It was late afternoon. There was a small restaurant at the corner of the street. A man sat at a table outside the restaurant. He sat there alone. He had a cup of coffee on the table and he held a cigarette in his hand.
He put the cigarette to his mouth and then he blew out the smoke. Then he took the cup and drank some of his coffee. After that, he put it back on the table and looked in front of him.
Just then, another man came to the restaurant. He wore a grey coat. He wanted to go inside and order something to eat. But he looked around the tables outside. Suddenly, he saw the man at the table with a cigarette in his hand. ‘Do I know him or not?’ he thought. He was not sure.
He looked at the man carefully and waited. Just then, the man turned his face up and blew out the smoke again. Yes, it was him! He knew the man. He couldn’t believe his eyes.
He came slowly to the table and he pulled out the chair on the opposite side. Then he sat down and looked at the other man. He didn’t say anything.
The other man put his cigarette into the ashtray and looked at the stranger. ‘Who is this man?’ he thought. ‘Why did he come here?’ he asked himself. He drank from his cup and then he put it back on the table.
‘What do you want?’ he asked the man in the coat.
‘You don’t know me?’ said the other man in an angry voice.
‘No. I don’t know you, and I don’t know what you want from me. This is my table. I am drinking coffee here and smoking. Why did you come here? There are many free tables around.’
‘So, you say that you don’t know me.’
‘Exactly. I don’t know you. So, tell me what you want or go away.’
‘Well, maybe you know this,’ said the man in the coat and put something dark on the table.
The other man looked at it and suddenly, he knew. Suddenly, he understood everything. He knew, who this man was.
order /ˈɔːdə(r)/ – ojednať si
opposite /ˈɒpəzɪt/ – oproti
ashtray /ˈæʃtreɪ/ – popolník
stranger /ˈstreɪndʒə(r)/ – cudzinec
© Sparrow’s English Reader
Sparrow's English Reader 