一棟待售的住宅

An old man was childless and got sick frequently. Tired of loneliness， he decided to live in a rest home （養(yǎng)老院）. So he announced that his magnificent（宏偉的）house would be sold by auction（拍賣）. So many buyers came swarming to the auction that the price of his house was soon jacked up（提高，增加）from 80，000 to 100，000 pounds and it was still rising.

Sitting deep in a sofa， the old man looked justifiably （有道理的，有理由的） heavy hearted （心情沉重的）. If he had been in good health，he wouldn't have thought of selling the house where he had lived for the greater part of his life.A plainly-dressed （衣著樸素的） young man approached him， bent forward and whispered. \"Sir， I am eager to buy your house but I only have 10，000 pounds.\"

\"You know the base price is 80，000 pounds，\"the old man said gently. \"And now it has been raised to 100，000 pounds.\"Not depressed，the young man earnestly（誠(chéng)摯的）said， \"If you sell house， I promise you will live in it as usual and enjoy your happy life，drinking tea，reading newspaper and taking a walk with me every day. Please believe me I shall care for you with all my heart!\" The old man nodded with a smile. He stood up， motioned（示意）to silence everyone present. \"Ladies and gentlemen，\" he said patting（輕拍） the young man on his shoulder. \"I announce the result of the auction. The young man is the new owner of the house!\"

有位老人無(wú)兒無(wú)女，又體弱多病。他厭倦了孤獨(dú)的生活，決定搬到養(yǎng)老院去。老人宣布將拍賣他豪華的住宅。購(gòu)買者蜂擁而至參加拍賣。住宅從底價(jià)8萬(wàn)英鎊很快被炒到 10萬(wàn)英鎊，價(jià)錢還在不斷攀升。

老人深陷在沙發(fā)里，滿目憂郁。要是自己的健康狀況好的話，他是不會(huì)考慮賣掉這棟陪他度過(guò)大半生的住宅的。一個(gè)衣著樸素的青年來(lái)到老人跟前，彎下腰，低聲說(shuō)：“先生，我也非常想買這棟住宅，可我只有1萬(wàn)英鎊。”

“但是，它的底價(jià)是8萬(wàn)英鎊，”老人淡淡地說(shuō)道，“現(xiàn)在它已升到10萬(wàn)英鎊了。”青年并不沮喪，真誠(chéng)地說(shuō)：“如果您把住宅賣給我，我保證會(huì)讓您依舊生活在這里，過(guò)著快樂(lè)的生活。您每天和我一起喝茶、讀報(bào)、散步……請(qǐng)相信我，我會(huì)全心全意地照顧您!”老人頷首微笑，他站起來(lái)，揮手示意大家安靜下來(lái)。“女士們，先生們，我宣布拍賣結(jié)果，這棟住宅的新主人已經(jīng)產(chǎn)生了，”老人拍著青年的肩膀說(shuō)，“就是這個(gè)小伙子！”