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The Question
Daniel looked at his phone. The numbers were red again. He closed the app and put the phone on the table.
I should stop checking, he thought. But I can’t. What if it goes up while I’m not looking?
He was forty years old. By most measures, he had done well. A good apartment. A car. Money in the bank, money in crypto, money everywhere — and yet, somehow, it never felt like enough.
Enough for what? he asked himself. I don’t even know anymore.
That was the problem, maybe. The question.
He was sitting in a small café near the river. Outside, people walked by. They looked busy. They looked… fine. He wondered if they felt the same emptiness he felt, or if it was just him.
„Excuse me,” said a voice.
Daniel looked up. An old man stood by his table. He had white hair, a long grey coat, and eyes that looked both tired and calm.
„May I sit here?” the old man asked. „All the other tables are taken.”
„Of course,” Daniel said.
The old man sat down slowly and ordered a black coffee. For a minute, neither of them spoke. Then the old man looked at Daniel and smiled.
„You look like a man with a lot on his mind,” he said.
Daniel laughed a little. „Is it that obvious?”
„To me, yes.” The old man took a sip of coffee. „Let me ask you something.”
„Go ahead.”
„What are you worth?”
Daniel blinked. The question was strange. It hung in the air between them.
„Do you mean money?” Daniel asked. „My net worth?”
„I mean what you are worth,” the old man said again, slowly. „Not what you own. Not what you earn. What you are worth. To yourself.”
Daniel opened his mouth. Then he closed it.
He had spent twenty years counting money. He could tell you the price of anything in seconds. But this question — this simple, strange question — he could not answer.
„I… I don’t know,” he said finally.
The old man nodded, as if this was exactly the answer he expected.
„Then that,” he said, „is where we begin.”
Cuvinte noi
| Engleză | Română |
|---|---|
| worth / to be worth | valoare / a valora |
| by most measures | după aproape orice standard |
| yet | totuși |
| somehow | cumva / într-un fel |
| enough | destul / de ajuns |
| wondered | se întreba |
| emptiness | goliciune interioară |
| calm | calm, liniștit |
| neither of them | niciunul dintre ei |
| a lot on his mind | multe pe gânduri |
| obvious | evident |
| took a sip | a luat o înghițitură |
| blinked | a clipit |
| hung in the air | a rămas suspendată în aer |
| net worth | avere netă / valoare netă |
| earn | a câștiga (bani) |
| as if | ca și cum |
Întrebări de înțelegere
- Why did Daniel close the app on his phone?
- What question did the old man ask him?
- Why couldn’t Daniel answer the question?
Capitolul următor: The Man Who Counted →
Mai multe povești de nivel B1: The Wrong Train · The Marathon · The Old Book · The Second Chance · vezi toate →