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Two friends and I moved into a house off campus when I was a junior at Iowa State University.

在爱荷华州大学读大三时，我和两个朋友从宿舍搬出来，租了一间房子。

We were all a bit afraid of our landlord, a gruff middle aged man who was "all business" when we signed the lease.

房东是一个粗鲁的中年人，我们都有点怕他。

He gave us a lecture about paying the rent on time and maintaining the house and appliances. We weren't really supposed to, but during the fall semester, my housemates and I threw a party.

他交代我们要及时交房租，好好爱护房子和电器。下半学期，我和室友举办了一个聚会。

We sent invitations to many friends and told everyone that we knew to come to our house on Friday night. We drew a large crowd and everyone had a great time. The last guests left in the wee hours of the morning.

我们邀请许多朋友，让他们星期五晚上都到家里来玩。我们一大群人玩得很尽兴，最后一个客人在天快要亮时才离开。

Exhausted, we decided to sleep in and clean the house and yard the next morning. Well, you guessed it!

玩得筋疲力尽的我们决定先睡觉，第二天早上起来再清扫房子。噢，你猜怎么着。

We were awakened about 7:00 a.m. by our landlord, who was knocking on the door. Sheepishly, we let him in, expecting to incur his wrath. Instead, he picked up a party invitation that had been laying on the sidewalk and asked, "Why didn't you girls invite me?"

早上七点时，房东的敲门声把我们吵醒，我们不好意思地让他进来，料想会遭他怒骂。谁知，他捡起道边的一张宴会请柬，问道：“你们这些女孩子怎么不邀请我呢?”

He came into the house, made a minor repair, and spent a few minutes helping us pick up trash from the yard. We weren't quite sure what to make of our unexpected luck, but we were thrilled that our landlord had been so understanding.

他走进屋子，简单清理了一下，又帮我们把院子里的垃圾清扫了。我们也不知道怎么这么走运，兴奋地发现我们的房东竟如此通情达理。

A few months later, I made a mathematical error while balancing my checkbook and my bank soon notified me that I had bounced a check. I was mortified when I discovered that it was my rent check and that I had to notify my landlord.

数月后，由于计算失误，账户上没有余额了。银行很快给我发了退票。我羞愧地发现那是我给房东的月租支票，而我又不得不告诉房东.

I figured that he viewed my housemates and I as irresponsible after the party incident and this would prove him right. I was certain that he would evict me. Somehow, I mustered the courage to call him and explained what had happened.He said, "I have a daughter about your age, and the same thing happened to her once. Would you like to wait until next month and send a double payment then?" I've never forgotten our landlord's kindness and understanding.

那次聚会后，我想他一定以为我的室友们都是不负责任的人，现在更证实了他的看法。他一定会把我们赶出去的。可不知为什么，当我鼓起勇气给他打电话解释时，他说：“我有一个女儿，跟你们差不多大，她曾经也干过同样的事。你不想等级到下个月给我双份月租吗?”我永远都忘不了房东的善心和通情达理。

He also taught me an important lesson about not judging a book by its cover. I'm proud to say that I have not bounced a check since (though I have thrown a few more parties)!

他教给我一个重要的人生道理：不要以书皮来判断书的好坏(切勿以貌取人)。我自豪地说，从那以后银行再也没给我发过退票(尽管我又举办过几次聚会)。

37.我们的好房东