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初春，新婚的艾米莉随丈夫搬到一个小镇定居。新家各方面条件都不错，惟独荒废多年的花园让艾米莉不甚满意。重新打理可不是件容易的事，她决定请一位花匠，于是就在报纸上登出了招聘广告。
第二天，来了一高一矮两个应聘者。两人都彬彬有礼，说起话来也都蛮在行。正犹豫着，艾米莉突然看到邻居太太在前廊上打手势，示意她雇那个矮个子花匠。艾米莉心想，邻居太太在这里住了很久，一定知道哪个花匠好，于是就照她的意思办了。矮花匠果然能干，没几天，七零八落的小花园，就变得错落有致。几场春雨过后，花园更是一派生机勃勃。
高个子花匠后来给新来的另一家干活，艾米莉发现他家的花园稀疏潦草，草坪修得马马虎虎，远没自家的花园像样。
不久，艾米莉到邻居家做客，和那位太太谈起请花匠的事。“您推荐的人果然不错！”艾米莉感激地说，“多亏您以前请过他，否则我差点儿就要雇那个高个花匠了，因为我当时看高个子长得更像个吃苦耐劳的人。”
“长相哪里靠得住！”邻居太太摇摇头，“雇花匠时要看他的裤子，而不是他的脸。其实他们都是外地人，我以前也没见过。但我发现矮花匠的裤子挺新，却在膝盖的位置有许多层补丁。高个子的裤子很旧了，膝盖却完好无损，倒是屁股那儿缝了不少补丁。我立刻就知道，谁整天跪在地上干活；谁没事专爱坐在地上偷懒。”
摘译自British Stories
Early spring, Emily and her newly wed husband moved to a small town to live. The new home was nice in every way, except for the garden, which hadn’t been taken care of for several years. Starting from the beginning was not an easy task. Emily decided to hire a gardener, so she advertised in the paper.
The next day, two men applied for the job, one tall and one short. They were both polite and seemed to know what they were talking about. While she was thinking over, Emily noticed the neighbor’s wife, on the porch, making signs to her to choose the shorter man. Thinking the neighbor had been here for a long time and must know which gardener was better, Emily followed her advice. The shorter man was good. Within days, the shabby garden became organized. After sev－eral rains, it sprang to life.
The tall man went to work for another new-comer. Emily found his garden far less established than hers. The garden work looked messy. The grass was cut in haste.
Soon Emily went to the neighbor’s home and talked about the gardeners. “The person you suggested is very good!” said Emily gratefully, “if it weren’t for your experience, I would have hired the tall guy. I thought he looked like a hard-working man.”
“Looks are never reliable!” The neighbor’s wife shook her head, “when you’re hiring somebody to work in your garden, look at his pants, not face. Those two guys are both from out of town. I have never seen them before. But I noticed the shorter man had on new pants, with heavily patched knees. The tall man had on an old pants, with undamaged knees, but they were patched on the seat. So I knew instantly, who spends all day working on his knees and who spends all day sitting on his butt.”
第二天，来了一高一矮两个应聘者。两人都彬彬有礼，说起话来也都蛮在行。正犹豫着，艾米莉突然看到邻居太太在前廊上打手势，示意她雇那个矮个子花匠。艾米莉心想，邻居太太在这里住了很久，一定知道哪个花匠好，于是就照她的意思办了。矮花匠果然能干，没几天，七零八落的小花园，就变得错落有致。几场春雨过后，花园更是一派生机勃勃。
高个子花匠后来给新来的另一家干活，艾米莉发现他家的花园稀疏潦草，草坪修得马马虎虎，远没自家的花园像样。
不久，艾米莉到邻居家做客，和那位太太谈起请花匠的事。“您推荐的人果然不错！”艾米莉感激地说，“多亏您以前请过他，否则我差点儿就要雇那个高个花匠了，因为我当时看高个子长得更像个吃苦耐劳的人。”
“长相哪里靠得住！”邻居太太摇摇头，“雇花匠时要看他的裤子，而不是他的脸。其实他们都是外地人，我以前也没见过。但我发现矮花匠的裤子挺新，却在膝盖的位置有许多层补丁。高个子的裤子很旧了，膝盖却完好无损，倒是屁股那儿缝了不少补丁。我立刻就知道，谁整天跪在地上干活；谁没事专爱坐在地上偷懒。”
摘译自British Stories
Early spring, Emily and her newly wed husband moved to a small town to live. The new home was nice in every way, except for the garden, which hadn’t been taken care of for several years. Starting from the beginning was not an easy task. Emily decided to hire a gardener, so she advertised in the paper.
The next day, two men applied for the job, one tall and one short. They were both polite and seemed to know what they were talking about. While she was thinking over, Emily noticed the neighbor’s wife, on the porch, making signs to her to choose the shorter man. Thinking the neighbor had been here for a long time and must know which gardener was better, Emily followed her advice. The shorter man was good. Within days, the shabby garden became organized. After sev－eral rains, it sprang to life.
The tall man went to work for another new-comer. Emily found his garden far less established than hers. The garden work looked messy. The grass was cut in haste.
Soon Emily went to the neighbor’s home and talked about the gardeners. “The person you suggested is very good!” said Emily gratefully, “if it weren’t for your experience, I would have hired the tall guy. I thought he looked like a hard-working man.”
“Looks are never reliable!” The neighbor’s wife shook her head, “when you’re hiring somebody to work in your garden, look at his pants, not face. Those two guys are both from out of town. I have never seen them before. But I noticed the shorter man had on new pants, with heavily patched knees. The tall man had on an old pants, with undamaged knees, but they were patched on the seat. So I knew instantly, who spends all day working on his knees and who spends all day sitting on his butt.”