Maria Luigi' down from the two
nails and into my studio. The photographic work doesn't take
longer than half a day, so I can hang the painting on its two nails
again in the course of the following morning. That's what I do
with all the paintings of the museum of which I take photos.
To accuse'29 me of theft would be absolutely ridiculous. The
police won't find any stolen paintings in my house. There you
are, take a look!" he exclaimed, swinging his arm around the
room and demonstrating that he had nothing to hide.
"Just a moment," Paul said, "do you mean to say that
anybody can enter the museum, take pictures from its nails and
go home with it?"
"Not quite so easily," Bulb grinned, "some pictures hang on
two hooks, and it's much more difficult to take them down."
"But what about the alarm system, motion detectors, infrared
sensors, video surveillance?" Tom asked surprised.
"You've probably seen too many Hollywood films," Bulb
answered, still grinning. "Who can afford all those technical
knick-knacks? A museum is not a branch of industry.
EXERCISE 27
What is the opposite of "loud"?
I) quite
2) quiet
3)quit 129
129 to accuse: beschuldigen
55
Bills for my work are always paid with several months delay.
Sometimes I have even had to wait a whole year for my money.
If I didn't beat the drum, always looking for new clients, I would
have died of starvation long ago. That's what things are like here
in our beautiful world of culture. "
Bulb had lost his permanent grin, but he went on talking until
his rage against museums for paying so badly for his work grew.
"Culture was used for great publicity campaigns, good for
politicians, but they wouldn't pay for it," he argued. "It would
be so important to set high standards for the preservation of
values, and to generously support epoch-making creative
thinkers, no matter whether scientists, men of letters or photo-
graphers."
Tom and Paul quickly left the photo studio after they had
expressed their thanks. Closing the door behind them, they still
heard Bulb complaining about the decline of the Occident130.
"He's quite beside himself," Paul said.
"You can say that," Tom agreed.
It was clear to them: the famous painting had disappeared in
a mysterious way, and about that they would write the most
sensational article that had ever appeared in a school magazine.
130 decline of the Occident: der Niedergang des Abendlandes
The Quarrel
It was Sunday afternoon. Tom and Paul were in Paul's home
proofreading13’ their last leading article of the latest edition of
their newspaper:
"FAMOUS‘MARIA LUIGI’DISAPPEARS WITHOUT LEAVING TRACE”
was the headline. They had also included the results of their
latest inquiries. In their article they reported the scandal: first
that the picture had disappeared; second that it was, without an
alarm system, obviously so easy to steal a picture; third that
nobody seemed to be worried about any of this.
They didn't mention the mysterious agent, not knowing
where to place him and his possible political connections. It was
possible that he simply belonged to the cleaners' staff of the
Houses of Parliament.
The telephone was ringing.
"Paul, it's for you," called his mother who had picked up the
telephone.
Paul went to it. "Yes," he said.
"It's good that I've got you," a voice said which seemed to be
known to Paul, but at the moment he couldn't say who the
person was.
"Something really painful happened to me, and since you
asked about it I would like to tell you. 'Maria Luigi' ..." the
person's voice stopped, he cleared his throat132 and gave a little
cough. "Well, the painting you said had disappeared without
leaving any trace, it is here with me."
131 proofread: korrekturlesen
57
EXERCISE 28
Put in the right reflexive pronoun!
1)	Paul did not want to believe it and then he saw the man.
2)	Diana looked at in the mirror.
3)	Paul, you'll have to do your homework.
4)	You don't need to help me. I can do it.
5)	Boys, can you lay the table?
6)	Paul decided to repair his bike.
The voice was silent for a moment. Paul didn't know what to say
and was silent, too.
"But who is there," asked Tom, who suddenly stood behind
him. He was eating a cake, freshly made by Paul's mother.
"That's the question," Paul thought and ended his silence on
the phone.
"Who on earth is there?" he said.
"Oh, sorry, it's me, Henry Bulb. You remember the photogra-
pher you visited the other day. Didn't recognize my voice, did
you? Well, you probably didn't expect me to give you a ring."
"What about the 'Maria Luigi', is she in your hands?" Paul
inquired.
"Yes, she is," Bulb said, "and that's why I am really embar-
rassed. I was told to take photos of her once more, and so I
picked her up together with other pictures, but then I forgot
about her. Somehow the picture must have slipped under my
table, on which my light box has its place. Only this morning I
discovered the picture again, after the museum had phoned me.
132 to clear one’s throat: sich rauspern
58
Fortunately, the museum people are quite indulgent133 with
me, so I can perform the commission, take the photographs of
the painting and will take it back in the next few days.
It pays always to deliver best quality at an unrivalled price"
"So the painting has emerged again?" Paul repeated his ques-
tion, incredulous.
"Yes, it has," Bulb retorted. "Everything is all right. It was my
fault, really. But if you need good photos at a good price, of your
school party or something like that, let me know.
1 also take family photos, passport photos or photos needed
for applications. "
"Thank you, Mr Bulb," Paul said, putting down the receiver. He
did so because he wasn't willing to go on listening to him talking.
Paul and Tom discussed what they should do. An end had
been put to their plan to write a big title story. Working on such
an article would have given them for the first time the feeling
that they were real reporters, on the trail of a great affair. And
now everything had fallen flat - no scandal, no sensational
leading article, no star reporter, no glory.
EXERCISE 29
Find the correct forms of the words put in brackets!
1)	The „Maria Luigi" is the (expensive)painting
of the museum.
2)	It's (expensive)than you can imagine.
3)	Whom does Tom like (good), EggbeanPaul?
4)	Who is (confused)the thieves or the police?
133 indulgent: nachgiebig
59
"But there must be something wrong, there are things which
don't fit together," Tom cried quite upset.
"But what shall we do?" said Paul, feeling depressed. "It's
impossible for us to say the picture has disappeared, when all
the others say it is there, the stupid photographer only forgot
about it because it had slipped under his table."
"I don't believe a word of all this," Tom said stubbornly134,
folding his arms over his chest.
"Can you tell me why the photographer should admit that he
had been so careless about the painting?" Paul said.
Tom helplessly shrugged his shoulders.
"Can you explain why an agent should threaten you in the
copying room of our school before the scatterbrained135 photo-
grapher found the picture again?" he asked.
This time Paul shrugged his shoulders.
"We must tackle the agent," Tom said emphatically, "we must
find out for whom is working for. That's our only chance. Or was
he just a ghost?"
"He wasn't a ghost. It wasn't just my imagination," Paul said
a little bit angry.
"Are you really sure?" Tom asked.
"I'm not an idiot!" Paul replied.
"Okay, okay," Tom said. "I only wanted to say that we don't
have a story, if we don't find the agent."
"1 know," Paul said. "So let's start where we lost his trace."
Tom nodded, then they left the house.
They spent the remaining136 time of the Sunday near the Houses
of Parliament, drinking cola and eating a few hot dogs now and
then, but the agent they were waiting for did not reappear.
134 stubbornly: hartnackig 135 scatterbrain: Schussel
60
From time to time, Paul took some photos with his digital
camera. They followed passing cars with their gaze, listened to
the melodic strokes of Big Ben's clock only some hundred yards
away from them near Westminster Bridge.
Paul hoped he might catch sight of a prominent politician for
a snapshot with his camera.
But not much happened on this Sunday. At nightfall, they
went home, disappointed.
"It's Sunday," Tom said, after they had got on the tube. "Who
works on Sunday?"
EXERCISE 30
Change from active to passive!
Example:
A lot of tourists visit the "Maria Luigi". - The "Maria Luigi" is
visited by a lot of tourists.
I)	A thief stole the famous painting.
2)	The photographer followed Tom and Paul discreetly.
3)	The teacher separated the two fighting-cocks.
4)	The pupils print the newspaper every month.
5)	An agent threatened Paul.
136 remaining: restlich, ijbrig
61
"Politicians always work," Paul said.
"They pretend to work," Tom replied.
"That's why they get so much money," Paul added.
Suddenly Tom thought about the photographer, Henry
Bulb.
"I have a question," Tom said to Paul.
"Just tell me, how did this Bulb, the photographer, get hold of
your telephone number?" he asked.
Paul shook his head.
"I don't remember giving it to him," he said. "Maybe the
agent is behind all this."
"That doesn't sound very logical."
"Did I say it is logical?" Paul said. "But it's reality."
'That's what you say', Tom thought, but he didn't want to say
it out loud.
"The Press Officer is probably involved, too," Paul added.
"Let's check that again tomorrow. There's one day left before the
newspaper appears."
The following day, immediately after school, Tom again took
up his position opposite the Houses of Parliament. Paul went
to see Mr Bulb in order to find out how he had got hold of his
telephone number. He knew for sure that he hadn't given it to
him.
But Monday also drew to a close and nothing unusual had
happened. The agent had not appeared and the photographer
had said that he had got the telephone number with the help of
the directory enquiries.137
Paul himself had forgotten whether he had told the photo-
grapher his name or not.
137 directory enquiries: Telefonbucheintrage
62
"It's all over now," said Tom, as he saw that the end of their
career as star reporters seemed to be near. "The big story has died".
Paul too was depressed. But then he said: "What if we still
write the article? Up to now we don't have any evidence that
'Maria Luigi' has not been stolen," he said, out of stubbornness
rather than from firm belief.138
"There is no evidence at all of a robbery. The picture is just not
hanging in the exhibition room - for the museum attendant
nothing unusual. The photographer picked it up, and no one in
the museum complained. Only two stupid little pupils are
trying to make an affair of state out of it. And all this because
some joker has dressed himself up as a secret agent in order to
frighten you," Tom said.
EXERCISE 31
Fill in the right preposition: ago, before, in front of, near, to,
with
1)	It's five minutes eight.
2)	Paul came to this school four years.
3)	You can park your car the house.
4)	Diana trembled cold.
5)	Tom will be there Paul.
6)	A man was sitting on a chair the entrance.
Paul was silent.
"Or is it not so?" Tom insisted. "Of course," said Paul, getting
more and more in a rage.
138 firm belief: fester Glaube
63
"Or do you think this bloke is just a crazy idea of mine."
"All right," Tom said, "sorry I asked. But asking questions
should be allowed."
"No!" Paul cried angrily. "I don't want you to suspect me of
having hallucinations!"
"Well, really! How should I know that everything you tell me
is right," Tom cried back angrily. "Maybe you were dreaming all
this, and now you have a high regard of yourself."
"If there is anybody here who thinks he's important, it can be
only you. I only need to say 'Diana'."
"That'll do!" Tom cried. "Who was it who started all this
nonsense about the 'Maria Luigi', then?"
The two looked at each other, full of rage. A few moments later
Tom left Paul's room, slamming the door behind him.
The Pursuit
The following day, it was the first Tuesday of the month, the
latest edition of the school magazine appeared, with a rather
boring report on the preparations for the school party on its title
page. Paul had written it the evening before. No word could be
found about the visit to the museum and the 'Maria Luigi'.
At school, Tom and Paul didn't talk to each other any more.
In the schoolyard, too, they avoided139 contact. Why did the sun
bother to shine?
After lessons, when Mr Pomeroy had left the classroom and
most of the others were busy packing up their things, Becky
suddenly came up to Tom.
"Good article," she said, pointing at the leader.
"Diana thinks so, too. "
Paul was watching them talking from the side.
"Until now we haven't talked much," Becky continued.
"Some girls here would like to know how to write a good article,
and what one has to think about when editing a newspaper."
Tom was quite surprised, whereas Paul was seething with
rage. After all, he was the editor and the actual producer of the
school magazine.
'Because Tom always wrote most articles for the school maga-
zine, Becky believes, he is also the author of this article,' Paul
thought glancing at her and Tom. 'Tom should explain that to
her, but instead he's adorning himself with borrowed plumes.140
He wants all the fame for himself.'
139 to avoid: vermeiden 140 to adorn oneself with borrowed plumes: sich mit fremden
Federn schmucken
65
EXERCISE 32
Since ox for? Put in the right words.
1)	Tom has been waiting three o'clock.
2)	Paul has been running twenty minutes.
3)	Paul and Tom have been friends two years.
4)	Tom has not been eating anything eight o'clock in the
morning.
5)	The class visited the National Gallery three hours.
“Perhaps you can spare a couple of hours for us in the next few
days, and explain things," Paul heard Becky saying.
Of course, gladly," Tom said.
Bristling with anger, Paul left the classroom.
"Perhaps you'll have some time next Saturday?" Becky asked.
"That'll be fine," Tom said, overjoyed. He hoped, of course,
that Diana would be present.
"All right then," Becky said and left.
Outside in the schoolyard, Paul was addressed by Eggbean.
"About the article on our school party," he said, smiling in his
charming way. "You're no doubt going to write about the
performance of the school band, in which, as you know, I also
have a part - keyboards."
"Okay," said Paul, still in rage and only waiting for a chance
to let off steam.141
Eggbean would be a suitable victim.
"But listen, I fear I sprained or bruised my hand last Saturday
while boxing."
141 to let of steam: Dampf ablassen
66
"So what?" Paul hissed.
"It means I can't play keyboard properly, so the school band
can't perform, and we'll have to listen to music from CDs
instead."
"So you want me to burn the latest edition and produce a new
magazine, in which I inform my readers about that," Paul said.
EXERCISE 33
Complete the sentences in indirect speech!
1) Teacher: "Do your homework."
The teacher told me.
2)Paul: “Clean the new car."
Paul told me.
3) Diana: "Care for yourself."
Diana told me.
4) Mr Pomeroy: “Help Tom to find the toilet."
Mr Pomeroy told me.
"No, no," Eggbean gently warded him off. "I only thought, if
you didn't know, somebody might come to you asking ques-
tions, thinking what you write is not correct. I just wanted you
to know. "
Eggbean really wasn't very talkative, but somehow he was a
nice guy.
"You wanted me to know something 1 couldn't have known
before," Paul repeated, slowly giving up his aggressive expres-
sion.
67
"Because you, as an editor, are responsible for everything,
that's what I thought," said Eggbean.
Paul relaxed, bit by bit. Eggbean was indeed a nice guy.
At this moment, Tom left the school and saw the two talking
together.
"It's all right," Paul said, "thank you, Andrew."
Eggbean nodded, smiled and went to his bike, which was
chained to a lantern some distance away. He slowly searched for
the bicycle key in his pockets, found it at last, and started
fiddling around142 with the bicycle lock.
"Well," said Tom as he was passing Paul, "you're looking for
new friends, I suppose?"
"And you're bragging142 to girls about other people's news-
paper articles," Paul countered.
"Better than having such a freak as a friend," Tom retorted144
nastily.
"He can box and play the piano, whereas you have neither
strength nor culture," said Paul.
Eggbean was still trying to open the lock and obviously didn't
hear anything of the discussion.
"Idiot," Tom said in a rage.
"You're the idiot," said Paul, taking a large step forward in the
direction of Tom.
"And you're an idiot, four times over," Tom cried, taking a
step toward Paul.
They were now facing each other at close quarters.
"Only half as much as you are!" shouted Paul.
Tom gave Paul a violent push against his shoulder, Paul raised
his hand and gave Tom a sharp box on the ear. The next moment,
the two jumped at each other like tw o fighting cocks, throwing
142 to fiddle around: herumfummeln 143 to bragg: angeben 144 to retort: erwidern
68
each other to the ground, biting and boxing, and taking each
other by the throat.
Eggbean ran up to them, to try to separate them. But the two
could only be separated with the help of a teacher.
When the teacher started sermonizing*5, they both tried not
to listen. They avoided looking into each others' eyes. Each of
them regarded himself as physical and moral winner.
Paul stood there, staring into space; Tom stared into the play-
ground of the school.
EXERCISE 34
In each row you can find one regular verb. Find out which
one!
Example: say, lose, dance, sing - dance
Dfind, answer, lose, catch
2)	read, jump, feel, see
3)	listen, do, go, make
4)	take, bring, cut, follow
5)	cook, put, buy, try
6)	write, like, swim, cat
Quite in the background, at the other end of the playground,
Diana could be seen discussing with a slender, dark-haired man.
He was tall, had short hair, and was wearing a sports jacket. The
two were obviously quarrelling, too.
Suddenly the man gripped Diana by her arm and tried to pull
her into a red Ford that was parked near them. Diana resisted
145 to sermonize: predigen
69
v ehemently, but the man didn't release his hold of her and
succeeded at last in dragging146 her into his car.
The teacher had finished his sermon. Paul packed his
schoolbag and was going to leave. Eggbean was on his bike,
riding off.
"Diana," Tom said in a low voice, and then started running.
The engine of the red Ford started and the driver stepped on the
accelerator147.
Since Eggbean had started very slowly on his bike, Tom
quickly caught up with him. With one great leap146 forward, he
knocked him off, grabbed the bike and chased after the red Ford
on it. The car, of course, was faster, but had to stop on reaching
the next traffic lights.
Fggbean was standing in the schoolyard, staring at Tom and
unable to say a word.
Paul, too, was wondering about Tom's behaviour.
"What was that all about?" Eggbean asked confused.
Paul shrugged his shoulders.
The next moment Becky came up to him and Eggbean.
When Tom nearly had caught up with the red car, the traffic
lights changed to green and the car drove off again.
Tom pedalled hard. When he arrived at the traffic lights, the
Ford turned right into a road with heavy traffic. Tom pedalled
as fast as he could. As he turned into the same street he saw the
Ford stopping at another red light about 500 yards away. It was
a broad four-lane road and the traffic was quite dense144. Tom
started sweating.
When the lights turned green, the line of cars started moving
very slowly. Still, Tom on his bike was not fast enough to catch
up with the red Ford before it accelerated and drove off again.
146 to dragg: schleifen, ziehen 147 accelerator: Gaspedal 148 leap: Sprung 149 dense:
dicht
70
EXERCISE 35
Ersetze die Modalverben durch die richtige Ersatzform.
1.	Torn can cycle. He to cycle.
2.	Eggbean must get up early. He get up early.
3.	Tom may not take Eggbeans bike. Tom take Eggbeans bike.
4.	Diana needs to do her homework. She to do her homework.
5.	Eggbean ought to win the fight. He win the fight.
6.	Should Diana go to the school party with Tom? She go
to the school party with him?
Thank God the traffic was heavy and the cars could not move
fast. Tom saw another traffic light at some distance. Another
chance to catch up with the car in which Diana was trapped.
'If only the red traffic light sequence remained long enough',
Tom thought.
Some motorcycles and scooters passed him and moved fast
between the queues. Was there any way to stop the car at all?
Tom asked himself. If he could catch up with it, no matter how,
he might try to block the road with his bike. But would the car
stop? Would a kidnapper let himself be stopped by a schoolboy?
It was risky in any case. In all that traffic, with all those people,
the kidnapper could not really dare to knock Tom over just like
that. Perhaps Tom would be lucky and able to catch the Ford
while it was stopped at a red light. In that case, he could open
the car door in order to pull out Diana.
The lights turned green and the vehicles started moving
again. There were only three cars left between Tom and the red
Ford. All of a sudden, the kidnapper indicated, moved to the
71
right-hand turn-off lane and stepped on the accelerator.
The traffic moved faster. The distance between him and Tom
increased150. There was no chance at all for Tom.
'The licence-plate!'151 it suddenly flashed through his mind. 'I
must try to remember the number plate.'
At first, he could not see it because the other vehicles
obstructed his view. But when traffic grew faster and distances
between vehicles increased, Tom could see it again. He memo-
rized the letters and numbers: JJD473D.
He pedalled more slowly, he ran quite out of breath and sweat
was running down his forehead and back. The red Ford in the
distance was hardly visible any more.
'And what if the kidnapper had stolen the car? The number
plate wouldn't be of any use then.' Tom was desperate. He
would have to call the police at once. He turned his bike into a
street with a lot of shops in it.
'There must be a telephone box somewhere here,' he thought.
There were fashion shops, and small and big department
stores. Passers-by152 were pressing their way in and out. Tom
increased speed again. No telephone box as far as the eye could
see. Most of them had been demolished151, because most people
now owned a mobile phone. Not so Tom.
Some car drivers started hooting. One of them even scolded154
Tom. It was only then that he noticed he was going against the
oncoming traffic. He reduced speed, rode over close to the pave-
ment, and began to have a closer look at the passers-by from
there. He would have to talk to one of them, requesting him to
call the police with his mobile phone.
Not far away from a crossroads, Tom stopped at last and
addressed a young man.
150 to increase: ansteigen, anwachsen 151 licence plate: Autokennzeichen 152 passerby:
Passant 153 to demolish: abbauen 154 to scold: schimpfen
72
EXERCISE 36
Compare the adjectives!
Example: new - newer - newest
1)	young.
2)	helpful.
3)	nice.
4)	bad.
5)	difficult.
"Excuse me, could you help me, please?" he called.
The young man cast a quick glance at Tom, with a look of
unwillingness and hesitation.
"I've got to ..." Tom began to speak, but stopped in the middle
of the sentence, because at the crossroads, right in front of him,
the red Ford appeared. It had driven out of a narrow road and
had come to a halt. There was no doubt, Diana was sitting on the
back seat. There was no sign of resistance to the kidnapper. She
had obviously surrendered. Who knows what threats he had
uttered145 against her?
Tom jumped onto his pedals. At this moment, the traffic
lights changed to green, and the Ford drove off, Tom riding
behind it.
The kidnapper had obviously gone the long way around the
shopping centre, whereas Tom had simply used the one-way
road in the wrong direction, shortening his way by taking this
forbidden short cut.
The race went on.
155 to utter: auBern
73
The Ford couldn't go fast because of the dense traffic, so Tom
was able to follow it at a distance of about fifty yards. The idea
crossed his mind to shout out Diana's name, but it wouldn't
have been of any use. If the worst came to the worst, the
kidnapper would have stepped on the accelerator and would
have jumped the lights.
There was still a chance for Tom to approach1'6 the car unno-
ticed, but then the street became broader, with three lines of
traffic in both directions. The cars moved faster again, so there
was no chance for Tom to continue his pursuit any longer and
had to resign himself to the Ford driving away at high speed.
At this moment, a small lorry with an open loading platform
turned into the broad street, just behind Tom. It accelerated157
EXERCISE 37
Use the past progressive!
Example:__he a book? (to read) - Was he reading a book?
1)	Paul out a book? (to take)
2)	Tom at the garage? (to work)
3)the friends home from the museum? (to come)
4)	Tom and Paul her friend? (to phone)
5)	the thieves the windows? (to break)
6)	Eggbean his bike? (to paint)
slowly, driving closely past Tom. Without thinking twice, Tom
got hold of the side of the loading platform and let himself be
pulled along by the lorry.
156 to approach: nahern 157 to accelerate: beschleunigen
74
As it increased speed, the distance to the Ford decreased. Tom's
bicycle began to rattle. It was not easy for him to steer with one
hand, and to hold onto the platform with the other hand.
After some hundred yards, the Ford had to stop again. The
lane had narrowed because of road works. Traffic was diverted,
and a long line of cars had formed - a good chance again for Tom
to make it to the Ford. The lorry moved towards the end of the
traffic jam, and Tom thought of letting go his hold and then
trying to pass his way through the car lines, up to the Ford.
The lorry braked hard. Tom couldn't hold on to it and raced
on at high speed, right into the tightly packed car line. He found
a way between them, at the same time trying not to brake too
abruptly in order to avoid going head over heels. But he was
simply still too fast. He shot past the red Ford like an arrow, and
that was the moment at last, when Diana caught sight of him.
She couldn't believe, of course, that it was Tom who was racing
past her in the direction of the road works, at the same time crying
like a madman. In his desperation, Tom was trying to hold firmly
onto his bike. The handlebar158 started shaking in his hands.
'Brake, brake!' flashed into his mind.
Then, with a jerk, he stopped. At the same time, an absolute
lightness came over him. He couldn't feel saddle and pedals any
more, but he bravely clung to the handlebars. And then, the next
moment, he crashed with his bike against something hard, the
roadblock. The handlebars were torn out of his hands, and he
saw his bike jump into the air and then rebound from the road-
block. Tom, separated from the bicycle, was thrown over the
roadblock, turning round in the air.
'Something soft, please!' flashed through his mind, and then
he crashed to the ground.
158 handlebar: Lenkstange
Cool Dresses and Flying Fists
It looked as if his head had been separated from his body. His
.inns were stretched into the air, twitching to his left and his right.
EXERCISE 38
Put the following words into the blanks: something,
someone, somewhere or anything, anyone, anywhere.
Example: 1 need to eat. -
I need something to eat.
1)	She has got in her eye.
2)	Can I have to drink?
3)	We haven't heard about Paul. Is he ill?
4)	Do you live near the museum?
5)	Has seen my purse?
An unintelligible'59 groaning sounded dully within him.
"Better the other one, I think," Paul said. He couldn't help
grinning.
Eggbean gave up. He desperately tried to take off the T-Shirt
that he had just been trying to put on. He hadn't been able to put
his head through the neck opening. His arms looked like they
were stuck together. 159
159 unintelligible: unverstandlich
76
"Wait a moment/' said Paul, and started tugging1611 at the short
sleeve of the T-Shirt.
Eggbean and Paul had met while Eggbean was strolling
through various fashion shops in the town. First Paul had just
greeted Eggbean and was about to walk on. But Eggbean had
started talking to him about Tom, asking what was the matter
with him. And what about the brawl160 161 in the schoolyard?
"I've no notion of what came over him," Paul said, somehow
embittered. "He's been behaving like an idiot lately. That's why
we aren't friends any more."
"That's a pity," Eggbean said. "It was obvious that you were
very close friends."
"Please don't talk about it," Paul said, and Eggbean shut up.
They walked a little while together, and Paul was glad that he
was not alone after the brawl with Tom. Then Eggbean told him
that he was looking for some new fashionable clothes.
Paul said that he was an expert in fashion, and that he would
be glad to help him.
In one go, Paul got Eggbean out of his T-Shirt.
"Hadn't you better take a bigger size?" Paul asked.
"You think so?" asked Eggbean, feeling uncertain162. But he
was glad that Paul would support him in buying fashionable
new things by giving his advice.
"Why do you insist on wearing such close-fitting and sexy T-
Shirts? Aren't there also other kinds of good-looking clothes?"
Paul asked.
"'Girls like muscles', that's what a buddy163 of mine said to me
when we were boxing. 'And your muscles are worth showing',
that's what he said."
160 to tugg at sb.’s sleeve: jmd. am Armel zupfen 161 brawl: Schlagerei, Rauferei
162 uncertain: unsicher 163 buddy: Kumpel
77
“But muscles aren't everything in this world," Paul said. "I
think one simply has to behave in a cool and natural way, that's
what counts."
EXERCISE 39
Translate the "phrasal verbs"!
Vein Buch suchen_____________________
2)	das Licht ausschalten
3)die Jacke ausziehen__________________
4)	den Radiergummi wegwerfen
5)	das Fernsehen leiser stellen
"You think so?" Eggbean asked, feeling not so certain about that.
"You already have enough cool clothes and don't need any
new ones," Paul said. "Come on, let's have a Cola!"
They left the fashion shop and walked along the street for a
while.
Eggbean is a somewhat odd fellow, Paul thought to himself,
but, all in all, quite nice and decent.
An emergency vehicle sounding a loud siren was passing by
them at high speed. Not far away, in front of some road
works1'’4, a long line of cars had formed, obviously because of
an accident.
The ambulance had great problem in getting through the
traffic jam to the scene of the accident. A lot of people were
staring at it. Paul wasn't interested.
"Come on," he said, after he had discovered a snack counter.
164 road works: StraBenbauarbeiten
78
They had a Cola, and kept silent for a while. It felt good to be
silent with Eggbean as he only spoke of what was just going
through his mind, and since he wasn't a great thinker, he didn't
speak very much at all.
EXERCISE 40
Chose the correct relative pronoun:
where, which, who, whose, why
1.	Mr Jackson is the man is sitting in the press office.
2.	Leonardo di Bruno is the artist most famous work is
Maria Luigi.
3.	Tom does not like the T-Shirts Eggbean chose.
4.	Do you remember they parked the car?
5.	Paul cannot understand the reason lorn had
kidnapped Eggbean's bike.
Paul and Eggbean continued their silence, drinking their Colas.
After some time, they again heard the siren of the emergency
ambulance, which was obviously on its way to the hospital with
the accident victim.
"What about you," Paul suddenly asked. "Have you got a new
girlfriend, or why are you so keen on buying sexy-looking clothes?"
Eggbean felt embarrassed.
"There's a girl in our class 1 like very much," he said, a bit
bashfully, "but 1 don't know how to approach her."
"Well, just go up to her and ask her if she would like to go with
you to the school party - an ideal occasion165."
165 an ideal occasion: eine ideale Gelegenheit
79
Paul was quite sure that Diana was meant. After his fight with
Tom, he was ready to help Eggbean to win Diana. Simply in
order to get back at Tom, good and proper.
Eggbean and Paul were drinking their Colas, looking outside,
watching the traffic in the street. They remained silent for a
while, then set off on their way home.
They walked along one of the busy streets, then turned into a
narrow lane, thus taking a short cut to the Tube.
Suddenly Eggbean gripped Paul's arm and pressed it so vehe-
mently that Paul cried out with pain.
"Do you want to break my arm?" Paul snarled166 at him.
Eggbean, however, was staring, as if in a state of hypnosis, at
the entrance to a restaurant, slowly letting go his grip on Paul's
arm. Paul rubbed it, his face contorted with pain.
"Over there, look!" Eggbean stammered167.
"Would you please tell me..." Paul said angrily.
"There, look!" Eggbean repeated, beside himself with excite-
ment and staring all the time at the restaurant.
"'The Hammer'!" Eggbean said excitedly.
Paul had no doubt that Eggbean was going mad.
"Come on," Eggbean said, dragging Paul to the restaurant.
'People who are mad, shouldn't be contradicted,' thought
Paul, 'especially not when they are one head taller or two yards
broader than you.'
Eggbean stopped in front of the entrance to the restaurant
'The Sicilian'.
"There," he said again, pointing inside. "Antonio Balboa, called
Tony 'the Hammer'."
He pointed at a man, bigger and broader than a wardrobe168.
His hands were as big as car wheels, his face had a grim look.
166 to snarl: knurren 167 to stammer: stottern 168 wardrobe: Kleiderschrank
80
EXERCISE 41
What's the opposite of "to push"?
to tow
to lift
to pull
to send
"He won the heavyweight boxing world championship four
times," Eggbean said, going into raptures”’9. "I've got all his
fights on DVD. A pity he finished his career five years ago. I
think he's the greatest boxer the world ever saw, next to
Mohamed Ali and Max Schmeling. I've given plenty of time and
attention to learning and studying his technique. He was a
typical 'Pressure Fighter' like Jake LaMotta or Marcel Cerdan.
He was never knocked out, and after each victory he used to
hoist the Italian flag and sing the Italian national anthem. A lot
of the money he won for his prize fights was donated170 to
charity. He's a real hero, he has..."
"Okay, okay," Paul interrupted him, "and now he's hungry and
would like to eat a tasty Italian pizza in a real Italian restaurant."
"I would give anything for his autograph," Eggbean said
suspiringly’71.
"You'd really like it!" Paul said smiling.
"Yes," Eggbean answered.
"Let's go!" Paul said.
Eggbean looked at Paul confused, and then, looking through
the window in the direction of the boxer again, he asked Paul:
169 go into raptures: ins Schwarmen geraten 170 to donate: schenken, spenden
171 to suspire: seufzen
81
“Do you really think he's hungry?"
“Of course," Paul retorted, "why else should someone go into
a restaurant?"
Paul saw how what he had said was churning around in
Eggbean's head, how much time he needed to think before he
said: "Do you think I might ask him for an autograph?"
"Sure!" said Paul.
Eggbean hesitated before entering the restaurant, and Paul
had to push him in.
The former boxing champion Tony 'the Hammer', stood
leaning on the counter, his fists clenched172. He looked quite
angry, perhaps not the right moment to ask for an autograph.
At that moment, a dark-haired man walked up to Tony, grin-
ning all over his face.
He was medium-sized, had two golden teeth and a big scar173
on his left cheek.
"Tony, my friend," called the man, going up to him and
embracing him. It looked as if he were trying to pull himself up
to a sequoia tree174, as Tony didn't move, standing quite motion-
less.
"Giovanni," the man with the scar called in a loud voice, after
he had released his hold on the boxer.
"Why didn't you bring something to drink for my friend
Tony? Come on, what are you waiting for? And bring him a
plate of pasta with pesto!"
Giovanni, the waiter, jumped up right away to serve Tony.
The man with the scar turned towards Tony.
"The pesto was delivered this morning, quite fresh. My uncle
makes it himself in Sicily, my home country. He produces the
best pestos of all. But why don't we sit down?"
172 clenched: geballt 173 scar: Narbe 174 sequoia tree: Mammutbaum
82
EXERCISE 42
Find the correct translation for the following expressions!
1)	Congratulations!.
2)	Never mind!!
3)He doesn't care..
4)	Cheer up!!
He offered Tony a chair. Tony moved his big body to seat
himself on the chair, with his fists still clenched. His angry face
looked as if it was carved from stone1715.
"What can I do for you?" the scar asked with a smile, his
golden teeth flashing. "You don't look happy."
"Where is she?" Tony asked abruptly.
One could hear the rage seething in him.
"Oh, that's why you are here," the scar laughed.
"She's all right. She's being looked after and taken care of like
my own daughter. You needn't worry. She's supposed to arrive
at the Mediterranean this very moment, and tomorrow she'll see
the Italian coast."
At that moment, a man with a bent nose and a diagonal mouth
saw Paul and Eggbean standing at the entrance. He was sitting
on a chair near the door. Now he stood up and came over to
them.
"What do you want?" he asked gruffly.
Eggbean, in his bewilderment176, looked to and fro177 between
the man with the bent nose and Tony 'the Hammer'. The pres-
ence of the great boxer put him into a kind of trance.
175 carved from stone: aus Stein gehauen 176 bewilderment: Verwirrung 177 to and fro:
hin und her
83
"I want to speak to Tony The Hammer"," he said at last.
"Don't know him," the man said in an angry tone.
"But he's sitting there," said Eggbean, smiling as if awakened
from a dream.
"No, he's not. Hop it!"
At that moment, Paul saw something blinking inside
the man's jacket. It was something metal. Paul got the impres-
sion more and more that the restaurant was possibly a meet-
ing place of the Mafia. There were no other guests besides
them.
"Sorry," Paul said. "I think we were mistaken. We didn't want
to disturb you."
Then Paul grabbed Eggbean's arm and pulled him out of the
restaurant.
"Damn, what are you doing," Eggbean asked confused as
they were standing outside. "Tony 'the Hammer", one of the
most famous boxing champions, is sitting right in front of me
and you pull me out of the room."
"But there was that man, who said 'No passage'," replied
Paul.
"But Tony 'the Hammer' was there," Eggbean said.
"But that man was not very kind and he had something in his
jacket," Paul said.
"1 don't care about his jacket," Eggbean answered.
"But it could have been a knife or a pistol," Paul said.
"But Tony 'the Hammer' was there," Eggbean repeated.
"Haven't you heard? We've no chance of getting through to
him. Maybe it's because he is a star, or it's the Mafia, or I don't
know what."
84
EXERCISE 43
Put the adverb in the right position.
Example: Paul writes for the school magazine, (regularly) - Paul
regularly writes for the school magazine.
l)Tom is very friendly (usually)
2)	Mr Pomeroy is worried about his new car. (sometimes)
3)	The weather is bad tn November, (often)
4)	It rains in Italy, (seldom)
“Paul," Eggbean said, "you are my friend, you have to help me. Be-
hind these walls..." Eggbean was pointing at the restaurant,"... the
great one and only Tony 'the Hammer' is sitting. I will never in my
life get a chance to see him again and ask him for an autograph."
Paul shook his head desperately. Then he looked through the
window into the restaurant again. The man with the bent nose
and the diagonal mouth was gone. Paul looked at Eggbean
again. 'It is senseless,' he thought, 'Eggbean is a fanatic.'
"Okay," Paul said. "Let's try again. But this time we'll do it my
way. That means I'll speak and you'll be quite."
So they again went into the restaurant. The waiter was coming
out of the kitchen. Paul stopped and looked around, pretending
to be looking for a nice place to sit.
85
"What you want?" the waiter said unkindly in a bad Italian
accent.
"We have just come from school and are hungry," said Paul.
"Can we have two pizzas with ham?"
"But I'm not hungry," Eggbean said to Paul.
Paul hissed at him.
"Giovanni," the man with the scar called, "bring us another
bottle of wine."
"Okay, boss," the waiter answered and looked at Paul and
Eggbean again.
Fortunately, the waiter hadn't heard what Eggbean had said.
Now he turned around again and looked Paul up and down
sceptically.
"So, kid, what you want?" he asked again with his broken
English.
"Two pizzas with ham and two Colas, please," Paul repeated
and glanced at Eggbean, but he kept quiet.
Then the waiter turned back and called: "Giuseppe, due pizze
prosciutto. Pronto, for these dwarfs here."
He said dwarfs, although Eggbean was at least his size.
Paul and Eggbean took their seats at the table next to that of
Tony 'the Hammer' and the scarred man.
"She's going back to Italy, have you got that straight, Eddy?"
they heard Tony say underlining his words with a light tap on
the table, which made things wobble on it.
"Si, si," answered Eddy, the man with the scar. "Things are
going as agreed."
"Then why are people saying that you took her long ago to that
insidious Billy Boker, the man who sells anything and anyone?"
asked Tony, clenching his fists so vehemently that they grew hot.
86
EXERCISE 44
Decide whether the sentence is in the active voice or the
passive voice!
1)	They watch a film. (AV/PV)
2)	Diana is reading the newspaper. (AV/PV)
3)	These cars are produced in Japan. (AV/PV)
4)	Mr Pomeroy teaches art. (AV/PV)
5)	German is spoken m Switzerland. (AV/PV)
6)	Lots of houses were destroyed in World War II. (AV/PV)
"I took nothing and nobody to Billy Boker, the man who sells
anything and anybody," Eddy said, with a tone of indignation178
in his voice. "Don't you trust me?"
"Scarface Eddy can't be trusted by anybody. That's what
people told me."
"What do you believe more, all the gossip you hear, or rather
what I say?" Scarface Eddy complained, hanging his head,
unhappy.
Tony was silent.
"I can't believe that you have such a poor opinion of me,"
Eddy said in a low voice. "We are both Italians. You are like a
son to me. You came to me, asking me to help you."
He paused for a moment, then went on: "All because of her.
It was your wish to take her back to Italy. Your wish is my
command. What could be more important for me than the wish
of my son to take his love back to her mother country? Her
mother country, our mother country. For Italy, you said, and for
178 indignation: Emporung
87
her. So that she will be back in her native country, from which
she had been looted and kidnapped. And to do all to restore her
honour. And I helped you, because 1 love you, my son. And
because I love Italy, our beautiful native country, so far away
from here!"
Scarface Eddy began to sob179, with tears rolling down his
cheeks. The same also happened to the waiter.
Tony's fists began to relax, as did his grim face. There was a
deep silence for a while, only the noise of the traffic drifted in
from the street. Some pans were clattering in the kitchen. All the
people in the room lowered their heads. Scarface Eddy put his
hand on his heart and closed his eyes.
"Can I have an autograph?" Eggbean suddenly burst into the
silence.
Everyone stared at Eggbean who blew his nose and quickly
pulled a pen and a piece of paper out of his pocket, and held
them out to Tony.
"1 think you're the greatest boxer of all time, Mr Hammer,"
Eggbean added to his request, his hand with the pen and slip of
paper trembling with excitement.
"An autograph? Of course," said Tony, feeling flattered181’, and
wrote his name on the paper.
He seemed to awaken to his surroundings as if out of
hypnosis, and cast a grim glance at Eddy.
"You only want to lull me," he said as he flared up into a rage.
"You are a liar, a cheat. You wouldn't lift a finger for our Italy.
Only for money."
Tony jumped up, grabbed the table in front of him and
knocked it over with a short and vehement blow of his fists.
179 to sob: schluchzen 180 to flatter: schmeicheln
88
EXERCISE 45
Put the word in brackets into the infinitive form or the
gerund!
Example: They go on (read) the book. - They go on reading the book.
1)1 can't imagine Peter(go) by bike.
2)	He agreed(buy) a new house.
3)	The question is easy(answer).
4)	The woman asked me how(get) to the museum.
5)	I look forward to(see) my parents tomorrow.
6)	Are you thinking of(go) to London?
"Tony, that's going too far!" Eddy cried angrily, now without
the trace of a tear in his face. "I always supported you as much
as was possible for me, but now it'll do. It's enough! Giovanni!"
Scarface Eddy cast a short glance in the direction of his waiter,
pointing at Tony at the same time.
In no time at all, Giovanni threw down his apron181 and
jumped into a karate position, uttering a cat-like cry while spin-
ning around with a rapid circular motion, revolving around
himself on his forefoot, pushing his other foot forward, and
hitting Tony on his shoulder.
Tony was more surprised than seriously struck. He seemed to
be surprised at Giovanni's gestures, like a tiger confronted with
the 'roar' of a squirrel182. Giovanni skilfully avoided being hit.
Eddy, seeking safety in flight, jumped behind the counter. Paul
and Eggbean holed up in a corner.
181 apron: Schurze 182 squirrel: Eichhornchen
89
Giovanni was hitting Tony with his karate tricks, over and
over again. However, these blows didn't seem to bother Tony.
He stood quietly on the spot with his fists raised, now and then
parrying183 blows and kicks against his head. But suddenly, after
Giovanni had given him a kick in his side following a great leap
forward, Tony's fits came rushing out and hit Giovanni right in
his face. The waiter began to waver, with his arms hanging
limply at the side of his body, and then tipped over, as stiff as a
board. Scarface Eddy became scared.
"Marcello, Cesare, Gaetano, Francesco, Rudolfo, Angelo,
Tlacido, Domingo, Lurchi, Stefano, Stupido!" Scarface Eddy
cried back into the kitchen.
Within a moment, a pride of men wearing black suits and
sunglasses came storming out of the kitchen, some of them with
bits of pizza still in their mouths, or spaghetti with tomato sauce
on their chins.
They formed a circle around Tony and then threw themselves
upon him. One of them, on whose chin Tony planted a punch,
bounced backward and lay motionless. Another one received a
blow to his belly, doubled up with pain and fell down like a wet
sack. A third one got a punch on his nose, which started to bleed,
looking badly crushed.
But Tony, however hard he sent out his blows, seemed to be
lost when confronted by so many opponents, who were holding
on to his arms and legs tightly, kicking him in his shins184 or
biting him in his ear.
At that moment, one of the attackers, hit by a heavy blow,
crashed into the corner where Paul and Eggbean were hiding,
jumped back up immediately, reeled like a drunkard for a few
seconds, then found his orientation again and shook himself
183 to parry: abwehren 184 shin: Schienbein
90
convulsively185 like a wet dog. Before rushing at Tony once more,
he seized a heavy glass ashtray with which he was about to hit
Tony over the head.
At the same moment, Eggbean jumped up, gripped the
Mafioso by his arm, and struck him with such a blow - called a
"jab" in boxers' jargon - that first the ashtray, and then the
attacker dropped down.
Encouraged186 by the success of his blow, Eggbean threw
himself onto the cluster of arms and legs around Tony. Paul
jumped up to try to hold him back from such a rash action, but
in vain187.
Things now moved very fast. Fists were striking in all direc-
tions, and the Mafiosi were whirling around Tony, Paul and
Eggbean. Suddenly one of the fists hit Paul's chin, right at the
most sensitive point. At first, Paul felt a strange urge to laugh,
then everything went black.
EXERCISE 46
Translation. Find the English expressions in this
chapter for:
Sicherheit, hochheben, Schmerz, sofort, Sprung
185 convulsive: krampfhaft 186 encouraged: angespornt, ermutigt 187 vain: vergeblich,
umsonst
The Bloodthirsty Monster
Гот felt an unpleasant itching188 in his right toe when he came
round again, regaining consciousness. Everything around him
was white. The lamp glaring from the ceiling was very bright
and dazzled189 him. Tom felt a sharp pain in his side when he
tried to sit up to scratch his toe. He was hardly able to raise his
left arm, and his head was aching. Feeling faint190 and exhausted,
Tom lay in his bed and tried to remember how he had got there.
But he could only recollect pursuing the kidnapper and
suddenly falling off the bike. Someone must have called an
ambulance, and now he was here in hospital.
A big bandage was wound around his head like a turban, and
his arm, too, was bandaged. But his toe seemed not to care about
all this and kept on itching.
Tom rubbed his toes together, thus finding some relief.
What had happened to Diana? Had she seen him? How could
he now find the kidnapper? Perhaps with the help of the number
plate? But what was the car's number? IDJ? JKL? JBM I... ?
He had forgotten to note it down. But could he possibly had
done so during the chase on his bike?
His toe was itching again, this nuisance of an itch almost
drove him to desperation. He could hardly move.
Suddenly, there was a humming noise around his ears, a well-
known, typical buzz. It disappeared for a while, then returned,
spinning shortly round his head, and then landed on the side of
his white bedside table.
188 itching: Juckreiz 189 to dazzle: blenden 190 faint: schwach
92
Tom tried to turn his head, but in vain. Only then was he
aware that he was wearing a toby collar’41 round his neck. He
was seized with cramp191 192 when he tried to squint143 at the bedside
locker out of the corner of his eye. The buzz came from a gnat144,
which had probably bitten his big toe. Such a toe doesn't have
much blood in it, it's nothing but skin and bones. No, such a toe
doesn't feed you.
The way in which the bloodthirsty monster was lying in wait
on the bedside locker showed beyond doubt that it was still
hungry. Tom even imagined it was grinning at him.
"You're a big haul195," it seemed to say. "Your toe was just a
starter, an hors d'oeuvre196. Why don't you try to catch me, if you
can?"
It seemed to laugh at him.
A moment later, it took off and began to circle over Tom's
bed like a bird of prey197. He followed it with his eyes. First it
landed on the ceiling, took off again and came spinning down
towards Tom. It flew close to Tom's face, circling there for a
while.
Tom heard voices near the door to his room, perhaps a doctor
or nurse who wanted to see him.
The gnat came lower again.
Somebody pressed the door handle, but stayed outside in
front of the door, talking. A female voice.
The gnat buzzed over Tom's face and landed on his nose.
"You'll be sorry if you bite!" Tom hissed at the merciless
animal.
It seemed that nothing could put it off. Tom carefully tried to
wag his head from side to side. But it was impossible to move
his head quickly with the toby collar round his neck.
191 toby collar: Halskrause 192 cramp: Krampf 193 to squint: blinzeln, schielen 194 gnat:
Mucke 195 haul: Beute 196 hors d’oeuvre: (frz.) Vorspeise 197 bird of prey: Raubvogel
93
For a moment, it seemed to Tom as if he and the gnat were
looking straight into each other's eyes, like two duellists. And
then Tom felt a sharp pain, the cruel insect had bitten him.
Tom cried out. "Get out of here, you swine!"
At that very moment, the nurse entered the room. She looked
at him, quite angrily. Tom first stared at her, then fixed his gaze
on his nose. The gnat had gone, and Tom tried to smile apolo-
getically But with the turban on his sore head and the toby collar
round his neck, he could only manage an idiotic grin.
To be quite honest, the nurse had looked kind at first, with a
friendly smile on her face. But after Tom's sudden outcry, he had
fallen into disgrace198, and her anger showed in her face.
"I'm sorry," Tom stammered. "I mean ... I didn't mean ...!"
Without so much as a smile and without a word, she violently
stuck a needle into his forearm in order to take a blood sample.
Tom again cried out in great pain. Then the nurse left the room.
Above Tom's head, the gnat was watching him from the
ceiling, and he was not sure whether it was looking greedily in
his direction, or enviously and jealously watching the nurse's
departure.
198 fallen into disgrace: in Ungnade fallen
"What Are You up to?"
About two hours before, another patient had been admitted to
the hospital. He had lost consciousness and lay, apparently
neglected, in the corridor of the hospital. It was Paul. He had, of
course, been examined, and the doctor had found out that with
the exception of a slight bruise, a bleeding nose and a black eye,
he was not seriously hurt.
"There is a suspicion of a slight concussion194," the doctor had
said, and then asked a nurse to take him to one of the hospital's
rooms and keep him under observation. But then they had gone
away, leaving Paul still waiting in the corridor, as the nurse
hadn't found a room for Paul, or had perhaps forgotten him.
After a while, he regained consciousness. He felt a slight
headache, and when he had a closer look at himself he discov-
ered a huge and absolutely ugly and idiotic looking bandage on
his nose.
'What am I doing here in the corridor?' Paul thought, getting
a fright.
'Have they given up on me? Look here, I'm still alive,' he
wanted to cry, 'I'm all right!'
But there was nothing but a croaking199 200 voice came out of his
throat.
Paul firmly believed that he had landed in a horror film, and
terrible things could happen to him at any moment. He was
overcome by panic201.
'Run away,' he suddenly thought, 'I must flee from here. But
199 concussion: Gehirnerschutterung 200 croaking: krachzend 201 overcome by panic: in
Panik geraten
95
I must be careful, possibly somebody has been ordered to keep
me under close guard, and to get free I'll have to steal my way
past him.'
By a supreme effort, Paul rolled out of his bed. Some move-
ments caused him great pain.
But it was not a guard that stopped him, but a young, pretty
nurse, looking somewhat irritated to come across him in the
corridor. Paul, too, was bewildered and didn't know what to say.
When the nurse began to call him to account, demanding an
explanation, she did so in a tone that had a calming effect on
him.
A moment later, she put him back into his bed and pushed
him into another part of the building, into a room already occu-
pied by another patient.
Tom had almost fallen asleep again, when the door of his room
opened and a nurse came in, pushing a bed with a patient in it.
Because of the tight toby collar Tom wasn't able to turn his
head around to have a closer look at the new patient, who was
probably asleep, since he didn't speak a word. After a while,
Tom also fell asleep.
He woke up again when the nurse brought in lunch. The
other patient was awake, too.
The nurse helped Tom sit up for his meal, although she didn't
speak a word.
Tom realized that she was still annoyed with him. The other
patient was helped by her much more careful and with encour-
aging words. When she had gone, the two sat facing each other:
Tom and Paul! They stared at each other, speechless with
surprise. Then they began to eat, trying to ignore the presence
96
of the person opposite, at the same time burning with curiosity.
They both would have liked to know what had happened to the
other, why he had been taken to hospital.
Suddenly there was a slight knock at the door. Paul and Tom
ignored it at first. But when a second knock followed, then a
third, and more, they called in unison:
"Come in!"
Eggbean entered the sickroom, timidly21’2 and soft-footed. When
Tom caught sight of him, he pulled a face, showing his bad temper.
'He's the last person I want to see now," he grumbled.
Eggbean, taken aback21’1, looked at Tom. He hadn't expected
to find him here.
For a moment, Eggbean thought about his bike. Tom was
visibly annoyed and, in his bed, he turned away from Eggbean.
EXERCISE 47
Find another word for "nastiness"!
1)	grace
2)	dreadfulness
3)	drowsiness
4)	virtue
5)	furtiveness
6)	lousiness
'Perhaps it's better not to ask about my bike,' Eggbean thought.
'Poor boy,' he thought, 'he has probably had a bad accident -
with my bike. Poor bike.' 202
202 timidly: angstlich, furchtsam 203 to be taken aback: uberrascht, sprachlos sein
97
Eggbean stood helplessly in the middle of the room and
didn't know what to do. But after a short while, he didn't care
about the awkward204 situation any more and moved over to
Paul's bed.
Paul was a little surprised, but also happy about the unex-
pected visitor.
“Are you okay?" Eggbean asked looking at Paul's bandages.
"It seems so," Paul answered with a smile. "How about you?"
"Oh, I'm fine," Eggbean replied.
Paul saw no signs of the fight at the restaurant on Eggbeans
face. No bloody nose, no swollen lips, not even the slightest
scratch.
At that moment, the nurse came in.
"Good afternoon," she said kindly2"5. "Everything okay with
you, Paul?" she asked.
"Yes, yes," he answered. "But I have a question. Is it possible
to get the newspapers here."
"Of course," the nurse answered. "I'll bring you one tomor-
row morning. Is it okay?"
"Yes, of course. Thank you very much," Paul said, and he
thought 'she is really nice.'
The nurse went to Tom's bed.
"Medical examination," she said to Tom.
And without another word of explanation she loosened the
brakes of his bed and pushed it skilfully out of the room.
"Did he have a bad accident," Eggbean asked after the door
closed and Tom and the nurse were gone.
"Obviously," Paul answered.
"With my bike?"
"I guess so!"
204 awkward: unangenehm, peinlich 205 kindly: freundlich
98
"Do you know what my bike look like, or where it is?"
Eggbean asked.
"Sorry, but I don't know."
"Did you talk to him?"
"No," said Paul briefly. "We don't talk to each other. We aren't
friends anymore."
"What a pity!"
"We already had this topic," Paul said, "let's change to another.
What happened in the restaurant after they knocked me out?"
"We had a hard fight," Eggbean started to explain. "We
knocked down a lot of the Mafiosi, but they were really to many
of them. I remember that Scarface Eddy hid behind the counter
the whole time."
"Did you win?" Paul asked.
"Well, chairs, bottles, fists, teeth and Mafiosi flew through the
air and I was punched in my stomach a few times. Tony is an
excellent fighter. I know that from the fights I have watched on
TV. Tony is a real Hammer. His style is to close in on an oppo-
nent and overwhelm2'16 him with an intense flurry of hooks and
uppercuts206 207. And now I've seen him in action, live. Tony's very
agile on his feet, which made it nearly impossible for the Mafiosi
to dodge his blows™."
"So you dealt out a lot of blows, I guess," Paul said.
"You're right. And I'm sure we would have won, if the police
had not come."
"The police?"
"Yes," Eggbean said. "I think a neighbour called them.
Suddenly thirty or more police officers wearing helmets came
into the restaurant. Some of the Mafiosi, who were still able to
move quickly, fled. But most of them, including Scarface Eddy,
206 to overwhelm uberwaltigen 207 hooks and uppercuts: Seitwarts- und Aufwartshaken
208 to doge a blow: einem Schlag ausweichen
99
were arrested by the police. Unfortunately Tony and I were also
arrested."
Eggbean was very proud as he said 'Tony and Г.
"But you're here, now," Paul said. "That means they let you go."
"Yes," Eggbean said. "Of course, we were interrogated by the
police first, Tony and I. The police thought that we were from
another gang of Mafiosi involved in a quarrel with Scarface
Eddy's gang. Tony didn't reveal why that brawl at the restau-
rant took place."
"Did he say anything to you about why he started that quarrel
with Eddy?"
"No, but I didn't ask him."
"Okay, and what happened then?" Paul asked.
"Some of the Mafiosi were arrested, because they were
already wanted by the police. But the police had to let most of
them go again."
"And Scarface Eddy?"
"Scarface Eddy is well-known to the police. He knew most of
the officers by name."
"Did they arrest him, too?"
"No," Eggbean said. "They didn't have anything against him.
But they said that they would be very happy if they could put
him behind bars209."
"And they let Tony go, too?" Paul asked.
"Yes," Eggbean said. "Tony and I have become good friends
in the prison cell. He has promised me to give me a few lessons
in boxing - free of charge, of course."
After a while, Paul began to think about 'Maria Luigi'. Maybe
it had now been returned to the National Gallery as the Press
Officer and the photograph had said.
209 to put behind bars: einsperren, hinter Gitter bringen
100
So he asked Eggbean to go to the museum to find out if the
painting was back in its place again.
In the afternoon, when Eggbean had already left and Tom was back
form the medical examination, Tom and Paul's parents arrived.
"How could this happen? Is it very bad?" Tom's mother asked
him in a kind of emotional shock.
'No, it's not bad, I'm just here for the fun of it,' Tom was about
to answer as the situation seemed to him to be beyond
endurance, but he pulled himself together and only said:
"Everything's all right, Mom."
And then Paul's mother:
"What got into you?" she demanded. "How did you get into
a brawl?"
Paul, his nerves on edge, remained silent and only rolled his
eyes.
"You were quite right, son!" said Paul's father. "Never
surrender210!"
Tom's father: "Next time you pinch2" a bike, first check the
brakes!"
"At last you have become a man," Paul's father praised his
son for his courage.
"What on earth got into you?" Tom's mother angrily wanted
to know. "You might have broken your neck."
"When I was young, I would never had stolen a broken bike.
I always had new ones," Tom's father said.
And then, Paul's father again: "If someone strikes you a blow,
strike back, Paul"
"I want no more of your nonsense," said Tom's mother to his
father.
210 to surrender: aufgeben 211 to pinch: kneifen, zwicken, hier: stehlen
101
"Stop this stupid machismo!212Paul's mother said to Paul's
father.
Her husband went silent, deeply offended.
"Did you take your medication and eat your meal?" asked
Tom's mother.
It went on like this for two hours. The parents went on talking,
Paul and Tom lay in their beds, trying not to listen to what they
were saying. They soon changed subjects, the two fathers started
to talk about football, the mothers about the new hairdresser in
their neighbourhood.
When the nurse came in with the evening meal, she sent the
parents home. The patients needed their rest.
EXERCISE 48
Fill in the correct words: to borrow or to lend
l)Paul liked to Becky's computer game.
2)	Will Diana Tom her umbrella.
3)	Eggbean won't his bike to anyone anymore.
4)	You can books from the library.
5)	Could you me some money, please?
In the evening, it was very quiet in the hospital room. The
parents were gone, the nurse had cleared away the plates of the
evening meal, and the room's TV was broken.
"So you had an accident with Eggbeans bike," Paul broke
the silence, finally trying to find out what had happened to
Tom.
212 machismo: ubersteigertes Mannlichkeitsgefuhl
102
"Is your new friend Eggbean worried about his stupid bike?"
Tom answered.
"You shouldn't have pinched Eggbean's bike, if you can't
ride it."
"And you shouldn't have made friends with a boxer who
gives you a welcome by giving you a bloody nose," Tom
retorted.
"That's what you think!" said Paul, "you haven't got the
foggiest idea213".
"No, it's you who's got no idea!" Tom almost shouted.
"1 was with Eggbean at a restaurant that belongs to the
Mafia," Paul bragged.
"I've been chasing a kidnapper all through the town," said
Tom.
"And Eggbean and I rescued the famous boxing champion
Tony 'the Hammer', from the hands of the Mafia," Paul said
boastfully214. "We knocked the stuffing215 out of them."
"I risked my life in order to save Diana's life," said Tom.
"And I risked my life in order to hand over Scarface Eddy,
boss of the London underworld, to the police," Paul said.
Then there was a brief silence between them.
"You mentioned a restaurant," Tom broke the silence. An idea
had crossed his mind. "Do you mean a restaurant called 'The
Sicilian'?" he asked.
Paul looked at him with surprise.
"A well-known place to a detective like me," Tom continued
when he realized that he had guessed correctly.
The name of Scarface Eddy had reminded him of the two
cleaners in the National Gallery. They had spoken of a Scarface
Eddy and a restaurant called 'The Sicilian'.
213 the foggiest idea: die leiseste Ahnung 214 boastfully: prahlerisch 215 stuffing: FUIIung
103
"I suppose you just happened to pass by when the police
made a raid," Tom went on, "and you ran into a police car in
your excitement."
Tom tried to laugh at his joke, felt, however, at the same time
a sharp pain all over his body.
Paul was annoyed about Tom's remark and tried to think of a
way of to answer him.
"And you were too stupid to step on the brake, I think, and
rammed your bike into a house," he finally said.
"You haven't the faintest idea!" Tom cried. "Diana has been
kidnapped, that's a fact, and I chased the kidnapper."
"Rubbish!" Paul laughed. "Stop pulling my leg!"216
Paul lay down, the door opened.
"Go take a long jump off a short pier!" Tom hissed, and at the
same moment the nurse was in the room.
She just stood there for a moment, staring at Tom with a
furious look. It was obvious she had heard Tom's words. Then
she went up to Paul's bed, asked him if he was all right and told
him to call her any time he needed help.
She then put some medication on Tom's bedside table without
deigning217 to look at him.
"Take it!" she ordered. Then she turned back to Paul.
"If you don't like being in the same room as this other boy, I'll
try to find another one for you," she said with a smile as sweet
as honey. Paul happily returned her smile.
"No thank you. That's very kind of you, but I think I'll be all
right in here."
"Or shall I try to find a room for him That's not as nice as this
one," she said in a low voice, at the same time casting a sharp
glance at Tom.
216 to pull sb.’s leg: jmd. auf den Arm nehmen, veralbern 217 deigning: gewahrend
104
She bent down to Paul and whispered: "I think he's mad!"
Then she left the room.
EXERCISE 49
Find the correct translation for:
1.	In London gibt es viele Museen.
2.	Wasgibt's?
3.	Das gibt es doch gar nicht.
'Tom has gone mad,' Paul mused. Maybe the nurse was right.
Tom's behaviour in the schoolyard, his pinching of Eggbean's
bicycle, the way he behaved towards Diana, could all that be
called normal? Was Tom's weird218 imagination the result of a
diseased219 mind? He would have to keep an eye on Tom.
They had been very good friends after all, and that not so
long ago.
The following day, the story of Paul's brawl was in the news-
paper that the nurse brought to Paul. After reading the article,
he left it lying, purely by chance but visible to all, on his bedside
table, so that Tom would be able to see it. Then Paul got out of
bed and went to the toilet.
Tom took the newspaper and read the article:
218 weird: eigenartig, sonderbar 219 diseased: krank, erkrankt
105
BRAWL AT RESTAURANT
Former boxing champion and two
pupils thrash twelve Mafiosi.
For no apparent reason, the
former boxing champion
Antonio Balboa, called Tony
'the Hammer', started a fight
at the restaurant 'The Sicilian'
with twelve of the town's well
known Mafiosi. Two fifteen-
year-old pupils, guests at the
restaurant, came to his assis-
tance. The twelve Mafiosi and
one of the pupils had to be
taken to hospital, more or less
seriously hurt. Balboa himself
remained unhurt and offered
no resistance upon arrest.
The owner of the restaurant,
Edward Linea, also known to
the police as 'Scarface Eddy',
is considered to be 'King of
the Underworld'. Scarface
Eddy has repeatedly been
tried for various offences, but
has always been acquitted due
to the mysterious disappear-
ance of witnesses and pieces
of evidence.
Next to the article was a photograph showing Antonio Balboa,
called Tony 'the Hammer'. There was nothing in the newspaper
about Diana's kidnapping.
'Of course not,' Tom thought. 'The kidnapper had threatened
Diana's parents: "no police and nothing to the press!"
He, Tom, was probably the only person who had seen the
kidnapper, and was therefore probably the only person who
could save Diana. But how?
Tom and Paul hadn't spoken a word to each other that
morning. The nurse had brought breakfast at eight o'clock,
wished Paul 'Good morning' while smiling at him, and, at the
same time, passing by Tom without even looking at him.
'How can one be so resentful27",' Tom thought, looking over to
Paul. 'He's just as resentful and unforgiving as the nurse and
220 resentful: nachtragend
106
doesn't have the courage to apologize for his behaviour.' He
himself wouldn't apologize to Paul. 'Impossible/ Tom thought.
'First, why should he apologize, for what? Second, Paul had to
admit that he, Tom, was right. And third, it was a matter of
honour.'
Paul was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling while all kinds of
ideas crossed his mind: 'What about the disappearance of the
'Maria Luigi'? What about Eggbean and the brawl at the restau-
rant, and last not least, what about Tom?'
Never before had Paul experienced such an exciting time as
during the previous week. Maybe he should ask Eggbean to go
to the National Gallery once more and try to find out if the
'Maria Luigi' really had been returned, or if the Press Officer had
told them a lie.
Slowly Paul sat up. His gaze fell upon Tom. How did he know
about Scarface Eddy and the restaurant 'The Sicilian'? There
were so many other questions for Paul to brood on221. Of course,
he could always ask Tom, but then again why should he? Tom
hadn't spoken a single word to him all morning.
'What a stubborn and resentful bloke,' thought Paul. 'Even
the nurse can't stand him, doesn't speak to him at all or smile. I
myself seem to be in her good books. Why doesn't Tom apolo-
gize to me, things would be much better then. But he is too
stubborn, the old blockhead. As for me, I can't apologize, that's
impossible. First, for what? Second, I am in the right. Third, it's
a matter of honour.'
There was a slight knock at the door a little while after the lunch.
Paul and Tom first ignored it, just like the previous day. But
when a second knock followed, then a third, and more, they
called in unison:
221 to brood on: nachdenken, brijten uber
107
EXERCISE 50
What's the opposite of to start?
to stop
to begin
to go on
to continue
"Come in!"
Eggbean entered the room again.
'Him again/ Tom thought when he saw him, and turned away.
Eggbean went to Paul's bed.
"How are you?" he asked Paul.
"My nose doesn't ache anymore. And the headaches are
gone," Paul said.
"Sounds good," Eggbean said. "I've brought you some hard
boiled eggs."
He pulled a pot out of a bag and put it on Paul's beside table.
Paul pulled a face but then tried to smile.
"Eat them," Eggbean said, "they'll give you strength and
you'll soon you be fit again. I always eat eggs and beans when I
need extra strength, before boxing training or a fight, for
example."
"Oh," Paul said sceptically and thought about how Tom
described Eggbean's flatulence. "But don't you suffer222 from too
much wind when you eat such a lot of eggs and beans?"
"Not very much," Eggbean answered, "but it gets worse, of
course, if I'm nervous or anxious."
222 to suffer: leiden
108
Eggbean and Paul chatted for a while about all sorts of things.
Eggbean also told Paul about school, what people were saying
about him, especially in connection with the fight at the restau-
rant.
"Did you read the newspaper?" Eggbean asked.
"Of course," Paul replied.
"A very good picture of Tony, wasn't it?"
"Yes," Paul replied. "Is anybody in school talking about the
brawl and us?"
"Sure," Eggbean answered enthusiastically. "Everybody is
talking about us and how we helped the police to arrest the
London Mafia."
"But it wasn't the whole Mafia," Paul interrupted him.
"Of course not," Eggbean said. "Becky and her friends even
came up to me and wanted to know everything about the fight,
how you were knocked out and if I was hurt."
'Great,' Paul thought, 'now everybody knows what a wimp2-’
I am.'
"It's really nice talking to you," Paul said ironically, but
Eggbean didn't understand what he meant.
"And what did Diana say?" Paul asked.
"She wasn't at school today," Eggbean answered.
Tom was pretending to be asleep, but in reality he was paying
attention to every word the two were speaking, and even more
so when they mentioned Diana.
"Becky told me, that her mother had informed her teacher that
she was ill, mavbe a bad cold.
'What else should her mother do?' Tom thought. 'The
kidnapper threatened her parents, and so Diana's mother had
to find an excuse for her absence from school. I must get out of
223 wimp: Weichei
109
here," Tom thought. 'I'm the only person who can solve the case,
who can clear up the mystery.'
After a while, Paul started to whisper, since he was not quite
sure whether Tom was asleep. He wanted to make certain that
Tom couldn't hear him.
"And?" he asked Eggbean. "Have you been to the National
Gallery to find out about the 'Maria Luigi'."
Paul didn't want Tom to know anything about it as it would
result in a new quarrel.
"Yes," Eggbean answered at a whisper.
"And did you see the painting?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. There is still a blank spot were it should be."
"Did you ask the museum guard where it is?" Paul asked.
"Yes."
"Come on, Andrew," Paul said a little wearily, "trying to
get you to talk is like pulling teeth. So what did the guard
say?"
"He said, that he was told to say that the painting is at the
photographer's."
"It's all a strange puzzle," Paul said in a low voice. "The
museum says the painting is at the photographer's. The photog-
rapher tries to persuade224 me that the painting is at his house.
He had simply forgotten about it. But something is rotten in the
state of Denmark!"
"Shakespeare!" Eggbean exclaimed.
Paul was astonished.
"But what about my teeth?" Eggbean asked.
224 to persuade: ijberreden
110
EXERCISE 51
False friends
Some words in English look like German words but have a
completely different meaning. Don't let them fool you, but
find the right translations.
English wide	German	German weit	English
theme		Thema	
personal		Personal	
to prove		prilfen	
ambulance		Ambulanz	
The following morning Tom already felt better. His headache
was gone and his bruises didn't hurt so much as the day before.
He got up. He had made up his mind to take up the pursuit of
Diana's kidnapper.
'What would be the best way to go about it?' he asked himself,
with the decisive225 answer being: 'The ransom226!'
The kidnapper would certainly have his demands. There
would be a handover of the money. He, Tom, knew the
kidnapper's face, would lie in wait for him, and try to get hold
of h im before he got to the money.
Tom would have to see Diana's parents and let them know
about his plans. He would save Diana!
"Where are you going?" asked Paul when he woke up and
saw Tom dressing and then packing his things.
"That's none of your business," Tom retorted.
225 decisive: entscheidend, ausschlaggebend 226 ransom: Losegeld
Ill
"You're going to bolt227, but why?"
"1 don't want to stay in this hospital any longer," was Tom's
answer. "It's a place for sick people, but I'm fit again. And then
again ... I've got work to do."
"What could that be?" Paul asked disbelieving228.
"I've already told you, that's none of your business," Tom
replied.
"Ah! You mean your stupid idea that Diana's been
kidnapped," Paul said.
"No comment!"
Paul remained silent. 'Either he had gone completely mad or
what he says is true,' Paul thought. 'Anyway, she wasn't at
school yesterday.'
Tom didn't intend to give his plan away, to tell anybody about
the great deed he had in mind, the rescue of Diana. Paul
wouldn't have believed him anyway, and would possibly
declare that he had gone mad.
"If you try to run away, I'll call the nurse," Paul threatened,
when Tom had finished dressing and was already at the door.
"You jerk**!" Tom hissed.
"A jerk? Me? That's what you are!" Paul spat back.
"Okay," said Tom after a moment of reflection, "if you let me
go, I'll tell you, how I got to know about Scarface Eddy and 'The
Sicilian', and who from."
No sooner had he spoken these words than he felt a sharp
pain in his chest. But he dissembled230.
Paul thought for a moment, then agreed.
Tom took up the newspaper article about the fight at the
restaurant, and pointed at Antonio Balboa's photograph next to
the report of the brawl.
227 to make a bolt for it: sich aus dem Staub machen 228 disbelieving: unglaubig, zwei-
felnd 229 jerk: Trottel, Idiot 230 to dissemble: sich etwas nicht anmerken lassen
112
"That's one of the two cleaners I saw at the museum. They
were talking while waiting for the lift, and that was when the
name of Scarface Eddy was mentioned. They also spoke of that
restaurant 'The Sicilian'."
Tom tried to remember more details of the conversation the
two cleaners had had.
"It was all about some woman. And about a wedding, but I
don't quite remember. Are you content now?" 231
Paul was silent, quite lost in thought.
'What have two cleaners of the National Gallery got to do
with Scarface Eddy?' he thought, 'the King of the Underworld?
Was it just by chance that they intended to celebrate a wedding
at the restaurant 'The Sicilian', the meeting place of the London
Mafia? Who was the woman they were talking about? What if
the wedding didn't mean a real wedding, but was a secret code-
name for the handing over of stolen goods? And what, if by
woman they meant the 'Maria Luigi'?'
Paul jumped out of his bed with one bound. He had totally
forgotten about the stupid bandage on his nose. He reached for
his trousers and hurriedly put them on.
"What are you up to?" Tom asked surprised, still standing at
the door. "Where are you going?"
"That's none of your business," was Paul's unkind answer.
"You want to be off. But why?"
"I don't want to stay in this hospital any longer," said Paul.
"That's something for old people."
Tom guessed that Paul had a secret plan, but was not sure if
this plan had anything to do with him.
"I'm going on my own!" said Tom, with Paul stood beside
him, fully dressed.
231 to be content: zufrieden sein
113
“I don't want to be seen together with you either," said Paul,
pointing with a grin at the turban on Tom's head.
"You don't look any better," laughed Tom, pointing at Paul's
bandaged nose.
"I'm going on my own!" Paul repeated emphatically.
"So am I!" said Tom, in the same serious tone.
After these resolute decisions, they removed their bandages
and threw them on the floor.
On their way out of the hospital, they carefully stole their way
past the nurse. Outside the hospital, they silently looked at each
other. The weather was misty and dull that morning, the fog
typical of London. Phen they went their separate ways, each in
a different direction.
The Saviour
Гот knew exactly the way to Diana's house. He had ridden past
her house several times with friends. 'A short cut/ he had told
his friends, but in reality he had hoped to meet Diana.
Now, for the first time, he was standing before her front door,
ringing the bell. He was sure she wasn't at home. Her mother
would probably open the door. He didn't know Diana's father.
Tom hadn't thought about what he would say, if her mother
opened the door. He rang once more, then a third time, at the
same time searching for words.
They would simply have to believe his words. He would tell
them everything as it was, thought Tom - that he had witnessed
the kidnapping and then chased the kidnapper. He would tell
them that he would recognize and pursue the kidnapper when
they handed over the ransom. Then he would think up a plan of
how to free Diana.
Tom heard steps in the house. Suddenly Tom froze. A man had
opened the door. Tom was paralysed with fear when he recog-
nized the face - it was the kidnapper. Tom suddenly felt dizzy.
He didn't want to disclose his identity. The kidnapper probably
had come to fetch the ransom money.
"Yes, please?" the man asked kindly.
Tom didn't know what to say. What he needed now was an
excuse - he didn't want to show that he knew the kidnapper.
When Tom looked sideways, he could see a black attache case
in the corridor behind the man. 'The ransom!' flashed into Tom's
115
mind. He, Tom, was too late. The handover of the ransom had
already taken place.
But where was Diana? Tom had to alter his plan at once.
"Can I help you?" asked the man when Tom failed to speak a
word.
"Ah, sorry," Tom stammered, "I'm looking for Henry Smith.
Doesn't he live here?"
The name of Henry Smith had just occurred232 to his mind.
Any reason, true or invented233, had to be given.
"Henry Smith?" the kidnapper repeated. "No, I don't know
him, and I don't know anybody in our neighbourhood named
Henry Smith."
"Sorry, I must have got the wrong address then," said Tom
with an embarrassed smile and said goodbye.
'He even pretended to live there,' Tom thought, crossing over
to the other side of the street. 'He's not stupid.'
Tom briefly looked back. The kidnapper had disappeared
back into the house. Tom quickly put himself out of sight behind
an elder bush. He had a new plan. It could be taken for granted
that the kidnapper would shortly leave the house with the
ransom. Then he, Tom, would pursue him to his hideout, set
Diana free and take back the ransom.
Some details of his plan, especially as far as Diana and
the ransom were concerned, still had to be thought out prop-
erly.
For more than an hour, Tom had been sitting behind the elder
bush234, but nobody and nothing stirred in the house. 'Diana's
parents are going through hell,' Tom thought. Obviously the
kidnapper was in no hurry. Maybe he would go out later, at
nightfall. Tom, however, would not let himself be shaken off. He
232 to occur: hier: in den Sinn kommen 233 to invent: erfinden 234 elder bush: Holunder-
busch
116
would breathe down his neck and pursue him to the end of the
world if necessary; he would rescue Diana and take the ransom
back to her family.
In his mind, he already imagined himself entering school as
a great hero, with all the pupils making way for him as a mark
of their respect and high regard. The boys of the school would
admire™ him. Everyone would want to make friends with
Tom, the hero, the rescuer. The girls would excitedly talk in
whispers, impressed by the strong look in Tom's eyes, by his
elegance and his good looks. Some teachers would even
applaud him, and Mr Pomeroy would proudly tell people that
Tom was his pupil.
And then Paul, embarrassed he would approach Tom and ask
him faint-heartedly for an interview for the school magazine.
Tom would stop for a moment, look deep into Paul's eyes with
his strong look, and then...
Tom suddenly felt something warm and wet creeping down
his leg.
"Come on!" a hissing voice was heard, "hurry up!"
A big dog that had been peeing into the elder bush was pulled
away by its master. Tom screwed up his face in disgust. Slowly
the wetness penetrated into his socks. Tom got up and looked
around for help.
At that moment, the front door of Diana's house opened. The
kidnapper came out. Tom jumped back behind the elder bush
for cover. The kidnapper had a big plastic bag in his right hand.
It was a bin liner236. Tom's razor-sharp mind at once deduced237
the fact: the kidnapper considered the case with the ransom
money to be too conspicuous238. And so he had put the money
into the bin liner.
235 to admire: bewundern, verehren 236 bin liner: Mulleimer 237 to deduce: ableiten,
schlussfolgern 238 conspicuous: auffallig
117
The kidnapper walked up to the dustbin239. He briefly look
around. Had he noticed Tom? The kidnapper opened the
dustbin, threw the bag in and went back into the house.
Tom's sharp mind stopped working: he was at a loss what to
think. 'What kind of kidnapper throws his ransom money into
a dustbin without any reason, and then goes back into the house
of his victim?'
EXERCISE 52
Fill in the correct words: to make or to do
l)to			a favour
2) to			a phone call
3)to			one's best
4) to			a deal
5) to			a good job
After Tom had overcome240 his confusion, he made up his mind
to take a closer look at Diana's house and the kidnapper staying
in it. Carefully, he sneaked up to the house through the front
garden, his head ducked down low like a panther's, ready to
spring suddenly at any time in case of attack. On reaching the
house, he peered through the kitchen window.
The kidnapper stood at the stove241, cooking. Diana's mother
-Tom had seen her with Diana at school occasionally- stood
next to him, laughing. The kidnapper skilfully threw a pancake
into the air, and then caught it again in the pan. The kidnapper
laughed, too. He was obviously surprised that his feat242 had
239 dustbin: MOIItonne 240 to overcome: bewaltigen 241 stove: Herd 242 feat: Heldentat
118
been successful. Diana's mother gave him a kiss for it. Then she
called something upstairs. The kidnapper laid the table243.
Tom, the hero, the rescuer, the panther, had a very odd feeling
in his stomach. He began to ask himself, if he had ever seen
Diana's father, whether Diana's father perhaps drove a red Ford.
Then Diana came downstairs and sat down at the table, which
had been laid by her father. She was wearing a scarf around her
neck and had obviously caught a serious cold. That was the
reason why she hadn't been at school.
Tom stared through the window, confused: what he saw was
a happy family at the kitchen table: father, mother and daughter.
Suddenly Diana discovered the bewildered Tom at the
window. He quickly ducked. Maybe she hadn't noticed him. He
waited for a while, and then he slowly rose again to look
through the window with blinking eyes. At that moment, Diana
opened the window.
“Well, really!" she shout, shocked.
243 to lay the table: den Tisch decken
Hollywood Movies And Stars on TV
Paul met Eggbean near their school. Together they travelled to
the house of Tony 'the Hammer'. In the Tube, Paul explained to
Eggbean everything about the painting and his speculations244
about the theft, Tony and Scarface Eddy.
"Tom saw Tony dressed as a cleaner in the National Gallery,"
Paul said.
"Tony doesn't work as a cleaner. He won so much money for
his prizefights that he donated a lot of it to charitable institutions
in Italy. He's a real hero, he has..."
"But Tom saw him dressed as a cleaner," Paul interrupted
him, "on the same day 'Maria Luigi' vanished245. And I'm sure
Tony and Scarface Eddy were talking about the painting. Maybe
Tony is in big trouble246, and only we can help him."
"But Tony has always behaved properly," Eggbean said.
"Okay, if Tony is really such a fine guy, he can explain to us
everything about his quarrel with Scarface Eddy, and whether
it has anything to do with the 'Maria Luigi'.
"Wow," exclaimed Eggbean, regarding the big old building,
deeply impressed.
Tony 'the Hammer' lived in an old villa. He had bought it
while he still was a successful boxing champion and earning a
lot of money. But now, the building looked somewhat
neglected247. The grand garden of former times was overgrown
with weeds248. Tony had probably run out of money during the
last few years.
244 speculations: Vermutungen 245 to vanish: verschwinden 246 to be in trouble: in
Schwierigkeiten sein 247 neglected: hier: verwahrlost 248 weeds: (Jnkraut
120
'In that case, the million he would get for the sale of the 'Maria
Luigi' would come just at the right time,' thought Paul.
They walked through the garden and approached the
entrance. A large Italian flag was flying over it.
"If I become a champion one day, I'll buy myself such a
house," Eggbean said, dreaming.
"That's a villa," Paul corrected him, stepping up the stairs to
the large front door.
'I'm sure a few domestics244 and servants249 250 are needed for the
upkeep251 of such a villa,' Paul thought. Living in such a building
quite on my own would make me feel very lonely.
Paul rang the doorbell and waited for some servant or other
to open the door soon. But no one came. Suddenly he noticed
that the door had been left ajar252. With great caution, they
entered. All was quiet.
EXERCISE 53
False friends
Some words in English look like German words but have a
completely different meaning. Don't let them fool you, but
find the right translations.
English
pregnant
critic
concurrence
fast
direction
German
German
priignant
Kritik
Konkurrenz
fast
Direktion
English
249 domestics: Dienerschaft 250 servants: Diener, Gesinde 251 upkeep: Instandhaltung
252 ajar: halb often
121
"Hello?" Paul called, but nobody answered.
"Do you think, we should simply go in?" asked Eggbean.
Paul was not sure.
"Maybe," Eggbean continued, "he only went shopping."
"But in that case, one doesn't leave the door open," said Paul.
"And what if he is out the back, in the garden?"
"Well, just go and have a look," Paul replied. "I'm staying here
at the front."
Eggbean went through the garden around the house. Paul
entered the large area in front of the house. There were doors to
the left and the right. A broad staircase led straight on upstairs.
Paul listened, but there was no sound to be heard. He didn't
dare253 to call again, because the situation seemed a bit fishy254 to
him. He had the feeling that there was something wrong here.
He gently went up the broad staircase. Perhaps someone was
still in the house. A burglar255, or the Mafia. Paul entered a room
with a big illuminated aquarium. The heavy curtains at the high
windows had been drawn256, leaving the room only dimly lit257.
Only the dim light of the aquarium poorly illuminated the room.
There were books on shelves all along the walls. A comfortable
armchair and a small round table stood next to the aquarium.
Obviously a reading room, Paul thought. The books were
covered with dust and cobwebs. Evidently Tony 'the Hammer'
didn't read very much.
A minute later, he heard the wooden floor of the corridor
creak. There were footsteps. Paul became scared and sprang
behind the door. The wooden floorboards creaked again. The
steps came to a stop on the opposite side of the open door.
'I must do something,' Paul thought, and threw himself
against the door with all his might. The door crashed into the
253 to dare: wagen, riskieren 254 fishy: verdachtig, zweifelhaft, faul 255 burglar: Einbrecher
256 drawn: zugezogen 257 dimly lit: schwach beleuchtet
122
burglar, a loud rumble was heard. A heavy body had fallen to
the ground. Paul took a leap forward in order to jump over the
burglar to get out of the room. But when he landed, he just stood
there, riveted to the spot with surprise: The burglar was
Eggbean, now rubbing258 his forehead.
"Even in the boxing ring I rarely get so badly hit," he said.
"I am really sorry," said Paul, helping him to get up. "I
thought you were a burglar."
"I rather think we are the burglars," said Eggbean. "There's
nobody in the garden. But the backdoor to the house was open."
Paul and Eggbean creep259 along the corridor.
'Maybe Eggbean was right,' Paul thought. The house really
appeared to be empty. But it seemed suspicious that all the doors
were open.
EXERCISE 54
Put the following words into the blanks:
chocolate, lemonade, bread, milk, beans, tea
1)	a packet of________________
2)	a bar of_________________
3)	a glass of_________________
4)	a cup of_________________
5)	a bottle of________________
6)	a slice of_________________
Paul opened the door to another large room and entered. It was
a living room. Suddenly he could hear the loud noise of
258 to rub : reiben 259 to creep: schleichen
123
someone breaking wind outside on the staircase: rat-a-tat-tat. In
a reflex action, Paul dived to the floor. Eggbean was nowhere in
sight. About two minutes passed without Paul hearing any
other sound. Paul had a look under the sofa. There was some-
thing shiny there. Eggbean came in.
"What are you doing down there?" he asked.
Paul got up.
"Did you hear that noise on the stairs?" he asked.
"That was me," Eggbean retorted. "I think I had too many
eggs and beans before training this evening. And then I always
suffering from too much wind when I'm nervous."
1 he living room somehow looked a bit untidy. A shoe had
been left next to the door. There were cushions and an empty
wine glass on the floor in front of the sofa. An armchair lay
upturned. There was an open bottle of wine on a small table.
Close to the corkscrew260 was the pulled-out cork.
"Looks as if Tony had a little bit too much wine to drink," said
Paul. "Maybe he was drunk and stumbled over the armchair."
Paul had a closer look at the bottle.
"But it's still almost full," he said.
"Sportsmen aren't used to drinking alcohol," said Eggbean.
"One small drop too much can sometimes be enough for a
sportsman when he is in training."
"Does Tony still train?" Paul asked.
"No, not as far as I know. That is, not as often as in former
days, if at all. I'm not sure."
"Where's Tony now?" asked Paul. He turned around and was
just about to leave the room, when an idea occurred to him. He
stepped up to the sofa, bent down and produced a glass
syringe261, still containing a tiny rest of a white liquid.
260 corkscrew: Korkenzieher 261 syringe: Injektionsspritze
124
"Look!" Eggbean said. "The answering machine262 is blinking."
There was a small, round table at the end of the sofa with a
telephone and an answering machine on it. Lost in thought, Paul
regarded the syringe in his hand and moved towards the
answering machine.
"We can't just simply listen in to someone else's telephone
conversation," protested Eggbean, when he saw what Paul had
determined to do.
Paul didn't react to his words. He started the machine with the
touch of a button. First there was a rustle, followed by somebody
moaning. Then they heard a voice, probably Tony's. Tony must
have switched on the microphone of the answering machine by
accident, so that the machine recorded every noise in the room.
Tony babbled263 mumbling264 away to himself. They couldn't
make head nor tail of what he was saying. Paul and Eggbean
were unable to understand what he said. Then only mumble
was to be heard again.
1 think I know what happened here," said Paul looking
closely at the cork of the bottle of wine. "Someone gave Tony a
narcotic 26S. With the help of this syringe the stuff was injected
into the wine."
"But Paul, why should anybody do that? We aren't in a
mystery story, after all," said Eggbean.
Paul looked around, then bent down, looking for something
on the floor. And there, under the sofa, he actually discovered a
small bottle containing the rest of a white liquid.
"I think we really are in a mystery story," said Paul. "Tony 'the
Hammer' was knocked out266 by this.
Someone came into the villa through the back door. He
sneaked into the living room and injected the narcotic into the
262 answering machine: Anrufbeantworter 263 to babble: fallen, babbeln 264 to mumble:
murmeln 265 narcotic: Betaubungsmittel 266 drugged: betaubt
125
wine bottle through the cork with this syringe. When Tony
opened the bottle, he didn't notice anything. Only as he drank
the wine did he become dizzy. He tumbled and fell onto the sofa.
With his last strength, he switched on the microphone of the
answering machine to leave a message. But it was too late. He
passed out."
"But why?" asked Eggbean. "And who? And where is Tony
now?"
Paul was about to answer when voices could be heard from
the answering machine. Paul had forgotten to switch it off.
Every now and then, there was a crackling267, rumbling and
rustling208 noise between the voices. Suddenly a voice could be
heard clearly.
"He's okay. Eddy will be pleased. Come on, boys, take him
along!"
"That's it!" Paul shouted, running out of the room.
Eggbean remained where he was, astonished and wondering
what had suddenly happened to Paul.
"Where are you going?" he called after him.
"To the 'Sicilian'. Come on!" Paul called, jumping downstairs
with big steps.
Eggbean followed him listlessly269. A Pizza would do no good
now, he thought. But why at the 'Sicilian' again, of all pizzerias?
1 hat was where they had fought the Mafiosi, just the other day.
There were, as usual, only a few guests at the restaurant 'The
Sicilian'. Paul wondered how the restaurant could exits at all
with these few guests and earnings. They saw Scarface Eddy
through the windows. He was smoking a cigarette while talking
on his mobile phone and gesticulating wildly with his hands. He
seemed to be in a bad mood.
267 crackling: knisternd 268 to rustle: rascheln 269 listless: lustlos
126
EXERCISE 55
What's the opposite of early?
soon
late
last
first
“And what are we going to do now?" asked Eggbean, who had
a feeling that all this was above his head. It all seemed to be
somewhat complicated, so he wouldn't ask anymore questions.
Now he suspected that Paul wasn't really at the 'Sicilian' for a
pizza.
"We've got to get in there somehow," Paul whispered.
"Maybe they've hidden Tony in the kitchen or in the cellar270."
Slowly, bit-by-bit, things became clear to Eggbean. 'Paul
assumes that the Mafiosi have kidnapped Tony,' Eggbean
thought. 'But why? And what has the 'Maria Luigi' got to do
with it? '
"I'm sure there's a postern271", said Eggbean. "There's always
a backdoor in a Mafiosi restaurant."
Paul looked at Eggbean full of surprise. That was something
he hadn't thought of.
"How do you know that?" he asked.
"From Hollywood movies," Eggbean answered.
They went round the building complex, climbed over a
locked-up gate into the backyard and prowled to the back
entrance of the restaurant.
270 cellar: Keller 271 postern: Hintereingang
127
Old stinking dustbins stood next to the door.
Just when they were in front of the door, ducking their heads,
it was suddenly opened from inside. They were paralyzed with
fear. But the door was not opened completely, only a little.
Through the door gap Paul saw two Mafiosi talking to each
other. Then a fag end272 was thrown out. The Mafiosi continued
talking, closing the door again.
“Eddy is in a rage," Paul heard one of the two say. "For two
hours we've been working on Tony, but he's not saying a word."
"I was right," Paul whispered, "they're keeping him pris-
oner273."
"And what about calling the police?" Eggbean asked.
"In this case they'll arrest Tony, too, because he's involved into
the affair with the 'Maria Luigi'. Do you want that?"
"Oh no," Eggbean declared emphatically, "Tony is my
friend."
"Well then, in that case we must free him," Paul said.
"Yes, but how?"
"I've got an idea," Paul said pointing at an open window
some yards further on.
The window was large but not very high, which made it
easy to climb through. It led into the toilet room. Soon Egg-
bean and Paul were in a narrow cabin right in front of the toi-
let bowl.
"From here we'll have to sneak into the cellar," Paul said.
"Mafiosi always hide their prisoners in the cellar."
"How do you know that?" Eggbean asked.
"From Hollywood movies," Paul answered.
Then Eggbean screwed up his face, pressing his lips together
and rolling his eyes.
272 fag end: Zigarettenstummel 273 to keep someone prisoner: jmd. gefangen halten
128
EXERCISE 56
Put in "much" or "many".
Example: many dollars
1)children
2)time
3)money
4)hobbies
5)juice
"What's the matter?" Paul asked him.
"We should hurry up. I've got to fart," Eggbean replied. "You
know 1 suffer from too much wind when I'm nervous."
Paul didn't see at once just how serious the situation was, and
hesitated274. At that moment, Eggbean broke wind with a loud
creaking sound. A beastly275 smell began to fill the room.
Paul felt sick and began to choke with disgust276. He was about
to rush out of the little cabin, when the door to the corridor
opened and a Mafioso entered. Paul and Eggbean grew stiff
behind their small cabin door. Paul held his breath as he didn't
want to faint. The Mafioso remained at the washbasin. He
sniffed, he moaned. Then he went back out.
"Mamma mia," he called, "who on earth has been using the
toilet? Was it you, Alfonso?"
The door closed and Paul quickly opened the window again
to let in fresh air.
Tom had been right, Paul thought. With his wind, Eggbean
would win every fight.
274 to hesitate: zogern 275 beastly: bestialisch 276 disgust: Abscheu, Ekel
129
"My God," said Paul after somehow getting his breath back,
but still holding his head out of the window. "That you can
stand the smell at all is beyond me."
Eggbean shrugged his shoulders.
As Eggbean obviously was immune against his own farts,
Paul sent him into the corridor to make sure there that they
could sneak unseen to the cellar steps. No Mafioso was to be
seen in the corridor. They were all in the kitchen eating
spaghetti, or in the bar drinking espresso. It was midday. Now
and then, one of them would begin to sing a Sicilian folk song
while the others hummed the melody.
Paul and Eggbean stole along the corridor to the cellar steps.
It was only there that Paul began to breathe normally again. The
cellar was large with coal rooms of varying sizes. There were
barrels standing around, cardboard boxes277, shelves, wine
bottles, tools, stacked-up chairs and tables. But nothing unusual
or suspicious. Paul and Eggbean rummaged278 through every
room.
"Mafiosi usually tie their prisoners to chairs with their hands
behind their backs and gags in their mouths," Paul said.
"How do you know that?" Eggbean asked.
"From Hollywood movies," Paul answered.
"But Tony's not sitting anywhere," Eggbean said.
"Alright, obviously I'm wrong," Paul said.
"But what do we do now?" Eggbean asked.
"If the prisoner is not in the cellar, he's usually been
embedded in concrete279 and sunk in the Thames."
This gave Eggbean quite a fright and he screwed up his face
again, as he had done in the toilet. Paul looked at him with
concern and tried to calm him down.
277 cardboard boxes: Karton 278 rummage: durchstobern 279 concrete: Beton
130
“Are you nervous?" Paul asked him. And now Paul was
nervous, too. He had to do something to calm him down, other-
wise his wind would suffocate him.
“Stay cool," Paul said. "Mafiosi usually have a secret room in
their restaurant cellars where they hide their prisoners."
"How do you know that?" Eggbean asked.
"From Hollywood movies," Paul answered.
"And where is this room?"
"That's a secret, because it's a secret room."
Eggbean pressed his lips together.
'I have to gain time,' Paul thought, 'until a good idea crosses
my mind.'
"But experience has shown," he said, "that secret rooms lie
hidden behind shelves, like that one."
Paul pointed at a very rickety280 and shaky shelf that looked
as if it would fall down at the slightest touch. Eggbean
approached it intending to press it. Paul tried to prevent him
from doing so, because there would be an enormous crash if
the shelf caved in, and the Mafiosi would all come running
down. But it was too late. Eggbean pressed on the shelf ... but
it didn't cave in. It slid away instead, together with it the wall
behind it.
"You were right," said Eggbean, entering the secret room.
In contrast to Eggbean, Paul was completely surprised. He
followed Eggbean into the secret room. It was crammed full
with cardboard boxes piled up281 to the ceiling. The boxes were
full of computers, TV sets, cigarettes and other smuggled
goods282. Right at the back of the room sat Tony on a chair, his
hands tied to his back, a gag in his mouth.
They quickly set Tony free. He got up and had a good stretch.
280 rickety: klapprig, wackelig 281 piled up: aufgestapelt 282 smuggled goods: Schmug-
gelware
131
"You're always there when needed," he said appreciatively283,
giving Paul and Eggbean a pat on their backs.
"Why are they keeping you prisoner?" asked Paul.
"They stunned284 me in my house. I hadn't noticed them
coming," Tony said.
Paul realized that Tony didn't want to answer his question,
but he had to know now.
"It is the problem with the 'Maria Luigi'?" Paul went on,
urging285 Tony to answer.
"You've heard about it?" Tony asked, lowering his eyes.
"My friend Tom saw you and your accomplice stealing the
picture at the museum, you were dressed up as cleaners," said
Paul, suddenly thinking of Tom. He had called him his friend
again.
"He was one of Eddy's people," Tony began. "I had told Eddy
about the 'Maria Luigi'. It is a shame, I told Eddy, that this
picture is not hanging in a museum in Italy. Leonardo di Bruno,
I said to Eddy, is Italy's most famous painter. Five hundred
years ago, he painted this picture. Two hundred years ago,
Napoleon appeared, stole it and took it to Paris. When Napoleon
was defeated, the British took it to London."
"And you wanted to send it back to Italy," Paul said.
Tony nodded. "But it was Eddy's idea anyway. 'Tony,' Eddy
said to me, 'the British also stole the picture. They ought to give
it back to the Italians. But they won't,' Eddy said. 'So it's up to
us to bring it back.'
It was Eddy who arranged everything and made a plan. Then
I stole the picture with one of Eddy's people from the National
Gallery. It was much easier than I had thought. I took the picture
to Eddy because he knew a way to smuggle it to Italy. But then
283 appreciative: anerkennend, dankbar 284 to stun: betauben 285 to urge: drangen
132
I found out that Eddy didn't intend to send the painting to Italy
at all, but wanted to sell it. He deceived286 me and took advan-
tage287 of the situation."
"And why did he tie you up here?" asked Paul.
"I had to save the picture from Eddy. That's why I pinched it
back from him."
"And Scarface will keep you prisoner until you reveal its
hiding place," Eggbean added.
"Yes, but now it's all over, it's all my fault. The beautiful
picture, it must go back to the museum again, so that everyone
can see it, It doesn't matter in which country. It must be
protected - that's what matters."
Suddenly they heard someone calling in the background.
They hadn't realized that two Mafiosi had come to down into
the cellar. At once Tony jumped at one of them and knocked him
down with a punch. But the other ran upstairs raising the alarm
to the others. They heard hectic, Italian-like screaming. Chairs
were tumbling around, and there was heavy trampling of feet.
A moment later, they all came running down into the cellar and
stood there, eager for the fray. There were about twelve of them,
Scarface Eddy was right at the front. They all wanted revenge
for the last brawl.
Eggbean pulled a face. Tony beat his fits together. Paul began
to tremble.
"Do you think we can take them on again?" Tony asked.
"I don't think so," Eddy laughed and took a knife out of his
jacket.
"That doesn't impress me much!" Tony said to Eddy and
pulled out a bludgeon288 from behind a storage rack.
Scarface Eddy started to laugh again.
286 to deceive: betriigen 287 to take advantage of: etwas ausnutzen 288 bludgeon: Knup-
pel
133
"You really are stupid," he said to Tony. "Why do you come
to a gunfight with a bludgeon?" and he took a gun out of his
jacket.
'Mafiosi always have guns in their jackets/ Paul thought und
looked over to Eggbean.
Eggbean was rolling his eyes and pressing his lips together.
His face grew red and began to swell.
"Hold your breath for a moment," Paul called to Tony. A
moment later Eggbean broke wind horribly. Less than two
seconds later, the whole room was filled with a terrible smell.
Tony and Paul held their breath, whereas the Mafiosi began
to gasp for air, helplessly reeling*89 through the room. Scarface
Eddy dropped both his pistol and his knife. After another five
seconds, the Mafiosi began to faint, one after the other.
Tony, Paul and Eggbean ran upstairs and bolted290 the cellar
door shut. It was only now that Paul dared to breathe again.
In the evening Paul and his friend Eggbean were watching the
news programme on TV.
"The Metropolitan Police have succeeded in pulling off a
great coup against the London Mafia," said the newsreader.
"One of the most wanted Mafia ringleaders291, called Scarface
Eddy, was arrested at noon today together with a number of
accomplices. The police discovered a great haul of stolen and
smuggled goods in a secret room of the restaurant 'The Sicilian'.
Together with the two pupils Paul Hensing and Andrew
Webster..."
"That's me," called Eggbean with pride and excitement when
he saw himself on TV together with Paul and Tony. Paul, too,
was beaming with pride. 289
289 to reel: torkeln, taumeln 290 to bolt: verriegeln 291 ringleader: Anfuhrer, Radelsfuhrer
134
"Wait until our classmates see this!" he laughed, thinking of
Tom more than anyone else. 'It's also Tom's merit after all,'
thought Paul, but did not say it aloud.
"In this connection, the mysterious disappearance of the
famous painting the 'Maria Luigi' was also cleared up. It, too,
was discovered in 'The Sicilian'.
"Tony is super," said Eggbean deeply impressed by his great
idol.
Tony had hidden the painting behind an old box in the cellar
of the restaurant. The Mafiosi hadn't thought of looking for it
there. Afterwards Tony had shown the hiding place to the
police.
"Sensational scandal in connection with the 'Maria Luigi' and
the National Gallery," said the newsreader now and the pictures
changed. The Houses of Parliament could be seen, and Tom.
Paul couldn't believe his eyes.
"Hey, look," Eggbean called, "that's Tom over there."
Next to Tom, a man could be seen who appeared somehow
familiar to Paul. The longer Paul looked at him, the more he
recognized a certain likeness292 with Diana.
"With the robbery of the 'Maria Luigi', a political scandal
has been uncovered293 involving the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer294 and the director of the National Gallery," said the
newsreader.
In the following TV news report, Paul saw, to his great amaze-
ment295, the agent with the slouch hat and trench coat. He was
being arrested.
"... further details now from our correspondent Frank Turn-
well: Hello, Frank, at regular intervals you give us a report on
Parliament. What's been happening today?"
292 likeness: Ahnlichkeit 293 uncovered: aufgedeckt 294 Chancellor of the Exchequer:
Schatzkanzler, brit. Finanzminister 295 amazement: Erstaunen
135
EXERCISE 57
Find the hidden words.
example: cie-rmeca - ice-cream
Dklim
2)guras
3)	stawe
4)	mite
5)	sicreexe
“Hello, Bob," said Diana's father, the correspondent, "I'm here
directly opposite the Houses of Parliament where the police a
few minutes ago arrested one of the people involved in this
scandal.
It is alleged296 that, on the personal instructions of the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, millions of pounds were transferred to
the account297 of the director of the National Gallery. Officially,
these sums were to be used for the purchase298 of closing, locking
and security systems for the museum. It is alleged, however, that
the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the director of the museum
actually used the money for their own purposes299. This scandal
was uncovered by the young man standing next to me."
With these words the correspondent turned towards Tom.
Tom, you could see how proud he was, gave a long, detailed
and self-confident300 interview, explaining every item and
mentioning Paul time after time.
With the help of Diana's father, who worked as a journalist
and parliamentary correspondent, Tom had found the agent,
296 It is alleged: Es wird behaupted, dass... 297 account: Konto 298 purchase: Auftrag
299 purpose: Zweck 300 self-confident: selbstbewusst
136
who turned out to be a private secretary of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer. When the agent saw that the press would disclose
everything, he confessed the whole affair to Tom and Diana's
father.
After the robbery of the 'Maria Luigi', the director of the
museum had given him instructions on how to cover up every-
thing. The robbery was not to be made public. That's why he had
tried to intimidate Paul in the copying room and had bribed40'
the photographer into saying that the painting was in his house.
"So we got to solve two problems," said Paul, "The criminal
deception of the director of the museum, and the theft of the
'Maria Luigi', which revealed everything."
"Absolutely right," said Eggbean. "And only you two were
able to solve the problems: you and Tom!"
Paul stared intently at Eggbean and was silent.
EXERCISE 58
Translation. Find the English expressions in this chapter for
Keller, stolz, Konto, Sicherheitssystem, Ahnlichkeit
"We are very proud of you," said Tom's parents, who had taken
him to school that morning, where Mr Pomeroy had personally
welcomed them.
Paul's parents also took their son to school that morning. Mr
Pomeroy personally welcomed them, too, and they also said:
"we're very proud of you!"
Then the adults began to talk a lot of nonsense again, as they
always did.
301 to bribe: bestechen
137
Meanwhile, Tom and Paul walked across the schoolyard, each
on his own. That morning, everyone at school was talking about
Tom and Paul, and nothing else. They were heroes. When
Eggbean saw Paul, he suddenly ran towards him. Eggbean was
proud, too, because Paul had become his friend, and because he
himself had helped to catch the Mafiosi. Then Paul stopped.
There was a distance of about ten yards between him and
Tom. Tom had also stopped. For a brief moment, they looked at
each other, then up at the sky, and then they lowered their eyes
to the ground. At last, Paul walked towards Tom.
"You did a good job," he said stretching out his hand.
"You, too, did a damned fine job of it," said Tom shaking
Paul's hand.
Eggbean grinned.
Suddenly Diana and Becky approached the three boys. Eggbean
blushed with embarrassment. Diana at once took Tom's arm.
"There you are! Our heroes!" she said. "Tom, you have got to
help me: I don't know what dress to wear for the school party.
Why don't you come round and see me today at two o'clock?"
"Only if you never quarrel with your father again about
clothes in front of the schoolyard," Tom laughed.
"And what are we going to do now?" asked Paul.
"Now we're going to look for two pretty girls, for you, too,"
Tom laughed.
Becky blushed, embarrassed.
"I must ask you something," said Eggbean suddenly. His
voice was almost trembling now.
"Would you like to go to the school party with me, Becky?"
Becky smiled and could only nod silently because she was so
excited.
Quiz
1.	For whom did the agent with the squash-hat work?
2.	Characterize Eggbean!
3.	Describe the way, how the painting 'Maria Luigi' came
from Italy to the National Gallery!
4.	State in a few sentences why the museum attendant in the
National Gallery was not worried, when Mr 5.
5.	Pomeroy told him that the painting 'Maria Luigi' was
missing?
6.	Why did Tom believe that Diana was kidnapped and why
was he wrong?
7.	Tom and Paul had a big quarrel. What was the reason for
it?
8.	Why have Paul and Eggbean become Friends?
9.	Who is Billy Booker?
10.	What was Tony 'the Hammer' supposed to do with the
painting 'Maria Luigi'?
11.	What do you think, how Tony 'the Hammer' was kid-
napped?
12.	What happened in the restaurant after Eggbean asked Tony
for an autograph?
13.	Why did Tony 'the Hammer' hide the painting in the base-
ment of the restaurant?
Solutions
Exercise 1:
c) to feel behind, e) to name on,/) to beat after
Exercise 2:
b) jemanden hinausdrangen
Exercise 3:
mehrere Losungen moglich: z. B. Italy is the land of his choice.
Exercise 4:
la) Two months ago Tom went to France; 2b) Paul left the house one hour ago;
3a) Eggbean lost the key of his biKe one moment ago.
Exercise 5:
Tom sat beside Diana all evening, but she kept talking to Paul instead; There
are some oaks beside the house; Did you speak to anyone besides Eggbean?
They've got a lovely house beside the sea; He was a painter and a bricklayer
besides.
Exercise 6:
mehrere Losungen moglich
Exercise 7:
a)	aren't we? b).. .isn't he? c).. .can't they? d).. .don't you? e).. .doesn't she?/)
...isn't she?
Exercise 8:
b)	Diana hat ihn abblitzen lassen.
Exercise 9:
Mehrere Losungen moglich: z. B. You better go on doing your homework;
Tom better goes on cleaning his room.
Exercise 10:
b) He was the first to discover the disappearence.
Exercise 11:
Er wollte gerade ausgehen.
Exercise 12:
What do you want? Where do you go? Where are you from? What do I have
to do? Whom do you want to see? What do you have to sell? What did you
say?
Exercise 13:
1) pushed; 2) heard; 3) were left; 4) played; 5) went; 6) swam
140
Exercise 14:
2) eloquence
Exercise 15:
1) legumes; 2) flowers; 3) tools, 4) electrical equipment, 5) planets, 6) vitals
Exercise 16:
attentively, enthusiastically, quickly, actually
Exercise 17:
well; beautifully; excellently; fast; loudly ; carefully
Exercise 18:
I'll show you where it is. I'll carry it for you. I'll translate them for you. I'll
take it for you.
Exercise 19:
1) Tom wanted to know what had happened to the picture; 2) Eggbean had
won several fights before; 31 Mr Jackson told Paul and Tom that 'Maria Luigi'
had not disappeared; 4) Why hadn't Paul told the truth to Mr Jackson?
Exercise 20:
1) encourage
Exercise 21:
1) Whom did Ton interview? 2) What does Paul want to do? 3) Whom did
Paul notice moving behind him? 4) Who asks Diana to go out with him?
Exercise 22:
1) had return, told 2) was visiting, was stolen; 3) went on; 4) had entered, saw;
5) had filled; met the restorer.
Exercise 23:
You can invite your friends three or four times to various parties, but you can
celebrate your birthday only once per year.
Exercise 24:
1) Over there lives the man who is a Member of Parliament; 2) He knows
other people, who also belong to the Parliament; 3) The painting which they
are looking for has disappeared; 4) The new houses which they are building
look very interesting.
Exercise 25:
1) Who goes to the same school? - Where do Paul and Tom go to? 2) Whose
picture is in the museum? - Where is her picture?
3 )What did break off the wall? - Where did the fastening break off? 4) Of
whose interest aren't horses? - What is not of his interest?
Exercise 26:
quarrel; tin; enemy; screwdriver; annoying; village
Exercise 27:
2) quiet
Exercise 28:
himself, herself, yourself, myself, yourselves, himself
141
Exercise 29:
most expensive, more expensive, better, more confused
Exercise 30:
1. The famous painting was stolen by a thief. 2. Tom and Paul discreetly were
followed by the photographer. 3. The two fighting-cocks were separated by the
teacher. 4. The newspaper is printed by the pupils every month. 5. Paul was
threatened by an agent.
Exercise 31:
1) It's five minutes to eight; 2) Paul came to this school four years ago; 3)
You can park your car in front of the house; 4) Diana trembled with cold;
5) Tom will be there before Paul; 6) A man was sitting on a chair near the
entrance.
Exercise 32:
1) since, 2) for; 3) for; 4) since; 5) for
Exercise 33:
l)...to do my homework; 2)...to clean the new car; 3)...to care for myself;
4)...to help Tom to find the toilet.
Exercise 34:
1) answer; 2) jump; 3) listen; 4) follow; 5) cook; 6) like
Exercise 35:
1) is able to; 2) has to; 3) is not allowed to; 4) must; 5) is supposed to; 6) is
supposed to
Exercise 36:
young - younger - youngest; helpful - more helpful - most helpful; nice -
nicer - nicest; bad - worse - worst; difficult - more difficult - most difficult
Exercise 37:
I) Was Paul taking out a book? 2) Was Tom working at the garage? 3) Were
the friends coming home from the museum? 4) Were Tom and Paul phoning
their friend? 5) Were the thieves breaking the windows? 6)Was Eggbean
painting his bike?
Exercise 38:
something; something; anything; somewhere; anyone
Exercise 39:
1) to look for a book; 2) to turn off the light; 3) to take of he jacket; 4) to throw
away the rubber; 5) to turn down the TV
Exercise 40:
1. who; 2. whose; 3. which; 4. where; 5. why
Exercise 41:
to pull
Exercise 42:
1) Herzlichen Gliickwunsch! 2) Macht nichts!
3) 1st ihm egal. 4) Kopf hoch! Nur Mut!
142
Exercise 43:
7) Tom usually is very friendly; 2) Mr Pomeroy sometimes is worried about his
new car; 3) The weather is often bad in November; 4) It seldom rains in Italy.
Exercise 44:
1) active voice; 2) active voice; 3) passive voice; 4) active voice; 5) passive
voice; 6) passive voice
Exercise 45:
7) going; 2) to buy; 3) to answer; 4) to get,
5) to see, 6) going
Exercise 46:
safety; to raise; pain; immediately; leap
Exercise 47:
dread fulness
Exercise 48:
1) borrow; 2) lend; 3) lend; 4) borrow; 5) lend
Exercise 49:
7. There are many museums in London; 2. What's the matter? 3. That can't
be true.
Exercise 50:
to stop
Exercise 51:
wide: breit, weit: far; theme: Motto, Thema: topic, subject; personal: person-
lich, Personal: personnel, staff; to prove: beweisen, priifen: to check,
ambulance: Krankenwagen; Ambulanz: A+E (accident and emergency
department)
Exercise 52:
7) do; 2) make; 3) do; 4) make; 5) do
Exercise 53:
pregnant: schwanger, pragnant: concise; critic Kritiker, Kritik: criticism;
concurrence: Einverstiindnis/Mitwirkung, Konkurrenz: competition; fast:
schnell, fast: almost; direction: Richtung, Direktion: management
Exercise 54:
7) a packet of beans; 2) a bar of chocolate; 3) a glass of lemonade; 4) a cup of
tea; 5) a bottle of milk; 6) a slice of bread,
Exercise 55:
late
Exercise 56:
many children; much time; much money, many hobbies, much juice
Exercise 57:
milk; sugar; waste; item, exercise
Exercise 58:
cellar, proud, account, security systems, likeness
Solutions to the Final Quiz
Hier findest du einige Hinweise auf mogliche Antworten.
Manchmal sind aber naturlich auch mehrere Antworten moglich.
1.	The agent worked for the Chancellor of the Exchequer who transferred
millions of pounds to the account of the director of the National Gallery.
Officially, these sums were to be used for the purchase of closing, lock-
ing and security systems for the museum. The director of the museum
actually used the money for his own purposes. The robbery of the
'Maria Luigi' unveiled the lack of the security systems of the National
Gallery.
2.	real name Andrew Webster - most attractive boy of the school - plays
the piano and keyboard in the school band - member of the local box-
ing club and junior middle-weight championship - tall and strong -
muscular body - regular boxing training - short, black hair - lookalike
Superman - strong chin, steel-blue eyes and a slim straight nose -
behaves like Clark Kent - clumsy, stupid - reserved, shy, polite - rather
bashful - hard-boiled eggs and boiled cold beans before a fight - suffer-
ing from too much wind - fell in love with Becky
3.	Two hundred years ago Napoleon brought the painting to Paris. After
Napoleon had been defeated the English took it to London where it is
displayed in the National Gallery.
4.	The museum attendant believed that the photographer took a few pho-
tos of the 'Maria Luigi' for the Press or some books of art. The painting
has often been to the restorer before.
5.	Tom watched Diana quarrelling with a slender, dark-haired man in
front of the schoolyard whom Tom had never seen before. I he man
gripped Diana and pulled her into a red Eord and Diana resisted vehe-
mently, so Tom assumed that she was being kidnapped.
6.	Paul was threatened by a stranger who quickly disappeared so that
Tom couldn't see the man. Therefore Tom thought that the stranger
144
existed only in Paul's imagination. Tom's reproach made Paul angry.
Another point is their disappointment about the photographer's expla-
nation that he painting was not stolen but just forgotten.
7.	After the quarrel between Paul and Tom, Paul and Eggbean met at the
schoolyard. They talked a while and Paul left with the impression that
Eggbean was quite a nice guy. Eggbean asked Paul to help him buy new
clothes. After the shopping they went to the Sicilian restaurant togeth-
er and Eggbean promised to help Tony find the painting.
8.	Billy Booker is a dealer who sells everything and everybody. He also is
probably in contact with the Mafia.
9.	Tony was supposed to take the 'Maria Luigi' back to Italy. He agreed to
steel the painting, because he is a great Italian patriot and thinks this
painting belongs to Italy and should be exhibited in an Italian museum.
It was Eddy who arranged everything and made a plan. Then Tony
stole the picture with one of Eddy's people from the National Gallery.
They took the picture to Eddy because he knew a way to smuggle it to
Italy. But then Tony found out that Eddy didn't intend to send the paint-
ing to Italy at all, but wanted to sell it.
10.	Tony was brought into the \ ilia through the back door of the house into
the living room. Scarface Eddy injected a narcotic through the cork of a
wine bottle. Tony drank from this bottle, fell asleep and was kept pris-
oner in the cellar of the villa.
11.	Tony had an argument with Scarface. Tony jumped up and then Gio-
vanni, the waiter tried a few karate tricks, but in vain: Tony hit Giovan-
ni, the men in black suits (probably Mafiosi) arrived and it all ended in
a big brawl.
12.	Tony tried to save the picture from Scarface Eddy to bring it to Italy.
Bruno Pannhausen I Christina Pannhausen
Ab 12 Jahren
The Theft of the Maria Luigi
Aus der National Gallery verschwindet das beriihmte Gemalde der
Maria Luigi. Wurde das Bild tatsachlich gestohlen? Der Pressesprecher
des Museums erklart, das bekannte Meisterwerk werde kurzfristig
restauriert. Kurz darauf wird Paul von einem Unbekannten bedroht. Tom
und Paul ahnen sofort, dass sich noch mehr hinter dem mysteriosen
Verschwinden des Gemaldes verbirgt. Gemeinsam ermitteln sie weiter
und sind schon bald in einen gefahrlichen Fall verwickelt.
IVer in der Schule schon circa 3-4 Jahre Englischunterricht hatte,
versteht die Handlung problemlos.
° Spannender englischer Krimi
® Vertiefung von Vokabeln und Konversation
° Zahlreiche Ubungen im Laufe der Handlung
Grundwortschatz
Konversation
Komplett in Englisch