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VOA慢速英语2014 红色棉布的连衣裙

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A Piece of Red Calico 红色棉布的连衣裙

Frank1 Stockton

Now, the VOA Special English program AMERICAN STORIES.

Our story today is called “A Piece of Red Calico.”  It was written by Frank Stockton.  Stockton was a popular writer in the second half of the nineteenth century.  He wrote a large number of stories for children and other stories for adults.  His most famous work, "The Lady, or the Tiger?," can also be heard in VOA Special English.  Now, here is Steve Ember with Frank Stockton's "A Piece of Red Calico."

I was going to town one morning when my wife gave me a little piece of red calico cloth.  She asked me if I would have time, during the day, to buy her two and a half meters of calico cloth like that.  I told her that it would be no trouble at all.  Putting the piece of brightly colored cloth in my pocket, I took the train to the city.

During the day, I stopped in at a large store.  I saw a man walking the floor and asked him where I could see some red calico.

"This way, sir."  And he led me up the store.  "Miss Stone," said he to a young woman, "show this gentleman some red calico."

"What kind of red do you want?" asked Miss Stone.

I showed her the little piece of calico cloth that my wife had given me.  She looked at it and gave it back to me.  Then she took down a great roll of cloth and spread it out on the counter3.

"Why, that isn't the right kind of red!" said I.

"No, not exactly," said she; "but it looks nicer than your sample."

"That may be," said I, "but, you see, I want it to look like this piece.  There is something already made of this kind of calico which needs to be enlarged4 or fixed5 or something.  I want some calico of the same shade."

The girl made no answer, but took down another roll of cloth.

"That's the right color," said she.

"Yes," I answered, "but it is striped6."

"Stripes7 are worn8 more than anything else in calicoes," said she.

"Yes, but this isn't to be worn,” I said.  “It's for a piece of furniture, I think.  At any rate, I want perfectly9 plain material, to go with something already in use."

"Well, I don't think you can find it perfectly plain unless you get Turkey red," she said.

"What is Turkey red?" I asked.

"Turkey red is perfectly plain in calicoes," she answered.

"Well, let me see some."

"We haven't any Turkey red calico left," she said, "but we have some very nice plain calicoes in other colors."

"I don't want any other color.  I want cloth to go with this."

"It's hard to find low-cost calico like that," she said.  And so I left her.

I next went into a store a few doors up the street.  I gave a salesman my sample, and asked:"Have you any calico like this?"

"Yes, sir," said he. "Third counter to the right."

I went to the third counter to the right.  A man there looked at my sample on both sides.  Then he said: "We haven't any of this."

"I was told you had," said I.

"We had it, but we're out of it now.  You'll get that from an upholsterer, someone who recovers furniture.”

I went across the street to the upholsterer's store.

"Have you anything like this?" I asked.

"No," said the man, "we haven't.  Is it for furniture?"

"Yes," I answered.

"Then Turkey red is what you want."

"Is Turkey red just like this?" I asked.

"No," said he, "but it's much better."

"That makes no difference to me," I said. "I want something just like this."

"But they don't use that for furniture," he said.

"I should think people could use anything they wanted for furniture," I said, somewhat10 sharply11.

"They can, but they don't," he said, calmly.  "They don't use red like that.  They use Turkey red."

I said no more, but left.  The next place I visited was a very large store.  Of the first salesman I saw, I asked if they sold red calico like my sample.

"You'll find that on the second floor," said he.

I went up the steps.  There I asked a man: "Where will I find red calico?"

"In the far room to the left.  Over there."  And he pointed12 to a distant corner.

I walked through the crowds of purchasers and salespeople13, and around the counters14 and tables filled with goods, to the far room to the left.  When I got there I asked for red calico.

"The second counter down this side," said the man.  I went there and produced my sample.

"Calicoes are downstairs," said the man.

"They told me they were up here," I said.

"Not these plain goods.  You'll find them downstairs at the back of the store, over on that side."

I went downstairs to the back of the store.  "Where will I find red calico like this?" I asked.

"Next counter but one," said the man, walking with me in the direction he pointed out.

"Dunn, show this man red calicoes."  Mr. Dunn took my sample and looked at it.

"We haven't this shade in that quality of goods," he said.

"Well, do you have it in any quality of goods?" I asked.

"Yes; we've got it finer."  And he took down a piece of calico, and unrolled a meter or two of it on the counter.

"That's not this shade," I said.

"No," said he. "It is finer and the color is better."

"I want it to match this," I said.

"I thought you didn’t care about the match," said the salesman.  "You said you didn't care for the quality of the goods.  You know you can't match goods unless you take into consideration15 quality and color both.  If you want that quality of goods in red, you ought to get Turkey red."

I did not think it necessary to answer this comment, but said: "Then you've got nothing like this?"

"No, sir.  But perhaps they may have it in the upholstery department on the sixth floor."  So I got in the elevator and went to the sixth floor.

"Have you any red material like this?" I said to a young man.

"Red material?  Upholstery department -- other end of this floor."

I went to the other end of the floor.  "I want some red calico," I said to a man.

"Furniture goods?" he asked.

"Yes," said I.

"Fourth counter to the left."

I went to the fourth counter to the left, and showed my sample to a salesman.  He looked at it, and said, "You'll get this down on the first floor -- calico department."

I went down in the elevator, and out on the street.  I was completely16 sick of red calico.

But I decided17 to make one more effort.

My wife had bought her red calico not long before, and there must be some to be had somewhere.  I should have asked her where she got it.  But I thought a simple little thing like that could be bought anywhere.

I went into another large store.  As I entered the door, a sudden18 nervousness took hold of me.  I just could not take out that piece of red calico again.  If I had had any other kind of a cloth, I think I would have asked them if they could match that.

But I stepped up to a young woman and presented my sample, with the usual question.

"Back room, counter on the left," she said.  I went there.

"Have you any red calico like this?" I asked the saleswoman.

"No, sir," she said, "but we have it in Turkey red."

Turkey red again! I surrendered19.

"All right," I said, "give me Turkey red."

"How much, sir?" she asked.

"I don't know -- say fifteen meters."

She looked at me strangely, but measured off fifteen meters of Turkey red calico.  Then she touched the counter and called out, "Cash!"

A young girl with yellow hair appeared.  The woman wrote the number of meters, the name of the goods, her own number, the price, and the amount of money I gave her, on a piece of paper.  She probably wrote some other things, like the color of my eyes and the direction and speed of the wind.

She then copied all this into a little book.  Then she gave the piece of paper, the money, and the Turkey red cloth to the yellow-haired girl.  This girl copied the information into a little book she carried.  Then she went away with the calico, the paper and the money.

After a very long time, the girl came back, bringing the money I was owed2 and the package of Turkey red calico.  I returned to my office, but had time for very little work the rest of the day.  When I reached home I gave the package of calico to my wife.  She opened it and declared, "Why, this doesn’t match the piece I gave you!"

"Match it!" I cried.  "Oh, no!  It doesn’t match it.  You didn't want that matched.  You were mistaken.  What you wanted was Turkey red — third counter to the left.  I mean, Turkey red is what they use."

My wife looked at me in surprise, and then I told her my troubles.

"Well," said she, "this Turkey red is much nicer looking than what I had.  You've got so much of it that I don’t have to use the other at all.  I wish I had thought of Turkey red before."

"I wish from the bottom of my heart you had," said I.


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1 frank JibxK     
adj.坦白的,直率的,真诚的
参考例句:
  • A frank discussion can help to clear the air.坦率的谈论有助于消除隔阂。
  • She is frank and outgoing.她很爽朗。
2 owed d8aea03e0a2a7e49a90d3d62728feafe     
v.感激( owe的过去式和过去分词 );应把…归功于;欠…债;(对位高权重者)忠诚
参考例句:
  • I'd completely forgotten about the money he owed me. 我完全记不得他欠我的钱了。
  • He gave me a lot of help.I owed much to him. 他给我许多帮助,我非常感激他。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 counter Iznxc     
n.柜台;计数器;adj.相反的;adv.与…相反地;vt.反对,反击;vi.反对,反击
参考例句:
  • This counter is closed now.这个柜台现在已停止营业。
  • Set the counter to zero and you'll know where the recording starts.把计数器拨到零,你就会知道录音从哪儿开始。
4 enlarged 695b80344eef6a7bcbeb097a10cd0375     
扩大( enlarge的过去式和过去分词 ); 扩展; 扩充; 放大
参考例句:
  • The balloon enlarged as we pumped air into it. 那个气球充气后就变大了。
  • The castle was enlarged considerably in the fifteenth century. 这个城堡在15 世纪得到了相当大的扩展。
5 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
6 striped fhwzBT     
adj.有斑纹的
参考例句:
  • Jack's plaid shirt didn't mix well with his striped trousers.杰克的方格衬衫与条纹长裤不相配。
  • His striped tie showed up well against his dark red shirt.他那条纹领带在深红色的衬衫下十分醒目。
7 stripes 7hczBz     
n.(与底色不同的)条纹( stripe的名词复数 );(军装或警服上表示等级的)臂章;纹理
参考例句:
  • The plant's stem is marked with thin green longitudinal stripes. 这种植物的茎上长有绿色细长条纹。
  • a zebra's black and white stripes 斑马的黑白条纹
8 worn seCzJu     
adj.用旧的,疲倦的;vbl.wear的过去分词
参考例句:
  • The child's trousers have worn through at the knees.孩子裤子的膝盖处磨破了。
  • My shoes are worn out.我的鞋子穿坏了。
9 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
10 somewhat Pwtw1     
pron.一些,某物;adv.多少,几分
参考例句:
  • The cake we made was somewhat of a failure.我们做的蛋糕不大成功。
  • The two office buildings are somewhat alike in appearance.这两座办公楼在外形上有点相似。
11 sharply UiRziL     
adj.锐利地,急速;adv.严厉地,鲜明地
参考例句:
  • The plane dived sharply and rose again.飞机猛然俯冲而后又拉了起来。
  • Demand for personal computers has risen sharply.对个人电脑的需求急剧增长。
12 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
13 salespeople xjuz25     
n.售货员,店员;售货员( salesperson的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The shop usually employs additional salespeople for the Christmas toy trade. 这家商店通常雇一些临时售货员来做圣诞节玩具生意。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Under our new system, salespeople sit down with each of our dealers. 根据新的制度,销售人员应逐个地同承销商洽商。 来自辞典例句
14 counters 0976bdd439161deff5797776ec6873ad     
n.柜台( counter的名词复数 );(对意见、态度等的)反对;计数器;(某些棋盘游戏的)筹码
参考例句:
  • His young opponent counters with his left hand. 他的年轻对手用左手反击。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Except for the sharp clicking of Chueh-hsin's abacus counters, all was still. 房里只有算盘珠子的接连的、清脆的响声。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
15 consideration CYkyR     
n.考虑,思考;要考虑的事;体谅,关心
参考例句:
  • John never showed any consideration for his mother's feeling.约翰从来都不体谅他母亲的感情。
  • We did an overall consideration of the matter at last.最后我们又对这个问题作了全盘考虑。
16 completely lvmzzZ     
adv.完全地,十分地,全然
参考例句:
  • She never completely gave up hope.她从不完全放弃希望。
  • I feel completely in the dark on this question.这件事使我感到茫然。
17 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
18 sudden YsSw9     
n.突然,忽然;adj.突然的,意外的,快速的
参考例句:
  • All of a sudden he turned about and saw me.他突然转过身来看见了我。
  • The horse was badly frightened by the sudden noise.那匹马被突然而来的嘈杂声吓坏了。
19 surrendered f92f19d15adea1dfe2803489c00ccb75     
n.电子放单;Telex releasedv.投降( surrender的过去式和过去分词 );放弃,抛弃
参考例句:
  • The bandit chief surrendered himself to despair and took his own life. 匪首在绝望中自杀了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She gradually surrendered her dream of becoming an actress. 她渐渐放弃了当演员的梦想。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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