This was a dance specifically for the philanthropists , and the participants were successful people who used to donate a large sum of money. It was said that they had donated more than a million dollars at least.
Brilliantly illuminated, a multimillionaire was talking and laughing with new friends. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of a man unaccompanied sitting silently at the corner of the room, so he walked over with a goblet .
“Hi, my friend,” the millionaire greeted the man, “Are you a guest at this dance?”
“Yes,” looking at him, the man replied politely with a smile.
“Oh, what do you do, please?” the millionaire asked.
“I'm a newspaper columnist,” the man replied.
“Oh?” the millionaire widened his eyes in surprise, “You must be very successful, then? The people who are able to attend the party will donate not less than one million dollars.”
“Except me,” the columnist smiled, “I just donated fifty thousand dollars.”
“What?” the millionaire was taken aback at first, and then a little laughed a little scornfully, “I thought you were a successful man. Unexpectedly, you only contributed fifty thousand dollars.”
“Of course I'm a successful man, sir!” the columnist, neither humble nor pushy , stood up and said seriously, “I only contributed fifty thousand, but it is half of all my fortune. And you contributed one million dollars, which was one percent of all your wealth. In contrast, may I ask who is more successful and who is more qualified to stand here?”
Hearing this, the multimillionaire fell silent at once.
这是一场专门为慈善家举办的舞会，与会者都是曾经慷慨解囊的成功人士。据说，他们都捐出过至少一百多万美元。
一位大富豪兴高采烈地和新结识的朋友们聊着笑着。突然，他瞥见一个人，孤零零地在房间角落里一言不发地坐着，于是就端着高脚酒杯走了过去。
“嗨，朋友，”富翁跟那人打了个招呼，“您是这场舞会的嘉宾吗？”
“是的，”那人看了看富翁，礼貌地笑着回答。
“哦，那请问您是做哪一行的？”富翁问道。
“我是报刊专栏作家。”他回答。
“哦？”富翁惊讶地睁大双眼，“那您事业一定非常成功喽？能来参加这场派对的都至少捐出过一百万美元呢。”
“我是个例外，”专栏作家笑着说，“我只捐过五万。”
“什么？”富翁先是吃了一惊，然后语带轻蔑地大笑说，“我还以为你是位成功人士。没想到你只捐过五万块。”
“先生，我当然是个成功人士！”作家不卑不亢地起身，严肃地说，“我是只捐过五万块，可那也是我一半身家。您是捐了一百万，可那不过是你全部财产的百分之一。相比之下，我倒要请问您咱俩谁更成功，谁更有资格站在这儿？”
大富翁听了这话，立马闭上了嘴。
-philanthropist [fɪˈlænθrəpɪst] n. 慈善家
-goblet [ˈɡɒblət] n. 高脚酒杯
-pushy [ˈpʊʃɪ] adj. 执意强求的
做慈善显然不是比身家、拼财力，而是看慈善者在多大程度上自愿将一己所有向他人倾囊以赠。
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