事业 · 创业者自述
布克·T·华盛顿：力争上游·摘录 54
布克·T·华盛顿《力争上游》· Up from Slavery · 领导
In some way, however, I had gotten hold of an extra, second-hand coat which I thought was a pretty valuable coat. This I decided to sell, in order to get a little money for travelling expenses. I had a good deal of boyish pride, and I tried to hide, as far as I could, from the other students the fact that I had no money and nowhere to go. I made it known to a few people in the town of Hampton that I had this coat to sell, and, after a good deal of persuading, one coloured man promised to come to my room to look the coat over and consider the matter of buying it. This cheered my drooping spirits considerably. Early the next morning my prospective customer appeared. After looking the garment over carefully, he asked me how much I wanted for it. I told him I thought it was worth three dollars. He seemed to agree with me as to price, but remarked in the most matter-of-fact way: “I tell you what I will do; I will take the coat, and will pay you five cents, cash down, and pay you the rest of the money just as soon as I can get it.” It is not hard to imagine what my feelings were at the time.
出处：
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2376
定位：Excerpt 54 · 核对日期：2026-10-19 · 核验：短摘录
白话
华盛顿想卖掉一件二手外套换点路费，又因少年自尊心，尽量不让同学知道自己没钱、无处可去。他好不容易说服一个当地黑人来看货，对方仔细检查后，同意三美元的价格，却说：外套我拿走，先付你五分钱现金，剩下的钱等我有了再给。华盛顿当时的心情可想而知。这故事说明：在困境中，别人看似合理的提议，也可能让你吃亏；保护自己需要事先谈清条件，而不是被对方的“爽快”带着走。
上下文
华盛顿在假期无钱回家，试图卖掉一件二手外套筹路费，却遇到一个只肯先付五分钱的买主。
今日一问
你在急需用钱或资源时，有没有因为不好意思而接受过不公平的条件？
公版作品；原文逐字取自 Project Gutenberg，仅摘录段落并附全书链接。
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