amazement Verblüffung
[E(meIzmEnt]
beef cattle [(bi:f )kÄt&l](Fleisch-)Rinder
civil war [)sIv&l (wO:] Bürgerkrieg
defence [di(fens] Verteidigung
device [di(vaIs] Gerät
drive sb. off sth. jmdn. von etw. ver-
[)draIv (Qf] treiben
giggle [(gIg&l] kichern
mine sth. [maIn] etw. abbauen
oh, dear [)EU (dIE] oje
property [(prQpEti] Grundstück
rare metal [)reE (met&l] Seltenerdmetall
scratch one’s head sich am Kopf kratzen
[)skrÄtS wVnz (hed]
share [(SeE] Aktie
stuck: be ~ [stVk] hier: in der Patsche
sitzen
these days [Di:z (deIz] heutzutage; hier: in
jüngster Zeit
thought bubble Denkblase
[(TO:t )bVb&l]
torture sb. [(tO:tSE] jmdn. foltern2/2014 http://www.business-spotlight.de 57his amazement— he could see. “These
glasses are magic!” he called in excite-
ment to the charming companion lying
next to him in bed.
“Thomas, that’s wonderful!” she
said, but then something strange hap-
pened. Over the charming companion’s
head, Thomas saw a thought bubble
taking shape.
“What an idiot! He must be dream-
ing. He’s talking nonsense...” And those
were the nicest things he saw above
anybody’s head all day. That evening,
the charming companion was sent
away, and the little old man returned.
“Take the steel glasses off my face,”
said Thomas. “What about the silver
ones?”
“The silver glasses will show you the
world and how you earn your money,”
said the little old man. “Are you sure
that’s what you want?”
“Why not? I have nothing to hide. I’m
a respectable businessman.”
“As you wish!” said the little old
man, and he put the silver-rimmed
spectacles on Thomas’s nose.The next morning, Thomas woke up
and, once again, he could see. He hur-
ried to his computer to check how his
shareswere doing.
“Hmm,” he said as he clicked on the
figures. “Consumer electronics are do-
ing well!” But then, to his horror, the
figures faded away and were replaced
by terrible scenes of civil warin Africa.
That was where the rare metalsused
in consumer electronic deviceswere
mined. He then looked at his property
investments. He saw families being
driven offthe land he had bought in
Brazil to make way for beef cattle. He
switched to defenceshares. There, he
could see prisoners being torturedby
policemen using clever devices from his
most profitable company.
That evening, when the little old man
returned, Thomas was not pleased.
“Take the silver glasses off my face,”
said Thomas. “Let’s try the gold ones!”
“Hmm,” said the little old man,
scratching his head. “The gold glasses
aren’t finished yet. They’re supposed to
show you what you need to see.”
“I know what I need to see,” shout-
ed Thomas. “Everything as it was be-
fore I went blind! Let me test them.”
“As you wish.” said the little old
man, and he put them on Thomas’s
nose. “I’ll finish the final version for
you by tomorrow evening.”
Thomas was a bit nervous when he
woke up, but to his great joy, the gold
glasses seemed nearly perfect. His new
charming companion was extremely
charming and his investments were all
numbers going upwards. The world was
once again full of beautiful people, ex-
pensive cars and elegant yachts.
“Give me the final version,” said
Thomas that evening. “Then you can
take your money and disappear!”“As you wish!” said the little old
man, and he put the new gold-rimmed
spectacles on Thomas’s nose.
But, oh, dear! The next morning,
when Thomas awoke, he could see not
only what everybody thought of him,
but also how he earned his money. It
was awful! And, because nobody could
remove the glasses except the little old
man, Thomas was stuck.
As time went by, Thomas began to
change. It made him unhappy to see all
the bad things his money was doing, so
he found good things to do with it in-
stead. He became interested in what
people really thought of him. He even
found a pleasant companion who loved
him for himself and not his money.
One night, many years later, he was
walking in his garden when the little old
man jumped out from behind a bush.
“Well?” said the old man. “Do you
like what you see these days?”
Thomas thought for a moment.
“Yes,” he said. “Yes, I do. But tell
me. What was the difference between
the two pairs of gold-rimmed glasses?”
The little old man giggled. “The first
pair... was the demo version!” ■BS“I have magic spectacles of steel, silver
and gold,” said the little old manJames Schofieldis co-author of the
Double Dealingseries. Find more of
his stories in English and his blog at
http://jrtschofield.blogspot.deYou can listen to this short story on
Business Spotlight Audiospectacles (glasses)These nouns
are always used in the plural, and so
are the pronouns: “She broke her
glasses when she sat on them.” The
single object is often referred to as a
“pair”: “I’ve lost two pairs of reading
glasses this month.” Note that the
word “pair” here takes a singular
verb: “Which pair of glasses is her
favourite?” The word “spectacles” is
rather old-fashioned.Language point
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