Bond Michael «Paddington Takes the Test»

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Автор Bond Michael

First published in Great Britain

by William Collins Sons and Co. Ltd. in 1979

This edition first published by Collins in 1999

This edition published in 2018

Collins is an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd, 1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF

and William Collins Sons and Co. Ltd. 1979

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

The author and illustrator assert the moral right to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work.

Cover illustration adapted and coloured by Mark Burgess from the original by Peggy Fortnum

Source ISBN: 9780006753780

Ebook Edition © JANUARY 2012 ISBN: 9780007461493

Version: 2018-05-23

Contents

1. Paddington at the Wheel

2. In and Out of Trouble

3. Paddington and the Stately Home

4. Paddington and ‘Bob–a–Job’

5. Paddington Gets a Rise

6. Mr Curry Lets Off Steam

7. Pantomime Time

About the Author

Other books by Michael Bond

About the Publisher

Paddington gave the man facing him one of his hardest stares ever.

“I’ve won a bookmark!” he exclaimed hotly. “But I thought it was going to be a Rolls-Royce. ”

The man fingered his collar nervously. “There must be some mistake,” he replied. “The lucky winner of the car has already been presented with it. And the second prize, a weekend for two in Paris, has gone to an old age pensioner in Edinburgh. If you’ve had a letter from us, then you must be one of the ten thousand runners-up who merely receive bookmarks. I can’t think why one wasn’t enclosed. ”

“I’m one of ten thousand runners-up?” repeated Paddington, hardly able to believe his ears.

“I’m afraid so. ” Regaining his confidence, the man began rummaging in one of his desk drawers. “The trouble is,” he said meaningly, “so many entrants to competitions don’t bother to read the small print. If you care to take another look at our entry form you’ll see what I mean. ”

Paddington took the leaflet and focused his gaze on a picture of a large, sleek, silver-grey car. A chauffeur, standing beside one of the open doors, was flicking an imaginary speck of dust from the upholstery with one of his gloves, while across the bonnet, in large red letters, were the words ALL THIS COULD BE YOURS!