Juan and his Painted Hat.

 Narrated by Adolfo Scheerer, a Tagalog from Manila, who heard the story from their native servant some fifteen years ago.

 

There once lived a man by the name of Juan, who did nothing but fool people all the time. Once, when he had only seventy pesos left in his pockets, he determined¹ to resort to the following scheme: he bought a balangut hat (a very cheap straw), and painted it five different colors. In the town where Juan was [354]to operate, there were only three stores. He went to each one of them and deposited² twenty pesos, saying to the owner of each, “I will deposit³ twenty pesos in your store, and to-morrow afternoon I will bring some friends here with me. We will perhaps take some refreshments⁴ or buy some goods, but in any case I will see to it that the total amount of the things we take is not over the twenty pesos. Then, when we leave, do not ask me to pay you for the things. I will simply make you a bow with my hat, and your attendants⁵ should thank me with much courtesy⁶. That mere⁷ bow with my hat is to be the payment. You may keep the twenty pesos, but you must also keep this little plan a secret.” The owners of the three stores promised.

 

The next day Juan was walking in the street with his painted hat on, when one of his friends met him. “Halloo, Juan!” exclaimed his friend, “where did you get that funny hat?”

 

Juan looked serious, and said, “Don’t be foolish! Don’t you know that this hat is the only means I have of earning a living?”

 

“Means of living?” returned the other.

 

“Why, of course. I can go in any store, take anything I please, and pay for it with a mere bow of my hat.”

 

By this time two other friends of Juan had come along, and they too were surprised to see what Juan had on his head. To convince them of the marvellous character of the hat, Juan took his friends to one of the stores. There they sat down, and Juan ordered some refreshments. They ate much, and of the best that the store could furnish. After they had had enough, Juan stood up, made a bow to the proprietor⁸ with his hat, and then they all left. Then they visited another store, where the same thing took place.

 

The friends of Juan were very much astonished, and each wished to possess the hat. One offered him a thousand pesos for it; another, two thousand; and the third, one-half of all his property, which amounted to about five thousand pesos. Juan, of course, was willing to sell it to the highest bidder⁹; but when the sale was about to be concluded, the buyer began to doubt the power of the hat. So he asked Juan to take him to another store to prove once more the qualities of the hat, after which trial, he said, he would pay him the money. Juan took his friend to the third store, and the friend was now sure that [355]the hat could really work wonders. So he paid Juan the five thousand pesos.

 

When he had received the money, Juan left his friends, went on board ship, and sailed away to a foreign country. One day the friend who had bought the hat desired to make a showing with it. So he invited several friends, among them some ladies. He took them to one of the stores, and there ordered some refreshments to be served them. When they had finished, the man bowed with his hat, and started to leave.

 

“Thank you, sir!” said the owner of the store, “but where is my payment for the refreshments you have just eaten?”

 

The owner of the hat was astonished, and, thinking that perhaps he held the hat in the wrong way, or else his fingers were not on the right color, he turned the hat around. Then he made another bow. The owner of the shop now became angry, and began to swear at the man. The other became excited, twirling the hat around, and holding it in as many different ways as he could think of. Finally the shop-keeper ordered the man arrested.

 

When the owner of the hat heard how Juan had played his trick by paying twenty pesos in advance, he fainted and became very sick. In the mean time Juan was performing other tricks in some different country.

1 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

2 deposited   

存放( deposit的过去式和过去分词 )； （尤指小心地或准确地）放置； 付（保证金）； （把硬币）放入（自动售货机）

参考例句：

• It was deposited in the vaults of a bank. 它存在一家银行的保险库里。
• He deposited the money under [in] the name of his son. 他挂着他儿子的名（在银行）存款。

3 deposit   

n.定金，存款，矿藏；vt.使沉淀，寄存，储蓄

参考例句：

• There is too much deposit in a bottle of wine.酒瓶里有太多的沉淀物。
• The hotel requires a deposit for all advance bookings.旅馆规定凡预订房间都要先付订金。

4 refreshments   

n.点心,便餐;(会议后的)简单茶点招 待

参考例句：

• We have to make a small charge for refreshments. 我们得收取少量茶点费。
• Light refreshments will be served during the break. 中间休息时有点心供应。

5 attendants   

n.服务人员( attendant的名词复数 )；侍者；随从；伴随物

参考例句：

• Other flight attendants and passengers are believed to have fought. 我们相信其他服务人员及乘客也都进行了斗争。 来自时文部分
• Psyche gave ear to the admonitions of her vocal attendants. 普绪喀听从这些有声无形的外人的意见。 来自辞典例句

6 courtesy   

n.谦恭有礼，礼貌的举止，好意，恩惠

参考例句：

• She called on us merely for the sake of courtesy.她来访只是为了礼貌。
• After a few words of courtesy,they got down to business.双方客气了一番，就开始谈正事。

7 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

8 proprietor   

n.所有人；业主；经营者

参考例句：

• The proprietor was an old acquaintance of his.业主是他的一位旧相识。
• The proprietor of the corner grocery was a strange thing in my life.拐角杂货店店主是我生活中的一个怪物。

9 bidder   

n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder.电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。
• The bidder withdrew his bid after submission of his bid.投标者在投标之后撤销了投标书。