一个充满力量的故事-穷人的自尊

PENNIES FOR CANDLES

by Jean ,New Jersey

重点词汇

Great Depression <美>大萧条

sarcastically adv.讽刺地，挖苦地

retort  n.反驳，回嘴;反驳的回答

recall  vt.使想起，回想;

pride  n.骄傲;自尊

When I was a child, during the Great Depression, my mother sent me to the store to buy candles because our electricity had been turned off. I gave the clerk in the store my pennies for the candles, and he sarcastically said, “Didn’t pay the electric bill?” I held my head up high and replied, “Of course we did, but we want to have dinner by candlelight tonight.” I still laugh when I recall our “candlelight” dinner and the look on the clerk’s face after my retort. We didn’t have much money, but we had pride.

买蜡烛

大萧条时期，我还是个孩子。妈妈让我去商店买蜡烛，因为我们的电力被切断了。我给了店员硬币买蜡烛，他讽刺地说，“没有付电费吗？”我抬起头来，回答说：“我们当然交了，但我们今晚想在烛光下吃晚饭。”当我回忆起我们的“烛光晚餐”和在我的反驳之后，那个职员脸上的表情，我都会笑。我们没有很多钱，但我们有自尊。