Urfus to the Rescue

By Robert Taylor

Urfus is the story of the adventures of a rather timid young man who lives in a small village. It was originally developed to encourage my second language students to read. As such, each chapter is short – intended to be read at the beginning of a one-hour lesson followed by discussion and an exercise or two. At the end of the book, there is a link for teachers to a package of chapter-by-chapter exercises, games and quizzes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert Taylor
• Release date: Dec 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9780991696529

Robert Taylor

Robert Taylor studied at Multnomah School of the Bible from 1971-1974. He received his BA from Lutheran Bible Institute, his MA from Northwest Baptist Seminary, and his DMin from Columbia Evangelical Seminary. Teaching Daniel, Romans, and Revelation for Cascade Bible College, Bellevue, WA, was also invaluable preparation for writing this book.

Book preview

Urfus to the Rescue!

by

Robert W. F. Taylor

Copyright 2012 Robert W. F. Taylor

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Introduction

Urfus is the story of the adventures of a rather timid young man who lives in a small village. It was originally developed to encourage my second language students to read. As such, each chapter is short – intended to be read at the beginning of a one-hour lesson followed by discussion and an exercise or two. At the end of the book, there is a link for teachers to a package of exercises based on the chapters of the book.

Chapter 1: Urfus! Durfus!

Once, not so long ago, a young man named Urfus lived in a small village. People used to laugh at him because they said he had a very unusual name. Urfus did not think his name was odd. When people laughed at him, he did not get angry but he did not like it. He liked his name. He liked the village where he lived but it did not think it was very nice of people to call him names.

My parents called me Urfus and that is my name. When he was born, his parents both wanted to name him after their fathers. His grandfather on his father’s side was named Urban while his mother’s father’s name was Rufus. His parents could not decide which name to choose for their new son without upsetting the other father so they decided instead to use a combination of the two names Urban and Rufus. So that is how Urfus got his name.

Urfus Durfus! called out the people and then they would laugh out loud. They pointed to him as he walked by. There goes Urfus Durfus, they would say.

Not much happened in the small village where Urfus lived. People went about their business the same as they had always done. Children went to school and adults went to work. The old folks stayed home or went to the community center to play Bingo.

One Saturday, there was a meeting in the Community Center. The mayor of the village was giving a speech about something or other. Even the old folks, the village elders, were there. In fact, everyone was there, children and all. All except Urfus, that is. No one had bothered to tell him about the meeting. He was happily fishing down by the river and he wouldn’t have wanted to go anyway.

Urfus was sitting up against a big tree where it was shady and cool. He was watching his fishing line dangling in the water, waiting for ripples in the water that would tell him a fish was biting. Suddenly he heard a big crash. He looked around the tree and back towards the village. He wondered what could have made that sound. He could see clouds of dust coming out of area where the Community Center was.

Urfus dropped his fishing rod and rode his bike towards the village. The Community Center was gone! Where the community Centre had been, there was now only the roof sitting on the ground. What had happened to the rest of the building?

People were screaming and calling out for help. What could he do? He could not lift the roof all by himself – and all the villagers were underneath.

Can anybody hear us? called a voice from under the collapsed roof.

I can hear you, Urfus called back. He was now right down on the ground with his ear right up against the roof where it met the ground.

The whole building sank into the ground and we can’t get out, cried someone from beneath the ground.

What should I do? Urfus asked?

Go and get help! Call the police! someone shouted.

The police are under here, too, said another voice, and phones are not working. We’re trapped. Everyone in the village is under here. Help us, Urfus! You are the only one who can.

Why should I save you? All you ever do is call me names and laugh at me!

There was silence for a few minutes. Then the mayor called out, Urfus, please go to your mom’s house and call Emergency on the phone. Even though our police are under here as well as the rest of the town, the Operator will put you through to a special emergency number and they will send help. Can you do that for us, please? If you will do that, I will make a new village by-law that no one is allowed to call you names anymore. Will you do it, please, Urfus? We really need your help here.

Urfus was happy to hear what the mayor said. He rode to his mother’s house which was not far away. Nothing was really far away in the village. Soon police and ambulances and fire trucks arrived on the scene. They cut a hole in the roof and rescued everyone from the collapsed Community Center. The people were very glad to get out and many of them ran over to thank Urfus. A few people were taken to the hospital in the next town but luckily no one was seriously hurt.

After that, no one ever called Urfus names again.

Chapter 2: Urfus Gets a Letter

Now that the people in his village no longer called him names, Urfus was much happier. He smiled at people when he passed them on the street. He used to go to the Post Office everyday for mail but he seldom got any letters. The village did not have a postman. People had to go to the post office to pick up their mail.

One bright, sunny morning, Urfus went to the Post Office as usual. When he opened his mailbox, he saw a letter. ‘I wonder who that could be from?’ he asked himself. Hetook the letter out and looked at it. His name and address were typed on the front. It looked official. The return address showed that the letter came from the mayor’s office.

‘Oh oh!’ he thought. ‘I wonder why I am getting a letter from the mayor?’ He tore open the envelope and this is what the letter said:

Dear Urfus,

I am very happy to write this letter to you for two reasons. First, I want to invite you to come to my office next Tuesday at 1:00 PM. We would like to present you with a gold medal to thank you for your part in rescuing all of the people of the village.

Secondly, I would like to offer you a job working for the village. We can always use someone who is smart and knows a lot about our village. I will tell you all about the job on Tuesday and you can let me know if you would be interested.

Yours sincerely,

Mr. William Johnson

Mayor

Village of Pleasantville

Urfus was thrilled. He was going to get a gold medal. He had heard about soldiers and police officers getting medals but he never thought that he would ever get one. He would have to wear it proudly and keep it nice and shiny. What he would have to do is get ready.

The mayor also wanted him to work for the village. Wow! That would mean he would make money and be able to save up for a trip to Disneyland. It was Urfus’s dream to go to Disneyland.

Urfus did not have to go to the mayor’s office until next Tuesday but he thought about all the things he wanted to do:

- Get a haircut

- Ask his mother to press his suit. Urfus only had one suit and he didn’t wear it often.

-Shine his shoes

- Think about what he would say. He was a little afraid that the mayor would ask him to make a speech because he didn’t know what to say.

On Tuesday, Urfus got up early. He was so excited that he could not sleep. It was to be his big day. All morning, Urfus kept looking at his watch. By lunch time, he was so excited that