A poor young man came to New York to make his fortune2. He dreamed, in the American way, of becoming a millionaire. He tried his luck on Wall Street. He was diligent and shrewd3 and, when he had to be, devious4. He put together a business deal, which succeeded beyond his wildest dreams: he made twelve million dollars.
At first he thought everything was going well. “Isn't it grand?” He said to his wife, once it was apparent that he had made twelve million dollars.
“No, it isn't,” his wife said. “Nobody knows you.”
“But that's impossible,” the young man said. “I'm a rich person. Rich people are shown in the newspapers in the company of movie stars and famous novelists and distinguished dress designers. Pictures of the rich can be found on the front covers of newspapers and magazines.”
“Yours won't,” his wife said. “You're a nobody.”
“But I have twelve million dollars,” the young man said.
“So do a lot of people,” his wife said. “They are nobodies, too.”
“But I own a co-op apartment on Fifth Avenue5 that's worth two million dollars,” the young man said.
“Two million-dollar co-ops are a dime a dozen6 ,” his wife said. “So to speak.”
“I have a stretch limousine7,” the young man said. “It's twenty-one and a half feet long.”
“Nobody famous has ever ridden in it,” his wife said. “Henry Kissinger and Calvin Klein have never heard of you. You're nobody.”
The young man was silent for a while. “Are you disappointed in me?” he finally said to his wife.
“Of course I'm disappointed in you,” she said. “When you asked me to marry you, you said you would be rich and famous. How was I to know that you'd turn out to be a nobody?”
For a moment the young man looked defeated. Then he said, “I'll make them pay attention,” he said. “I'll buy a professional football team. Important people will join me to watch games from the owner's private viewing room.”
“You can't buy a professional football team for twelve million dollars,” his wife said. “Professional football teams cost a lot of money.”
“Then I'll buy a magazine and appoint myself chief columnist8 ,” the young man said. “A small but handsome picture of me will be placed against my article each week. The owners of professional football teams will invite me to watch big games from the owner's box.”
“You might be able to buy a small, cheap magazine, but not a real magazine,” his wife said. “You can't buy a well known magazine with such a small amount of money.”
“Is that what you call what we have?” the young man asked. “Are twelve million dollars chicken feed9 ?”
“It's not big bucks,” his wife said. “What can I tell you?”
“But that's not fair,” the young man said. “I'm a young man of humble origins who made twelve million dollars. I succeeded even beyond my dream.”
“Some of those things you did with the electronics acquisition probably weren't fair either,” his wife said. “ Nobody cares about unfair business dealings, just how much money you can make.”
“Then I'll get more money,” the young man said. "I'm going to go back to Wall Street and make fifty million dollars.”
But before the young man could make fifty million dollars a man from the Securities and Exchange Commission came and arrested him for having committed insider-trading violations in the electronics acquisition.
The young man was taken away from his office in handcuffs10. A picture on the front page of the afternoon paper showed him leaving his arraignment11, trying to hide his face behind an $850 Italian overcoat. A long article in the morning newspaper used him as an example to show what the young, new Wall Street traders who make quick money illegally, probably because of their humble origins are like. His friends and associates avoided him.
Only his wife stuck by12 him. She tried to see the bright side. “For someone with only twelve million dollars,” she said to the young man, “You're getting to be pretty well known.”
一个出身贫寒的年轻人到纽约来淘金。他以美国人的方式梦想成为百万富翁。他到华尔街碰运气。他勤奋、精明，必要时还能耍上点花招。他把华尔街金融市场的各种交易数据汇集起来，结果他的成功甚至超过了自己的梦想：他赚了1,200万美元。
起初这位青年人以为事事如意。“够棒了吧？”搞清楚自己赚了1,200万美元后，他问妻子。
“不，算不上。”妻子说，“你不过是个无名小卒。”
“不可能。”年轻人说，“我是个有钱人。有钱人的照片同电影明星、优秀小说家、著名服装设计师的一起被登在报纸的头版与杂志的封面上。”
“你的照片是不会被刊登的。” 他的妻子说，“你不过是个无名小卒。”
“可我有1,200万美元啊！”年轻人说。
“这样的人可多了，”妻子说，“他们也都是无名小卒。”
“可我在纽约第5大道上有一套值200万美元的合作公寓呢。”年轻人说。
“200万的合作公寓嘛，可以说没什么稀罕的。”妻子说。
“我还有一辆加长型轿车，”年轻人说，“车有21英尺半长呢。”
“没有哪位名人坐过你的车，”妻子说，“亨利·基辛格和加尔文·克莱因都没有听说过你。你不过是个无名小卒。”
年轻人沉默了一会儿。最后他问妻子：“你对我失望了吗？”
“我当然失望了。”妻子说，“你向我求婚时，你说你肯定会名利双收的。我怎么会想到你到头来还是无名小卒呢？”
有那么一会儿年轻人看上去挺沮丧的。然后他说：“我要让他们对我刮目相看。我要买下一支职业橄榄球队。知名人士会和我一起在球队老板的包厢里观看重大比赛。”
“花1,200万美元你是买不了一支职业橄榄球队的，”妻子说，“职业橄榄球队得花大笔钱呢。”
“那么我就买下一家杂志社，指定自己为首席专栏作家，”年轻人说，“每个星期都有我的一张不大、但很帅气的照片登在专栏文章旁边。职业橄榄球队的老板们会邀请我到他们的包厢里去观看重大比赛。”
“花1,200万美元，你或许能够买到一家小而廉价的杂志，但买不到像样的杂志。”妻子说，“这点小钱你是买不到一份出名的杂志的。”
“这就是你对我们所有家当的提法吗？”年轻人问，“1,200万美元是小钱吗？”
“算不上大钱，”妻子说，“我该跟你怎么说呢？”
“但这不公平！”年轻人说，“我这么年轻，又出身寒微，可我赚了1,200万美元。我的成功甚至超过了我的梦想。”
“你用电子设备做的一些事情恐怕也不公平，”妻子说，“如今不看公平不公平。人们看的是你赚了多少钱。”
“那么我要去赚更多的钱，”年轻人说，“我要重返华尔街，赚它5,000万美元。”
但是还没等他赚到5,000万美元，证券交易委员会就来了个人把他逮捕了，因为他利用电子设备时违法进行了内幕交易。
年轻人是带着手铐从办公室里被带走的。下午的报纸在头版登出了他传讯结束时的一张照片，照片上他试图用一件意大利产的、价值850美元的外套挡住自己的脸。晨报中的一篇长文章把他作为华尔街某类新交易商的例子：他们成了想通过不法手段一夜暴富的典型，而这很有可能是因为他们寒微的出身。他的朋友和同事都躲着他。
只有妻子忠于他。她尽量看到事情好的一面。“对一个只有1,200万美元的人来说，”她对年轻人说，“你开始有点名气了。”
1. Calvin Trillin 卡尔文·特里林，美国作家，生于1935年，曾任多家杂志专栏作家。作品风趣幽默，深受读者喜爱，被称为“美国经典幽默作家”。
2. make one's fortune 发财，发迹
3. shrewd adj. 机灵的，精明的
4. devious adj. 阴险的，狡诈的
5. Fifth Avenue 第5大道。位于美国纽约的商业名街。
6. be a dime a dozen 字面意义是“一角钱可以买一打”，引申意义是因太多而不值钱。
7. stretch limousine 加长型轿车limousine
n. 豪华轿车
8. columnist n. 专栏作家
9. chicken feed 直译为“鸡食”，俚语指小钱，一小笔钱
10. handcuff n. 手铐
11. arraignment n. （法律）提讯，控告
12. stick by 忠于，对…真心