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['mɔdist]

adj. 谦虚的，适度的，端庄的

announcement[ə'naunsmənt]

n. 通知，发表，宣布

complain[kəm'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['lʌkʃəri]

n. 奢侈，豪华，奢侈品

fortune['fɔ:tʃən]

n. 财产，命运，运气

wily['waili]

adj. 狡猾的

poverty['pɔvəti]

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'siʒən]

n. 决定，决策