The Man with the Coats

by Speaker

The Man with the Coats

by Speaker

大家有过以貌取人的经历吗？你会不会只因为一个人的外表就对他产生成见呢？其实外貌并不能代表一切，它只能说明这个人的外在。若想知道这个人是否值得我们去打交道，我们就必须要了解他的内心，方能作出判断。

He walked through the glass doors and stood there for a moment, looking. He was probably in his mid-seventies, with a slightly1)stoopedback, a blue2)flannelshirt, and a baseball cap.

Men almost always come to the3)counterat my store, it’s a women’s and children’s clothing store—few of them really want to4)stick around, so they come to the counter, ask their question, find the answer, and they’re on their way.5)Right on cue, the man made his way to the counter. I figured I’d probably be pointing him toward the smoke shop a few stores6)down.

“Hello there!” I said cheerily.

He met my eyes and7)nodded. I could add another8)itemto my list of his9)characteristics: he10)smelled.

“You do11)consignmenthere, right?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said.

He12)tappedhis fingers on the counter. I noticed that he had dirt beneath his nails. “How does it work?” he asked.

“Well,” I said, “first, we go through your items and let you know which things we can keep to sell. Then, as your items sell, you will be paid by check and receive forty percent of the price we sell your items for.”

He nodded slowly and I doubted that he would have anything we would be able to sell.

“Well,” he said, “I have some coats. You see, my wife died two months ago.”

My cheeks began burning red for my unspoken thoughts.

“And I just13)worked upthe courage to go through her things,” he said. “She has some nice coats, and I thought maybe somebody could use them.”

“I thought about bringing them to theSalvation Army注, but she was always telling me how expensive those coats were. So I thought she might not like me to just14)donate them.”

I cleared my throat. “I can write down your name for an15)appointmentnext week, if you want.”

He nodded, gave me his name and the date he could come in, then he left.

And then I16)relayedthe story to the manager.

“Ugh,” she said, “I hate that. Because you know he’s going to come in with all this17)emotional18)attachmentto the clothes, and he would be much better off just keeping them. They’ll probably smell like19)mothballsanyway.”

Her words20)disgustedme, but I couldn’t blame her. A few minutes ago, I would have said the same thing.

1) stoop [stuːp] v. 屈背

2) flannel ['flænl] n. 法兰绒

3) counter ['kaʊntə] n. 柜台

4) stick around 逗留，徘徊

5) right on cue 果不其然

6) down [daʊn] adv. 从这里，在那边

7) nod [nɒd] v. 点头

8) item ['aɪtəm] n. 条，项目

9) characteristic [,kærəktə'rɪstɪk] n. 特征

10) smell [smel] v. 有（或散发）臭气

11) consignment [kən'saɪnmənt] n. 托付物，寄存物

12) tap [tæp] v. 轻敲，轻叩

13) work up 激发，逐步建立

14) donate [dəʊ'neɪt] v. 捐赠

15) appointment [ə'pɔɪntmənt] n. 约定

16) relay ['riːleɪ] v. 转述

17) emotional [ɪ'məʊʃənl] adj. 情感的

18) attachment [ə'tætʃmənt] n. 依恋

19) mothball ['mɒθbɔːl] n. 卫生球，樟脑丸

20) disgust [dɪs'gʌst] v. 令人厌恶，令人反感

他穿过玻璃门，驻足向店里观望了一会儿。他大概七十五岁左右，背有点儿驼，穿着一件蓝色法兰绒衬衫，戴着一顶棒球帽。

每当有男性到我店里时，他们总是直奔柜台。这是一间专卖妇女和儿童服装的店，所以很少有男性愿意在此逗留。于是他们都会直奔到柜台来，问他们想问的，在得到答案后便会直奔目的地。果不其然，那个男人来到柜台前。我寻思着或许我该告诉他烟草店和这儿就隔着几家店。

“你好啊！”我愉快地问候道。

他与我相视，点了点头。与此同时，我对这个男人又多了一个新的印象：他身上散发着一股臭味。

“你们店也做代售吗？”他问道。

“是的。”我回答道。

他用手指轻轻敲打着柜台。我注意到他的指甲缝里有很多污垢。“流程是怎样的呢？”他问道。

“嗯，”我说道，“首先，我们会对你的物品进行筛选，然后告诉你哪些东西我们可以留下进行出售。然后呢，如果你的物品卖出去了，你会以支票的形式收到商品卖出所得的百分之四十。”

他慢慢地点了点头，而我不禁怀疑他的东西能否卖出去。

“嗯，”他说，“我有几件大衣，嗯，我的妻子两个月前去世了。”

我开始为我还没说出口的想法羞得面红耳赤。

“我最近才鼓起勇气来整理她的遗物，”他继续说着。“她有一些像样的大衣，我想或许会有人需要它们。”

“我曾想过将它们捐给救世军，但我妻子总和我说这些大衣有多么的贵。所以我想她应该不会同意我随便就把它们给捐出去。”

我清了清嗓子。“你愿意的话，我可以帮你预约下周的时间。”

他点头以示同意，在留下了他的姓名和他下一次方便前来的日期后，他便离开了。

事后我和经理说了这件事。

“啊，”她说道，“这可真让人讨厌。因为你知道的，他肯定是带着对那些大衣恋恋不舍的情绪来的，他最好还是自己留着那些大衣吧。况且它们闻起来可能还会有一股樟脑丸的味道。”

她的话令我反感，但我却无权责备她。因为就在几分钟前，我或许已经说出了和她同样的话。

注：即救世军，被称为“以爱心代替枪炮的军队”，于1865年成立。其以军队的形式作为架构和行政方针，是以基督教作为信仰基本的国际性宗教及慈善公益组织，以街头布道、慈善活动和社会服务著称。

卖大衣的男人

翻译：Crazier