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--- lesson 27 Nothing to sell and nothing to buy |
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--- Listen to the tape then answer the question below. |
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--- What is the most important thing for a tramp? |
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It has been said that everyone lives by selling something. |
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In the light of this statement, teachers live by selling knowledge, |
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philosophers by selling wisdom and priests by selling spiritual comfort. |
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Though it may be possible to measure the value of material goods in terms of money, |
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it is extremely difficult to estimate the true value of the services which people perform for us. |
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There are times when we would willingly give everything we possess to save our lives, |
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yet we might grudge paying a surgeon a high fee for offering us precisely this service. |
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The conditions of society are such that skills have to be paid for in the same way that goods are paid for at a shop. |
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Everyone has something to sell. |
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Tramps seem to be the only exception to this general rule. |
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Beggars almost sell themselves as human beings to arouse the pity of passers-by. |
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But real tramps are not beggars. |
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They have nothing to sell and require nothing from others. |
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In seeking independence, they do not sacrifice their human dignity. |
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A tramp may ask you for money, but he will never ask you to feel sorry for him. |
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He has deliberately chosen to lead the life he leads and is fully aware of the consequences. |
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He may never be sure where the next meal is coming from, but he is free from the thousands of anxieties which afflict other people. |
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His few material possessions make it possible for him to move from place to place with ease. |
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By having to sleep in the open, he gets far closer to the world of nature than most of us ever do. |
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He may hunt, beg, or steal occasionally to keep himself alive; |
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he may even, in times of real need, do a little work; but he will never sacrifice his freedom. |
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We often speak of tramps with contempt and put them in the same class as beggars, |
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but how many of us can honestly say that we have not felt a little envious of their simple way of life and their freedom from care? |