LESSON 18 THE WIDOW AND THE MERCHANT 寡妇和商人

1.A merchant, who was very fond of music, was asked by a poor widow to give her some assistance.Her husband, who was a musician, had died, and left her very poor indeed.

2.The merchant saw that the widow and her daughter, who was with her, were in great distress.He looked with pity into their pale faces, and was convinced by their conduct that their sad story was true.

3.“How much do you want, my good woman?” said the merchant.

4.“Five dollars will save us,” said the poor widow, with some hesitation.

5.The merchant sat down at his desk, took a piece of paper, wrote a few lines on it, and gave it to the widow with the words,“Take it to the bank you see on the other side of the street.”

6.The grateful widow and her daughter, without stopping to read the note, hastened to the bank.The banker at once counted out fifty dollars instead of fi ve, and passed them to the widow.

7.She was amazed when she saw so much money.“Sir, there is a mistake here,” she said.“You have given me fifty dollars, and I asked for only fi ve.”

8.The banker looked at the note once more, and said, “The check calls for fifty dollars.”

9.“It is a mistake—indeed it is,” said the widow.

10.The banker then asked her to wait a few minutes, while he went to see the merchant who gave her the note.

11.“Yes.” said the merchant, when he had heard the banker’s story, “I did make a mistake.I wrote fi fty instead of fi ve hundred.Give the poor widow five hundred dollars, for such honesty is poorly rewarded with even that sum.”

【中文阅读】

1.一个商人，非常喜欢音乐。一天，一个贫穷的寡妇寻求他的帮助。她的丈夫是一位音乐家，可惜英年早逝，没有给她留下什么财产。

2.商人发现这个寡妇和跟她在一起生活的女儿极度贫困。他十分同情地看着她们那苍白的脸，心中已被她们的言行说服了，对她们悲伤的故事深信不疑。

3.“您想要多少钱，夫人？”商人问道。

4.“五美元就够救我们了。”贫穷的寡妇略带犹疑地说。

5.商人坐在桌子旁，拿出一张纸，写了几行字，然后递给那个女人，说道：“拿着它，到街道对面的银行换钱吧。”

6.感激不尽的女人和她女儿甚至来不及看支票，就匆匆忙忙地来到了银行。银行职员并没有给她五美元，而是立刻数出了五十美元，递给了寡妇。

7.看到这么多钱，她惊呆了。“先生，一定是弄错了，”她说，“你给了我五十美元，但我只要了五美元。”

8.银行职员重新看了看支票，说道：“支票上写的是五十美元。”

9.“弄错了，一定是弄错了。”寡妇说道。

10.银行职员请她耐心等待几分钟，他去找开支票的商人。

11.“是的，”商人听完银行职员的叙述后说：“我的确弄错了。我只写了五十美元，而不是五百美元。给那个可怜的寡妇五百美元吧，因为这种诚实的美德多少钱也换不来。”