To the outside world, Curt Degerman was a poor can collector.
外界看来，德格曼(Curt Degerman)是个可怜的拾荒者。
The aged Swede, known as 'Tin Can Curt,' spent 30 years roaming the streets of Skelleftea in northern Sweden in his blue jacket and ragged pants, collecting tin cans and bottle for cash. He was, in the eyes of most people, an ordinary street bum.
这个年迈的瑞典人绰号叫"破烂王"， 30年来他不停地游走在瑞典北部谢莱夫特奥市的大街小巷，穿着蓝色夹克和破旧的裤子，靠捡易拉罐和瓶子换钱。在大多数人眼中，他是个普通的街头流浪汉。
Yet when he died he left more than $1.4 million to his cousin.
然而他死后给表弟留下了140多万美元的遗产。
How did he do it? Thrift and smart investing.
他的秘诀是什么？节俭加精明投资。
It turns out that in between collecting cans, Mr. Degerman spent a lot of time in the local library reading business papers and studying the stock market.
原来德格曼除了捡易拉罐，还花了大量的时间在当地的图书馆阅读商业文章，研究股市。
'He knew stocks inside and out,' said his cousin.
他的表弟说，他对股票十分精通。
He used his tin-can earnings to buy mutual funds. He also bought 124 gold bars and also grew his cash with a savings account. (He rode a bicycle and didn't have a mortgage on his house, which also made savings easier).
他用卖易拉罐的钱买共同基金，还购买了124根金条，并利用储蓄帐户积累现金。（他骑自行车，没有房贷，这些均有利于存款。）
这几乎是一个经典的通过节俭和精明致富的童话故事。
Mr. Degerman died of a heart attack in 2008. His will left his entire estate to a cousin who visited him regularly late in his life.
德格曼2008年死于心脏病。他在遗嘱中把所有的遗产留给了一个晚年时经常来看望他的表弟。
Yet soon after the fortune was revealed, an uncle claimed the cash under Sweden's inheritance law. Lawyers got involved, and the two recently settled for undisclosed shares.
然而在这笔财富曝光之后不久，他的一个叔叔根据瑞典继承法宣称拥有其遗产的现金部分。在律师的介入下，两人不久前达成了协议，但未透露分配比例。
All of which goes to show that no matter how careful someone is in making and saving money in their lifetime, they can't control what happens afterward.
这一切表明，无论一个人一生中在赚钱和存钱方面有多仔细，他仍无法控制自己的身后事。
Do you think Mr. Degerman should have enjoyed his money more while he was alive? Or is he the perfect model of wealth creation?
你认为德格曼应当在活着时更多地享用他的钱财，还是认为他是生财典范？
Robert Frank
- jacket [´dʒækit]
n.茄克衫；外套 (初中词汇) - reading [´ri:diŋ] n.(阅)读；朗读；读物 (初中词汇)
- account [ə´kaunt] vi.说明 vt.认为 n.帐目 (初中词汇)
- estate [i´steit] n.财产；庄园；等级 (初中词汇)
- wealth [welθ] n.财富，财产 (初中词汇)
- sweden [´swi:dn] n.瑞典 (高中词汇)
- ragged [´rægid] a.衣服破烂的 (高中词汇)
- mutual [´mju:tʃuəl] a.相互的；共同的 (高中词汇)
- bicycle [´baisik(ə)l] n.自行车 (高中词汇)
- mortgage [´mɔ:gidʒ] a.&vt.抵押 (高中词汇)
- classic [´klæsik] a.第一流的 n.杰作 (高中词汇)
- shrewd [ʃru:d] a.精明的；狡猾的 (高中词汇)
- regularly [´regjuləli] ad.有规律地；经常地 (高中词汇)
- inheritance [in´heritəns] n.继承(物)；遗传；遗产 (高中词汇)
- lifetime [´laiftaim] n.一生，终生，寿命 (高中词汇)
- thrift [θrift] n.节俭，节约 (四级词汇)
- earnings [´ə:niŋz] n.收益；报酬；获得 (六级词汇)
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