In a certain store where they sell plum puddingsI ， a number
of these deli-cious articles are laid out in a row during the
Christmas season. Here you may select the one which is most to
your taste, and you are even allowed to sample the various
qualities before coming to a decision.
I have often wondered whether this privilege2 was not imposed
on by peo-ple who had no intention of making a purchase, and one
day when my curiosity drove me to ask this question of the shop
girl, I learned it was indeed the case.
"Now theres one old gentleman, for instance," she told me,
"who comes here almost every week and samples each one of the
puddings, though he never buys anything and I suspect he never
will. I remember him from last year and the year before that too.
Well, let him come if he wants it that bad, say I, and welcome to
it. And whats more, I hope there are a lot more stores where he
can go and get his share. He looks as if he needed it all right,
and I suppose they can afford it. "
每逢圣诞节前后，有一家卖葡萄干布丁的商店会摆出一排美味的布丁。
在这里，你可以根据自己的口味选购，甚至品尝各种布丁，再决定买哪一种
。
我常想会不会有人并不打算买，也乘机来品尝一下呢。有一天，在好奇
心的驱使下，我向女店员提出了这个问题，结果得知确有这种人。
“比如，有一位老人，”她告诉我说，“他几乎每个星期都来尝布丁，
挨个尝遍，可他什么也不买，恐怕将来也不会实。我记得去年、前年他都这
样。不过，我想如果他真的那么需要，就让他来好了，欢迎他来尝。我还希
望有更多的商店能给他这种方便。他看上去确实需要这样，我想那些商店也
偻得起。”
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