Read Online Two Times the Fun by Beverly Cleary - Free Book Online

1
The Real Hole
    Jimmy and Janet are twins. They have the same mother, the same father, and the same birthday, too. Jimmy always has Janet to play with and Janet always has Jimmy to play with. Even though Jimmy and Janet are both four years old, they do not always like the same things.
    Janet likes pretend things. She likes to pretend that a block is a cup of tea or that two paper bags are a pair of boots.

    But Jimmy—Jimmy likes real things. He doesn’t want to play with a toy hammer and toy nails. He wants to playwith a real grown-up hammer and real grown-up nails. When Jimmy’s father brings him a present, the first thing Jimmy asks is,

    One morning Jimmy said to his father, “I want to dig a hole. I want to dig the biggest hole in the world.”
    “That’s a good idea,” said Jimmy’s father, and he found a place in the corner of the backyard where Jimmy could dig a hole.
    Jimmy took his toy shovel and began to dig. He put the shovel into the dirt and pushed it down with his foot, the way he had seen his father dig. When he tried to lift the dirt— snap, crack —the handle of his shovel broke.
    “Daddy! My shovel broke,” cried Jimmy. “I need a real shovel.”
    “The real shovel is too big,” said Jimmy’s father, “but you can try.” He brought Jimmy the real shovel, which was much bigger than Jimmy. Jimmy worked and worked, but the real shovelwas too big and heavy for him. The hole Jimmy was digging was hardly a hole at all.
    “I have an idea,” said Jimmy’s father. He went into the garage and came out with a shovel that was just Jimmy’s size. “I had forgotten we had this,” he said.
    “Is it real?” asked Jimmy.
    “Yes, it’s real,” answered Jimmy’s father. “This is the kind of shovel soldiers use to dig trenches. It is called a trench digger.”
    “Real soldiers?” asked Jimmy.
    “Real soldiers,” answered his father.
    While Janet played in her swing, Jimmy began to dig. The real shovel that real soldiers used was just theright size for Jimmy. He could never break the handle of this shovel. No, sir!
    He pushed the shovel into the ground, lifted out the dirt, and tossed it out of the hole. Push, lift, toss. This was the way Jimmy wanted to dig.
    Then Jimmy went to the front yard so he could show his shovel to Mr. Lemon, the mailman, when he brought the mail.
    “Say, that’s a real shovel you have there!” said Mr. Lemon.
    “Yup, I’m digging the biggest hole in the world,” answered Jimmy, and he went back to digging in the backyard. Mr. Lemon liked his shovel!

    “My, what a big hole,” said Jimmy’s mother, when she came outside to tell Jimmy and Janet that lunch was ready. Then she brushed the dirt off Jimmy’s jeans and emptied the dirt out of Jimmy’s shoes.
    After lunch, while Janet galloped around on her hobbyhorse, Jimmy went right on digging. Push, lift, toss. The hole was almost up to his knees when his mother came outside, brushed the dirt off his jeans, emptied the dirt out of his shoes, and took him inside for his nap.
    Jimmy was so tired from digging all morning that he took a good long nap. When he woke up he climbed out of his bed in a hurry, so he could go outsideand dig in his hole some more.
    But when Jimmy opened the back door, he discovered that Janet was already awake. She was not only awake, she was out in the backyard sitting in his hole! “That’s my hole!” said Jimmy.

    “I am a little bird sitting on a nest,” said Janet.
    “That is not a nest!” yelled Jimmy. “That is my hole, and I want to dig in it!”
    “Children!” said the twins’ mother. “Janet, let Jimmy have his hole. It’s his, because he dug it.”
    “I just wanted to borrow Jimmy’s hole for a little while,” said Janet, as she climbed out and went to play on the slide.
    “I don’t want Janet to borrow my hole,” said Jimmy, and he began to dig with his real shovel. He dug and dug. Push, lift, toss. The hole grew deeper and deeper. Pretty soon it was up