His sister and brother-in-law starved* him; and slowly, the blind boy’s face got thinner and thinner. He sat beside the fire like stone. Only his eyelids* above his two big eyes moved. They trembled* sometimes, afraid. When he did move, he often fell down. Then, when he was on the ground, people liked to laugh at him. But they did not stop to help.
This continued for many years. The blind boy could not work, and this made his brother-in-law very angry. So the torture* got worse. His brother-in-law and sister often gave him wood, leaves and even dirt to eat. They also banged their feet on the floor to frighten* him. Then this brother-in-law started to hit him. He did this at home and in the street. When people saw him do it, they hit the blind boy too and laughed. The blind boy tried to hit them back, but he couldn’t. He missed and fell over. To keep people away, the blind boy started to walk with his arms out. But people still hit him.
In the end, to get food, the blind boy started to beg*. He sat in the road with his hand out and said, `Help me, please. I am a poor, blind boy.’ But most days, he got nothing.
Then, one winter’s day, when there was snow on the ground, the brother-in-law took the blind boy far, far away. Then he left him. The poor blind boy did not know the road home. When the blind boy did not return that night, the brother-in-law lied to the blind boy’s sister. ‘He is not lost,’ he told her. ‘He cannot go a day without eating our food: he is going to come back soon!’
So no one worried and went on with their lives.
Copyright: EFLshorts.com
GLOSSARY
starved* – not given any food
eyelids* – the skin that covers our eyes
trembled* – shook
torture* – cause extreme physical and/or mental harm
frighten* – scare
beg* – plead
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