Can I buy an hour of your time？ Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.
Can I Buy an Hour of Your Time？
A man came home from work late， tired and irritated irritated adj.恼怒的，生气的 ， to find his 5year old son waiting for him at the door.
“Daddy， may I ask you a question？”
“Yeah sure， what is it？” replied the man.
“Daddy， how much do you make an hour？”
我可以买你一小时吗？请你明天早点回家，我想和你一起吃晚饭。
我可以买你一小时吗？
一个人很晚下班回家，又累又气，却发现5岁的儿子正站在门口等他。
“爸爸，我可以向你提个问题吗？”
“当然，问吧？”
“爸爸，一个小时你挣多少钱？”
“Thats none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing？” the man said angrily.
“I just want to know. Please tell me， how much do you make an hour？” Pleaded the little boy.
“If you must know， I make S｜20 an hour.”
“Oh，” the little boy replied， with his head down. Looking up， he said， “Daddy， may I please borrow S｜10？”
The father was furiousfurious adj.狂怒的， 狂暴的， 激烈的， 热烈兴奋的 ， “If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense， then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard every day for such childish behavior.”
“关你什么事。你问这种事情干什么？”很生气地说道。
“我仅仅想知道。一个小时你挣多少钱，告诉我好吗？”小男孩恳求道。
“如果你非要知道那我就告诉你，一小时我挣20美元。”
“哦，”男孩低着头回答道。然后，他抬起头来问：“爸爸我可不可以借你10美元？”
父亲发怒道：“如果你希望知道我一小时挣多少钱的惟一理由，只是为了借钱买无聊的玩具或其他没用的东西，那就赶紧回房间上床睡觉。好好想想为什么你变得那么自私。我每天辛苦工作，得到的竟是你这般幼稚的举动。”
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boys questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money？ After about an hour or so， the man had calmed downcalm down v.平静下来， 镇定下来 ， and started to think： Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that S｜10 and he really didnt ask for money very often.
The man went to the door of the little boys room and opened the door.
“Are you asleep， son？” He asked.
“No daddy， Im awake，” replied the boy.
“Ive been thinking， maybe I was too hard on you earlier，” said the man， “Its been a long day and I took out my aggravationaggravation n.恼怒， 加重(病情、负担、罪行、危机等)， 更恶化 on you. Heres the S｜10 you asked for.”
小男孩轻轻地回到的房间，关上门。男人坐下后，对于小男孩刚才问的问题更加生气。他怎么敢为了得到钱问这么一个问题。约莫一个小时后，他才平静下来了，开始想：或许他真的需要这10美元买什么东西呢，他不经常要钱的。
于是男人走到小男孩的房门前，打开了门。
“孩子你睡着了吗？”他问。
“没有，爸爸，我还没睡。”男孩回答。
“我刚才一直在考虑，我先前可能对你太严厉了，”父亲说，“工作了一整天，我就对你发脾气了。这是你要的10美元。”
The little boy sat straight up， smiling. “Oh， thank you daddy！” He yelled. Then， reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled bills. The man， seeing that the boy already had money， started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money， then looked up at his father.
“Why do you want more money if you already have some？” the father grumbledgrumble vt.喃喃地说出vi.抱怨， 发牢骚， 咕哝， 嘟囔 .
“Because I didnt have enough， but now I do，” the little boy replied. “Daddy， I have S｜20 now. Can I buy an hour of your time？ Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.”
The father hugged the son.
小男孩立刻坐了起来，微笑着：“哦，谢谢爸爸！”他不禁喊了起来。然后，他把手伸到枕头底下，拿出一些发皱的钞票。看到孩子已经有钱了，父亲又开始生气了。小男孩慢慢地数着钱，然后抬头看着父亲。
“你有钱了为什么还要？”父亲抱怨道。
“因为这之前不够，但现在够了，”小男孩回答，“爸爸，现在我有20美元了，我可以买你一小时吗？请你明天早点回家，我想和你一起吃晚饭。”
爸爸紧紧地抱住儿子。
亲情的馈赠有时候很简单，它既不需要金钱，也不需要名利，只要拿出时间。或许学习、工作让我们常常忽略了在身边的那份浓浓的亲情，但我们要提醒自己抽时间多陪陪家人。这里，我们看到一个渴望父亲陪伴的稚子的心声：“我想和你一起吃晚饭。”