His mother was right. Tony was a good, strong boy and he worked very hard for Mr Wood. The old farmer did not pay him much money. Tony ate his meals in the kitchen and he slept in a little room at the top of the farmhouse. But the farmer was kind to him and taught him a lot. Mr Wood had no sons. He had one daughter. Her name was Linda, and she was a year younger than Tony. Mr Wood loved Linda dearly, but he wanted a son very much. He was like a father toTony.
他母亲说得没错。托尼是个壮实的好孩子，他替伍德先生干活很卖力。老农场主给他的报酬不多。托尼在厨房里吃饭，睡在农场楼房顶层的小阁楼里。但是农场主待他很好，而且还教给他很多东西。伍德先生没有儿子，只有一个女儿，名叫琳达，比托尼小一岁。伍德先生非常宠爱琳达，但他很想要个儿子。他待托尼如同自己的亲生孩子。
Tony was happy. At the end of every day his back was tired and his legs hurt, but he slept like a baby. He ate Mrs Wood's good country food. He drank a lot of milk. Soon he needed new clothes. He sent his old clothes home for his brothers. He sent his family money, too.
托尼很开心。每天干完活他都会觉得背酸腿痛，但是他晚上睡得很好。他吃的是伍德太太做的可口的农家饭菜，还喝很多牛奶。旧衣服很快就穿不下了，他把旧衣服寄回家给弟弟们穿，还给家里寄钱。
Sometimes Tony visited his family. He enjoyed those visits, but he was always happy to leave again. "I'm a country boy now," he thought.
In the school holidays Pip and his brother John came to the farm. Pip was seventeen and John was sixteen, but they were both still at school. Their father had a large shoe shop in the town. He wanted them to go to college and learn to be businessmen. But the boys spent all their holidays on Mr Wood's farm.
托尼有时候也回家看看。他喜欢回家逗留一阵子，但离开的时候也总是很高兴。“现在我是个乡下孩子了。”他这样想道。
学校放假的时候，皮普和他的弟弟约翰会到农场来。皮普17岁，约翰16岁，但兄弟俩仍旧在上学。他们的父亲在城里开了一家很大的鞋店，希望这兄弟俩能上大学，学习如何经商。但是两个男孩一到假期就来伍德先生的农场。
"I want to be a farmer," said Pip.
"That's right," said John. "Farming is the best job in the world!"
"But you just come here in the summer!" said Tony. "It isn't always summer, you know. The sun doesn't always shine. Farmers work hard in the winter too. It's a hard, dirty job."
"But you like it!" said John, and he was right. Tony liked his job very much.
“我想做个农场主。”皮普说道。
“对呀，”约翰答道，“农活儿是天底下最棒的活计！”
“可是你们只有夏天才来！”托尼说道，“要知道，这里不会永远是夏天，也不会永远阳光灿烂。农夫们冬天也得辛苦劳作。这是份又累又脏的活计。”
“但是你喜欢干农活儿啊！”约翰说道。他说得对极了，托尼的确非常喜欢自己的工作。
