True Story 18. The Birthday Present
Дата публикации: Nov 23, 2015 6:3:54 PM
Изложение
Джоу не был богатым человеком. Однако он хотел сделать дорогой подарок своей жене на день рождения.
Он присмотрел для нее очень хорошее пальто из кашемира.
Несмотря на высокую цену - $1000, Джоу купил это пальто и упаковал его в большой черный пластиковый пакет.
Довольный покупкой, Джоу поехал к своему брату, чтобы оставить пальто у него. Он хотел сделать жене сюрприз.
Подъехав к дому брата, Джоу увидел свою сноху, которая убирала снег перед домом.
Джоу вызвался помочь ей, а пальто положил в стороне прямо на снег.
Пока Джоу энергично махал лопатой, подъехала мусороуборочная машина, работник которой вытряхнул пакеты с мусором из баков и закинул в кузов.
Поскольку пакет с пальто лежал неподалеку от мусорных баков, работник бросил в кузов и его.
Когда Джоу закончил чистить дорожку от снега, он обнаружил, что пальто исчезло.
Он посмотрел вокруг и догадался, что пальто угодило в мусор вместе с другими похожими пакетами.
Джоу не поддался отчаянию и поехал на свалку, куда по его расчетам должен был попасть в итоге пакет с пальто.
На свалке Джоу обнаружил горы похожих черных пластиковых пакетов.
Тут любой бы потерял надежду, но только не Джоу.
Он принялся методично потрошить пакеты, пытаясь найти пальто.
Через несколько часов, пальто было найдено и через два дня радостный Джоу преподнес его жене.
Жена была счастлива. Лишь одно обстоятельство омрачало её радость - пальто пахло свалкой.
Translation
1. (at once)
Joe wasn't a rich man.
However, he wanted to make an exciting present to his wife's birthday.
He'd already choose a pretty good quality coat made of cashmere.
In spite of an expensive price, one thousand dollars, he bought the coat and packed it up into a big black plastic bag.
Being satisfied with himself and his present, Joe went to his brother's house to keep the coat there.
He wanted to make a surprise for his wife.
When Joe came to his brother's house he saw his sister-in-law who was shoveling the snow in front of the house.
He decided to help her placed the black plastic bag onto the snow nearby and took the shovel from her.
While Joe was enthusiasticaly shoveling the snow, a garbage truck came.
The garbager took all the garbage from the trash cans and threw it up into the garbage truck.
As the big black plastic bag with the coat in it was placed beside the trash cans, the garbager took and threw it up into the garbage truck too.
When Joe finished up to clear the path to his brother's house from the snow, he noticed that the coat'd disappeared.
He watched around and realized that the coat was taken by a garbager and was placed into the garbage truck with the other garbage black plastic bags.
Joe wasn't devastated. He went to the dump where he counted his present would be found.
He found enourmous piles of big black plastic bags in the dump. They were just the same as his bag.
Anybody could lose her or his hope to find the present but Joe.
He started to cut up bags one after the other trying to find the coat.
It's unbeleivable but after several hours on the site he was lucky enough to find his present.
When his wife's birthday came, smiling Joe presented the coat to his wife.
She was happy.
Unfortunately, there was one thing that slightly spoiled all the fun. The coat smelled like it was from a dump.
Joe wasn't a rich man.
However, he wanted to make an exciting present to his wife's birthday.
He'd already choose a pretty good quality coat made of cashmere.
In spite of an expensive price, one thousand dollars, he bought the coat and packed it up into a big black plastic bag.
Being satisfied with himself and his present, Joe went to his brother's house to keep the coat there.
He wanted to make a surprise for his wife.
When Joe came to his brother's house he saw his sister-in-law who was shoveling the snow in front of the house.
He decided to help her placed the black plastic bag onto the snow nearby and took the shovel from her.
While Joe was enthusiasticaly shoveling the snow, a garbage truck came.
The garbager took all the garbage from the trash cans and threw it up into the garbage truck.
As the big black plastic bag with the coat in it was placed beside the trash cans, the garbager took and threw it up into the garbage truck too.
When Joe finished up to clear the path to his brother's house from the snow, he noticed that the coat'd disappeared.
He watched around and realized that the coat was taken by a garbager and was placed into the garbage truck with the other garbage black plastic bags.
Joe wasn't devastated. He went to the dump where he counted his present would be found.
He found enourmous piles of big black plastic bags in the dump. They were just the same as his bag.
Anybody could lose her or his hope to find the present but Joe.
He started to cut up bags one after the other trying to find the coat.
It's unbeleivable but after several hours on the site he was lucky enough to find his present.
When his wife's birthday came, smiling Joe presented the coat to his wife.
She was happy.
Unfortunately, there was one thing that slightly spoiled all the fun. The coat smelled like it was from a dump.
Джоу не был богатым человеком. Однако он хотел сделать дорогой подарок своей жене на день рождения.
Он присмотрел для нее очень хорошее пальто из кашемира.
Несмотря на высокую цену - $1000, Джоу купил это пальто и упаковал его в большой черный пластиковый пакет.
Довольный покупкой, Джоу поехал к своему брату, чтобы оставить пальто у него. Он хотел сделать жене сюрприз.
Подъехав к дому брата, Джоу увидел свою сноху, которая убирала снег перед домом.
Джоу вызвался помочь ей, а пальто положил в стороне прямо на снег.
Пока Джоу энергично махал лопатой, подъехала мусороуборочная машина, работник которой вытряхнул пакеты с мусором из баков и закинул в кузов.
Поскольку пакет с пальто лежал неподалеку от мусорных баков, работник бросил в кузов и его.
Когда Джоу закончил чистить дорожку от снега, он обнаружил, что пальто исчезло.
Он посмотрел вокруг и догадался, что пальто угодило в мусор вместе с другими похожими пакетами.
Джоу не поддался отчаянию и поехал на свалку, куда по его расчетам должен был попасть в итоге пакет с пальто.
На свалке Джоу обнаружил горы похожих черных пластиковых пакетов.
Тут любой бы потерял надежду, но только не Джоу.
Он принялся методично потрошить пакеты, пытаясь найти пальто.
Через несколько часов, пальто было найдено и через два дня радостный Джоу преподнес его жене.
Жена была счастлива. Лишь одно обстоятельство омрачало её радость - пальто пахло свалкой.
2. (with a little help from my "friends")
Joe wasn't a rich man.
However, he wanted to make an impressive present to his wife on her birthday.
He'd already chosen a good quality cashmere coat.
In spite of an expensive price, one thousand dollars, he bought the coat and packed it up into a big black plastic bag.
Being satisfied with himself and his purchase, Joe went to his brother's house going to keep the coat there till the very day because he wanted to make a surprise for his wife.
When Joe came to his brother's house, he saw his sister-in-law who was shoveling snow in front of the house.
Joe offered to help her. He placed his bag onto the snow nearby and took the shovel from her.
While Joe was enthusiastically shoveling snow, a garbage truck came.
The garbage man took all the garbage threw it into the garbage truck.
Being the same as garbage bags and lying beside them, Joe's black plastic bag was also taken and thrown into the body of the garbage truck. Then the garbage truck went away.
When Joe finished up clearing the path to his brother's house of snow, he noticed that the coat disappeared.
He looked around and realized that the coat was probably taken by a garbage man and was placed into the garbage truck with the other garbage bags.
Joe didn't despair. He resolutely went to the dump where, he counted, his present would be found.
He found an enormous heap of big black plastic bags there.
They were just the same as his bag with the coat in it.
Anybody but Joe could lose hope to find the present.
He started to cut up bags methodically, one after another, trying to find the coat.
It's unbeleivable but after several hours, he was lucky enough to find his present.
Joe was happy. So was his wife when the very day came and smiling Joe presented the coat to her.
Unfortunately, there was one thing that slightly spoiled all the fun. The coat smelled like a piece of garbage.
Joe wasn't a rich man.
However, he wanted to make an impressive present to his wife on her birthday.
He'd already chosen a good quality cashmere coat.
In spite of an expensive price, one thousand dollars, he bought the coat and packed it up into a big black plastic bag.
Being satisfied with himself and his purchase, Joe went to his brother's house going to keep the coat there till the very day because he wanted to make a surprise for his wife.
When Joe came to his brother's house, he saw his sister-in-law who was shoveling snow in front of the house.
Joe offered to help her. He placed his bag onto the snow nearby and took the shovel from her.
While Joe was enthusiastically shoveling snow, a garbage truck came.
The garbage man took all the garbage threw it into the garbage truck.
Being the same as garbage bags and lying beside them, Joe's black plastic bag was also taken and thrown into the body of the garbage truck. Then the garbage truck went away.
When Joe finished up clearing the path to his brother's house of snow, he noticed that the coat disappeared.
He looked around and realized that the coat was probably taken by a garbage man and was placed into the garbage truck with the other garbage bags.
Joe didn't despair. He resolutely went to the dump where, he counted, his present would be found.
He found an enormous heap of big black plastic bags there.
They were just the same as his bag with the coat in it.
Anybody but Joe could lose hope to find the present.
He started to cut up bags methodically, one after another, trying to find the coat.
It's unbeleivable but after several hours, he was lucky enough to find his present.
Joe was happy. So was his wife when the very day came and smiling Joe presented the coat to her.
Unfortunately, there was one thing that slightly spoiled all the fun. The coat smelled like a piece of garbage.
resolutely adverb BrE /ˈrezəluːtli/ ; NAmE /ˈrezəluːtli/
in a way that shows great determination
They remain resolutely opposed to the idea.
She resolutely refuses to talk about it.
cashmere noun BrE /ˈkæʃmɪə(r)/ , /ˌkæʃˈmɪə(r)/ ; NAmE /ˈkæʒmɪr/ , /ˈkæʃmɪr/
fine soft wool made from the long hair of a type of goat, used especially for making expensive clothes
a cashmere sweater
The scarf is 70% cashmere.
3.
Joe wasn't a rich man.
However, he wanted to make an impressive present to his wife on her birthday.
He'd already chosen a good quality cashmere coat.
In spite of an expensive price, one thousand dollars, he bought the coat and packed it up into a big black plastic bag.
Being satisfied with himself and his purchase, Joe went to his brother's house going to keep the coat there till the very day because he wanted to make a surprise for his wife.
When Joe came to his brother's house, he saw his sister-in-law who was shoveling snow in front of the house.
Joe offered to help her. He placed his bag nearby, just onto the snow, and took the shovel from her.
While Joe was enthusiastically shoveling snow, a garbage truck came.
The garbage man took all the garbage and threw it into the garbage truck.
Being the same as garbage bags and lying beside them, Joe's black plastic bag was also taken and thrown into the body of the garbage truck.
Then the garbage truck went away.
When Joe finished up clearing the path to his brother's house of snow, he noticed that the coat disappeared.
He looked around and realized that the coat was taken and placed into the garbage truck with the other garbage bags.
Joe didn't despair. He resolutely went to the dump where, he counted, his present would be found.
He saw an enormous heap of big black plastic bags there.
They were just the same as his bag with the coat in it.
Anybody but Joe could lose hope to find the present.
He started to cut up bags methodically, one after another, trying to find the coat.
It's unbeleivable but after several hours, he was lucky enough to find his present.
Joe was happy. So was his wife, when the very day came and smiling Joe presented the coat to her.
Unfortunately, there was one thing that slightly spoiled all the fun.
The coat smelled like a piece of garbage.
Joe wasn't a rich man.
However, he wanted to make an impressive present to his wife on her birthday.
He'd already chosen a good quality cashmere coat.
In spite of an expensive price, one thousand dollars, he bought the coat and packed it up into a big black plastic bag.
Being satisfied with himself and his purchase, Joe went to his brother's house going to keep the coat there till the very day because he wanted to make a surprise for his wife.
When Joe came to his brother's house, he saw his sister-in-law who was shoveling snow in front of the house.
Joe offered to help her. He placed his bag nearby, just onto the snow, and took the shovel from her.
While Joe was enthusiastically shoveling snow, a garbage truck came.
The garbage man took all the garbage and threw it into the garbage truck.
Being the same as garbage bags and lying beside them, Joe's black plastic bag was also taken and thrown into the body of the garbage truck.
Then the garbage truck went away.
When Joe finished up clearing the path to his brother's house of snow, he noticed that the coat disappeared.
He looked around and realized that the coat was taken and placed into the garbage truck with the other garbage bags.
Joe didn't despair. He resolutely went to the dump where, he counted, his present would be found.
He saw an enormous heap of big black plastic bags there.
They were just the same as his bag with the coat in it.
Anybody but Joe could lose hope to find the present.
He started to cut up bags methodically, one after another, trying to find the coat.
It's unbeleivable but after several hours, he was lucky enough to find his present.
Joe was happy. So was his wife, when the very day came and smiling Joe presented the coat to her.
Unfortunately, there was one thing that slightly spoiled all the fun.
The coat smelled like a piece of garbage.
4.
Joe wasn't a rich man.
However, he wanted to make an impressive present to his wife on her birthday.
He'd already chosen a good quality cashmere coat.
In spite of an expensive price, one thousand dollars, he bought the coat and packed it up into a big black plastic bag.
Being satisfied with himself and his purchase, Joe went to his brother's house going to keep the coat there till the very day because he wanted to make a surprise for his wife.
When Joe came to his brother's house, he saw his sister-in-law who was shoveling snow in front of the house.
Joe offered to help her. He placed his bag nearby, just onto the snow, and took the shovel from her.
While Joe was enthusiastically shoveling snow, a garbage truck came.
The garbage man took all the garbage and threw it into the truck.
Being the same as garbage bags and lying beside them, Joe's black plastic bag was also taken and thrown into the body of the garbage truck.
Then the truck went away.
When Joe finished up clearing the path to his brother's house of snow, he noticed that the coat disappeared.
He looked around and realized that the coat was taken and placed into the garbage truck with the other garbage bags.
Joe didn't despair. He resolutely went to the dump, where, he reckoned, his present would be found.
He saw an enormous heap of big black plastic bags there.
They were just the same as his bag with the coat in it.
Anybody but Joe could lose hope to find the present.
He started to cut up bags methodically, one after another, trying to find the coat.
It's unbeleivable but after several hours, he was lucky enough to find his present.
Joe was happy. So was his wife, when the very day came and smiling Joe presented the coat to her.
Unfortunately, there was one thing that slightly spoiled all the fun.
The coat smelled like a piece of garbage.
Joe wasn't a rich man.
However, he wanted to make an impressive present to his wife on her birthday.
He'd already chosen a good quality cashmere coat.
In spite of an expensive price, one thousand dollars, he bought the coat and packed it up into a big black plastic bag.
Being satisfied with himself and his purchase, Joe went to his brother's house going to keep the coat there till the very day because he wanted to make a surprise for his wife.
When Joe came to his brother's house, he saw his sister-in-law who was shoveling snow in front of the house.
Joe offered to help her. He placed his bag nearby, just onto the snow, and took the shovel from her.
While Joe was enthusiastically shoveling snow, a garbage truck came.
The garbage man took all the garbage and threw it into the truck.
Being the same as garbage bags and lying beside them, Joe's black plastic bag was also taken and thrown into the body of the garbage truck.
Then the truck went away.
When Joe finished up clearing the path to his brother's house of snow, he noticed that the coat disappeared.
He looked around and realized that the coat was taken and placed into the garbage truck with the other garbage bags.
Joe didn't despair. He resolutely went to the dump, where, he reckoned, his present would be found.
He saw an enormous heap of big black plastic bags there.
They were just the same as his bag with the coat in it.
Anybody but Joe could lose hope to find the present.
He started to cut up bags methodically, one after another, trying to find the coat.
It's unbeleivable but after several hours, he was lucky enough to find his present.
Joe was happy. So was his wife, when the very day came and smiling Joe presented the coat to her.
Unfortunately, there was one thing that slightly spoiled all the fun.
The coat smelled like a piece of garbage.
5.
Joe wasn't a rich man.
However, he wanted to make an impressive present to his wife on her birthday.
He'd already chosen a good quality cashmere coat.
In spite of an expensive price, one thousand dollars, he bought the coat and packed it up into a big black plastic bag.
Being satisfied with himself and his purchase, Joe went to his brother's house going to keep the coat there till the very day because he wanted to make a surprise for his wife.
When Joe arrived, he saw his sister-in-law shoveling snow in front of the house.
Joe offered to help her. He put his bag down nearby, just onto the snow, and took the shovel from her.
While Joe was enthusiastically shoveling snow, a garbage truck came.
The garbage man took all the garbage and threw it into the truck.
Being the same as garbage bags and lying beside them, Joe's black plastic bag was also taken and thrown into the body of the garbage truck.
Then the truck went away.
When Joe finished up clearing the path to his brother's house, he noticed that the coat disappeared.
He looked around and realized that the coat was taken and placed into the garbage truck with the other garbage bags.
Joe didn't despair. He drove to the dump, where, he reckoned, his present would be found.
He saw an enormous heap of big black plastic bags there.
They were just the same as his bag with the coat in it.
Anybody but Joe could lose hope to find the present.
He started to cut up bags methodically, one after another, trying to find the coat.
It's unbeleivable but after several hours, he was lucky enough to find his present.
Joe was happy. So was his wife, when the very day came and smiling Joe presented the coat to her.
Unfortunately, there was one thing that slightly spoiled all the fun.
The coat smelled like a piece of garbage.
Joe wasn't a rich man.
However, he wanted to make an impressive present to his wife on her birthday.
He'd already chosen a good quality cashmere coat.
In spite of an expensive price, one thousand dollars, he bought the coat and packed it up into a big black plastic bag.
Being satisfied with himself and his purchase, Joe went to his brother's house going to keep the coat there till the very day because he wanted to make a surprise for his wife.
When Joe arrived, he saw his sister-in-law shoveling snow in front of the house.
Joe offered to help her. He put his bag down nearby, just onto the snow, and took the shovel from her.
While Joe was enthusiastically shoveling snow, a garbage truck came.
The garbage man took all the garbage and threw it into the truck.
Being the same as garbage bags and lying beside them, Joe's black plastic bag was also taken and thrown into the body of the garbage truck.
Then the truck went away.
When Joe finished up clearing the path to his brother's house, he noticed that the coat disappeared.
He looked around and realized that the coat was taken and placed into the garbage truck with the other garbage bags.
Joe didn't despair. He drove to the dump, where, he reckoned, his present would be found.
He saw an enormous heap of big black plastic bags there.
They were just the same as his bag with the coat in it.
Anybody but Joe could lose hope to find the present.
He started to cut up bags methodically, one after another, trying to find the coat.
It's unbeleivable but after several hours, he was lucky enough to find his present.
Joe was happy. So was his wife, when the very day came and smiling Joe presented the coat to her.
Unfortunately, there was one thing that slightly spoiled all the fun.
The coat smelled like a piece of garbage.
Essay
- Why do some people like to spend all their money on someone's present? Why do they prefer to buy extravagant presents?
I think that those people like to be considered as prosperous ones.
They see themselves through the eyes of others, so they believe that a more expensive present makes them rich and respectable ones.
This psychological phenomenon is called the transference.
A present is usually given for somebody, not to somebody, and the preposition "for" means giving a part of the presenter to the receiver through the present.
Thus, the presenter transfers some of his or her thoughts, emotions and attitude towards the receiver to the present.
At the same time, an expensive present transfers its properties back to the presenter making him or her as an eligible one.
Simply put, it's a kind of easy way to become better than you are.
Those people do that because their real purpose is not to gladden somebody's heart.
Instead, they want to gladden their own heart.
This is very infantile behaviour that can illustrate one of Piaget's egocentrism markers - nonseparateness of the person and the environment.
- Why do some people like to spend all their money on New Year holidays?
I think that only poor people do that.
They suppose that a Cristmas or a New Year holiday is a kind of a deadline in their lives, so they want to spend these holidays as they wish to spend all their time.
Again it's an illustration of the transference when a person thinks if the holidays are happy, careless and full of expensive presents then whole of the next year would be happy, joyful and merry.
It's a kind of a ritual like The Autumn Feast of Papuans, when they eat up all their food gorging like the last time in their life and suffering from starvation during next year.
Actually they are starving but mentally, or in their psychic world, they are full of the Feast food all the time.
When a person lives in his or her psychic world and try to bring the real world to their psychic image, that is a marker of the egocentrism according to Piaget's theory of cognitive development.
- Why do people like surprises? Do they like making surprises too?
A surprise is something unexpected.
In the wild life any unexpecting event or thing is very dangerous so any animal is afraid of it.
When an animal is in fear all its muscules are strained and the blood is full of hormones preparing the body for fighting or running.
A human, like the other animals, has these particular reactions to fear too.
What happens if the alarm was false? The hormones in blood must be spent somehow, so the animal or the person feels relief and, simultaneously, a very strong emotion.
In case of a human, it could be happiness, gladdness or pleasure.
Turning back to a surprise, if a person waits a present, he or she knows that it is most likely something pleasant and nice.
In spite of the fact that unexpectedness makes the person to be a little nervous or sometimes afraid, it's very exciting to utilize the stress hormones through an emotion, being sure that you are absolutely safe.
It's an illustration of what part human instincts play in modern people's lives.
- Why do some people like to spend all their money on someone's present? Why do they prefer to buy extravagant presents?
I think that those people like to be considered as prosperous ones.
They see themselves through the eyes of others, so they believe that a more expensive present makes them rich and respectable ones.
This psychological phenomenon is called the transference.
A present is usually given for somebody, not to somebody, and the preposition "for" means giving a part of the presenter to the receiver through the present.
Thus, the presenter transfers some of his or her thoughts, emotions and attitude towards the receiver to the present.
At the same time, an expensive present transfers its properties back to the presenter making him or her as an eligible one.
Simply put, it's a kind of easy way to become better than you are.
Those people do that because their real purpose is not to gladden somebody's heart.
Instead, they want to gladden their own heart.
This is very infantile behaviour that can illustrate one of Piaget's egocentrism markers - nonseparateness of the person and the environment.
- Why do some people like to spend all their money on New Year holidays?
I think that only poor people do that.
They suppose that a Cristmas or a New Year holiday is a kind of a deadline in their lives, so they want to spend these holidays as they wish to spend all their time.
Again it's an illustration of the transference when a person thinks if the holidays are happy, careless and full of expensive presents then whole of the next year would be happy, joyful and merry.
It's a kind of a ritual like The Autumn Feast of Papuans, when they eat up all their food gorging like the last time in their life and suffering from starvation during next year.
Actually they are starving but mentally, or in their psychic world, they are full of the Feast food all the time.
When a person lives in his or her psychic world and try to bring the real world to their psychic image, that is a marker of the egocentrism according to Piaget's theory of cognitive development.
- Why do people like surprises? Do they like making surprises too?
A surprise is something unexpected.
In the wild life any unexpecting event or thing is very dangerous so any animal is afraid of it.
When an animal is in fear all its muscules are strained and the blood is full of hormones preparing the body for fighting or running.
A human, like the other animals, has these particular reactions to fear too.
What happens if the alarm was false? The hormones in blood must be spent somehow, so the animal or the person feels relief and, simultaneously, a very strong emotion.
In case of a human, it could be happiness, gladdness or pleasure.
Turning back to a surprise, if a person waits a present, he or she knows that it is most likely something pleasant and nice.
In spite of the fact that unexpectedness makes the person to be a little nervous or sometimes afraid, it's very exciting to utilize the stress hormones through an emotion, being sure that you are absolutely safe.
It's an illustration of what part human instincts play in modern people's lives.
Orig
Joe is shopping. He is looking for a present for his wife. Her birthday is in two days.
He sees a coat. It is a warm coat, and it is beautiful. It is also expensive - $1,000. Joe is not a rich man. But he loves the coat, and he loves his wife, so he buys the coat.
Joe doesn't want his wife to see the coat, so he puts it in a black plastic bag. Then he takes the coat to his brother's house.
When Joe arrives at his brother's house, his sister-in-law is outside shoveling snow.
'I'll help you', Joe says. He puts the black plastic bag down on the snow.
While Joe is shoveling snow, a garbage truck comes. The men see the black plastic bag on the snow. They pick it up and throw it into the truck.
When Joe finishes shoveling the snow, he looks for the black plastic bag. It is gone!
Then Joe remembers the garbage truck .
'Oh, no!' he thinks. 'Maybe the black plastic bag is in the garbage truck!'
The garbage truck takes garbage to the dump. So Joe drives to the dump. There are thousands of the black plastic bags at the dump.
Which one has the coat in it?
For hours, Joe opens black plastic bags. He finds empty boxes and cans. He finds old shoes and clothes. He finds old potatoes and onions.
Finally, he finds the coat.
Joe gives the coat to his wife on her birthday.
'It's beautiful!' she said 'I love it! But...'
'But what?' Joe asks
'It smells like onions.'