A story For Valentine's Day (1)
为情人节作的故事（1）

　　 Larry and Jo Ann were an ordinary couple. They lived in an ordinary house on an ordinary street. Like any other ordinary couple, they struggled to make ends meet and to do the right things for their children.

* make ends meet：也作make both ends meet，意思是“使收支相抵”。这里指“养家糊口”，“维持最低的生活水平”。他们属于普通的劳苦大众，每个月挣的钱不是很多，需要想尽办法才能撑到月底。 　

　　 They were ordinary in yet another way-they had their squabbles. Much of their conversation concerned what was wrong in their marriage and who was to blame. 　
　　 Until one day when a most extraordinary event took place. 　
　　 "You know, Jo Ann, I've got a magic chest of drawers. Every time I open them, they're full of socks and underwear," Larry said. "I want to thank you for filling them all these year."

* squabble：“吵嘴”。和其他夫妇一样，他们也吵嘴。
* chest of drawers： chest除了表示“胸膛”外，还表示“箱子”。而drawer是“抽屉”的意思，那么chest of drawers就是“有很多抽屉的箱子”了。当然，它还有一个正式的名称，叫做“五斗柜”。 　

　　 Jo Ann stared at her husband over the top of her glasses. "What do you want, Larry?" 　
　　 "Nothing. I just want you to know I appreciate those magic drawers." 　
　　 This wasn't the first time Larry had done some thing odd, so Jo Ann pushed the incident out of her mind until a few days later. 　
　　 "Jo Ann, thank you for recording so many correct check numbers in the ledger this month. You put down the right numbers 15 out of 16 times. That's a record." 　
　　 Disbelieving what she had heard, Jo Ann looked up from her mending. "Larry, you're always complaining about my recording the wrong check numbers. Why stop now?"

* ledger：“帐簿”的意思。因生活艰难，Larry夫妇必须计划着花钱，所以要把每一项花费都记入ledger。
* mend：“修补”的意思。这里指日常的缝缝补补。 　

　　 "No reason. I just wanted you to know I appreciate the effort you're making." 　
　　 Jo Ann shook her head and went back to her mending. "What's got into him?" she mumbled to herself.

* What's got into him：由字面上我们就可以猜出，what's got into him表示“他怎么了？”、“他是不是出什么毛病了？”等意思。这里说明，Jo Ann对丈夫的反常行为非常不理解。
* mumbled：“喃喃自语”、“咕噜”。 　

　　 Nevertheless, the next day when Jo Ann wrote a check at the grocery store, she glanced at her checkbook to confirm that she had put down the right check number. "Why do I suddenly care about those dumb check numbers?" she asked herself. 　
　　 She tried to disregard the incident, but Larry's strange behavior intensified.

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