365个英语简短小故事-74. The Handyman Comes

The sinks were leaking. David looked in the local paper and saw an ad for Toby the handyman. David left a message on the answering machine. Two days later, he called again. He told Toby that he had left a message two days ago. Toby apologized. He said he hadn’t checked his messages in a couple of days.

David felt like hanging up. Why was it so hard to find a worker who was responsible? Responsible and clean—many workers were slobs who left messes for the homeowner to clean up. Toby doesn’t check his machine, David mused¹. David told Toby that the kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room faucets³ were leaking. Toby said he could come over on Friday; each faucet² would cost $20. If he had to buy any parts, that would be extra.

David was pleased. Sixty dollars was a great price. Of course, if Toby fixed⁴ faucets like he checked his messages, maybe the deal wouldn’t be so good. Then again, it was only a $60 risk. David asked Toby if a check was okay. Toby said no; he only accepted cash. David said that was okay, as long as he got an invoice⁵. Toby said he would be over Friday at 1:00 p.m.

At 3:00 p.m., David left a message on Toby’s machine, asking where he was. At 3:30, Toby showed up. David asked if he had brought an invoice. “Oh, jeez, I forgot. I’m sorry,” Toby said. David shook his head in disbelief. But, since Toby was there, he decided⁶ to let him in. Before Toby walked into David's house, he wiped his feet very carefully on the mat. David noticed that. Maybe Toby will work out just fine, he thought.

 

1 mused   

v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事）

参考例句：

• \"I wonder if I shall ever see them again, \"he mused. “我不知道是否还可以再见到他们，”他沉思自问。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"Where are we going from here?\" mused one of Rutherford's guests. 卢瑟福的一位客人忍不住说道：‘我们这是在干什么？” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

2 faucet   

n.水龙头

参考例句：

• The faucet has developed a drip.那个水龙头已经开始滴水了。
• She turned off the faucet and dried her hands.她关掉水龙头，把手擦干。

3 faucets   

n.水龙头( faucet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Water faucets shall be chrome-plated type with ball valve. 水龙头外表为铬镀层。 来自互联网
• The plumber came that afternoon and fixed the faucets in some minutes. 当天下午，管子工来了，几分钟内便把水龙头安装好。 来自互联网

4 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

5 invoice   

vt.开发票；n.发票，装货清单

参考例句：

• The seller has to issue a tax invoice.销售者必须开具税务发票。
• We will then send you an invoice for the total course fees.然后我们会把全部课程费用的发票寄给你。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。