I remember a time when a shortage occurred1; my friend Swinton and I had to have three dollars, and we had to have it before the close of the day2. I don't know now how we happened to want all that money at one time; I only know we had to have it. Swinton told me to go out and find it, and he said he would also go out and see what he could do. Being a man of strong religious faith, he didn't seem to have any doubt that we would succeed, but I hadn't the same confidence3. I had no idea where to turn to raise all that money4, and I said so.
I think Swinton was ashamed of me privately5 because of my weak faith. He told me to give myself no uneasiness, no concern; and he said in a simple, confident and unquestioning way, “The Lord will provide, but it seemed to me that if he had had my experience ... but never mind that.” Before he was done with me, his strong faith had had its influence6, and I went forth from the place almost convinced that the Lord really would provide.
I wandered around the streets for an hour, trying to think up some way to get that money, but nothing suggested itself7. At last, I walked into the Ebbitt Hotel and sat down. Presently a dog came over to me. He paused, glanced up at me, and said with his eyes, “Are you friendly?” I answered with my eyes that I was. He waved his tail happily and came forward and rested his head on my knee and lifted his brown eyes to my face in a loving way. He was a charming creature8, as beautiful as a girl, and he was all made of silk and velvet9. I stroked10 his smooth brown head, and we were a pair of lovers right away.
Pretty soon, General Miles, the hero of nation, came walking by in his blue and gold uniform with everyone's admiring11 gaze upon him. He saw the dog and stopped, and there was a light in his eyes that showed that he had a warm place in his heart for this handsome creature. The General then came forward and stroked the dog and said, “He is very fine. He is a wonder. Would you sell him?”
I was greatly moved; it seemed a marvelous thing to me, the way Swinton's faith had worked out.
I said, “Yes.”
The General said, “How much do you ask for him?”
“Three dollars,” I replied.
The General was obviously surprised. He said, “Three dollars, only three dollars? Why, that dog is a most uncommon dog. He can't possibly be worth less than fifty. If he were mine, I wouldn't take less than a hundred for him. I am afraid you are not aware of his value. Reconsider your price if you wish. I would not like to cheat you.”
But I replied, “No. Three dollars. That is his price.”
“Very well, since you insist upon it,” said the General, and he gave me the three dollars and led the dog away, disappearing upstairs.
In about ten minutes a gentle-faced, middle-aged gentleman came along and began to look around, here and there, under tables and everywhere. I said to him, “Is it a dog you are looking for?”
His face had been worried before, and troubled; but it lighted up gladly now, and he answered, “Yes, Have you seen him?”
“Yes,” I said. “He was here a minute ago, and I saw him follow a gentleman away. I think I could find him for you if you would like me to try.” I have seldom seen a person look so grateful. He said that he would like me to try.
I assured him I would do it with great pleasure, but that as it might take a little time, I hope he would not mind paying me for my trouble. He replied that he would do it most gladly—repeating that phrase “most gladly”—and asked me how much.
I said, “Three dollars.”
He looked surprised and exclaimed, “Dear me, it is nothing! I will pay you ten quite willingly.”
But I said, “No, three is the price,” and I started for the stairs without waiting for further argument. Swinton had said that three dollars was the amount the Lord would provide, and it seemed to me that would be wrong to take a penny more than was promised.
I got the number of the General's room from the clerk at the front desk of the hotel, and when I reached the room, I found the General there, stroking his dog and quite happy. I said, “I am sorry, but I have to take the dog back.”
He seemed astonished and said, “Take him back? Why, he is my dog; you sold him to me, and at your own price.”
“Yes,” I said, “that's true. But I have to have him because the man wants him back.”
“What man?”
“The man that owns him. He wasn't my dog.”
The General looked even more astonished than before, and for a moment, he couldn't seem to find his voice. Then he said, “Do you mean to tell me that you were selling another man's dog—and knew it?”
“Yes, I knew it wasn't my dog.”
“Then why did you sell him?”
I said, “Well, that is a strange question to ask. I sold him because you wanted him. You offered to buy the dog; you can't deny that. I was not anxious to sell him. I had not even thought of selling him, but it seemed to me that...”
He broke me off in the middle of my sentence and said, “It is the strangest thing I have ever heard of—the idea of your selling a dog that didn't belong to you...”
I interrupted12 him there and said, “You said yourself that the dog was probably worth a hundred dollars. I only asked you for three. Was there anything unfair about that? You offered to pay more; you know you did. I only asked for three; you can't deny it.”
“Oh, what in the world does that have to do with it? The truth of the matter is that you didn't own the dog—can't you see that? You seem to think if you sell it cheap. Now then...”
I said, “Please don't argue any more about it. You can't get around the fact13 that the price was perfectly fair, perfectly reasonable—considering that I didn't own the dog—and so arguing about it is only a waste of words. I have to have him back because the man wants him. Don't you see that I have no choice in the matter? Put yourself in my place. Suppose you ...”
“Oh,” he said, sighing, “don't mix me up any more with your crazy reasoning! Take him along and give me a rest.”
So I paid him back the three dollars and led the dog downstairs and passed him over to his owner and collected three for my trouble.
I went away feeling quite satisfied with the whole matter because I had acted honorably. I could never have used the three dollars that I had sold the dog for, because it was not rightly my own. But the three I got for returning him to his owner was rightly and properly mine because I had earned it. That man might never have gotten his dog back at all if it hadn't been for me. My principles have remained to this day what they were then14. I was always honest; I know that I can never be otherwise. It is as I have always said: I was never able to use money I had acquired in questionable ways.
Now then, that is the tale. Some of it is true.
1. 我记得有一次手头缺钱。 shortage n． 不足，缺乏 occur v． 发生
2． before the close of the day 这一天结束前。close n．结束
3． confidence n． 信心
4． 此句意为：我不知道去哪儿才能筹到这笔钱。
raise v． 筹集
5． privately adv． 私下
6． 此句意为：话没说完，他的强大信念就感染了我。7． 此句意为：可就是想不起来该怎么去做。
suggest itself to 浮现在…心中
8． a charming creature 一只迷人的小动物。
charming adj． 迷人的
9． velvet n． 天鹅绒；柔软，光滑
10． stroke v． 抚摸
11． admiring adj． 赞赏的，钦佩的
12． interrupt v． 打断
13． get around the fact 回避事实
14． 此句意为：直到今天，我的做人原则一如从前。