I walked with a friend to the newsstand[书报摊，报刊亭] the other night, and he bought a
paper, thanking the owner politely. The owner, however, did not even acknowledge it.
“A sullen[阴沉的] fellow, isn't he?” I commented as we walked away.
“Oh, he's that way every night,” shrugged[耸肩] my friend.
“Then why do you continue being so polite to him?” I asked.
And my friend replied, “Why should I let him determine how I'm going to act?”
一天晚上，我和朋友走到一个报摊。他买了一份报纸，然后很有礼貌地向摊主表示感谢，对方却毫无反应。
“真是个阴沉的家伙，对吧？”我们走开时我评论道。
“噢，他每天晚上都这样，”朋友耸耸肩。
“那你干嘛还对他那么有礼貌呢？”我问道。
朋友回答说：“我为什么要让他来决定我应该如何待人呢？”