The million pound banknote

They began to ask me questions about myself, and soon they knew my story. Finally they told me that I was the man they had been looking for. I said I was sincerely glad, and asked why they were looking for someone. Then one of the brothers handed me an envelope, and said I would find the explanation inside. I was going to open it, but he told me not to do that. Instead I should take the letter to my lodgings, read it carefully, and not do anything rash.

I was puzzled. I wanted to discuss the matter, but they didn't want to talk to me any more. So I went out of the house, feeling hurt and insulted. It seemed I had been made the butt of some kind of practical joke. Yet I had to put up with it, because I was too poor and hungry to be able to get angry about affronts from rich and powerful people.

I would have picked up the pear now and eaten it in front of everybody, but now it was gone. I had lost the pear because I had been called into the house, and the thought of it did not soften my feeling towards those men. As soon as I was out of sight of the house I opened my envelope, and saw that it contained money! My opinion of those people changed, I can tell you!

Vocabulary:

Sincerely: really and truly
Lodgings: the place where one is staying
Rash: acting without thinking first
Butt: the target
Practical joke: A joke that does something to someone
Affronts: insults