A history teacher was talking to his class about the ancient Romans.
‘They were very strong, brave people, and they were good soldiers,’ he said.
‘They always wanted to have strong bodies, so they played a lot of games.’
‘Did they like swimming?’ one of the girls asked. ‘That makes people’s
bodies strong.’ She was very good at swimming.
‘Oh, yes, some of them swam a lot,’ the teacher answered. Then he told
them a story about one famous Roman.
‘There was a big, wide river in the middle of Rome,’ he said. ‘It was the
Tiber, and this man swam across it three times every day before breakfast.’
The girl laughed when she heard this.
‘Why are you laughing?’ the teacher asked her angrily. ‘Have I said anything
funny?’
‘Well, sir,’ the girl answered, ‘Why didn’t he swim across the river four times,
to get back to his clothes again?’
Elementary Stories for Reproduction
First Series
L. A. HILL
Copyright of OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS