1The cop and the Anthem 的原文吗/you有的话就麻烦大家帮我粘下

1The cop and the Anthem 的原文吗/you有的话就麻烦大家帮我粘下
1The cop and the Anthem 的原文吗/
you有的话就麻烦大家帮我粘下

1The cop and the Anthem 的原文吗/you有的话就麻烦大家帮我粘下
The cop and the Anthem
Winter was coming,and Soapy,one of the many thousands of New York pickpockets,felt uneasy.He knew that the time had come for him to look for shelter.Soapy`s desires were not great.Three months in prison was what he wanted.There he was sure of a little food and a bed ,safe from the winter wind and the cold.
For years prison had been his shelter during the winter.Now the time had come again.
Having decided to go to prison,Soapy at once set about fulfilling his desire.There were many ways of doing this.The pleasantest was to get a good meal at some expensive restaurant,and then,after saying that he could not pay,be arrested by a policeman and sent to prison by the judge.
Soapy walked along Broadway looking at the expensive goods in the fashionable shops.He stopped at the window of a brightly-lit café.Soapy was freshly shaven,and his coat and tie were decent.But his boots and trousers were shabby.“If I can reach a table in the restaurant unsuspected,” he thought,“everything will be all right.The upper part of me that will show above the table will cause no suspicion in the waiter`s mind.A roast duck,a bottle of wine,a cup of coffee and a cigar will make me happy on the journey to my winter quarters.”
But just as Soapy entered the restaurant,the head waiter`s eye fell on his shabby trousers and boots.Strong hands turned him round and pushed him on to the sidewalk.
Soapy turned off the Broadway.He had to think of another way of getting into prison.At a corner of Sixth Avenue he saw a brightly-lit shop window.Soapy picked up a cobble-stone and dashed it through the glass.People came running round the corner,a policeman at their head.Soapy stood still with his hands in his pockets,and smiled at the sight of brass buttons.
“Where is the man who did that?” shouted the policeman.
“Don``t you think I did it?” said Soapy in a friendly way.
The policeman did not understand Soapy`s hint.Men who break windows do not usually remain to speak to a policeman.They run away.Just then the policeman saw a man hurrying to catch a bus.Club in hand,he rushed after that man.Soapy had failed again.
On the opposite side of the street was a small cheap restaurant.Soapy entered it,sat down at a table and ate a beefsteak and an enormous apple-pie.
“Now call a cop,I cannot pay.I have no money,” said Soapy.“And don`t keep a gentleman waiting”.
“No cop for you,” said the waiter,and seizing Soapy by the collar he threw him out of the restaurant.Soapy picked himself up and beat the dust from his clothes.Arrest seemed but a rosy dream.Prison seemed very far away.A policeman who stood before a drugstore two doors away laughed and walked down the street.
He was just passing a cigar store,when he saw a well-dressed man go in,leaving his silk umbrella at the ertrance.Soapy stepped in,took the umbrella,and slowly continued his way.The man saw him.He turned and followed hastily.
“My umbrella!” he said sternly.
“Oh ,is it?” said Soapy.“Well,why don`t you call a policeman?I took it.Your umbrella!Why don`t you call a cop?There is one standing at the corner.”
The owner of the umbrella slowed his steps.Soapy did the same.The policeman looked at the two curiously.
“Of course,” said the umbrella-man,“that is ,well you know how these mistakes occur—I—if it`s your umbrella,I hope you will- why- I hope you`ll excuse me.I picked it up this morning in a restaurant.If you recognize it as yours,I hope you`ll……”
The man retreated.Soapy walked on,muttering insults against policeman who would not arrest him.
At last he reached a street where there was little traffic and few pedestrians.At a quiet corner he suddenly stopped.There was an old church in front of him.Through the windows a soft light shone,and the sweet music of the Sabbath anthem made him approach the iron fence.
The moon was above,cold and beautiful,and the music reminded Soapy of those days when his life contains such things as mothers and roses and clean thoughts and collars.Soapy listened to the music,looked at the moon and murmured to himself,“ There is time yet I will reform.I will become an honest man.I will get out of the mire.I will---”
Soapy felt a hand laid on his arm.He looked quickly round into the broad face of a policeman.“What are you doing here?” asked the policeman.
“Nothing,” said Soapy.
“Then come along,” said the policeman.“Thinking of robbing the chuech,eh?”
“Three month`s imprisonment,” said the judge in the police court the next morning.
(after O.Henry)