книги / Striving For Happiness. I Am a Part of All that I Have Met

Ignatius Gallaher in the act of drinking closed one eye expressively and said:

'No blooming fear of that, my boy. I'm going to have my fling first and see a bit of life and the world before I put my head in the sack - if I ever do.'

'Some day you will,' said Little Chandler calmly. Ignatius Gallaher turned his blue eyes full upon his friend. 'You think so?' he said.

'You'll put your head in the sack like everyone else if you can find the girl.' Ignatius Gallaher watched him for a few moments and then said:

'If ever it occurs, you may bet your bottom dollar there'll be no mooning and spooning about it. I mean to marry money. She'll have a good fat account at the bank or she won't do for me.'

Little Chandler shook his head.

'Why, man alive,' said Ignatius Gallaher, 'do you know what it is? I've only to say the word and tomorrow I can have the woman and the cash. You don't believe it? Well, I know it. There are hundreds - what am I saying? - thousands of rich Germans and Jews, rotten with money, that'd only be too glad... But I'm in no hurry. They can wait. I don't fancy tying myself up to one woman, you know.'

* * *

Little Chandler sat in the room at home. To save money they kept no servant, but Annie's young sister Monica came for an hour or so in the morning and an hour or so in the evening to help. But Monica had gone home long ago. It was a quarter to nine. Little Chandler had come home late for tea and, moreover, he had forgotten to bring Annie home the parcel of coffee from Bewley's. Of course she was in a bad humour and gave him short answers. Later she decided to go out to the shop herself and put the sleeping child in his arms and said:

'Here. Don't waken him.'

A little lamp with a white china shade stood upon the table and its light fell over a photograph which was enclosed in a frame of crumpled horn. It was Annie's photograph. Little Chandler looked coldly into the eyes of the photograph and they answered coldly. Certainly they were pretty but there was no passion in them; and the face itself was pretty but he found something mean in it. He thought of what Gallaher had said about rich Jewesses. Those dark Oriental eyes, he thought, how full they are of passion!...Why had he married the eyes in the photograph?

He caught himself up at the question and glanced nervously round the room. He found something mean in the pretty furniture which he had bought for his house on the hire system. Annie had chosen it herself and it reminded him of her. It was prim, too. A dull resentment against his life awoke within him. Could he not escape from his little house? Was it too late for him to try to live bravely like Gallaher? Could he go to London? There was the furniture still to be paid for. If he could only write a book and get it published, that might open the way for him.

A volume of Byron's poems lay before him on the table. He opened it cautiously with his left hand not to wake the child and began to read the first poem in the book.

He paused. He felt the rhythm of the verse about him in the room. How melancholy it was! Could he, too, write like that, express the melancholy of his soul in verse? There were

so many things he wanted to describe.

The child awoke and began to cry. He turned from the page and tried to hush it, but it would not be hushed. He began to rock it to and fro in his arms, but its wailing cry grew keener. He rocked it faster while his eyes began to read the second stanza.

It was useless. He couldn't read. He couldn't do anything. The wailing of the child pierced the drum of his ear. It was useless, useless! He was a prisoner for life. His arms trembled with anger and suddenly bending to the child's face he shouted: 'Stop!'

The child stopped for an instant, had a spasm of fright and began to scream. He jumped up from his chair and walked hastily up and down the room with the child in his arms. It began to sob piteously, losing its breath for four or five seconds, and then bursting out anew...

The door was burst open and a young woman ran in, panting. 'What is it? What is it?' she cried.

The child, hearing its mother's voice, broke out into a paroxysm of sobbing. "It's nothing, Annie... it's nothing.... He began to cry..."

She flung her parcels on the floor and snatched the child from him. 'What have you done to him?' she cried, glaring into his face.

Little Chandler sustained for one moment the gaze of her eyes and his heart closed together as he met the hatred in them. He began to stammer:

"It's nothing...He...he...began to cry...I couldn't...I didn't do anything..."

Little Chandler felt his cheeks suffused with shame and he stood back out of the lamplight. He listened while the paroxysm of the child's sobbing grew less and less; and tears of remorse started to his eyes.

Answer thefollowing questions.

1.Who is the main character of the story?

2.Why was the man called Little Chandler?

3.What was he fond of?

4.What was his character, state of mind and way of living?

5.Where had his friend gone eight years before? Was he successful? What showed it?

6.What did his friend Gallaher look like?

7.What were the friends like when they were students?

8.Did the meeting with Gallaher influence Little Chandler?

9.Had Little Chandler made a good career?

10.Was his family life happy?

11.Was it possible for Little Chandler to change his life for the better?

12.Does it always happen that hardworking people are successful and immoral and dissipated people fail? What does success in life depend on?

13.What did Little Chandler do wrong in his life, if he did, that led him to disappointment?

14.Can we compare Gallaher with some sort of Devil-tempter? Who usually easily give in to such temptations?

15.How do you understand the meaning of the title?

Jobs Quiz

Is your job the rightjob for you? Find out by doing this quiz. Tick the statements you agree with.

1.I'd love to do a parachute jump.

2.I don’t like telling other people what to do.

3.I prefer spending time on my own rather than in a crowd.

4.I find it easy to set myself objectives.

5.I have difficulty making decisions.

6.I find it difficult getting to know new people.

7.I'd love to travel abroad.

8.Friends sometimes complain that I order them around.

9.I like to have the advice and support of people more experienced than myself.

10.1 don’t like volunteering opinions in case they are unpopular.

11.I like to try to find new solutions to old problems.

12.I would prefer to be team captain than team member.

13.I get embarrassed easily.

14.I don't mind where 1 go with my friends as long as they are happy.

15.I like the latest fashions.

16.I like to be fully responsible for anything that I do.

Now add up your ticks and check your scores. Three or four ticks in any category indicates personality characteristics you should take account o f when choosing ajob.

Scoring

A)1,7, 11, 15

B)2, 5, 9, 14

C)3,6, 10, 13

D)4, 8,12, 16

Personality Types

A)The entrepreneur. You are the adventurous type. You enjoy new challenges and taking risks. You could find success in stock market dealing rooms or anywhere you can put your flashes of genius to good use.

B)The team worker. You work well with others but dislike having responsibility for other people, preferring to implement other people’s plans rather than your own. You would probably do well in the armed forces or the Civil Service.

C)The backroom worker. You are a little shy, and find it difficult to mix with new people. You would do well in any behind-the-scenes job where you don’t have to come face to face with strangers every day, such as a researcher or librarian.

D)The leader. You are confident in your abilities and you prefer to be in charge rather

than to take orders. You enjoy having lots of people around you and would do well in a managerial post or any job which involves selling.

A FAIRY-TALE COLUMN

AN INDIAN TALE

Three Rich Ladies And An Old Woman

Three rich ladies met every day on the river bank. They sat by the river and talked the whole day. Once the three ladies quarrelled. One of them said:' "How white and beautiful my hands are!"

Another said: "My hands are more beautiful."

The third lady said: "My hands are the most beautiful." An old woman with a stick in her hands came up to them.

"Beautiful ladies," she said, "I am old and cannot work. I am hungry. Give me

something to eat."

But the rich ladies gave her nothing. They only asked: "Tell us, old woman, who of us three has the most beautiful hands."

"I shall tell you a little later," the old woman said and walked away.

A peasant woman was sitting on the bank in another place. She was poor and her hands were dark from hard work. The old woman came up to her and said:

"I am hungry. Give me something to eat." The peasant woman opened her bag, took out a piece of bread and gave half of it to the old woman.

The old woman ate it and drank some water. Then she took the peasant woman by the hand and brought her before the rich ladies and said: "Now I shall tell you whose hands are the most beautiful. The hands of this poor woman are dark from hard work, but they give us bread. They are more beautiful than your white hands which do not know work!"

DISCUSSION

Read the text about Richard Branson’s secrets o f success, speak on every point and name others as you understand them.

Ten Secrets Of Success

1. He regularly works an eleven-hour day, starting around eight and finishing around seven at night.

2.He spends a lot of time talking to people on the telephone but he never sends

memos.

3.He rarely holds board meetings. He makes decisions on the phone or on the tennis

court.

4.He has a good memory and he writes people's names on his hand so he doesn't forget them.

5.He invites every single one of his 10,000 employees to a party at his home in Oxfordshire every year. The last party cost around 100,000 pounds.

6.He continually questions his employees about every aspect of the business and tries to pick holes in their arguments to find out whether the ideas will work.

7.If he becomes annoyed in meetings, he leaves the room. He hardly ever looses his

temper.

8.He employs people he likes personally. This is more important to him than qualifications.

9.He has had several business failures in the past and nearly went bankrupt several times but has always survived. He puts his success down to good ideas, good people, and good luck.

10.He didn't go into business to make money. He went into business because wanted a challenge.

Read the text and say whether you followed the points recommended in it when you were preparing for an exam, taking up some new activity, for example, sport, or undertaking a serious project.

Ifyou didn ’t, which ones you like and willfollow infuture.

If You Really Want to Succeed

After John E. Anderson

Arnold Schwarzenegger was a skinny teenager living in Austria when, in spite of his parents' doubts, he threw himself into weightlifting. Three times a week he went to the local gym, and each evening, he worked out for several hours at home. Today the champion

bodybuilder-tumed-actor is the biggest box-office draw in the history of movies and one of the richest men in show business and moreover, a polititian.

When Condoleezza Rice was in high school, she was told that test scores showed she probably wouldn't do well in college. But she didn't listen. Modeling herself after her grandfathers - one had worked three jobs to support his family and the other completed college in 1920 - Condoleezza threw herself into her studies with such concentrated energy that she entered the University of Denver at age 15 and graduated Phi Beta Kappa at 19. At 41 Rice was the youngest provost in Stanford University's history, now she is the State Secretary of the USA - the first woman and the first African-American to fill that prestigious post.

What brought these two very different people to the pinnacle of their professions? Schwarzenegger put his finger on it when, in a recent TV interview, he was asked to explain his success. "Hard work," he said. "Hard work, lots of discipline and positive thinking."

In any field it's important to have ambition and drive. But having worked as a psychologist with athletes, executives, artists and young people, I've learned that those who rise to the headiest heights in any field aren't necessarily the: ones with the greatest natural talent. They’re the diligent few who put in the hours. They work hard. And then they work harder. But it's notjust the hours that count. For hard work to really pay off, you need to work effectively. Here's how:

Follow your dream.

You must have a direction for your work. Set your objectives early, then devote all your energies to achieving them.

Block out the time.

Hard work isn't something you can do when you "get around to it." To be beneficial, it must be regular, rigorous and rewarding.

Take one step at a time.

In my work I talk to athletes and executives about the "one percent rule." Don't aim to reach the top in a single session; just try to improve by one percent over the session before, don't try to do everything at once.

Manage your weak points.

Instead of repeating things you enjoy and do well in your work sessions, concentrate on areas that need improvement.

Hold out a carrot.

Whatever your work entails, always hold out a reward for your achievement. If you finish the days scheduled work, then you can watch a movie. Such a reward will inspire you to work harder.

Look back.

In business or study you can look back at the end of the day or study hour or practice session and ask yourself: What have I accomplished? What needs more work? What should I prepare for tomorrow?

Have a siesta.

Continuing to push yourself beyond exhaustion is counterproductive. If you're tired, you make mistakes that will need to be rectified later. Worse, fatigue can force you into sloppy techniques that may become habitual. Build rest into your schedule. At home you might take a nap. Even at an office, however, you should learn to change gears after a session of hard work.

Develop a cheering section.

It's tough working alone, no matter how important the goal. You need someone to back you up, to say "Good going". That support pays off.

local pub make our world. This is where we belong and where we feel at home. A sudden huge windfall would dramatically change it all and smash the jigsaw.

For example, most people like the idea of not having to work, but winners have found that without work there is no purpose to their day, and no reason to get up in the morning. It is tempting to move to a bigger house in a wealthy neighbourhood but, in so doing, you leave old friends and routines behind.

Winners are usually advised not to publicize their address and phone number, but charity requests and begging letters still arrive. If they are not careful, most of their money will be frittered away on lawyers' fees to protect them from demanding relatives, guards to protect their homes and swimming pools, and psychotherapists to protect their sanity!

People who get it wrong

There are many stories about people who can't learn how to be rich. In 1989, Val Johnson won 850,000 pounds on the pools. Immediately, she went on a spending spree that lasted for four years and five marriages. She is now penniless and alone. "I'm not a happy person," she says. "Winning money was the most awful thing that happened to me."

Then there is the story of Alice Hopper, who says that, her 950,000 pounds win four years ago brought her nothing but misery. She walked out of the factory where she worked, and left a goodbye note for her husband on the kitchen table. She bought herself a villa in Spain, and two bars (one a birthday present for her eighteen-year-old son). After three months, her son was killed while driving home from the bar on the motorbike which his mother had also bought for him. She found the bars more and more difficult to run. She now sings in a local Karaoke bar to earn money for groceries. "I wish I was still working in the factory," she says.

'It won't change us!'

That's what all winners say when they talk to reporters and television cameras as they accept the cheque and the kisses from a famous film star. And some winners, like Malcolm Price, really mean it. He refused to change his way of life when he won 2.5 million pounds. The next Saturday night, he went to his local pub as usual, and as usual he didn't buy his friends a drink. They were furious! He, too, is a lonely man now.

Imagine you are an average family and you have just won 1 million pounds. At first it seems fantastic. Just by picking up the phone you can get the toilet scat fixed, and the leak in the roof repaired - all the problems that have been making your life miserable. 'But, it won't change us, darling,' you say to your wife. 'Yes, it will!' she insists. 'I want it to change us. It will make life better! It'll be brilliant!'

Already the children are changing. Just this morning they were ordinary, contented kids. Now they are demanding computer games, CD players, motorbikes... 'Hold on!' you shout. 'Let me answer the door.'

It is your neighbour, with a bunch of flowers and a loving smile on her face. 'Congratulations!' she shouts. 'I was wondering if you could lend me...' You shut the door.

In the first week you receive two thousand letters advising you how to spend your money, either by investing it or giving it to good causes. Your son comes home with a mu­ sic system that is bigger than the living-room, your sixteen-year-old daughter books a holi­ day to Barbados with her boyfriend, and your wife buys a Rolls-Royce.

'But darling,' you say, 'we haven't received one penny of this money yet! What about the broken toilet seat? What about the leaking roof? What about me?'

'I haven't forgotten you,' says your wife. 'I've bought you a racehorse!' The next day you get a begging letter from a man who won the lottery a year ago. He tells you how he spent 2,000,000 pounds in three weeks. He says if you lent him some money, he could start his life all over again. You begin to think that winning a fortune brings more problems than it solves! You realize that you are quite fond of the broken toilet scat and the leaking roof after all.

A Final thought

When you next buy your lottery ticket, or do the football pools, just stop for a minute and ask yourself why you are doing it. Do you actually want to win? Or are you doing it for the excitement of thinking about winning?

Is There A Mean Streak In You?

Meanness is one of human nature's less attractive traits. But few people are com­ pletely, totally mean. Keith Waterhouse, a journalist, explains why he's thrifty.

I am thrifty, you are carefull, he is mean. I am generous, you are extravagant, he seems to have money to bum. More probably we are each a bit of all these categories. I know I am. I am a very generous present-giver. I love buying presents - but I hate buying wrapping paper. I hoard scraps from one year to the next. I even recycle the wrappings my own presents came in.

Some of my best friends are mean about string. They carefully unravel and save every scrap that comes into their posession.

There are also people who are obsessively careful with money. They are the sort who get off the bus a stop early to avoid paying a higher fare, or roam supermarkets looking for special offers and coupon discounts. This is fine, as long as these economies are not inflicted upon others. There is nothing quite so tiresome as someone with an obsession about switching off lights, or saving the last scrap of food.

It is when thrift affects one's social life that it becomes meanness. The famous American multimillionaire J. Paul Getty gave away billions but is remembered for the pay phone he installed for the use of his guests. A psychiatrist friend of mine maintains that mean people are insecure. But then he says that about overgenerous people, too. Mean people fear that their money will run out on them; overgenerous ones that their friend will.

Answer thefollowing questions.

1.Have you ever taken part in any lotteries? If yes, why?

2.Have you ever won?

3.Do you dream of winning a big sum of money? What do you need it for?

4.Do you like the idea of not having to work?

5.Would you prefer to make money yourself or to get it from your wife (husband,

relatives)?

6.What are the positive and negative sides of winning a big sum of money?

7.Does richness influence human psychology?

8.Does money spoil children?

9.In what way is it necessary to bring up children in rich families?

10.Can rich people be generous and understanding?

11.Is richness the greatest happiness or a great burden?

12.What is better: to give someone a fishing rod or some money?

13.Should the treasures of the country be equally divided between all its members?

14.Should the rich share their money with the poor?

15.Is there a mean streak in you?

16.What is your attitude to meanness? What’s the difference between meanness,

thrift and extravagance?

17.Why is meanness or greed considered one of the seven mortal sins?

18.Should a man be generous to a woman and should a woman live at his expense?

Kids Want What Money Can't Buy

A new poll shows that 90 % of children ages 9-14 say that family and friends are way more important than things that money can buy.

More good news: 6 out of 10 children surveyed say they'd rather spend time having fun with their parents than head out to the mall to go shopping.

Asked what they would change about their parents' jobs only 13 % said they wished their parents made more money. 63 % said they would arrange it so their parents could spend more time doing fun family activities.

1. Do you agree with the phrase that money can buy everything? Are there still things that money can't buy? What are they?

2. In what families is it more difficult to bring up children: in rich or poor ones?

Why?

3. Is it difficult to be friends for people from different layers of society? Do they "speak different languages"? Can the rich and the poor understand each other? Can they visit the same places, have the same hobbies, spend their holidays in the same way?

Spend, Spend, Spend

Many of us in developed societies are in a vicious circle. We work hard so that we can earn more money. When we have more money, we spend more. Because we spend more, we have to work even harder. The circle goes round and round. The result is not increased happiness, but more stress and less free time to be ourselves and be with our families and friends.

Above all we should remember that "being" and "doing" are much more important than "having"

Read the story.

Mammon and The Archer

After O. Henry

Chapter I

Old Anthony Rockwall, retired manufacturer and proprietor of Rockwall's Eureka Soap Co., looked out the library window of his mansion and grinned. He saw his neighbour - the aristocratic clubman, coming out to his waiting motorcar and wrinkling his nose with despise, as usual, at the soap king's residence built in the style of the Italian Renaissance.

"Little aristocrat!" muttered the ex-Soap King.

And then Anthony Rockwall went to the door of his library and shouted, 'Mike! Tell my son,' he said to his servant, "to come in here before he leaves the house."

When young Rockwall entered the library the old man laid aside his newspaper and looked at his son's big, ruddy face.

"Richard," said Anthony Rockwall, "what do you pay for the soap that you use?" Richard, only six months home from college, was surprised a little. He hadn't learned

yet to understand his parent, who could do anything quite unexpected. "Six dollars a dozen, I think, dad."

"And your clothes?"

"I suppose about sixty dollars, as a rule."