Mansumandig

 One day a man said to his wife: “My wife, we are getting very poor and I must go into business to earn some money.”

 

“That is a good idea,” replied his wife. “How much capital have you?”

 

“I have twenty-five centavos,”17 answered the man; “and I am going to buy rice and carry it to the mines, for I have heard that it brings a good price there.”

 

So he took his twenty-five centavos and bought a half-cavan of rice which he carried on his shoulder to the mine. Arriving there he told the people that he had rice for sale, and they asked eagerly how much he wanted for it.

 

“Why, have you forgotten the regular price of rice?” asked the man. “It is twenty-five centavos.”

 

They at once bought the rice, and the man was very glad because he would not have to carry it any longer. He put the money in his belt and asked if they would like to buy any more.

 

“Yes,” said they, “we will buy as many cavans as you will bring.”

 

When the man reached home his wife asked if he had been successful. [207]

 

“Oh, my wife,” he answered, “it is a very good business. I could not take the rice off my shoulder before the people came to buy it.”

 

“Well, that is good,” said the wife; “we shall become very rich.”

 

The next morning the man bought a half-cavan of rice the same as before and carried it to the mine and when they asked how much it would be, he said:

 

“It is the same as before—twenty-five centavos.” He received the money and went home.

 

“How is the business today?” asked his wife.

 

“Oh, it is the same as before,” he said. “I could not take the rice off my shoulder before they came for it.”

 

And so he went on with his business for a year, each day buying a half-cavan of rice and selling it for the price he had paid for it. Then one day his wife said that they would balance accounts¹, and she spread a mat² on the floor and sat down on one side of it, telling her husband to sit on the opposite side. When she asked him for the money he had made during the year, he asked:

 

“What money?”

 

“Why, give me the money you have received,” answered his wife; “and then we can see how much you have made.”

 

“Oh, here it is,” said the man, and he took the twenty-five centavos out of his belt and handed it to her.

 

“Is that all you have received this year?” cried his [208]wife angrily. “Haven’t you said that rice brought a good price at the mines?”

 

“That is all,” he replied.

 

“How much did you pay for the rice?”

 

“Twenty-five centavos.”

 

“How much did you receive for it?”

 

“Twenty-five centavos.”

 

“Oh, my husband,” cried his wife, “how can you make any gain if you sell it for just what you paid for it.”

 

The man leaned³ his head against the wall and thought. Ever since then he has been called “Mansumandig,” a man who leans⁴ back and thinks.

 

Then the wife said, “Give me the twenty-five centavos, and I will try to make some money.” So he handed it to her, and she said, “Now you go to the field where the people are gathering⁵ hemp⁶ and buy twenty-five centavos worth for me, and I will weave⁷ it into cloth.”

 

When Mansumandig returned with the hemp she spread it in the sun, and as soon as it was dry she tied it into a long thread and put it on the loom⁸ to weave. Night and day she worked on her cloth, and when it was finished she had eight varas. This she sold for twelve and a half centavos a vara, and with this money she bought more hemp. She continued weaving⁹ and selling her cloth, and her work was so good that people were glad to buy from her.

 

At the end of a year she again spread the mat on the floor and took her place on one side of it, while her husband sat on the opposite side. Then she poured [209]the money out of the blanket in which she kept it upon the mat. She held aside her capital, which was twenty-five centavos, and when she counted the remainder¹⁰ she found that she had three hundred pesos. Mansumandig was greatly ashamed¹¹ when he remembered that he had not made cent, and he leaned his head against the wall and thought After a while the woman pitied him, so she gave him the money and told him to buy carabao.

 

He was able to buy ten carabao and with these he plowed¹² his fields. By raising good crops they were able to live comfortably all the rest of their lives.

1 accounts   

n.往来帐目

参考例句：

• Contemporary accounts attest to his courage and determination. 当时的报道证实了他的勇气和决心。
• They confused me with conflicting accounts of what happened. 他们对发生的事所作的陈述自相矛盾，使我迷惑不解。

2 mat   

n.垫，丛，衬边；adj.粗糙的；v.纠缠在一起，铺席于...上，使...无光泽

参考例句：

• This mat has to be hammered down at the edges.必须把这张席子的边钉上。
• Please wipe your shoes on the mat.请在蹭鞋垫子上擦擦鞋。

3 leaned   

v.（使）倾斜，屈身( lean的过去式和过去分词 )；倚；依赖；使斜靠

参考例句：

• He leaned forward, his hands clasped tightly together. 他俯身向前，双手十字交错地紧握着。
• He leaned back, exulting at the success of his plan. 他向后一靠，为自己计划成功而得意扬扬。

4 leans   

v.（使）倾斜，屈身( lean的第三人称单数 )；倚；依赖；使斜靠

参考例句：

• The tower of Pisa leans at an angle . 比萨斜塔塔身倾斜。
• He leans over backwards to make up for what he has lost. 他尽力弥补他的损失。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

6 hemp   

n.大麻；纤维

参考例句：

• The early Chinese built suspension bridges of hemp rope.古代的中国人建造过麻绳悬索桥。
• The blanket was woven from hemp and embroidered with wool.毯子是由亚麻编织，羊毛镶边的。

7 weave   

n.编法，织法，编织；vt.编织，组合，编排，使迂回前进；vi.纺织，迂回行进，摇晃

参考例句：

• People weave threads into cloth.人们把线织成布。
• I think you can weave a story around this incident.我想你可以围绕这一事件编一个故事。

8 loom   

n.织布机，织机；v.隐现，(危险、忧虑等)迫近

参考例句：

• The old woman was weaving on her loom.那位老太太正在织布机上织布。
• The shuttle flies back and forth on the loom.织布机上梭子来回飞动。

9 weaving   

v.编，织，织成( weave的现在分词 )；编排；杜撰；（把…）编成

参考例句：

• Weaving and knitting are traditional cottage industries. 编织和针织是传统的家庭手工业。
• traditional crafts like basket-weaving 像编篮子之类的传统工艺

10 remainder   

n.余下的部分，剩下的人数

参考例句：

• They joined up with us to spend the remainder of the holiday.他们来跟我们一起共度余下的假期。
• He spent the remainder of his years in Japan.他在日本度过了余生。

11 ashamed   

adj.感到惭愧，感到害臊，因为羞耻或勉强作某事

参考例句：

• He is ashamed to show his face at the club.他不好意思在俱乐部露脸。
• You ought to be ashamed of your foolish behaviour.你应当为自己的愚蠢行为而感到羞耻。

12 plowed   

v.耕( plow的过去式和过去分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过

参考例句：

• They plowed nearly 100,000 acres of virgin moorland. 他们犁了将近10万英亩未开垦的高沼地。 来自辞典例句
• He plowed the land and then sowed the seeds. 他先翻土，然后播种。 来自辞典例句