Me and Mr. Bell Read Free Page B

I’m not sure how to do it.” I knew what angles were, but didn’t know how to measure them. I knew that he would know.
    Mr. Bell frowned. “Yes, well, mathematics has never been my strong point.”
    I thought he was joking. How could the smartest man in the world not be good at math? I wanted to ask him what he meant, but was afraid to. He looked at me and must have read my mind. “I always get someone else to work out the math.” He winked.
    â€œBut….”
    â€œYou’re wondering how someone can be good at inventing and not be good at math, are you?”
    â€œYes, Sir.”
    â€œWell, it’s because being an inventor hasn’t got anything to do with being good at math or reading or writing or anything like that. It’s about having a good imagination. Inventing is like … daydreaming. In fact, that’s exactly what it is. Then you try to turn your daydreams into something real. And that is just plain hard work. If you put daydreams and hard work together, you get inventions, simple as that.” He looked at me and smiled, and his eyes sparkled. “But your daydreams have to be pretty good ones, and you have to work hard for a very long time. That’s the part that confounds most people. And what do you want to be when you grow up, Eddie?”
    I was surprised that Mr. Bell remembered my name. “I’ll probably be a farmer,” I said. “I can’t seem to learn to read or write very well, but my mom said I could still be a farmer.”
    Mr. Bell raised his eyebrows. “Is that right? And do you want to be a farmer?”
    â€œI don’t know. I guess so, if I have to.”
    Mr. Bell snorted loudly out of his nose, like a horse. “And who told you that you can’t learn to read and write?”
    â€œEverybody.”
    â€œIs that so? Well, I have the feeling that I’ve met this everybody before, and it seems to me he’s been wrong quite a few times. Have you ever heard of Helen Keller?”
    â€œYes, Sir.”
    â€œWell, I think you should meet her the next time she comes to visit. Helen has become quite a good writer herself, even though she can’t see or hear. What do you think of that?”
    â€œShe can’t see or hear at all?”
    â€œNot even the tiniest bit.”
    I tried to imagine what that was like, but it just confused me. How could someone not see and not hear? How would she communicate with anyone? It didn’t make any sense. Wouldn’t she be completely alone in the world? Mr. Bell was staring at me, waiting for an answer.
    â€œI don’t understand, Sir. If she is blind and deaf, how does she communicate with anyone?”
    â€œI’ll show you.” Mr. Bell reached out and put his hand on my face. I shut my eyes. I felt his big fat fingers touching my mouth. It was weird. “Okay. Now, say something, but don’t say it out loud.”
    I did as he told me. I felt his fingers on my mouth as I spoke the words silently.
    â€œYou just said, ‘The world is round.’”
    â€œYes, Sir.”
    He took his hand away. “We learn because we want to learn, Eddie. Nothing in the world can stop us if we want it enough. The everybody you were talking to was simply wrong.”
    I was amazed, but I was also curious about something else and hoped he wouldn’t mind if I asked him. “What is it that you want the most, Mr. Bell?”
    Mr. Bell looked at me as if he were surprised at my question, then burst out laughing. “Oh, too many things to count, my dear boy. I want everything the most.” Then he stared across the lake with the most determined look on his face. “Carrying people through the air on a flying ship – just like a sailing ship on the sea – that’s one of them. And we’re close now.”
    Mr. Bell put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. “Any boy smart enough to look for the roundness of the earth