Lettura e ascolto intermediate in inglese: The shoebox

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A man and a woman had been married for more than 60 years. They had shared everything, talked about everything, and had never hidden anything from each other, except for a small shoebox that the old lady kept on top of the wardrobe. She had always told her husband never to open it, or to ask her anything about it.

Throughout all these long years, the man had never thought about that box, but one day his beloved wife became seriously ill and the doctor said that she would not survive. While trying to put their affairs in order, the man picked up the box and brought it to his wife’s bedside. She agreed that it was time for him to discover the contents.

When the man opened the box, he found two handmade woollen dolls and a pile of money totalling almost $30,000. Amazed, he asked his wife for an explanation.

“When we were getting married,” she said, “my grandmother taught me that the secret of a happy marriage is never to fight. She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and make a woollen doll.”

The man was deeply moved and almost on the point of crying. There were only two woollen dolls in the box which meant that she had only been angry with him twice in all those years of life and love together. He was over the moon.

“Sweetheart,” he said, “that explains the dolls, but what about all this money? Where did it come from?”

“Oh,” she replied, “that’s the money I made from selling the dolls.”