Today,roller skating (滑旱冰)is easy and fun. But many years ago, it wasn't easy at all. Before 1743, peoplenever tried skating on wheels. That changed because of a man named John JosephMerlin. Merlin's work was making instruments. In his free time he liked to playthe violin. Merlin was a man with many ideas and many dreams. People called hima dreamer.
One dayMerlin received an invitation to go to an important party. He was very pleasedand a little excited. As the day of the party came near, Merlin began to think.He wanted to find a way to make a wonderful entrance at the party. Merlin hadan idea. He thought that he would attract a lot of attention if he could skateinto the room.
Merlintried different ways to make himself roll. Finally, he decided to put twowheels under each shoe. These were the first roller skate shoes. Merlin wasvery proud of them. He dreamed of arriving at the party and skating into theroom while playing the violin. He was sure that everyone would be verysurprised.
On thenight of the party Merlin rolled into the room, playing his violin. Everyonewas really surprised to see him. There was just one problem. Merlin had no wayto stop his roller skating. He rolled on, playing the violin. Then, with alleyes on him, Merlin hit into a huge mirror on the wall. The mirror broke intomany pieces with a very loud noise. But nobody forgot Merlin's wonderfulentrance after that.
