惬意的代价

Mr.Knightley liked being comfortable, so when he got into a train, he used to put his suitcase on the seat be- side him and pretend that it belonged to another passenger who had gone to buy something inthe station.

One day he did this when the train was very crowded. Other passengers came and sat in all the other seats except the one which his suitcase was lying on. Then an old gentleman arrived, looked at Mr. Knightley's case and said, "Is this somebody's seat?"

"Yes," answered Mr. Knightley. "A friend of mine is traveling with me, and he has gone to buy some cigarettes. He will return soon." Mr.Knightley opened the window and looked out, to make the old gentleman think that he was anxious about his friend.

"All right," said the old gentleman, "I'll sit here until your friend comes back, and then I'll stand somewhere." He put the suitcase up above him and sat down.Mr. Knightley did not feel happy about this, but he wasn't able to say or to do anything, because all the other passengers were watching and listening.

Several minutes passed,the whistle blew,and the train began to move.Then the old gentleman jumped up suddenly and said, "I'm very sorry, but your friend seems to have missed the train. We don't want him to be separated from his suitcase, do we? I don't believe he would like that at all." And before Mr. Knightley was able to say or do anything to prevent him, he took the suitcase down and threw it out of the window.

耐特利先生凡事都图个舒服，每次上火车的时候，他总是把手提箱放在身边的座位上，让人认为行李箱是去车站买东西的另一名乘客的。

一天，火车上非常拥挤，耐特利先生照旧把箱子放在邻座上。其他的乘客只好坐到别处去，只有他放手提箱的座位没人坐。这时一位老人过来了，他看了看耐特利的箱子，问道：“这个座有人吗?”

“是的。”耐特利答道，“我和我的一个朋友一起旅行，他去买香烟了，一会儿就回来。”耐特利还打开窗户向外面看了看，好让老人相信他真是在焦急地等朋友。

“那好吧。”老人说，“我就坐在这儿。你朋友回来了我就站着。”他把手提箱放在头顶的架子上，坐了下来。耐特利先生很不高兴，但他无言以对，又奈何不得，因为周围其他乘客们都在看着他们，听他们说话。

几分钟过去了，汽笛响了，火车开始启动。老人突然跳起来，说：“真遗憾，你的朋友看来误了火车了。我们都不愿意看他拿不到箱子，是不是?相信你的朋友也根本不想这样。”耐特利先生还没来得及说点儿或做点儿什么来拦住他，老人拿下手提箱，一下子就把它扔到了窗外。