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MRS. BIXBY AND THE COLONEL’S COAT
Mr. and Mrs. Bixby lived in New York. Mr. Bixby was a dentist who made an average income. Once a month, always on Friday afternoons, Mrs. Bixby would visit her old aunt in Baltimore, who was not doing well in life: she жила на допомогу по безробіттю. As it turned out, however, the aunt була не більш ніж алібі для Mrs. Bixby. Насправді, Mrs. Bixby spent the greater part of her Baltimore time with an exceedingly wealthy man, known as the Colonel.
Year after year Mrs. Bixby fooled her husband вишукано. The pleasant alliance between Mrs. Bixby and Colonel продовжувався без перешкод (=continued without a hitch) for eight years.
It was just before Christmas: Mrs. Bixby was waiting for her train to take her back to New York. Suddenly the Colonel’s groom approached her and pushed a large cardboard box into her hands with the words, “The Colonel asked me to give you this”. She couldn’t wait to see what was in the box. As soon as she was on the train she opened the box and засміялась від задоволення – a gorgeous mink coat took her breath away. Без сумніву воно коштувало неабиякі гроші. She tried it on at once for she was небайдужа до одягу.
In the excitement of finding the mink coat and trying it on she overlooked a vital aspect – she couldn’t possibly tell her husband that her aunt had given it to her for Christmas. Mrs. Bixby had to be бути обережним. In a couple of hours she would be in New York. She didn’t want to part with the coat, so she була розгублена. “Don’t go panicky”, she said to herself. “ Зберись з думками and think of a plan”.
Two hours later Mrs. Bixby stepped off the train, signaled for a taxi, which took her to a pawnbroker. She pawned her coat and was given a ticket. Ten minutes later she was back home. Her husband was reading his evening paper “You are a bit late today, aren’t you?” “You know it’s those dreadful trains. I am dying for a drink.” Her husband was an orderly-minded man. He folded his paper into a neat rectangle for he was a man of охайних звичок, placed it on the arm of his chair and made (headed) for the kitchen. It was funny how small and slovenly he looked after the Colonel, who always вдягались як на весілля. My husband’s suits are too ridiculous for words. I am eager for him to change the way he dresses.
“This Martini is perfect”. She opened her handbag and took a handkerchief as if to blow her nose “Oh, look!”, she cried seeing the ticket. “I found it just now on the seat of my taxi. I thought it might be some lottery ticket, so I kept it.” She handed it to her husband. He examined it carefully and explained it to her that it was a pawn ticket with the name and address of the shop, so anyone could claim it. “ Хто знає, що it might be, my dear. We’ll wait and see. I think I’ll pick it up on my way to work.”
Monday morning came at last. Mrs. Bixby hadn’t slept a wink that night. “Supposing they cheat Cyril”, she thought to herself. “Darling”, she said following her husband to the door. “ Подзвони me as soon as you get to the office”.
An hour later he called her to say that he had redeemed the thing. He refused to tell her what it was and promised to bring it in the evening. But she couldn’t wait that long. She rushed to the office at lunchtime. Her husband gave her a small box in which she found a small mink necklace and congratulated her on such a good find. Mrs. Bixby вдала she was pleased, but deep down she була обуреним. “I am going to kill that pawnbroker”.
On leaving the office she помітила her husband’s secretary assistant, who was going out for lunch. Her face нахабно посміхалось. “Isn’t it a gorgeous day!”, she said looking like a queen in the beautiful mink coat that the Colonel had given to Mrs. Bixby. She returned home in a пригнічений mood. She виставила себе на посміховище but she had мужньо зносити образу. Жаль втрачених надій!
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