Once upon a time there was a monster. He was very ugly and had no
friends. No one wanted to talk to him. Even other monsters thought he was ugly.
  He lived alone and was very unhappy because he was so lonely.
  “I wish I had a friend,” he said to himself every day. “One friend would be
enough. I just want to have someone to talk to.”
  He wrote a letter to a magazine. The magazine gave people advice.
  “Dear Editor,” he wrote. “I am an ugly monster. How can I
find a friend?”
  “Dear Monster,” the Editor replied. “Advertise for a friend in
this magazine.”
  The monster wrote an advertisement.
  “Monster wants a friend, male or female. I have two heads,
four arms, six legs and three tails. I have one blue eye, one
green eye and one brown eye. Smoke comes out of my noses.
But I am really a kind monster and will be a good friend to
someone. If you would like to meet me, please stand outsideBlake’s

Store at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 22nd. Write to me at Box
45, Everybody’s Magazine.”
  A few days later he went to the magazine.
  “Do you have any letters for Box 45?” he asked.
  The clerk looked in Box 45.
  “Yes, there is one,” she said, and gave it to him.
    The monster opened the letter, and read, “Dear Monster,
I think a person’s character is more important than his
appearance. I will wait outside Blake’s Store on Friday. Please
carry a flower so that I will recognize you. Yours sincerely, Miss
Alice Thwaite.”

                            怪 物
  从前有一只怪物，长得非常丑，也没有朋友。没人想跟他说话，甚至其
他怪物也认为他很丑。
  他一个人住，非常不开心，因为他是那么孤独。
  “我希望有一个朋友，”每天他都自言自语地说，“有一个朋友就够
了，这样可以跟人说说话。”
  他给一家杂志社写了一封信，这家杂志常给人们提供一些建议。
  “亲爱的编辑，”他写道，“我是一只丑陋的怪物，怎样才能找到一个
朋友呢？”
  “亲爱的怪物，”编辑回信中写道，“你可以在这本杂志上登广告找朋
友。”
  怪物登了一则广告。
  “怪物想交友，男女不限。我有两个头，四只胳膊，六条腿，三条尾
巴。我有一只蓝眼睛，一只绿眼睛和一只棕色的眼睛，鼻子会冒烟。但我是
一只善良的怪物，而且会成为您的朋友。如果您想见我，请在五月二十二日
星期五晚上六点在布雷克商店外站着。您也可以写信给我，请邮到《大众杂
志》四十五号邮箱。”
  几天后他来到杂志社。
  “有没有四十五号邮箱的信？”他问。
  职员看了看四十五号邮箱。
  “是的，有一封。”说完职员把信递给了他。
 怪物打开信念道：“亲爱的怪物，我认为一个人的品德要比外表更重
要。星期五我会在布雷克商店外等您。请您手里拿一朵花，以便我能认出
您。您忠诚的，艾丽斯·泰特小姐。”