胡敏读故事记托福词汇 第235期:A Worldly Wholesaler 老于世故的批发商
胡敏读故事记托福词汇 第235期:A Worldly Wholesaler 老于世故的批发商
I'll admit to anyone that I am a worldly person.
我愿意向任何人承认，我是个老于世故的人。
I enjoy wrapping myself in luxury.
我喜欢耽于奢华。
Poverty, or even a middle-class existence, is not something I would be able to withstand.
贫困，或者即使是中产阶级的生活，也是我无法承受的。
If I had to give up my fresh pate and my caviar,
如果让我放弃肉馅饼和鱼子酱，
I would suffer such bad withdrawal symptoms that I would most assuredly die.
我会出现严重的脱瘾症状，我确定无疑会死掉。
When people tell me that my extravagant lifestyle is withering away my soul,
当人们告诉我说我奢华的生活方式正消磨着我的灵魂，
I tell them I'd much rather wither away in a mansion than in a shack.
我告诉他们我宁愿在豪宅中消磨，也不想在陋室中生活。
Where money whirs, there I am. It wasn't just on a whim that I became a wholesaler.
哪里金钱叮当作响，我就在哪里。我成为批发商并非一时的心血来潮。
The wholesaler business was where the action was when I first began.
批发生意是我最初从事的行业。
It has since whittled down to just a few companies,
从此以后削减到只剩几家公司，
but back when I was first starting out in business, a fortune could be made there by just about anyone.
但是如果回到我最初开始做生意的时候，几乎任何人都可以大赚一笔。
After making a small, modest fortune, I withdrew my interests from the wholesale business.
在适当发了一笔小财之后，我从批发生意中撤出股权。
It was still doing well at the time I left, and people thought I was crazy for leaving.
我离开的时候，生意运行得不错，人们都以为我疯了。
I didn't wince even once, however.
但我从未退缩过。
What some people refer to as a wily disposition, I simply refer to as a smart business decision.
人们所称的诡诈脾性，我将其称为精明的商业决定。
I wasn't being wily when I left. Now understand, I wasn't being wholesome, either.
我离开时并非表现诡诈。现在明白了，我当时也并非身心健全。
There's limited amount of money out there, and if I don't get it, someone else will.
钱数有限，如果我不拿，别人也会拿。
By quietly wiggling out of the wholesale industry
我不声不响地从批发行业扭转屁股就开溜，
instead of making a huge announcement and encouraging others to do the same, I actually made money.
而没有大张旗鼓，不让别人效仿，我实际上赚了钱。
There was nothing mean spirited to this. It was just me being a businessman.
这样做没有什么卑鄙的。只是因为我是个批发商。
If the industry is about to have a calamitous wreck,
假如这个行业要有灾难性的破坏，
why should I hold the responsibility of wrestling people away from it?
我为什么要负责拉扯别人从中脱身呢？
I was not going to stand by and witness my own investments become nothing.
我不会眼睁睁她看着自己的投资化为乌有。
That would have been quite a woolly lose.
那将是不明不白的损失。
I'm wistful when I lose money, but as it stands, my wits are still intact.
我赔钱时会愁眉苦脸，但就目前的情况来说，我的神志仍然完好无损。
I just built a new winter residence, a nice cabin, out in the woods of Oregon.
我在俄勒冈的森林中刚刚建造了一处新的冬季住所，一个漂亮的小木屋。
I wrap myself in the finest woolen jackets, made from the most expensive wool.
我身穿用最昂贵的羊毛制成的最漂亮的毛料夹克衫。
I go out in the evenings and listen to the beautiful sounds of the surrounding wildlife.
我在晚上走出屋子，倾听周围野生动物美妙无比的叫声。
I dare not complain about how I made my money.
我绝不抱怨自己赚钱的方式。
重点词汇
modest['m?dist]adj. 谦虚的，适度的，端庄的
announcement[?'naunsm?nt]n. 通知，发表，宣布
complain[k?m'plein]vi. 抱怨，悲叹，控诉
whim[wim]n. 一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想
luxury['l?k??ri]n. 奢侈，豪华，奢侈品
fortune['f?:t??n]n. 财产，命运，运气
wily['waili]adj. 狡猾的
poverty['p?v?ti]n. 贫困，贫乏
intact[in'tækt]adj. 完好无缺的，原封不动的，未经触碰的
decision[di'si??n]n. 决定，决策
