综合辅导英语世界:RichMan

文章作者 100test 发表时间 2008:03:13 14:26:56
来源 100Test.Com百考试题网

都说穷人日子难过，其实富人有时也不好过。你节俭、花钱小心，别人说你吝啬成性；你慷慨大方，别人说你本该如此，没什么了不起。并不是有意为有钱人开脱，实在是这世上先入为主的成见太多。

　　Grandfather was a philosopher, and like a lot of philosophers, I guess, he was a mild-mannered man who was always ready to admit that there are two sides to every question. So when people got to arguing with him, or around him, about things that they got heated up and illogical about, like politics and religion,1 he would tell this story that Doc Eaton told him one day up on the Hill.

　　It happened a long time ago, when the town wasnt all steel and concrete and automobiles. when you could still hear the whir of a lawn mower without taking a streetcar out to the suburbs, and still see a horse lazily switching at the flies on his flanks under almost any sycamore tree.2 The Forest City had a lot of trees in those days.

　　And it had a lot of people that didnt always see eye to eye,3 like a lot of other cities. And it had a rich man, like almost every other town. And this rich man was a pillar in the Baptist Church.4 and people didnt see eye to eye about him, either.

　　There were those—and Grandfathers eyes twinkled when he said it—that claimed the rich man was an old hypocrite5, that he was ruthless in his business dealings, that he was so tightfisted he wouldnt spend a nickel to see an earthquake,6 that when he went to church on Sunday morning he was almost as important as God to a lot of people.

　　Then there was the other school of thought7. It asserted that just because a man had made money under conditions as they existed was no reason to call him a lot of hard names.8 In fact, they asserted stoutly, the people that called him names were merely envious of his success9. They maintained he went to church not because he was a sanctimonious old fraud10 but because he was at heart, and for all his money, a simple, deeply religious man.

　　It was while these two groups were hot at it that the rich man gave a party. Well, it wasnt exactly a party, Grandfather would explain. It was more like a shower for the pastor of the church.11 One group of parishioners saw in their invitation nothing but a kindly, neighborly gesture. The other just said it showed how miserly the old buzzard was12—getting other people to do what he could have done a thousand times over without feeling it a mite.13

　　Grandfather said even then he had the sneaking feeling that the rich man wasnt so insulated and isolated by his money14 that he didnt know what people were saying about him, and that was the real reason he gave the party.

　　But both sides of the question went to the party. A lot of them were pretty curious about the inside of a rich mans home.

　　They brought offerings for the pastor, as they were requested. Some people brought apples, and others brought sides of bacon and onions and other homey old-fashioned things like that15. But nobody was really much interested in what the other guests brought. They were all waiting for one thing. What would the rich man bring out? Even Doc Eaton, the preacher, according to Grandfather, couldnt help wondering about what was coming. You could feel the undercurrent of suspense.

　　And then the rich man16 brought out his offering.

　　It was a bushel of potatoes.17 They were nice potatoes, extra large and scrubbed white and clean. But still and all, they were only a bushel of potatoes that anybody could buy in the Old Market for a lot less than a dollar.

　　Well, sir, Grandfather chuckled, you could practically see what people were thinking. They were the people who were saying to themselves and to everybody else, "Well, what did I tell you??And then there were those who made it perfectly plain that they thought it was mighty tactful of their host not to make an ostentatious parade of his money18 before a lot of neighbors and friends.

　　But the host went around as if he didnt notice anything, though Grandfather always insisted that he detected a little twinkle in the rich mans eyes as he shook hands with all his fellow parishioners and wished them good night.

　　The preacher toted19 his gifts into his house, and just because they had been the center of interest, so to speak, he picked one of the big white potatoes out of the basket. Then he noticed that one end of the potato had been opened. He investigated, and discovered that a silver dollar had been neatly inserted through the opening. He examined every potato in that bushel basket, and there was a silver dollar in every single one of them.

　　At this point Grandfather usually sat back and plucked benignly at his white beard20 and smiled. Then hed turn philosopher and say:

　　"It takes an almighty pile of gall21 for a man to sit up and say what is going on in another mans mind, dont22 it? I mean one way or another. When Doc Eaton told me that story he didnt bother to point out any moral. By the way, he dont do any preaching any more. Hes been a congressman from New Jersey for years and years. But I guess the story has a moral, all right. Always sort of tickled23 me, like it must have tickled Docs rich parishioner. "

　　"The New Testament says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.24 Well, I aint saying it isnt true. But I am saying this: It took John D. Rockefeller to put a silver dollar through the eye of a potato in order that a lot of people could have some food for thought."25

　　1. 当人们在他周围或与他直接争论政治和宗教一类的问题，并且争论得非常激烈，失去理智时。heat up: 变得激烈。
　　2. 你不用坐上有轨电车到郊外也能听到割草机的嗡鸣声，也能看到差不多在每一棵悬铃木树下，马儿懒洋洋地甩着尾巴驱赶身体两侧的苍蝇。 whir: 嗡嗡声； lawn mower: 割草机； flank: 腹侧，胁腹；sycamore: 悬铃木树。
　　3. Forest City有很多人并不总是观点一致。see eye to eye with sb.: 与某人看法完全一致。
　　4. pillar: 主要支持者；Baptist Church: 浸礼会教堂。
　　5. hypocrite/#hip2krit/: 伪君子。
　　6. 他做生意时冷酷无情，吝啬得不会愿意花5分钱看一场地震。注意这句话的幽默意味：像地震这么难得，这么巨大的场面他都不愿意花上一点点钱去看。 ruthless: 无情的，冷酷的；tightfisted: 吝啬的，小气的；nickel: 5分镍币，5分钱。
　　7. 另一派说（想）法。school: 在此意思是 “学派，流派”。
　　8. 这一派说法强调，仅仅因为某个人在现有条件下挣了钱就对他横加指责是没有道理的。call sb. names: 谩骂某人。
　　9. 仅仅是嫉妒他的成功。
　　10. sanctimonious: 假装圣洁的，伪善的； fraud: <口>骗子。
　　11. 这更像是为教堂牧师开的一个送礼会。shower: 送礼会；pastor: (基督教的)牧师。
　　12.这个自私的老家伙有多么吝啬。buzzard: 贪婪自私的小人。
　　13. 让别人做他本可以不费吹灰之力就能做上千次的事。mite: 一点点，极少的一笔钱。
　　14. 祖父说即便在那时他暗中就觉得那个富人不会因他的钱财而变得如此与世隔绝。 sneaking: 暗中的，私下的；insulated: 隔离，使隔绝。
　　15.其它类似的老派但让人觉得亲切的东西。 homey: 亲切的，像家一样的。
　　16. undercurrent: 潜流，暗流；suspense: 悬念。
　　17. 是一蒲式耳的土豆。bushel: (容量单位)蒲式耳，在美国等于35.238升。
　　18. 不摆阔。ostentatious/.=sten#tei12s/: 炫耀的，卖弄的。
　　19. tote: 搬运，运送。
　　20. 慈祥地捋捋他的白胡子。pluck: 扯，拉；benignly: 慈祥地，宽厚地。
　　21. 极大的胆量。almighty: <口>极度的，非常的；gall: 胆囊，胆汁。
　　22. 此处及往下两行的dont并非笔误，而是作者特意设置说话人的口误，显得更真实，也更符合讲话人的身份。
　　23. tickle: 使发笑，使高兴。
　　24. 《新约全书》上说富人进天堂要比骆驼穿过针眼更难。
　　25. food for thought: 引人深思的事。