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1、Simplified versionChapter One: From San Francisco to LondonWhen I was 27 years old, I worked in an office in San Francisco. I did my job well and my future was promising. I was alone in the world and I was happy. On Saturday afternoons I didnt work. I sailed my little sailboat on San Francisco Bay.
2、One Saturday afternoon, I sailed out too far. The strong afternoon wind pushed my sailboat out of the bay, into the Pacific Ocean. That night, when I had lost all hope, a small British brig saw me and took me on board. The brig was sailing to London. The voyage was long and stormy. I earned my passa
3、ge without pay. When I arrived in London, my clothes were ragged and shabby, and I had only a dollar in my pocket. This money fed and sheltered me twenty-four hours. During the next twenty-four I went without food and shelter. At about ten oclock the following morning, I went to Portland Place. I sa
4、w a child walking past, holding a big pear. The child ate one small piece and then threw the pear onto the street. I stopped, of course, and fastened my desiring eye on that muddy treasure. My mouth watered for it, my stomach craved it, my whole being begged for it. But every time I made a move to g
5、et it some passing eye detected my purpose, and of course I straightened up then, and looked indifferent, and pretended that I hadnt been thinking about the pear at all. This same thing kept happening and happening, and I couldnt get the pear. I was just getting desperate enough to brave all the sha
6、me, and to seize it, when a window behind me was raised, and a gentleman spoke out of it, saying: Step in here, please. A well-dressed servant opened the door. He took me to a beautiful room where two elderly gentlemen were sitting and discussing something important. They had just finished their bre
7、akfast, and the sight of the remains of it almost overpowered me. I could hardly keep my wits together in the presence of that food, and I stared at their breakfast.I want to tell the reader that the two gentlemen had made a bet several days before. I knew nothing about the bet until later. Let me t
8、ell you what happened.Chapter Two: An Unusual BetThe two old gentlemen were brothers. For several days, they argued about a very strange subject. They decided to end their argument with a bet, as the English usually do. The following was the subject of the bet.The Bank of England issued two banknote
9、s of a million pounds each for a public transaction with a foreign country. England used one banknote and the other remained in the bank. At this point, Brother A said to Brother B, If an honest and intelligent stranger arrives in London without a friend and without money, except for the 1,000,000 b
10、anknote, he will starve to death.Brother B answered, No! I dont agree.Brother A said, If he goes to the bank or anywhere else to change this big note, the police will put him in prison. Everyone will think he stole it.They continued arguing for days, until Brother B said, Ill bet 20,000 that the str
11、anger will live for thirty days with the banknote and not go to prison.Brother A accepted the bet. He went to the bank and bought the 1,000,000 banknote. After, he returned home and prepared a letter. Then the two brothers sat by the window and waited for the right man for the bet.They saw a lot of
12、honest faces go by, but they were not intelligent enough. Several faces were intelligent, but they were not honest. A lot of faces were honest and intelligent, but they were not poor enough. Other faces were honest, intelligent and poor, but they were not strangers.When they saw me from the window,
13、they thought I was the right man. They asked me questions, and soon they knew my story.Finally, they told me I was the right man for the bet. I asked them to explain the bet. One of the gentlemen gave me an envelope. I wanted to open it, but he said, No, dont open it now. Wait until you are in your
14、hotel room. Then read it very carefully.I was confused and I wanted to discuss the subject with them. But they didnt; so I took my leave, feeling hurt and insulted because I was the subject of a joke.When I left their house, I looked for the pear on the street. It was gone. I was quite angry with th
15、ose two gentlemen.Chapter Three: At the RestaurantFar from their house, I opened the envelope and saw that it contained money! My opinion of those people changed, I can tell you! I lost not a moment, but shoved note and money into my vest pocket, and broke for the nearest cheap eating house. Well, h
16、ow I did eat! When at last I couldnt hold any more, I took out my money and unfolded it, took one glimpse and nearly fainted. Five millions of dollars! Why, it made my head swim. I was speechless. I stared at the banknote. The two gentlemen had made a big mistake. They probably wanted to give me a o
17、ne-pound banknote.The first thing I noticed, then, was the landlord. His eye was on the note, and he was petrified. He was worshiping, with all his body and soul, but he looked as if he couldnt stir hand or foot. I did not know what to do or say, so I simply give him the note and said, Give me the c
18、hange, please.Then he was restored to his normal condition, and made a thousand apologies for not being able to break the bill, and I couldnt get him to touch it. He wanted to look at it, and keep on looking at it; he couldnt seem to get enough of it to quench the thirst of his eye, but he shrank fr
19、om touching it as if it had been something too sacred for poor common clay to handle. I said: I am sorry if it is an inconvenience, but I must insist. Please change it; I havent anything else. But he said that wasnt any matter; he was quite willing to let the trifle stand over till another time. I s
20、aid I might not be in his neighborhood again for a good while; but he said it was of no consequence, he could wait, and, moreover, I could have anything I wanted, any time I chose, and let the account run as long as I pleased. He said he hoped he wasnt afraid to trust as rich a gentleman as I was, m
21、erely because I was of a merry disposition, and chose to play larks on the public in the matter of dress. By this time another customer was entering, and the landlord hinted to me to put the monster out of sight; then he bowed me all the way to the door.Chapter Four: The LetterI started straight for
22、 that house and those brothers, to correct the mistake which had been made before the police should hunt me up, and help me do it. I was pretty nervous; in fact, pretty badly frightened, though, of course, I was no way in fault; but I knew men well enough to know that when they find theyve given a t
23、ramp a million-pound bill when they thought it was a one-pounder, they are in a frantic rage against him instead of quarreling with their own near-sightedness, as they ought. As I approached the house my excitement began to abate, for all was quiet there, which made me feel pretty sure the blunder w
24、as not discovered yet. I rang. The same servant appeared. I asked for those gentlemen. They are gone, the servant said.Gone? Gone where?Oh, on a journey.But, where did they go?To the Continent, I think.The Continent?Yes, sir.When will they be back?In a month.A month! Oh, this is awful! Give me some
25、sort of idea of how to get a word to them. Its extremely important.I cant, indeed. Ive no idea where theyve gone, sir. Then I must see a member of the family.Familys away, too; been abroad months - in Egypt and India, I think. Man, theres been an immense mistake made. Theyll be back before night. Wi
26、ll you tell them Ive been here, and that I will keep coming till its all made right, and they neednt be afraid? Ill tell them, if they come back, but I am not expecting them. They said you would be here in an hour to make inquiries, but I must tell you its all right, theyll be here on time and expec
27、t you.So I had to give it up and go away. What a riddle it all was! I was like to lose my mind. They would be here on time. What could that mean? Oh, the letter would explain, maybe. I had forgotten the letter; I got it out and read it. This is what it said: You are an intelligent and honest man, as
28、 one may see by your face. We conceive you to be poor and a stranger. In this envelope you will find some money. It is lent to you for thirty days, without interest. Report at this house at the end of that time. I have a bet on you. If I win this bet, you can have any job with any salary that you wa
29、nt.”No signature, no address, no date. Well, It was just a deep, dark puzzle to me. I hadnt the least idea what the game was, nor whether harm was meant me or a kindness. I went into a park, and sat down to try to think it out, and to consider what I had best do. At the end of an hour, I made the de
30、cision that follows.Maybe those men mean me well, maybe they mean me ill; no way to decide that - let it go. Theyve got a game, or a scheme, or an experiment, of some kind on hand; no way to determine what it is - let it go. Theres a bet on me; no way to find out what it is - let it go. If I go to t
31、he Bank of England to return the banknote, the bank will ask me lots of questions. If I tell the truth, no one will believe me. They will put me in a jail. The same result would follow if I tell a lie.I can do only one thing: I must keep the bill for a whole month. And, I must not lose it. If I help
32、 the old man to win his bet, he will give me the job I want. The idea of an important job with a big salary made me happy. With this exciting idea in mind, I began walking down the streets of London.Chapter Five: At the TailorsThe sight of a tailor-shop gave me a sharp longing to shed my rags, and t
33、o clothe myself decently once more. Could I afford it? No; I had nothing in the world but a million pounds. So I forced myself to go on by. But soon I was drifting back again. The temptation persecuted me cruelly. I must have passed that shop back and forth six times during that manful struggle. At
34、last I gave in; I had to. I asked if they had a misfit suit that had been thrown on their hands. The fellow I spoke to nodded his head towards another fellow, and gave me no answer. I went to the indicated fellow, and he indicated another fellow with his head, and no words. I went to him, and he sai
35、d: Tend to you presently.I waited till he was done with what he was at, and then he took me into a back room, and overhauled a pile of rejected suits, and selected the worst one for me. I put it on. It didnt fit, and wasnt in any way attractive, but it was new, and I was anxious to have it; so I did
36、nt find any fault, but said, with some diffidence: I would appreciate it if you could wait some days for the money. I havent any small change about me. The fellow worked up a most sarcastic expression of countenance, and said:Oh, you havent? Well, of course, I didnt expect it. Id only expect gentlem
37、en like you to carry large change.I was nettled, and said:My friend, you shouldnt judge a stranger always by the clothes he wears. I am quite able to pay for this suit; I simply didnt wish to put you to the trouble of changing a large note.He modified his style a little at that, and said, though sti
38、ll with something of an air:I didnt mean any particular harm, but as long as rebukes are going, I might say it wasnt quite your affair to jump to the conclusion that we couldnt change any note that you might happen to be carrying around. On the contrary, we can.I handed the note to him, and said:Oh,
39、 very well; I apologize.He received it with a smile, one of those large smiles which goes all around over, and has folds in it, and wrinkles, and spirals, and looks like the place where you have thrown a brick in a pond; and then in the act of his taking a glimpse of the bill this smile froze solid,
40、 and turned yellow, and looked like those wavy, wormy spreads of lava which you find hardened on little levels on the side of Vesuvius. I never before saw a smile caught like that, and perpetuated. The man stood there holding the bill, and looking like that, and the owner hustled up to see what was
41、the matter, and said, briskly: Well, whats up? whats the trouble? whats wanting? I said: There isnt any trouble. Im waiting for my change.Come, come. Give him his change, Tod; get him his change! Tod retorted: Get him his change! Its easy to say, sir; but look at the bill yourself.The owner took a l
42、ook, gave a low, eloquent whistle, then made a dive for the pile of rejected clothing, and began to snatch it this way and that, talking all the time excitedly, and as if to himself:Sell an eccentric millionaire such an unspeakable suit as that! Tods a fool - a born fool. Always doing something like
43、 this. Drives every millionaire away from this place, because he cant tell a millionaire from a tramp, and never could. Ah, heres the thing I am after. Please get those things off, sir, and throw them in the fire. Do me the favor to put on this shirt and this suit; its just the thing, the very thing
44、 - plain, rich, modest, and just ducally nobby; made to order for a foreign prince - you may know him, sir, his Serene Highness the Hospodar of Halifax; had to leave it with us and take a mourning-suit because his mother was going to die - which she didnt. But thats all right; we cant always have th
45、ings the way we - that is, the way they - there! trousers all right, they fit you to a charm, sir; now the waistcoat; aha, right again! now the coat - Lord! look at that, now! Perfect - the whole thing! I never saw such a triumph in all my experience.I expressed my satisfaction.Quite right, sir, qui
46、te right; itll do for a makeshift, Im bound to say. But wait till you see what well get up for you on your own measure. Come, Tod, book and pen; get at it. Length of leg, 32 - and so on. Before I could get in a word he had measured me, and was giving orders for dress-suits, morning suits, shirts, an
47、d all sorts of things. When I got a chance I said:But, my dear sir, I cant give these orders, unless you can wait indefinitely, or change the bill.Indefinitely! Its a weak word, sir, a weak word. Eternally - thats the word, sir. Tod, rush these things through, and send them to the gentlemans address
48、 without any waste of time. Let the minor customers wait. Set down the gentlemans address and-Im changing my quarters. I will drop in and leave the new address.Quite right, sir, quite right. One moment - let me show you out, sir. There - good day, sir, good day.Chapter Six: The Poor MillionaireThe impossible happened. I bought everything I wanted without money. I showed my banknote and asked for change, but every time the same thing happened. No one was able to change it.I bought all that I needed and all the luxuries that I wanted. I stayed at an e