Amancamehomefromworklate,tiredandirritated,tofindhis5-yearoldsonwaitingforhimatthedoor.

　　“Daddy,mayIaskyouaquestion?”

　　“Yeahsure,whatisit?”repliedtheman.

　　“Daddy,howmuchdoyoumakeanhour?”

　　“That’snoneofyourbusiness.Whydoyouasksuchathing?”themansaidangrily.

　　“Ijustwanttoknow.Pleasetellme,howmuchdoyoumakeanhour?”pleadedthelittleboy.

　　“Ifyoumustknow,Imake$20anhour.”

　　“Oh,”thelittleboyreplied,withhisheaddown.Lookingup,hesaid,“Daddy,mayIpleaseborrow$10?”

　　Thefatherwasfurious,“Iftheonlyreasonyouaskedthatissoyoucanborrowsomemoneytobuyasillytoyorsomeothernonsense,thenyoumarchyourselfstraighttoyourroomandgotobed.Thinkaboutwhyyouarebeingsoselfish.Iworkhardeverydayforsuchchildishbehavior.”

　　Thelittleboyquietlywenttohisroomandshutthedoor.Themansatdownandstartedtogetevenangrieraboutthelittleboy’squestions.Howdareheasksuchquestionsonlytogetsomemoney?Afteraboutanhourorso,themanhadcalmeddown,andstartedtothink:Maybetherewassomethinghereallyneededtobuywiththat$10andhereallydidn’taskformoneyveryoften.

　　Themanwenttothedoorofthelittleboy’sroomandopenedthedoor.

　　“Areyouasleep,son?”Heasked.

　　“Nodaddy,I’mawake,”repliedtheboy.

　　“I’vebeenthinking,maybeIwastoohardonyouearlier,”saidtheman,“It’sbeenalongdayandItookoutmyaggravationonyou.Here’sthe$10youaskedfor.”

　　Thelittleboysatstraightup,smiling.“Oh,thankyoudaddy!”Heyelled.Then,reachingunderhispillowhepulledoutsomecrumpledupbills.Theman,seeingthattheboyalreadyhadmoney,startedtogetangryagain.Thelittleboyslowlycountedouthismoney,thenlookedupathisfather.

　　“Whydoyouwantmoremoneyifyoualreadyhavesome?”thefathergrumbled.

　　“BecauseIdidn’thaveenough,butnowIdo,”thelittleboyreplied.“Daddy,Ihave$20now.CanIbuyanhourofyourtime?Pleasecomehomeearlytomorrow.Iwouldliketohavedinnerwithyou.”

　　一个人工作到很晚,带着疲惫与愤怒回到家里,却发现5岁大的儿子正在门口等他.

　　“爸爸,我可以问你一个问题吗?”

　　“当然,什么问题?”

　　“爸爸,你一个小时赚多少钱?”

　　“这不关你的事.怎么问这样一个问题?”父亲生气地说道.

　　“我只是想知道.请告诉我吧,你一个小时赚多少钱?”小男孩乞求地说.

　　“真想知道就告诉你吧,我一小时赚20美元.”

　　“噢,”男孩说着,低下了头.接着,他抬起头来问：“爸爸,我可以借你10美元钱吗?”

　　父亲生气了：“如果你问这个问题,只是为了借钱买无聊的玩具或其他没用的东西,那就赶紧回你的房间睡觉去.想想你怎么会这么自私.我每天工作这么辛苦,得到的竟是这样幼稚愚蠢的举动.”

　　小男孩静静地走进自己的房间,关上了门.这个人坐下后,更加为这个男孩的问题生气了.这孩子怎么敢问这样的问题,就为了借些钱呢?大约过了一个小时,他才平静下来了,开始想：也许他真的需要这10美元买什么东西呢,他并不是经常要钱花.

　　于是这个人走到小男孩的门口,打开了门.

　　“你睡了吗,孩子?”他问.

　　“没有呢,爸爸.我醒着,”男孩回答.

　　“我在想,可能刚才我对你太严厉了,”父亲说,“经过漫长的一天,我把怒气都发到你身上了.这是你要的10美元.”

　　小男孩坐直了身子,笑了：“噢,”他忍不住呼喊起来.接着,他伸手到枕头底下,拿出一把皱巴巴的钞票.看到男孩已经有钱了,父亲又忍不住要发火.小男孩慢慢地数着钱,然后抬头看着父亲.

　　“既然你已经有钱了,为什么还要更多钱?”父亲粗鲁地抱怨说.

　　“因为我的钱不够,不过现在够了,”小男孩回答,“爸爸,我现在有20美元了,我可以买你一小时的时间吗?请你明天早点下班,我想和你一起吃晚饭.”

　　这是在新概念英语的