A lovable eccentric
原文
Lesson 31
A lovable eccentric
Why did the shop assistant refuse to serve Dickie?
True eccentrics never deliberately set out to draw attention to themselves.
They disregard social conventions without being conscious that they are doing anything extraordinary.
This invariably wins them the love and respect of others, for they add colour to the dull routine of everyday life.
Up to the time of his death, Richard Colson was one of the most notable figures in our town.
He was a shrewd and wealthy businessman,
but most people in the town hardly knew anything about this side of his life.
He was known to us all as Dickie and his eccentricity had become legendary long before he died.
Dickie disliked snobs intensely.
Though he owned a large car, he hardly ever used it, preferring always to go on foot.
Even when it was raining heavily, he refused to carry an umbrella.
One day, he walked into an expensive shop after having been caught in a particularly heavy shower.
He wanted to buy a ￡300 watch for his wife,
but he was in such a bedraggled condition that an assistant refused to serve him.
Dickie left the shop without a word and returned carrying a large cloth bag.
As it was extremely heavy, he dumped it on the counter.
The assistant asked him to leave, but Dickie paid no attention to him and requested to see the manager.
Recognizing who the customer was,
the manager was most apologetic and reprimanded the assistant severely.
When Dickie was given the watch, he presented the assistant with the cloth bag.
It contained ￡300 in pennies.
He insisted on the assistant's counting the money before he left--30, 000 pennies in all!
On another occasion, he invited a number of important critics to see his private collection of modern paintings.
This exhibition received a great deal of attention in the press,
for though the pictures were supposed to be the work of famous artists,
they had in fact been painted by Dickie.
It took him four years to stage this elaborate joke simply to prove that critics do not always know what they are talking about.
译文
第31课
一个可爱的怪人
为什么店员拒绝为迪基提供服务呢？
真正的怪人从来都不会刻意去吸引别人的注意。
他们无视社会习俗，却完全没有意识到自己的行为有什么特别之处。
这无疑为他们赢得了他人的喜爱与尊重，因为他们为平淡的日常生活增添了色彩。
直到去世，理查德·科尔森一直是我们镇上最杰出的人物之一。
他是一位精明且富有的商人。
但镇上的大多数人对他这一面的生活几乎一无所知。
我们都叫他迪基，他的古怪行为早在他去世前就已成了传奇。
迪基极其讨厌势利小人。
尽管他拥有一辆豪车，但他几乎从不使用它，总是更喜欢步行出行。
即使下着大雨，他也拒绝打伞。
一天，他在一场倾盆大雨中淋得湿透后，走进了一家高档商店。
他想给妻子买一块价值300英镑的手表。
但他当时的样子实在太狼狈了，以至于店员拒绝为他服务。
迪基一言不发地离开了商店，然后回来时手里拿着一个大布袋。
由于它非常重，他就把它扔在了柜台上。
助理让他离开，但迪基根本没理会，反而要求见经理。
认出了这位顾客是谁，
经理非常抱歉，并严厉地训斥了那位助理。
当迪基收到那块手表时，他把那个布袋送给了助手。
里面装着300英镑的便士。
他坚持要求店员当面把钱点清——总共三万枚便士！
还有一次，他邀请了许多知名评论家来参观他的私人现代绘画收藏。
这个展览在媒体上受到了极大的关注。
因为尽管这些画被认为是著名艺术家的作品，
实际上，这些画都是迪基画的。
他花了四年时间精心策划这个恶作剧，只是为了证明评论家们并非总是言之有物。