CHAPTER XXXII THE “CHIEF” SALESMAN.

 The next morning Joshua went round with his roommate to his new place of business. The shop was a small one, with a moderate stock of fancy goods. There was one little circumstance that attracted his attention. His employer’s name was Remington, but the name on the sign was

 

JOHN FORBES.

“I thought this was your store,” said he, a little surprised.

 

“So it is.”

 

“But your name isn’t Forbes.”

 

“Oh,” said Remington, “you noticed the sign. That’s easily explained. I bought the business of Mr. Forbes, but as his name was well known in the neighborhood, I thought it best to keep the old name. Do you see?”

 

“Yes, I understand.”

 

“You see it isn’t a large place,” said Mr. Remington, as they entered, “but I do a pretty good business. What do you think, now, that my clear profits were last year?”

 

“Two thousand dollars,” hazarded Joshua, who was used to the small incomes of a country trader.

 

“Six,” answered Mr. Remington.

 

“What, six thousand dollars?”

 

“Certainly. You see we turn our goods over quickly. This isn’t the busy season, but that will soon be here, and then the store will be crowded with customers from morning till night.”

 

As the entire stock in trade probably did not exceed two, or at most, three thousand dollars in value, this was rather a hard statement to believe; but then Joshua was fresh from the country, and rather unsophisticated.

 

Mr. Remington gave his new clerk some instructions as to the locality of the goods, and the prices, and he took his place behind the counter, proud of being a city salesman. He was not compelled to work very hard. There was seldom more than one customer in the store at a time, and none bought heavily.

 

“It’s rather quiet this morning,” said Mr. Remington, laying down the morning paper, over which he had spent an hour without interruption.

 

Joshua assented¹.

 

“You see it isn’t the busy season. That makes a great difference.”

 

“I suppose it does.”

 

“You’d hardly know the place two months hence. You must make up your mind to work, then, Drummond. They’ll keep you running, I assure you.”

 

Joshua was not particularly fond of work, as we know, but it occurred to him that it would not be quite so dull if he had more customers to wait upon, and was rather enlivened by the prospect² of a busier time.

 

When half-past twelve came, his employer said, “I’m going to dinner. I shall be gone an hour. When I come back, you can go.”

 

So Joshua was left alone. He felt a little hungry himself. Still he had a feeling of importance in being left in sole charge of the store. As there was nothing else in particular to do, he went to the desk, and wrote the following letter to his friend, Sam Crawford, in New York:

 

“Chicago, Sept. --, 186--.

“Dear Sam:--I seize a few moments from business”--Joshua wrote this with great complacence--“to write you an account of how I am getting along. I have not been a week in Chicago, yet am already chief salesman in one of the principal stores here.” (I am afraid our friend Joshua purposely exaggerated in this statement.) “I like my employer very much, and he seems to have taken a great fancy to me. His nephew was very anxious to obtain the situation, but he seemed to think I had good business abilities, and gave it to me instead.

“I have been about the city some, and like it. I think I shall make it my home, and some time Mr. Remington will probably take me into partnership³. I am writing at noon, when we have few customers. I like this store better than yours. I am sorry we are not in the same city, as I should like to go round with you. Last evening I played a game of billiards⁴ with Mr. Remington. He said I did finely for the first time, and thinks I would make an excellent player.

“But I must leave off to wait on a customer”--it was an old woman, who wanted a paper of pins--“and must close for this time.

“Your friend,

“Joshua Drummond.

“P. S.--Have you seen anything of the old man since I left New York? Don’t let anybody know I am in Chicago. I only get twelve dollars a week now”--this again was a slight exaggeration--“but I expect to have my salary raised soon.”

When Sam received this letter, it surprised him, and I am not quite sure whether he was entirely⁵ pleased with his friend’s good fortune.

 

“Well, that beats all!” he exclaimed, “that such a greenhorn as Joshua Drummond should get a situation in Chicago within a week; at twelve dollars a week, too! Why, he don’t know a cane⁶ from a broomstick, and yet he gets half as much again as I do. Chicago must be a good place to go. If such a greenhorn can get twelve dollars, I ought to get eighteen or twenty. I wonder whether it would pay me to go out there.”

 

It will be seen that Sam had no suspicion of the falseness of Joshua’s statements. In fact, he did not give him credit for the ability to deceive him. He really thought, therefore, that Joshua obtained the sum he claimed. Still he had prudence⁷ enough not to give up a certainty for an uncertainty⁸, and contented⁹ himself with writing Joshua to look round, and, if he saw an opening for a clerk with several years’ experience, to let him know.

 

“I would be willing to come for my present salary--twenty dollars a week,” he wrote. “My present employer is willing I should go away until I am twenty-one, when I will come back, and go into partnership with him. He thinks it will be of advantage to me to become acquainted with Western trade. Besides, I should like to be with you. We might room together, you know.”

 

This was adroitly¹⁰ written, so that Joshua need not doubt the truth of representations he had made in New York. They answered the purpose. So the two were mutually deceived by the representations of the other.

 

It made Joshua feel rather important to have Sam apply to him for a situation, and he at once wrote back, saying that he would let him know at once if he heard of any vacancy¹¹. “But I am afraid,” he added, “that we can’t room together. The fact is, I and Mr. Remington room together, and he would be disappointed to have me leave him. But you might get a room in the same house. They change eight dollars a week board; it is nicer than your boarding place in New York, though that will do very well.”

 

“That Remington must be a fool!” thought Sam. “He seems perfectly¹² taken up with Joshua, and I am sure he’s about as stupid a fellow as I ever set eyes on.”

 

You see Sam and Joshua were intimate friends, and intimate friends are very apt to notice each other’s faults, and to judge them most severely¹³, are they not? What is the use of having friends if you can’t abuse them?

 

So the result was that Sam, toiling¹⁴ in an obscure Eighth avenue store for eight dollars a week, felt very much wronged to think that Joshua had at one bound stepped into a more desirable situation than himself. If he could only have known the real state of the case, and how much Joshua had exaggerated the advantages of his position, he would have been very much comforted. If he had been a disinterested¹⁵ friend he would have rejoiced at the good fortune of Joshua; but then he was not disinterested.

1 assented   

同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The judge assented to allow the prisoner to speak. 法官同意允许犯人申辩。
• "No," assented Tom, "they don't kill the women -- they're too noble. “对，”汤姆表示赞同地说，“他们不杀女人——真伟大！

2 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

3 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

4 billiards   

n.台球

参考例句：

• John used to divert himself with billiards.约翰过去总打台球自娱。
• Billiards isn't popular in here.这里不流行台球。

5 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

6 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

7 prudence   

n.谨慎，精明，节俭

参考例句：

• A lack of prudence may lead to financial problems.不够谨慎可能会导致财政上出现问题。
• The happy impute all their success to prudence or merit.幸运者都把他们的成功归因于谨慎或功德。

8 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

9 contented   

adj.满意的，安心的，知足的

参考例句：

• He won't be contented until he's upset everyone in the office.不把办公室里的每个人弄得心烦意乱他就不会满足。
• The people are making a good living and are contented,each in his station.人民安居乐业。

10 adroitly   

adv.熟练地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He displayed the cigarette holder grandly on every occasion and had learned to manipulate it adroitly. 他学会了一套用手灵巧地摆弄烟嘴的动作，一有机会就要拿它炫耀一番。 来自辞典例句
• The waitress passes a fine menu to Molly who orders dishes adroitly. 女服务生捧来菜单递给茉莉，后者轻车熟路地点菜。 来自互联网

11 vacancy   

n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺

参考例句：

• Her going on maternity leave will create a temporary vacancy.她休产假时将会有一个临时空缺。
• The vacancy of her expression made me doubt if she was listening.她茫然的神情让我怀疑她是否在听。

12 perfectly   

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。

13 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

14 toiling   

长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉

参考例句：

• The fiery orator contrasted the idle rich with the toiling working classes. 这位激昂的演说家把无所事事的富人同终日辛劳的工人阶级进行了对比。
• She felt like a beetle toiling in the dust. She was filled with repulsion. 她觉得自己像只甲虫在地里挣扎，心中涌满愤恨。

15 disinterested   

adj.不关心的，不感兴趣的

参考例句：

• He is impartial and disinterested.他公正无私。
• He's always on the make,I have never known him do a disinterested action.他这个人一贯都是唯利是图，我从来不知道他有什么无私的行动。