Edwin Booth Saves Robert Lincoln （August 1：美国历史上的今天）

内容提要：在John Wilkes Booth刺杀林肯总统的两年前，他的亲兄弟Edwin Booth在铁路月台上碰巧救了总统儿子一命。

Robert Todd Lincoln was born on August 1, 1843. He was the first child born to Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln. Robert was 18 when his father became the United States President in 1861.

At that time, Robert was attending参加 Harvard University. During a trip home to Washington, D.C. in 1863, he barely几乎不 escaped逃脱 serious injury or death at a railroad station in New Jersey.

Robert was standing in line to purchase购买 a bed in the train's sleeping car from the conductor. The conductor was standing on the platform月台 at the entrance to the car. There was a narrow, open space between the platform and the train car. There was a crowd in line. Robert was pushed against the side of the train. The train began to move. Robert lost his balance and fell into the open space next to the tracks轨道. Another passenger grabbed Robert's coat collar and pulled him back onto the platform. When he turned to thank his rescuer救助者 , Robert recognized the man. He was the actor Edwin Booth. Robert knew him from seeing him on stage.

Two years later, on April 14, 1865 John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln at Ford's Theater. He died the next day. John Wilkes Booth and Edwin Booth were brothers. Edwin had nothing to do with the assassination暗杀.

Robert Todd Lincoln went on to become a successful lawyer. He served as U.S. Secretary of War. He was president of the Pullman Railcar Company. On July 25, 1926, he died in his sleep at his summer home in Vermont. He was 82.

本文内容选自上海外语教育出版社引进出版的《听读美国小故事》第7册（7月）。如需购买，可到当当、亚马逊、京东等网上书城去看看。