The Man with the Coats

by Speaker

The Man with the Coats

by Speaker

大家有過以貌取人的經歷嗎？你會不會只因為一個人的外表就對他產生成見呢？其實外貌并不能代表一切，它只能說明這個人的外在。若想知道這個人是否值得我們去打交道，我們就必須要了解他的內心，方能作出判斷。

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 [stu?p] v. 屈背

2) flannel ['fl?nl] n. 法蘭絨

3) counter ['ka?nt?] n. 柜臺

4) stick around 逗留，徘徊

5) right on cue 果不其然

6) down [da?n] adv. 從這里，在那邊

7) nod [n?d] v. 點頭

8) item ['a?t?m] n. 條，項目

9) characteristic [,k?r?kt?'r?st?k] n. 特征

10) smell [smel] v. 有（或散發）臭氣

11) consignment [k?n'sa?nm?nt] n. 托付物，寄存物

12) tap [t?p] v. 輕敲，輕叩

13) work up 激發，逐步建立

14) donate [d??'ne?t] v. 捐贈

15) appointment [?'p??ntm?nt] n. 約定

16) relay ['ri?le?] v. 轉述

17) emotional [?'m????nl] adj. 情感的

18) attachment [?'t?t?m?nt] n. 依戀

19) mothball ['m?θb??l] n. 衛生球，樟腦丸

20) disgust [d?s'g?st] v. 令人厭惡，令人反感

他穿過玻璃門，駐足向店里觀望了一會兒。他大概七十五歲左右，背有點兒駝，穿著一件藍色法蘭絨襯衫，戴著一頂棒球帽。

每當有男性到我店里時，他們總是直奔柜臺。這是一間專賣婦女和兒童服裝的店，所以很少有男性愿意在此逗留。于是他們都會直奔到柜臺來，問他們想問的，在得到答案后便會直奔目的地。果不其然，那個男人來到柜臺前。我尋思著或許我該告訴他煙草店和這兒就隔著幾家店。

“你好啊！”我愉快地問候道。

他與我相視，點了點頭。與此同時，我對這個男人又多了一個新的印象：他身上散發著一股臭味。

“你們店也做代售嗎？”他問道。

“是的。”我回答道。

他用手指輕輕敲打著柜臺。我注意到他的指甲縫里有很多污垢。“流程是怎樣的呢？”他問道。

“嗯，”我說道，“首先，我們會對你的物品進行篩選，然后告訴你哪些東西我們可以留下進行出售。然后呢，如果你的物品賣出去了，你會以支票的形式收到商品賣出所得的百分之四十。”

他慢慢地點了點頭，而我不禁懷疑他的東西能否賣出去。

“嗯，”他說，“我有幾件大衣，嗯，我的妻子兩個月前去世了。”

我開始為我還沒說出口的想法羞得面紅耳赤。

“我最近才鼓起勇氣來整理她的遺物，”他繼續說著。“她有一些像樣的大衣，我想或許會有人需要它們。”

“我曾想過將它們捐給救世軍，但我妻子總和我說這些大衣有多么的貴。所以我想她應該不會同意我隨便就把它們給捐出去。”

我清了清嗓子。“你愿意的話，我可以幫你預約下周的時間。”

他點頭以示同意，在留下了他的姓名和他下一次方便前來的日期后，他便離開了。

事后我和經理說了這件事。

“啊，”她說道，“這可真讓人討厭。因為你知道的，他肯定是帶著對那些大衣戀戀不舍的情緒來的，他最好還是自己留著那些大衣吧。況且它們聞起來可能還會有一股樟腦丸的味道。”

她的話令我反感，但我卻無權責備她。因為就在幾分鐘前，我或許已經說出了和她同樣的話。

注：即救世軍，被稱為“以愛心代替槍炮的軍隊”，于1865年成立。其以軍隊的形式作為架構和行政方針，是以基督教作為信仰基本的國際性宗教及慈善公益組織，以街頭布道、慈善活動和社會服務著稱。

賣大衣的男人

翻譯：Crazier