"I paint because I like it"
It was an unusually peaceful Saturday afternoon, and everybody looked happy accept Tom Sawyer. He had behaved badly, and that’s why Aunt Polly, A sixty year old lady in which house he lived, said to him that he should paint the garden fence. You could see on he’s sad face that he wasn’t very fond of such work.
After a while some boys came closer. In his despair Tom realized who they were. He recognized his friends, who had been out fishing on the Mississippi river. There was no chance of getting away, since they’d already spotted him. Tom couldn’t help but to groan loud. He knew that they were going to make fun of him. Imagine having to work at a Saturday! Suddenly Toms face glowed up. He had gotten a brilliant idea.
“I’m going to pretend that I don’t mind doing this work.”
The boys came up to Tom, and one of them said with a grin in his voice:
“Hi, Tom, its fun to work, isn’t it?” – Actually I’m not working.” Tom answered without turning around, “I paint because I like it.”
Tom’s friends stood watching him for a couple of minutes in silence. In fact it looked really pleasant. Apparently Tom had told them the truth. At last Ben said: “Listen, Tom, can I borrow your brush and paint a little?” – “No,” Tom answered definite. “It’s probably best if I do it myself. You see, nobody can do it as good as me. In any case there is no point in asking me” – “But if I give you something,” suggested Ben and took out a toy gun. Tom pretended that he couldn’t resist such an unexpected offer.
When Ben had painted for fifteen minutes, he had to give the brush to another boy, who also wanted to paint and who had promised Tom a pack of chewing gum. Then the others got to paint in order. At half past four the whole fence was painted, and Tom could bring home a lot of useful stuff.
