Old Henry and his wife Phoebe loved one another. They were simple ____21____ . Their world was their fruit trees, cornfields and a backyard ____22____ pigs and chickens. The rest of the world was a ____23____ place like stars in the sky. Sometimes, Henry worried about ____24____ . His wife would say, "If you ____25____ talking like that, I will go away and what would you do There is nobody to ____26____ you. " Old Henry knew his wife would never ____27____ him. The only thing he ____28____ was death and the life if his wife died. Knowing she was there, beside him, in the dark, made Henry ____29____ again. In this way, they lived ____30____ in their world. One day, Phoebe became sick and ____31____ . Old Henry watched them put her body in the earth. When people left, he still stood near the tomb for long. At night, he read newspapers ____32____ most of the time, he just sat, looking at the door, ____33____ where Phoebe was and ____34____ he would die. For five months, he lived like this. One day, he went out to cut grass. Just ____35____ the hill, he saw Phoebe again. Yes, there she was, down in the valley, smiling up at him. She was in the same blue dress. She ____36____ a hand and seemed to say, "Come, come with me. " Henry felt the strong pull of a new world ____37____ he and Phoebe would always be together. He gave a ____38____ cry, " Wait, Phoebe, wait for me. I’m coming. " The next day, some farm boys ____39____ Henry at the bottom of the hill. His body was broken. There was a soft, happy smile on his face. The ____40____ smile he had worn when Phoebe was alive. 23().

A. small
B. faraway
C. close
D. big