public Command getCommand() {
        String inputLine = "";   // will hold the full input line
        String word1;
        String word2;

        System.out.print("> ");     // print prompt

        BufferedReader reader = 
                new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
        try {
            inputLine = reader.readLine();
        }
        catch(java.io.IOException exc) {
            System.out.println ("There was an error during reading: "
                    + exc.getMessage());
        }

        StringTokenizer tokenizer = new StringTokenizer(inputLine);

        if(tokenizer.hasMoreTokens())
            word1 = tokenizer.nextToken();      // get first word
        else
            word1 = null;
        if(tokenizer.hasMoreTokens())
            word2 = tokenizer.nextToken();      // get second word
        else
            word2 = null;

        // note: we just ignore the rest of the input line.

        Command command = commands.get(word1);
        if(command != null) {
            command.setSecondWord(word2);
        }
        return command;
    }