III - THE RISKS OF LIFE I

 By one of those coincidences for which destiny is sometimes responsible, the two very opposite plain men whom I am going to write about were most happily named Mr. Alpha and Mr. Omega; for, owing to a difference of temperament¹, they stood far apart, at the extreme ends of the scale.

 

In youth, of course, the differences between them was not fully² apparent; such differences seldom are fully apparent in youth. It first made itself felt in a dramatic way, on the evening when Mr. Alpha wanted to go to the theatre and Mr. Omega didn’t. At this period they were both young and both married, and the two couples shared a flat together. Also, they were both getting on very well in their careers, by which is meant that they both had spare cash to rattle³ in the pockets of their admirably-creased trousers.

 

“Come to the theatre with us to-night, Omega?” said Mr. Alpha.

 

“I don’t think we will,” said Mr. Omega.

 

“But we particularly want you to,” insisted Mr. Alpha.

 

“Well, it can’t be done,” said Mr. Omega.

 

“Got another engagement?”

 

“No.”

 

“Then why won’t you come? You don’t mean to tell me you’re hard up?”

 

“Yes, I do,” said Mr. Omega.

 

“Then you ought to be ashamed of yourself. What have you been doing with your money lately?”

 

“I’ve taken out a biggish life assurance policy, and the premiums⁴ will be a strain. I paid the first yesterday. I’m bled white.”

 

“Holy Moses!” exclaimed Mr. Alpha, shrugging his shoulders.

 

The flat was shortly afterwards to let. The exclamation⁵ “Holy Moses!” may be in itself quite harmless, and innocuous to friendship, if it is pronounced in the right, friendly tone. Unfortunately Mr. Alpha used it with a sarcastic⁶ inflection, implying that he regarded Mr. Omega as a prig, a fussy⁷ old person, a miser⁸, a spoilsport, and, indeed, something less than a man.

 

“You can only live your life once,” said Mr. Alpha.

 

And they curved gradually apart. This was in 1893.

1 temperament   

n.气质，性格，性情

参考例句：

• The analysis of what kind of temperament you possess is vital.分析一下你有什么样的气质是十分重要的。
• Success often depends on temperament.成功常常取决于一个人的性格。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 rattle   

v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓

参考例句：

• The baby only shook the rattle and laughed and crowed.孩子只是摇着拨浪鼓，笑着叫着。
• She could hear the rattle of the teacups.她听见茶具叮当响。

4 premiums   

n.费用( premium的名词复数 )；保险费；额外费用；（商品定价、贷款利息等以外的）加价

参考例句：

• He paid premiums on his life insurance last year. 他去年付了人寿保险费。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Moves are afoot to increase car insurance premiums. 现正在酝酿提高汽车的保险费。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 exclamation   

n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词

参考例句：

• He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
• The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号，以引起读者的注意。

6 sarcastic   

adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的

参考例句：

• I squashed him with a sarcastic remark.我说了一句讽刺的话把他给镇住了。
• She poked fun at people's shortcomings with sarcastic remarks.她冷嘲热讽地拿别人的缺点开玩笑。

7 fussy   

adj.为琐事担忧的，过分装饰的，爱挑剔的

参考例句：

• He is fussy about the way his food's cooked.他过分计较食物的烹调。
• The little girl dislikes her fussy parents.小女孩讨厌她那过分操心的父母。

8 miser   

n.守财奴，吝啬鬼 (adj.miserly)

参考例句：

• The miser doesn't like to part with his money.守财奴舍不得花他的钱。
• The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness.贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。