More than 70 years ago, a young Norwegian man traveled far away across the sea to France. He wanted to take the examination for entering Paris Academy of Music. During the examination, he tried his best to exert himself, but the examiner didn't enroll him.
The penniless young man went to a bustling street outside the academy, tightened his belt and played the violin in his hands under a banyan tree. He played one after another, attracting a lot of people to stop to listen. The hungry young man finally held his violin case in both hands, when the onlookers produced their money and put it into the case.
A rogue threw his money scornfully at the young man's feet. The young man looked at the rogue, eventually bent down to pick up the money on the ground, handed it to the rogue and said, “Sir, your money dropped on the ground.”
The rogue took the money, threw it at the young man's feet again and said arrogantly, “This money has been yours, and so you must take it!”
Looking at the rogue again, the young man deeply bowed to him and said, “Sir, thank you for your support! When you just dropped your money, I bent over to pick it up for you. Now my money dropped on the ground, may I trouble you to pick it up for me, too?”
The rogue was stunned by the young man's unexpected move, finally picked up the money, put it into the young man's violin case and left crestfallen .
Among the onlookers a pair of eyes had been quietly watching the young man. It was the examiner just now. He brought the young man back to the academy and eventually enrolled him.
This young man was called Bill Sadin, who later became a famous Norwegian muscian, whose masterpiece as “Straighten Your Chest”.
七十多年前，一位挪威籍年轻人不远万里漂洋过海来到法国。他要参加法国音乐学院的入学考试。考试期间，他拼命表现自己，可是考官仍没有录取他。
年轻人身无分文，来到学院外一条人群熙攘的大街上，勒紧裤腰带，在一棵榕树下拉起了手中的小提琴。他拉了一首接一首，许多人驻足观看。最后，饥饿的年轻人双手捧着小提琴琴盒，请路人掏出钱来放进盒子里。
一个无赖轻蔑地把钱扔到年轻人的脚下。年轻人看了，弯下腰捡起地上的钱，递给无赖，说：“先生，您的钱掉在地上了。”
无赖接过钱，再次扔回到年轻人脚下，轻蔑地说：“这钱现在是你的，你就得给我拿着！”
年轻人又看了看无赖，给他深深鞠了一躬，说：“先生，谢谢您捧场！您刚才钱掉了，我弯腰给您捡了起来。现在我的钱掉在地上了，能麻烦您也给我捡一下吗？”
无赖大吃一惊，他没想到年轻人出这么一招。他捡起钱，扔进琴盒，灰溜溜地走了。
就在路人中间，有一双眼安静地注视着这个年轻人。他就是刚才的考官。他把年轻人带回学院，终究还是录取了他。
这位年轻人叫作比尔·撒丁，后来成了著名的挪威音乐家，他的代表作就叫《挺起你的胸膛》。
-exert [ɪɡˈzɜːt] v. 发挥
-bustling [ˈbʌslɪŋ] adj. 繁忙的
-rogue [rəʊɡ] n. 无赖
-crestfallen [ˈkrestfɔːlən] adj. 沮丧的
不卑不亢弯腰拾起的是无价的尊严。