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《英语短篇小说 An Anxious Man》由会员上传分享，免费在线阅读，更多相关内容在教育资源-天天文库。
1、AnAnxiousManJamesLasdunIJosephNagelslumpedforward,headinhands.‘MyGod,’hegroaned.Elisesnappedoffthecarradio.‘Calmdown,Joseph.’‘That’sfourstraightdayssincewegothere.’‘Joseph,please.’‘Whatdoyouthinkwe’redownnow?Sixty?Eightythousand?’‘It’llcomeback.’‘Weshouldhavesol
2、deverythingafterthefirsttwenty.Thatwouldhavebeenanacceptableloss.Giventhatweweretoostupidtosellwhenwewereactuallyahead–‘Josephfeltthepetulantnoteinhisvoice,toldhimselftoshutup,andplungedon:‘Ididsayweshouldgetout,didn’tI?Frankly,itwasirresponsiblecommittingalltha
3、tmoney–‘shutup,shutup‘-nottomentiontheunseemlinessofbuyinginwhenyoudid–‘OhGod…Hiswifespokeicily:‘Ididn’thearyoucomplainwhenwewereahead.’‘Allright,butthat’snotthepoint.Thepointis–‘‘What?’Herfacehadtightenedangrilyonitself,alllineandbone.‘Thepointis…’Buthehadlosth
4、istrainofthoughtandsatblinking,walledinathickgriefthatseemedforamomentunaccountedforbymoneyoranythingelsehecouldputhisfingeron.Elisegotoutofthecar.‘Let’sgoforaswim,shallwe,Darcy?’Sheopenedthereardoorfortheirdaughterandledheraway.Glumly,Josephwatchedthemwalkhandi
5、nhanddownthroughthescruboaksandpinestothesandyedgeofthekettlepond.Hegatheredthetwobagsfromtheshoppingexpeditionintohislap,burremainedinthecar,heavilyimmobile.Money…Forthefirsttimeintheirlivestheyhadsomecapital.IthadcomefromthesaleofanapartmentElisehadinherited,a
6、ndithadarousedvolatileforcesintheirhousehold.Thoughnotavastamount–underaquarterofamilliondollarsafterestatetaxes–itwaslargeenough,ifconsideredasastakeratherthananesteff,toformthebasisofadreamofrealriches,andJosephhadfoundhimselfunexpectedlysusceptibletothisdream
7、.Themoneyhadmadeasadealerinantiqueprintsandfurniturewasenough,combineswithElise’sincomefromoccasionalweb-designjobs,tokeeptheminmodestcomfort–twocars,anoldbrickhouseinAureliawithlilacbushesandagrapearbour,theyearlytripupheretotheCape–buttherewasn’tmuchleftoverfo
8、rDarcy’scollegefund,letalonetheirretirement.Inthepastsuchmattershadn’ttroubledhimgreatly,butwiththeadventofElise’sinheritancehehadfeltsuddenlyawokenintonewandurgentre
